summary: yuka’s mother died when she was still very young, leaving her with a father who doesn’t seem to know how to take care of himself, much less dependable… so she was really happy when her father married a woman who looked extremely capable. her days of minding somebody are over… until she finds out that the woman comes with a son, who is just as helpless as her dad is… and this son turns out to be a teacher in her high school… and has a gigantic sister complex. yuka can only be mean to him to tone him down. unfortunately, their parents left japan right after the wedding for their honeymoon, with no return date in sight.. so their marriage is still unregistered. yuka and taichi aren’t even legally siblings yet, and have started living together! with taichi’s popularity among students at school, it’s only thankful that they coincidentally have the last name so everybody thinks they’re real siblings.

commentary: cute story, but, so far non-committal and episodic.. but i think that’s the nature of most stories from lala dx. taichi is adorable as the over-zealous older brother who hangs around her classroom even if he doesn’t teach any of her classes. i also love the cool yuka and how she swats him down, not too unkindly, imo.. since his zeal is rather embarrassing. there are hints that taichi may be interested in her as more than a sister and that yuka is becoming more conscious of him. it definitely is a different kind of student-teacher story; and, if it remains platonic throughout, i don’t think i’ll be too disappointed granted it’s given a good ending. by the way, her father has some crazy good luck… although i wonder about the “capable career woman” image for taichi’s mom, considering she’s been on this LOOOOONG honeymoon. wouldn’t she get fired from her job soon enough? in any case, i really am looking forward to how this one ends up.

summary: daikichi goes to attend his grandfather’s funeral and sees a little girl he doesn’t know… she turns out to be his grandfather’s 6-year-old daughter, rin, recently discovered with shock by their family (which technically makes her his aunt, by the way). the presence of the little girl presents shame and a burden on the family, and everyone is reluctant to take her in. frustrated by this, daikichi decides to take her in… despite the fact that he’s pretty much at the peek of his career, has been living the single life, and doesn’t really know how to deal with women or children.

commentary: rin is an adorable little girl, who seems to be very quiet at first, but is very friendly and outgoing when she comes out of her shell. daikichi seems to be a catankerous old man (at 30), but it’s really quite touching how he takes her in and now has to go through the learning process of raising a child. fortunately, she seems to be pretty independent and is quite well-behaved. their relationship is quite good, and most “arcs” end within the same chapter, showing us glimpses into their life – it’s almost like they’re telling the story, with the mood of “do you remember that time when….?” other characters join the recurring cast as the story progresses, and help the two grow up, as well. (interestingly, one of her best friends growing up is technically her sister’s granddaughter.. which i find amusing whenever i remember.)

summary: of the suzuki twins, kotori was always the more obedient and reliable one, while nobara was the daring and outgoing one. born with the same genes, their parents wonder how they could be so different from each other. due to perhaps too much daring on nobara’s part, she slips and almost drowns during a family outing… but it is her dad who saves her and dies. “it’s all your fault. i wish he hadn’t saved you.” at about 12 years old, nobara is shocked to hear this, but knowing her fault and not wanting to cause her mother any more pain, she opts to live with her grandmother while kotori stayed with their mother. four years pass, but nobara and kotori are still quite close. in an effort to see her mother whom she still loves, nobara and kotori switch places for a few hours once a week – kotori pretends to be nobara at work, while nobara pretends to be kotori and spends her time baking with her mom… until one day, kotori is murdered while in nobara’s guise. seeing the tragedy that she has caused yet again, nobara vows to continue the charade and become kotori forever. “goodbye, kotori. goodbye, me.” there is only one thing that keeps the charade from being perfect, though – the one person who can truly tell them apart – and that is nobara’s boyfriend.

commentary: twin replacement is probably not a new concept (take “smile”, for example.. or obana miho’s “partner”), but this story steps up on the tragedy that surrounds the matter. i really and truly feel sorry for nobara and her family. how much death, tragedy, and guilt can a girl take? without all this, their family relationship is heartwarming to watch… even with nobara being content to take her sister’s place a few hours a week just to see her mother. kotori seems to be a really nice girl, but we’re not really given to see if she has any of her own friends… which is most likely intentional, since the story is told primarily from nobara’s pov. maybe we’ll see more when nobara fully enter’s kotori’s world in vol 2. interestingly enough, despite all that has happened to their family, i don’t feel the total angst and despair that i had rather dreaded from reading the back of the book (the type i usually avoid, so picking this up was a risk – but the girls were illustrated so nicely in the back cover…). there is the loss, understanding, and sympathy… and i really want to continue on to vol 2, where i hope she finds hope again.

synopsis: tokimeki tonight is a “warm-and-fuzzy” classical epic children’s fairy tale. (gee, how redundant and contradictory can i get?) it has the elements of a fairy tale right down to the fairies, royalty, magic, and werewolves? but it isn’t a oneshot peek to end with a “happily ever after” after the first obstacle. it’s a story about a family… ranze was an ordinary student (with a vampire for a father and a werewolf for a mother) with a perfectly normal schoolgirl crush and a tough rival, until one day she discovers that she can assume other people’s identities when she bites them… after which she finds herself involved in the affairs of the magical world… and later, her brother rinze also comes into his powers… and then much later, rinze’s daughter, aira… the three main focuses of an epic fairy tale that just has *too* many main characters…

commentary: the plot to this story is really hard to summarize. you’ll just have to read it for yourself. i suggest picking up a copy and if you like those “cute cute” stories, then you’ll love this one..

synopsis: miki’s always being told how lucky she is to have harumi for an older twin sister. harumi is smart, athletic, friendly, popular. but when harumi is killed in a freak car accident, miki and her mother are devastated. her mother goes crazy with grief and starts believing she is harumi, and miki, just wanting to help her mother, decides to live her life as harumi. she moves schools and changes her clubs and activities, even joining the cheerleading team. and wherever she goes, everybody only knows her as harumi’s replacement. she is immediately popular because of her sister. they believe she can do everything her sister can do. except for the cheerleading captain aimed at proving her incapable. and kou-chan who has grown up with them. kou-chan is the only one who sees miki as miki. but will this be enough? or maybe her sister’s ghost will be able to help her…

commentary: i think this is a really good story. it’s warm, it’s fluffy, and it’s sweet. it’s really nice seeing miki rise up in determination to reconcile herself after her sister’s death. it’s just a really good, warm story. it’ll make you feel nice afterwards. ^^

synopsis: akiyoshi kazuha is an unsually tall high school girl and the oldest of six children. of course, being the oldest entails that she takes care of her younger siblings.. but she doesn’t mind, really.. because whenever she has to pick up her younger brother from daycare, she can see mizushima-sensei… Then again, the bane of her existence hangs out there, too. sugimoto maki, talented beautician and mizushima’s friend, likes to tease and flirt with her… which irks kazuha’s friend, who has a crush on him.. in any case, sekai de ichiban daikirai is a comedic drama, a love story which surrounds beauty shops, schools, and family situations…

commentary: although a new character is introduced in ever so often, never fear that it’s a marmalade boy type introduction.. characters aren’t there to make one of the couple be their own, they are there to support the story, the plot, which is good, in my view. what drew me first to this manga, though, is the artwork.. it’s really very nice, very neat.. admittedly, i dropped it at first because it looked like there was so much going on, but when i sat down and read it through, i just wanted to keep going on with the story.. just try it?

synopsis: sakura was 14 when the grandmother who raised her died, leaving her all alone. and then her 4 brothers [who had a different mother] appeared, and somehow she starts living with them!! having no blood relation with them, sakura is bewildered by the sudden existence of her “oniichan”.

synopsis: riko (whose real name is ayako) was already in high school when she gained a new younger brother. miguel is a nine-year-old peruvian boy rescued by her father in the midst of turmoil before he came home to his loving family in japan. miguel had a good grasp of japanese but he didn’t seem to be warming up at first. he was overly polite and he barely smiled. but riko was determined to make sure that he felt that he was now a part of her family, introducing him to the world outside and to the game of basketball… now miguel is in high school, fresh out of the international school.. and he has proven he can be good at many things: in academics, in sports… but even though he seems to be really good at basketball (showed the students their first live look at a dunk), and though he seems to really like it, he seems unwilling… what is he afraid of? what is he pushing away?

commentary: it seems to be a really nice manga, granted i’ve only read one tankubon. the story is mostly about basketball and how miguel interacts with everybody, as well as riko’s concerns. i find it interesting how they have a lot of non-japanese, or at least, half-japanese characters in the story.. with characters from the international school occasionally speaking english.. especially when they’re playing basketball.. ^^;

synopsis: this is the second generation story, following “boku no chikyuu wo mamotte” / “please save my earth” (“bokutama”). kobayashi ren is a 7-year-old boy who has grown up, knowing that his parents have extraordinary powers. his dad can float in mid-air, and his mom can make things grow with her singing. that must mean he has special powers, too, right!? he just has to figure out what they are… because of this, some fairly innocent mischief arises as he tries to discover his powers with his friends: kachiko, kaputsun, and nobuyuki… while being protected by his “guardian angels” (shion and mokuren)…

commentary: it really is quite a cute story. it doesn’t have the serious undertone of psme.. but is filled more with the innocent curiosity of a young boy born into a special family.. although he only sees his parents as being just parents, he’s going to be in for a big surprise when he learns more about their past.. which is where the story seems to be heading at this poinst. for fans of psme, it really is quite fun to see what the old characters are up to now.. and how the next generation might perceive them.

synopsis: a cute story about honoka and the guys she has to live with. a pair of twins in kindergarten, a junior high student, a high school student, a college student, and honoka. honoka is generally a sweet, naive girl which draws an assortment of guys who instinctively want to protect her and maybe become her boyfriend… ^^;

commentary: i can’t help picking up this manga.. the story’s pretty cute, although it gets pretty complicated as the plot progresses. another worthwhile point is that yoshikawa-sensei draws really nice perspective shots…