Merry Month of Shojo Review #1: SKIP BEAT

The Manga Test Drive turns 11 this year!  To celebrate this blog's entry into its pre-teens, we're once again going to enjoy an entire Merry Month of Manga Reviews!  Once again, we're dedicating this one to spotlighting some of the many shojo titles in our collection, starting with this.

SKIP BEAT! (Sukippo Bito!), by Yoshiki Nakamura.  First published in 2002 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Kyoko thought she was living the dream: living together with her childhood best friend Sho, helping him live out his dreams of stardom in Tokyo.  Sure, that dream requires her to work three part-time jobs, consumes all of her spare time, energy, and personal desires, and left her waiting hand and foot on him on the rare occasion Sho is even home, but she's just happy to be needed!

At least, until she catches Sho with another girl.

Furious, Kyoko vows to beat Sho at his own game.  She's going to join his agency and become a bigger star than Sho could ever be, no matter how much she might have to grovel and work just to get her foot in the door.

Review: BB EXPLOSION

Why is it so hard to find a good shojo manga about music?

BB EXPLOSION (Hajikete Bi Bi). by Yasue Imai.  First published in 1997 and first published in North America in 2004.

PLOT:

Airi is a small-town girl from Okinawa whose greatest joy is watching Boom Boom, a variety show featuring the star students of a local acting school.  She gets her own chance at stardom when the school holds open auditions.  Soon enough, Airi is working alongside some of the best students at the school and well on her way to becoming the star she always dreamed of becoming...so long as she can overcome her father's objections and her own doubts.

Review: BLUE GIANT

Of course, I can't spend all month ragging on music-related manga.  I also need to cover better, more earnest stories learning one's craft and embracing the love of music.

BLUE GIANT, by Shinichi Ishizuka. First published in 2013 and first published in North America in 2020.

PLOT: 

Dai is just another middle-class high-schooler growing up in Sendai...or would be if not for his intense love for jazz.  No one else seems to get his attraction to it and Dai himself is bad at explaining it, but he knows is that the passion and emotion of classic jazz speaks to his soul like nothing else and that he wants to capture that feeling for himself.  That's what drives him to practice his saxophone everyday on the riverbank, honing his craft until he can become the world's greatest jazz musician.

Review: LA CORDA D'ORO

 Let's make this a March of musical madness as we cover manga all about music, even if that means including mediocre reverse harem manga about music school students.

LA CORDA D'ORO (Kin'iro no Koroda), by Yuki Kure, based on the visual novel by Ruby Party.  First published in 2003 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Kahoko is just one of many students in the general education section of the illustrious Seishou Academy.  Seishou is famous for its musical program, one that hosts a special competition every few years where only the best of the best can win a place in said music school.  Kahoko never presumed this would be relevant to her until she encounters a fairy named Lili.  Lili gifts her with a magic violin and enters Kahoko has never played a note in her life, so now she must overcome the jeers and taunts of her fellow classmates if she wants to continue.

Recipe: LOVE RECIPE

The only thing worse than a bad BL romance is a bad BL romance that ruins an otherwise good concept for a manga.

LOVE RECIPE, by Kirico Higashizato.  First published in 2005 and first published in North America in 2007.

PLOT:

Tomonori Ozawa was hoping to get the journalist job of his dreams, but instead he's working as an editor at a BL magazine.  His duties force him to cross paths with the magazine's most successful mangaka, Sakurako Kakyoin.  It turns out that Kakyoin is a man using a female pen-name, one who is drawn to Ozawa's innate adorableness and determined to turn their professional relationship into a very personal one.  Will Kakyoin ever get the message across to his oblivious editor?  Will Ozawa ever feel comfortable with the world of gay romance?