Dengeki Daisy is one of those rare mangas that no matter the genre, it can be counted as one of the best ever written. Now, that may seem biased and foolish to others because people are constantly tauting things as "Amazing" and "The greatest" for works that deserve a F- in all categories all because they are popular and mind numbing.

Dengeki Daisy isn't like that. It actually has a well thought out plot, one that is structurally sound, interesting, and tight as a story line can possibly be. To be truthful, if you pay close enough attention to the plot you can notice that every little thing that seems "insignificant" ends up being extremely significant later on. The plot, from a writers perspective, is beyond masterful. I can not express how well it was executed. Yes, the idea itself isn't all that perfect and a few things are not actually correct, but you tend to look over such things so it doesnt bother many, if any. The art is unique and progressely gets better, for the most part it has its own charm.

The main characters are a dream for a shojou yet we've seen they're types before. Yet, somehow, someway it ended up being completely different. We have Teru, a poor but strong young girl who lost her brother three years prior to the story and the only person she can count on, emotionally, is a person named Daisy who only contacts her via a phone given to her by her late older brother. There are many ways this could have gone, and if the author was anyone else, I'm sure it would have ended the first few volumes. Instead of doing things gimmicky, it is mature, with a hint of childishness that balances out the sadness and drama. Then there is Kurosaki, a devilish tsundere janitor at the school who by a cliche accident becomes her "master". As it progresses we learn (pretty much in the first couple of chapters) that he is indeed Daisy and is watching over and gently caring for Teru at the behest of her brother. Its easy to see that he truly does care about her and his jerky facade is only to keep her from learning he is her beloved "Daisy". Later on, when you learn about his past, you can not help but feel warm inside when you see his gentle and innocent smiles. (which fortunately make a come back.) Both characters start out strong and only grow stronger, their character devolopment is consistent and interesting. While the first volume starts out shakey, it soon evens out. (I should remind you that DD was originaly supposed to be 3 chapters long and thus the so-so beginning is forgivable.) Every character in the story is likable and is well protrayed. Somehow they ended up being very human (which is hard to accomplish...Trust me.... T.T) When they face hard times, or when they are upset, when facing drama, their actions and emotions are realistic. Like many of us, they do what they can to keep things from falling apart and never utter those clich words of "With the power of love everything is forigiven!" Because like in real life somethings can't be forgiven, especially by the "sinner" themselves and sometimes that can not heal a person.

This manga touches on some really interesting, albiet slightly heavy topics. Regret, sins, the right to be happy, burdens, overcoming the past. Its an engaging read to say the least. It always borders on being realistic with a hint of fantasy.. Anyone that says it has gotten boring lately deserves to be punished. Its just started heating up for the last and most important arc. (Again, can not stress how much you should have taken note of the little things. Chapter 12 and beyond was the obvious route from the beginning.) I feel that as of chapter 68 that there should be at least three more volumes to properly end the series. If there isnt...I'm going to be upset.

i dislike most shoujo, but this is an exception, because it has none of the inane tropes of a typical shoujo romance. for one, the male lead is neither perfect nor an abusive jerk who makes you wonder why anyone would fall in love with him; he has a temper, is lazy, curmudgeonly, and likes to tease people, but he also cares a lot about people close to him, and goes to bat for them. but the female lead is what makes this really special. teru is no shrinking violet, she's not dumb and cutesy, and she takes action when it's needed. she, too, isn't perfect, but the plot does not rest on stupid mistakes and constant miscommunication. oh yes, there is an actual plot; the romance doesn't carry this all by itself. in fact the romance is very slow in some ways; don't expect there to be lots of kissing and smoopy stuff; i'm on chapter 44 and there's not been any of that. it is very romantic nonetheless; it's all in the growth of the relationship and how the characters relate to each other, and how they deal with some serious adversity that's thrown at them. i cannot stress enough how impressive the female lead is; how she thinks things through even if initially she reacts badly. and to top it all off, the manga is also funny, and the humour balances well with the sometimes very serious and sad parts, which is hard to achieve.

good plot, great characters, nice art (not very flowery, yay) -- i am not gonna rate it yet because it's still ongoing, but if it continues this way, i don't see why i wouldn't give it a 10; i got emotionally invested when reading this (which is rare for me), and went to grab every raw i could find after i got done with the scanlated chapters; read it all in one sitting (now my butt hurts). definitely gonna buy it too. awesome job by motomi kyousuke; we need more mangaka like him/her.

... Last updated on February 27th, 2011, 6:28am

I'm giving this a high recommendation for people who like the un-typical shoujou manga. The characters are like characters you'd want for a story. The main girl isn't your clumsy, dumb, doesn't-know-what-love-is-kind-of-girl, she isn't pure strong, she doesn't cry because she found some sort of dreadful secret. She is rather the type to smile to hide her pain, which shows she is strong like that. She can act as if she knows nothing when she knows an awful lot. The guy isn't your typical bad boy. His coldness/coolness hides his real feelings(can't describe him ugh==") The deceased brother is pretty interesting as well. I think the feelings cause the mystery and suspense itself. Besides the mystery behind Daisy's past.

This is above average for what it is (a shoujo manga), but if you know even a little about programming, UNIX/Linux, or network security in general, it is REALLY REALLY STUPID. The "hacking" done by Daisy isn't often touched on, but when it is, it will make you roll your eyes. I almost put it down because of how unrealistic it is, but I kept going because I know the focus isn't really on Daisy's hacking adventures.

Just to give you a little insight into the situation:

That's without even mentioning what Daisy's "exploits" even consist of. Where's nagios? ANY kind of server monitoring tool? COMPUTERS DON'T WORK THAT WAY.

Like I mentioned, if you're not very tech-savvy or aren't really into netsec, his exploits are just going to go right over your head and you won't know the difference. And in that case, it's an awesome shoujo manga that is head and shoulders above the rest. Nice romance, cool characters, good pacing. But if you even know an iota of information about "hacking" (oh that term, oh how I hate it) you will see Dengeki Daisy go full retard about it and you will get very very annoyed.

... Last updated on July 31st, 2012, 4:39am

I can't even begin to write how wonderful, amazing, heartbreaking, and phenomenal this manga is. I don't usually say this much about mangas, but this has to be an exception. Before, my favorite shojo was Skip Beat!, but this has gone above and beyond romance-wise. I first started this a couple of months ago, read the chapters had been scanned and moved off to other titles. Yesterday I read all the new raws (up to ch.29) that somebody had kindly put up, and my mind was blown. It is an amazing mix of romance and drama and mystery. For those who have started this already, keep reading! It gets SO much better. And for those who haven't started yet, this is definitely a must read! Go read it now! You won't regret it!

I don't think I can explain in words why this manga is so amazing. To start it off, I'll try to name a few.
The art is so awesome. Daisy is drawn in such an attractive manner that I have actually printed and traced drawings of him in hopes for me to possibly be able to possess the talent of drawing characters as good looking as the mangaka does.That sounds kind of creepy but whatever.

Wonderful character development. The author finds a nice balance between cliche airheads and seriously messed up people. Though the characters have flaws, they still character the fairy-tail-like aura that most shoujo mangas are supposed to carry. I like how the characters are not perfect but rather have some hilarious character quirks.

Actually, let me delve deeper into the core part of shoujo manga--the male lead. All in all, I'll make it short and sweet. I want to marry this dude. Not because he's perfect (he really isn't) but he seems like a real person. I want to applaud the male mangaka who has finally been able to break his male lead out of the "perfect prince charming" with no personality. I am tired of mangas with male leads who have no personality (coughVampireKnightcough).

Lastly, this manga is so funny. Haha

... Last updated on November 27th, 2009, 1:43pm

This was a lovely manga in my opinion. It can tend to drag a lot but it's worth it. I love the main character, and the male lead wasn't too shabby if I do say so myself. The side characters were all lovely as well, and believe me the more you read the more the 'hacker' plot starts to make sense. This is definitely a manga that you need to read a lot of before it makes sense to you, but it is worth it. This is one of my favorite manga and one of the few series that I love enough to be willing to spend the money to get the physical copy.

The art is also great, so that's a bonus.

I totally agree with sissydaredevil. Daisy is a great male character. It's sooo refreshing to see him react to situation with real responses like embarrassment, anger, or sadness, etc. He's got a personality! He's not stereotypically stoic, emo or deadpan like most shoujo male characters. And likewise, Teru is a very intelligent and perceptive girl. I totally love that! She's not some stupid, helpless chick who always needs to be rescued. She's scared when the situation calls for it, sad when she should be, and courageous/resourceful when need be. Her reactions to serious situations don't feel forced or overdone so it's very enjoyable to watch. Again, she's another not-so-stereotypical shoujo character. These two guys (Daisy and Teru) are some of my favorite manga characters. They have emotional depth and, most importantly, they have great chemistry!

Okay, if you count art as an important factor to determine which shoujo is the best, then maybe you won't say Basara or 7 Seeds.
If you think romance is important, then I guess you won't pick Natsume Yuujinchou or Banana Fish.
If your soul isn't mature enough or you hate angst, maybe you'll count Kare Kano out.
If you the type who shout 'the heroine cries every chapter! weak! weak! weak! i'm totally dropping this' then maybe you've dropped Immortal Rain already.
You occupied your reading-manga time with stuffs like Kaichou wa Maid Sama, Special A, Goong, Black Bird, Bride of The Water God, Faster Than a Kiss, etc. And then you come to worship this manga. How sad. This manga is superior, no doubt, but that's because the standard of shoujo manga for the readers was already too low.

Likeable characters, exciting plot, favorite pairing, and more than skin deep story, right? Then if anything, this manga is on par with Skip Beat. I like the latter more, but it's just my preference.

While I'm at it, honorable mention for great shoujo manga: NG Life, Kamisama Hajimemashita, Gold Rush 21, Akagami no Shirayukihime, Akatsuki no Yona, Golden Days, Issho ni Neyou yo, Mekakushi no Kuni, Reimei no Arcana.

... Last updated on May 1st, 2013, 10:37pm

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Actually, amazing isn't even the word - more like fantastic.

The characters are realistic and distinctly original and non-cliche. Teru isn't the type of heroine who is kind to everyone and cries in every chapter, who has no flaws but clumsiness and trusting everyone/the wrong people. She doesn't make every mistake humanly possible, and she isn't stupid, or even extremely smart. She's just - normal. She makes mistakes, she insults people, she lies on occasion, and is, while far from perfect, in general a good person.

Also, in many other manga, the male lead is usually the most popular boy in school who seems to have no flaws (and really shouldn't notice the heroine at all, but does for some strange reason). That is most definitely not Kurosaki. He's violent, he's got a short temper, he's perverted, he smokes, he's lazy - again, inwardly a very good person, but he's HUMAN, which is so refreshing.

...And the rest of the characters are great as well - and all the dialog and character interactions are great. And you can really see how all of the cast - especially our two main characters - grow and develop as you go along. It's fantastic.

AND THE PLOT. It actually has a plot. An excellent plot, which builds and grows and when you re-read the manga, you'll go, "...Wow! I can totally see why this happened now!" But even when you first read a chapter which later leads into something bigger, you're not lost, or confused. You're right there with the characters, and likely you won't even realize what just happened was important until later in the story when it all clicks together. And nothing happens as you think it will - there are so many unexpected twists in this manga that eventually you give up trying to predict what will happen next and just go along for the ride.

Also, even between all the drama, there's something to make you laugh. The humor isn't usually (/is almost never) in an inappropriate place, though you may not see it coming, and there's something worth giggling/quoting to your friends in every chapter.

SUMMARY (for those of you who didn't want to read all that):
Characters: 9/10 (well-developed, original)
Plot: 9/10 (interesting, twisty)
Art: 8/10 (very simple, but nice)

Edit: Well...frankly, I'm not nearly as into this manga as I was at its beginning.

I feel like romance and humor has sort of taken a backseat to lots of back-stories and a confusing and detail-oriented plot. The humor hasn't really changed or matured much over the volumes, and I can only read "I hope you go bald, Kurosaki!" so many times before it stops being funny. To put it simply, with all the action and mystery and drama and psychological-ness, this doesn't feel like a shoujo anymore, but rather a mislabeled shounen manga. And shounens are nice enough, some of them, but that's really not what I was expecting when I started reading this - I like the fluffiness and romance that the shoujo genre is known for.

So the rating has gone down for me - currently, it's at 6/10. But, I haven't yet grown irritated enough to drop this, so maybe it will get better as time goes on.

... Last updated on January 10th, 2012, 3:05pm