L DK volume 6

L　DK（6） by 渡辺 あゆ
My rating: 2 of 5 stockings

Last instalment, Sanjo puts his cards on the line and basically tells Shusei "If you make Aoi cry one more time I will take her home instead of you.

L DK volume 6, Aoi tries her best to make Shusei happy by training with Sanjo to make the perfect dish. Shusei never even took the time to take a bite before telling Aoi he was leaving the apartment. In all desperation she confessed her love to him, and in the end ... she is left in the rain alone and rejected. Sanjo confessed to Aoi, and Shusei pores his problems onto his sister.

I honestly have a love hate relationship with this volume, the way it was headed in the first half was amazing. When Shusei said he didn't feel the same I was in a 5 stocking mindset, because how many stories end up with the romantic counterpart in the end not having any attraction to the other. I soon after thought that the writer had pulled the wool over the readers eyes in attempt to create a fake love between the two. Soon after I read that Shusei's just afraid that he might hurt her ... how LAME! Like that hasn't been done in like EVERY LOVE STORY EVER! That's why my rating went from 5 to 2 stockings ... yah BIG difference.

Review: L DK（5）

L　DK（5） by 渡辺 あゆ

My rating: 4 of 5 stockings



For the L DK volume 4 I did not write a review (I had to go to work), so instead of my "Last installable ... blah blah..." I'll just say, read volume 4.

L DK volume 5, Aoi, Shusei, and Kota (the landlady's son) all go to the amusement park. Shusei get's jealous but of who Aoi or Kota and why? A new neighbour moves in next door who also happens to go to the same school as Aoi and Shusei. With school regulations banding all dating, romance, and living arrangements with the opposite sex, Shusei does the unthinkable. What will the new neighbour Sanjo become, a friend, a foe or a lover?

This is by far the best volume up-to-date of the series, there's romance between Aoi and Shusei, but not only that it seems that he's starting to realized he might lose her. A rival character shows up, I'm not a fan of love triangles, although in this story Sanjo's more along the lines of a pair of cable jumpers and Shusei the car battery (not the best metaphor). I have no choice but to give this 4 stockings, it's that good.

Review: L DK（3）

L　DK（3） by 渡辺 あゆ

My rating: 4 of 5 stockings



Last instalment Aoi realizes that she indeed loves Shuusei, although getting her feelings to reach him will be a battle of it's own.

L DK volume 3, Aoi and Shuusei are once again living together, and hiding that fact is getting harder and harder to maintain. The titled Prince Shuusei is having a hard time keeping the women at bay never mind the girls, with a crazed cougar teacher trying to seduce Shuusei, how is Aoi supposed to get close to him? If that's not bad enough Shuusei's older brother Kugayama shows up, what does he want?

The way Shuusei handles every event and obstacle thrown at him, makes this story all the more interesting. Aoi on the other hand tends to act like the typical romance heroine, where she gets herself is horrible situations that could have been easily avoidable.

The events in this story are getting quite interesting and old plots points that were originally boring or uninteresting, have come back with a vengeance. I honestly recommend people to read this volume, it's funny cute, and you know something's wrong... I'm going to give this book 4 stockings.

Review: My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 7

My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 7 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stockings



Last installment we left Misaki and Usui at the school camp out resolving Usui's worries, this of course is before the side stories. The last side story we left off with was Usui playing prince with Yukimora's little sister, although in the end prince Usui and princess Misaki ended up together, and Yukimora and his sister regained a sibling relationship.

In volume 6 of Maid-sama/My Sweet Kaicho there's an all you can eat sweet glutton competition at Maid Cafe, of all the people to show up Shintani an old childhood friend and classmate, will her cover be blown? What started out as a girls day out to the cultural festival ended up in a date between Misaki and Usui!

I can't tell you much about what happens in the novel without giving away some key story elements and events. All I can say is that I found the two last chapters of this book too rushed. Many people must be thrilled about this volume, but look at the two last chapters I'm someone who likes to savor a long awaited moment not someone who rushes to it and then puts it on the back burner. I can't give it 5 stockings but I can give it 4.5 stockings.

Review: My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 6

My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 6 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 3 of 5 stockings



In the previous installment of Maid-Sama!/My Sweet Kaicho we left Kanou wondering why Usui and Misaki try to deny and and their feelings for one another. Once he confronted Misaki she claimed that he was mistaken and no such chemistry is between them. When Kanou confronted Usui he claimed he has already tired of girls.

In volume 6 of My Sweet Kaicho there's a new student who enrolled in high school Shintani Hinata, his sole purpose for transferring is to find his first love. But just wait this bottomless stomach of a man clams that his first loves name is Misaki-chan ... could it be that Usui's got some competition on his hands? What will happen to Misui, will it actually become Misani? Will new love blossom read to find out. We as the readers will be following Misaki, Usui and Shintani durring an outdoor school campout where they have to barricade the boys and girls apart for safety reasons.

I for one liked this volume, it has a good flow and vibe to it. There is a new possible main character slash wedge in between Misaki and Usui introduced, which keeps things "fresh" as we get into the later volumes. It kind of seems to me that Misaki and Usui's relationship is starting to get a little stale, don't get me wrong I'll voting for them to end up together. It just seams as if something is missing or it's going in a different direction. Because of this I gave it 3 stockings out of 5.

View all my reviews

Review: My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 5

My Sweet Kaicho, Vol. 5 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 4 of 5 stockings



Last installment we left after two small side stories and the maid beach house. We start volume 5 with Misaki and her friends, and planing to go to a tea party with some band members. The reason for this high school friend Sakura (short pigtail girl) has a crush on one of them and must get the chance to meet him. Misaki in need of some girl time tags along, but unknown to these girls, the band members aren't as devoted to their fans as they portray.

That isn't the only problem, someone is trying to buy Maid Latte, but who would in their right mind dare to do this to the cafe. It doesn't take much of a scientist to figure out that Igarashi Tora the student council president of Myabigaoka Academy is behind it. When push comes to shove, Misaki joins a partner competition with one of her co-workers in the best butler competition to show the cafe and her worth. The catch it's an all male competition.

In Maid-Sama or My Sweet Kaicho volume 5 we get to view a little more of Usui, we get to see more of his serious side which was a rare in the previous volumes. We get a glimpse of his apartment where there's only a table and a couch, in his refrigerator there's only a bottle of water and some juice. You not only get to see more of Usui but also more of the perfect Misaki's not so perfect cooking.

I loved the co-operation between Usui and Misaki and how she finally realized how much she actually depends on Usui. The big story really started to get momentum in volume 5 which starts to give you a few ideas to different outcomes to the story. I'll give this novel 4 out of 5 stockings, a volume that can not be skipped out of the series and definitively worth the read.

View all my reviews

Review: Maid Sama!, Vol. 4

Maid Sama!, Vol. 4 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Last installment we left with Kanon trying to hypnotizing Usui. At the beginning of the fourth volume Kanon fails at hypnotizing Usui into hating Misaki. With his plans of getting rid of the female body in Seika High, he tries plan-b and hypnotized Misaki. When she wakes up at 7 o'clock in the morning she will hate Usui, but with Usui's help she's able to stay awake and avoid being hypnotized.

With a girl hating hypnotist on a rampage in the school, Misaki trying to increase enrollment into Seika High and the maids at the cafe try to help the manager's sister succeed in her beach side shop. With so much happening how can Misaki ever rest.

I enjoyed the fact that Aoi made another appearance in this volume. Misaki and Usui's romance is finally starting to grow, to a more then obvious state to all who see them together. The story's slowly progressing, as real life would make it seem. If you compare it to novels the romance and story is sluggishly advancing. But you can see that characters both major and minor are slowly evolving and breaking through their obstacles. Which is a nice aspect to this series.

I'm giving volume 4, 4 out of 5 stars isn't that neat. The reason for this is because Aoi makes an appearance, just kidding. The actual reason is because the Misui relationship is progressing at an enjoyable rate (you see what I did Misaki + Usui = Misui. Also Usui's love towards Misaki is all too obvious ... who is he? We haven't yet been able to find out ... it's starting to bug me. Maybe it will be revealed in the next installment of Maid Sama!



View all my reviews

Review: Maid Sama!, Vol. 3

Maid Sama!, Vol. 3 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Last installment we left with Seika Senior High midway through their sports festival with Misaki winning all the sporting events up to date (except one) with the goal to make life more comfortable for the female population.

In Maid Sama! volume 3 we continue the sporting festival by following an exhausted Misaki while she fights to win and also shows her soft side. Misaki's high school life isn't getting any easier neither is her work or social life. With many twists and turns from a cross dressing boy trying to steal Usui away by any means to mysterious happenings involving a high school hypnotist, life is anything but easy.

I found this volume fun and cute, although unlike the second volume it's more serious. The romance in this novel is slow if not at a standstill Usui just can't get his feeling to reach Misaki no matter how he tries. Although Misaki just isn't realizing her feeling, with helps prolong the story while the readers hope for the relationship to blossom. With the main two mostly detailed while the other characters are more background detail, it certainly helps with foreshadowing.

Don't get me wrong I did enjoy the read but I'll have to give it 3 out of 5 stars. I really liked Aoi-chan's appearance and hoped to see more of her, although it was short lived. The only serious event that might effect Misaki and Seika High is in the last chapter of Maid Sama! volume 3. If you're accustomed to reading my reviews, slow books with the intent to foreshadow the next book are a big turn off to me. This book is somewhat like that, although there were still some consistency to what I like to call mini stories or mini events.



View all my reviews

Review: Maid Sama!, Vol. 2

Maid Sama!, Vol. 2 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



We currently left volume one with Usui confessing to Misaki. In the second installment a flustered Misaki can't keep her head on straight, unsure of what Usui's got up his sleeve, so sure that he's messing with her. Her presidential work piles up, she isn't able to study, she can't concentrate on anything including the cafe. A series of events happens possible romance, school festival, Misa ... the boy!? and is the president switching schools!?

Volume 2 of Maid Sama! stays true to the initial portrayal of the characters in the first volume, little character development is made which normal for this type of story, after all it is only the second volume. Besides the recent list of characters, we have a new face added to the story I'll just say he's the president of another school and keep it at that.

I enjoyed the fact that Misaki enjoyed being a boy more than a girl, which didn't impress Usui. The side stories are very fun and light hearted which make the read enjoyable and slow paced. They are a few serious moments and knight on a white horse moments, but all in all this volume can't compare to the first, although the art work is as beautiful as always. I liked it but that's it, it's a good story but not 5 star good, that's why I'm giving it 3 stars.



View all my reviews

Review: Maid Sama!, Vol. 1

Maid Sama!, Vol. 1 by Hiro Fujiwara

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The first installment of Maid Sama! Bad tempered, boy hating Misaki Ayuzawa, is president to a school of an 80% boy population school. Her more then prejudice attitude towards any male, has caused her more then enough problems when it comes to the student council and overall student body respect. Although she has her own reasons, when she was younger her father fell in dept and left the family with the dept to payoff while he ran away from responsibility.To re-pay the dept and support her fragile mother and little sister she works as a maid at a cafe. One day Usui-san discovered her secret! What will happen to Misaki, will Usui-san spill the beans?

I enjoyed this manga very much, I usually don't write reviews from manga because they either lack to much information to write about, they didn't peek my interest, too predictable, characters aren't interesting, or it's just plain boring\bad. This manga is none of those, it has just enough happening in every chapter to keep my interest while sticking to the main plot.

I like the fact that you actually get to follow Misaki Ayuzawa story and see why she acts the way she does, her background story, a growing romance, and also a change in character. Most manga miss the fact that the first volume of a series is to introduce your main characters and not keep everyone in the dark. I think that most authors think that the readers should already know what's happening without even telling them anything, which really just leaves plot holes everywhere.

Maid Sama! volume 1 gets a total of 4 stars for an introduction volume to a series. It gives enough information to the story while still withholding just enough to make readers want more. I definitely recommend it to my readers who want a romance, comedy, shoujo, school life manga.



View all my reviews