Love Vibes

Love Vibes 
By Sakurazawa Erica


Overall: Interesting
Smexy Times: Dry
Art: Special / Crap mix




Sorry about totally blanking about last week's review. I had the first good day in a few days, so I wanted to celebrate. And then I just forgot. But there's a review this week of something that's not a one-shot, so you guys can't complain too much. 


I didn't expect to like this manga as much as I did. I mean, look at that art. Those lips. I really can't stand a style like that. I don't know why, it's just something about the lips. (I'm not really a lips kind of girl I suppose.)  And the summary on Manga Fox sounded kind of stupid. But I figured I might as well, and the manga managed to surprise me. 


This is another old manga from the late 90s, 96 this time, about a girl (Mako) who's in a relationship with a boy (Shouji). She knew this boy had a girlfriend, but she decided to be his sex friend anyway. I'll never understand girls who voluntarily enter a relationship like this. Anyway. One day Mako decides to go out to a CD store, and while she's there, a girl named Mika approaches her and says some rather obviously lesbian things before they decide to go to tea together. Luckily Mako's kind of an idiot. So more lesbian-esque words exchanged, but Mako doesn't think too much of it. I don't like Mako in case you can't tell, but that all comes later. 
So, long story short, Shouji's girlfriend is getting suspicious, so Mako suggests they should break up, because Mika's words helped her realize that she doesn't like where she's at right now. Finally, Mika. Knocked some sense into Mako. I like Mika a lot by the way. 


Mako and Mika begin hanging more, for like two months, but then Shouji calls and wants Mako back. Mako (being the idiot she is) doesn't realize that Mika telling her not to go back to Shouji is a sign that Mika has feelings for Mako. Mako decides not to get back together with Shouji for now, and things are back to normal. 
Notice the 'for now' in that sentence. Yeah, this is the main reason I don't like Mako. 
Because in the next chapter, Mako gets back together with Shouji. Yeah. What a ho. So when Mako tells Mika that she's seeing Shouji, Mika goes off on her, and they have a little tiff, which results in Mika revealing (much more clearly for our little idiot) that she loves Mako. After they fight, they're apart for a while. Mika gets a new lover, but ends up returning to Mako. 


I would continue to go on to describe the remaining three chapters, but it's pretty much the same things. Mako being an idiot and always doubting Mika, and the two girls struggling through their relationship more than they should. It kind of reminded me a little of Marmalade Boy, except Yuu never actually cheated on Miki, she was just always afraid he would. 
The manga doesn't have a good ending. Actually, it really doesn't have an ending. They get back together for, like... the fourth time in the series. So there's really nothing to say. 


As much as this manga seems boring and frustrating, I enjoyed it. The art grew on me a little, though I never truly got comfortable with those lips or how sketchy it would look sometimes. But what made this manga awesome for me was Mika. Oh my gosh this girl. She's so sweet and cute. And she can get really funny too. At one point, Shouji goes to ask Mako to be his again, at which point Mika lectures him. And after he starts calling Mako a dyke, Mika promptly kicks him in the nuts and runs away with Mako. See? See why I like this girl? So cute.


This manga doesn't have any graphic sex, and really, the only thing special about this is the characters. The 'plot line' is pretty blah. But if you like that kind of thing, I recommend this manga. And who knows? Maybe you'll like the lip style more than I do. 

Wedding Bells

Wedding Bells by Natsuko Asoh
Overall: Lesicake
Smexy Times: Panty-Less
Art: Crap








It seems I've found another older manga that seems to fall under the same category as the previous one I reviewed. To be honest, I wanted to do something that was interesting, since it is my birthday on Saturday (a little early birthday present perhaps?), but this manga didn't have a picture up on MangaFox, and it was about a wedding of some sort, so I was like "Oh, I love weddings! I'll read this!"
I need to be more careful. 


To be honest, I think this is slightly better than last time's review. But that being said, this one is more stupid. Yeah, it can get worse. 


So there's a girl named Misaki who decides to wander around the Red Light District while intoxicated. Rather heavily intoxicated. And of course, being the idiot she is, she really doesn't think about the consequences, so when some not very attractive guy comes up to her trying to buy her for the night (thinking she's a prostitute of course), she flips out. Um, hello woman? Where do you think you are? Anyway, she gets saved by this very effeminate man. But wait, guess what? It is a woman. Her name's Maya. 


So anyway, Misaki passes out drunk, and Maya takes her back to her apartment and doesn't do naughty things to her while she's asleep. Buuuut they do naughty things in the morning. And then, of course, the most ridiculous line I've heard in a long time comes around. "Sweet nectar is gushing out." I kid you not, that's a line in this manga. In a sex scene. This would totally kill the mood for me, to be honest.


Anyway, after the pages of sexing, we find out that Misaki has run away from home. Oh joy. (I'm not a big fan of this girl if you can't tell. At least Maya reminds me a little of Haruka, so I like her slightly more.) She was in the Red Light District intending on sleeping with someone being a slut for a night because her Daddy is making her get married without her consent. Darn those arranged marriages. (But again, WHY was Misaki scared when some dude came up to her if she intended to sleep with someone anyway? Ugh.)
Misaki is worried because her older brother was going to be the head of the household or some BS like that, but since he's gay, their Dad threw a hissy fit and gay older brother and his lover moved to America. I, again, question why, in 1998, America is the place for gays. Do I need to update my gay history? So that's her story. The dude she marries is going to be head of the household so she's gotta marry him no matter what. Or something. I was kind of already checked out of this manga by then. 


Maya feels bad for Misaki, so they have sex again, which draws about the fastest love confession I've seen in a long time. You can't love someone after one morning of sex with them! Love doesn't happen like that! And this coming from someone who believes in the whole 'love at first sight' concept. 


Anyway, I think they stay together for a while, make themselves officially girlfriends, more sexing occurs. But then Daddy's goons come for Misaki and she's all, "Kay, kay, I'll go. Bye Maya." She tries to be all cool about it, but I still dislike her. So then... sudden deus ex machina! Misaki's gay brother and his new lover show up right where Maya is! No, I have no clue how they knew about where Misaki and Maya had been. Or even about Maya in general. But this manga won't explain it, so I won't question it. Much. 
So Misaki's brother is all "She doesn't not love you anymore, she just wanted to protect you! Cause our Daddy's a jerk who did bad things to my boyfriend, and Misaki just doesn't want the same done to you!" ... I honestly don't want to know about these bad things. 


So Misaki's meeting with her future husband, and she hates him. She now doesn't even want to have sex with anyone but Maya, so she runs out. And Maya, Misaki's brother, and the lover dude are all there outside. Again, just not going to question this. And Misaki's brother comes up with a brilliant solution. 


They just marry each other. Misaki and Misaki's brother's lover (I don't think these guys even get names) and Maya and Misaki's brother. 
... I just... don't have any words. Except for: rush decision much?
Also, the 'honeymoon' portion? Don't even get me started.


I really hate this ending. It's just... so dumb. Why? Why do I do this to myself? Also, those are some hideous wedding dresses. 90's fashion for you I guess. 


All right, back to the point. I did not like this manga. The characters were uninteresting, and really? Main characters without names? I mean, c'mon now. That's bad. The plot was dumb too. The sex scenes were just... I don't know. Something about this 90's art with sex scenes just turns me off rather than on. Not to mention the god-awful dialogue. Overall, it's just not good. It's just not. If you can stand 90's art and want to read some smut, by all means my friends. But I, personally, just can't. 

Our Fake Relationship

Our Fake Relationship by Matsufuji Junko
Overall: Lesicake
Smexy Times: Panty-less
Art: Crap







This is my first time linking you guys to a new site, thanks to a commenter of mine. The site looks very nice, but I'll use MangaFox primarily for images still, as well as where I primarily read my manga. 
Anyway, onto the review. 


Yes, I am a little biased against the art style of this manga. It was released in 1998, so it's not the prettiest thing. It can get pretty sometimes, but the style makes the (many) sex scenes a little awkward. (I tend to prefer a little more of a shoujo-y style myself.)
This is also a manga that attempts to put some things in to hide its' Lesicake status. But the plot sets up the two women so they can just have sex. The plot doesn't even enthrall me in the least. 


So there's a student (Miyuki I think) and there's a college professor (Reiko, I only remember her name because she demanded Miyuki call her that during sex. Hint: Miyuki failed.). Miyuki will be able to graduate in one year if she... passes the class Reiko's teaching or something. Some kind of thesis? I doubt Miyuki is bright enough to go for a PHD, so I'm assuming it's some big English paper. But anyway, the point is, Miyuki needs to graduate that year for some reason, so she goes to the Professor for help, who says that she'll give Miyuki the credits she needs if Miyuki writes the thesis and agrees to date Reiko. 


Whoa now, hold the phone. That's just wrong. You can't go around doing that! See why I dislike this plot? Oh don't worry, it only gets worse. 


So, to keep the story going, Miyuki says yes. So they agree to go have sex. And then, they spend most of the rest of the manga having sex. 
And I'm sure you're probably thinking at this point, "Wait. This is Lesicake and most of the manga is sex. Why isn't this rated higher in the 'Smexy Times' section?"
Well, to answer your question young sprout, they attempted to censor the sex. It's actually kind of hilarious, cause they do a piss poor job at it. 


So they we come to the end of the story, a whole two page end. So apparently the professor gets found out because a magazine with the picture of the two women kissing is printed in it (though I'm not sure how the photographer was able to take the picture because she lives in an apartment building), and Reiko decides to just up and quit. So she and Miyuki go to America together. 


Ugh, this ending is so stupid... I don't even. First, Reiko isn't even broken up about this? She was the one who said earlier in the manga that jobs were scarce. Isn't she scared of what's going to happen to her now? She's a professor, she can't be that rich. Also, this is 1998. America isn't fond of the gays either. Reiko and Miyuki wouldn't be able to live a happy life there either. And third, Miyuki just quits college to go with Reiko, claiming she'd just be "relying on others for everything anyway" if she worked at a top-notch company in Japan. This is when this woman pissed me off. First off, you're going to be relying on Reiko because you now don't have a college degree, and you probably lost the credits you've been working on that semester. So you're going to be relying on Reiko for all the money and taking care of everything. How is it so easy for these women? It shouldn't be such a snap decision.


Anyway, I'm done ranting on the manga ending. This isn't very good. It's cheesy and filled with badly censored smut. Plus the art is old, definitely not as pretty as today's more modern yuri manga. If you're looking for just plain old sex, go for this. Because it will give you that. But no happiness or character development or even character depth. 


However, I do credit this manga for one thing. This is the first time I've ever seen the word dyke in a yuri manga.

Strawberry Shake

Strawberry Shake

By Hayashiya Shizuru

Overall: Gem

Smexy Times: Dry

Art: Be-a-utiful

This is a manga that has been passed around among my friends like an STD. Wait, that's probably a bad example. Let's rephrase. 

This is a manga a friend recommended to me. And it has since been recommended to all of my friends, by one person or another. We have all enjoyed this manga thoroughly. And so it has finally come down to me to try to condense the beauty into a review. 

I actually just finished this manga recently. Yes, I enjoyed it before I had even finished it. There's something about this manga that is very enjoyable. I think part of it has to do with the cute style and plot. Also, remember throughout this review that this was the author of Kiss Doll. 

The story begins with Julia, who is a talent in Japan. Basically, she does modeling, acting, things like that. Saeki, her manager, tells Julia that she'll be having someone shadow her. This person is Ran, who Julia instantly begins to crush on. But this isn't the typical girly-girly shy crush. Julia is absolutely hilarious. Ran does anything cute, and Julia's suddenly got a gushing nose bleed. And of course, cute oblivious Ran doesn't notice for quite a while. 

So the story goes pretty slow for the first half. Basically, it's just Julia crushing on Ran, Ran becoming a better and better talent, and the manga-ka introducing us to a wide variety of characters, including an all female band Z-LAY. They're hilarious by the way. They give secret, special concerts to women only. Men aren't allowed. That sounds like something I could get into. 

So then the second half of the manga comes along, and Ran has the sudden realization that she's been falling for Julia the whole time she's been shadowing Julia. More hilarity ensues when both Julia and Ran are crushing on each other without realizing that the other person harbors the same feelings. 

They don't even realize what they have is the same until Z-LAY sort of sets them up. I think the main Z-LAY member can tell what's going down. So when they FINALLY tell each other about their feelings, things seem hunky-dory. Well, only for a chapter. And then suddenly, boom, last chapter, and we get a time skip. 

Seems our lovely Ran disappeared, but Julia doesn't give up on her. Well, of course, there's a long explanation of why Ran just up and left Julia, but I won't get into that, because you should READ THIS MANGA. 

Can I emphasize that enough? This manga is amazing. I love it. I want to own this. I don't even own any shoujo-ai manga. I know, crazy right? But this I would be willing to own. It's only two volumes too. A lot of chapters, but you don't see me complaining about that. The story is adorable, and there's absolutely no focus on the sexy times, cause, well, they can't even get that far! That gets revealed in a little bonus story which is adorable. It's just fluff mixed with story!

Not only that, but there are so many side characters! If you don't really like the main characters (though I don't know why you wouldn't), you'll find someone to like. The managers, the hair stylist and her little fangirl, the band members. There are so many characters. Pretty much all women too. (I can think of only one male character, and I don't think he had a name.)

And again, I remind you that this awesome art is from the same mangaka who did this ugly crap I reviewed earlier in the year. Gotta love how much people can improve their art. 

Halloween Rhapsody

Halloween Rhapsody
By Hiiragi Kei

Overall: Awful
Smexy Times: Dry
Art: Special





Maybe I've set my standards a little too high, but it's hard to find anything I enjoy these days. Well, at least any one shots I enjoy. But then again, one shots are pretty simplistic, and I like complicated. When I have a bit more time, I will, I promise, review something that doesn't end in one or a few chapters. (I had planned something special for a few weeks ago, but school decided to rob me of my happiness and free time.)

So Runa and Mio go to an all girl's school (bet you didn't see that one coming), and there's this festival going on. I'm assuming it's a cultural fair, but it's not super clear. Since it's called HALLOWEEN Rhapsody.
Runa is dressed as a witch and Mio as a cat girl maid, yet they run the same booth/classroom activity together. Hm. Well Runa has a crush on Mio, but apparently, people at this school don't like lesbians. What prudes. So anyway, this causes Runa to be especially fearful of telling her best friend about her feelings.
But Mio takes it all pretty well, of course. Because, this is a one shot, things have to get confirmed. Otherwise that just blows. And this isn't a yaoi manga. There will be no blowing here.

This isn't the worst manga in the world, obviously, but it really has nothing redeeming going for it. It's just… boring. Kinda dumb. With characters you just can't get into. And I didn't necessarily enjoy the style much. It wasn't ugly, just not my thing. This just kind of rubbed me the wrong way I guess.
For the good news, I'm on spring break in two weeks? I'll work on reading some long manga series and reviewing those during that time.

Kiss Doll

Kiss Doll
By Hayashiya Shizuru

Overall: No Thank You
Smexy Times: Dry
Art: Crap





Here is one review, since this week took it out of me. It's a short one, so don't get too happy. (But it's better than nothing, right?)

So Kiss Doll is a short little manga that's really nothing special. There's a woman who reforms orphans into beautiful doll-like girls and sells them to people. Yeeeah. I'm sure there's a yaoi manga on this that's like a billion chapters long. But nope, we get a short little crappy thing.

There is ONE nude scene, but it can hardly be counted as sex (even though I have NO clue what's going on at that point). But really, this isn't anything special, or even remotely good. The only time the art even gets good is when they show the girl looking like a doll.

This could have been really interesting. Unfortunately, it was just really boring instead.

Yearning For Macaron

Yearning for Macaron
(Author Unknown)

Overall: Interesting
Smexy Times: Dry
Art: Shoujo-y





All right, so I wasn't able to review the manga I wanted to because of school work. So here's a simple one shot instead. Quick reads aren't usually too bad, and they're quick to review, so…

This was another 'girl is leaving and other girl needs to confess' sort of story. It's told a little better than others I've read, and I did enjoy it for its simplistic-ness. The art was also pretty cute. Especially the kiss scene actually. I'm not sure why that makes me especially happy art wise. But it just looks nice to me.

Anyway, the story is about Sara, who is a sort of scary girl that doesn't talk much, who learns that she likes another girl, Matsuri, after hearing that Matsuri is going to France. Matsuri's the type of girl that's loved by everybody, partially because she bakes awesome sweets and then shares them with everyone. Sara is the only one who says no to these sweets (trying to keep her figure), but Matsuri keeps trying to get her to eat some sweets. So you know she eventually will. And then they share a kiss. And the story ends with Sara visiting France I think. Might be moving there? I really don't know. It wasn't super clear.

But like I said before, this isn't too bad of a one shot. The characters are cute. Especially Matsuri. She just won't give up. And when Sara figures out she loves Matsuri, that's really cute too. It's a nice one shot, simple and sweet. If you're looking for a quick, cute read, I would definitely go for this one. Predictable story, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.