Three stories with mediocre and simple plots, where the art is probably the best part about them.

Ouji no Kikan - 6/10 - it's mostly about a guy who changes himself radically for the one he loves, and ends up emotionally supporting the latter despite his tsundere resisting. I wasn't a fan of how one of them is always calm and the other is always angry; there isn't much depth to them.

Metamorphosis - 4/10 - tedious and dragged out. Can't say much, other than the fact that I ended up not caring about any of the characters; a day after I read it, I couldn't describe any of them, nor anything else about the story aside from unrequited feelings and a love triangle.

By His Side - 7/10 - cute, but very paint-by-numbers. Probably the best of the three, though that's not saying much. While I liked to see Haijima interacting with his crush, the relationship between Haijima and Hachiya felt underdeveloped by comparison.

... Last updated on February 8th, 2024, 2:39am

The first story was okay.
The second story was hella annoying. But the mangaka did successfully depict on how far a human's loneliness can a person withstand. It's just that the story is not my cup of tea.
The third story is full of main characters acting like idiots.

... Last updated on March 18th, 2017, 12:33am

Okay, so, as much as I do actually LOVE Junko's work, I really can't give this anything higher than an 8 without cringing. And seriously, if any other mangaka pulled the same trick and lacked Junko's style and artistic skills, I would give it a 5 in a heartbeat because the starting, and the middle too, is promising but the endings are just not doing it for me.

All three stories are well done, but the last two were much more memorable in my opinion. I like the drama displayed in the manga, it was well done and not to over-the-top like others. I especially loved the romance between Adachi and Ritsu. Ritsu was so cute and adorable. Wish there were more people like him. Anyways, a good read for anyone wanting drama.

... Last updated on August 29th, 2014, 10:07pm

Contrary to popular opinion the first story seemed like the "best" to me. Not saying it was great or something, just that the other two were even worse.

The second story was kinda wtf and boring and the third one... well... seemed incredibly cliché. At least 3 other shounen ai manga with the same plot and same setting (and one with same plot and different setting) popped into my head as I was reading it -_-

But the art is cute so I'm giving it 6 :3

First of all I can't help but point out what the heck is with the scanlations? I don't want to be disrespectful or anything, but seriously who the hell has been in charge of the scanlating job here? And the group is actually Girls' Generation, which I consider to be one of the most decent scanlators at the moment.

ANYway about the manga, I guess it was an okay read, but not much better than that. Even a bit more substance would have made me more appreciative. Especially the 2nd and 3rd stories, they both looked very promising at the start, but towards the conclusions were generally disappointing. It's such a shame if I think about it.

I didn't really enjoy the first story to be honest. I doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I think it was just there for the sake of being there. The plot is a joke. Really. I hate it. The characters were just there for the sake of being there as well. The couple doesn't make sense either. The feelings weren't there. I could even say this is very far from Junko's usual stories.

As for the second story, the plot was great. I love it, in all fairness. I'm so moved with it especially when the first guy saw his friend together with this co-club member and seemed to be kissing until they noticed they;'re presence and stuff. It was so dark and heavy. I was swoop away by it, until the ending came. And all of the sudden, it became annoying. And useless. And I didn't saw it coming, that she'll be ending the story with that kind of ending. It disappoints me until now.

Then the third story. I wasn't not that eager to read it all anymore because I have this feeling that it might end up having the same oddness from the first two. I started reading... yeah... a friend being possessive, mistaken it as love after finding out his best friend's going out with someone already, having a capable other friend as a love adviser... and I was thinking that it might end up like the the best friend was just testing the first guy if he'll be jealous and then confession then happily ever after. But it didn't happen. What happen is that he was totally rejected by the best friend (unconsciously). And to my surprise...it turned to be something else. Gosh! I started re reading it again just to understand them all clearly and when I ended up reading the ending, I was like... THIS IS THE BEST STORY OF THE MANGA! The characters were all there, the plot is quite cliche at the start and though the twist would seem quite off, as you progresses, all you could just read is something heavy but a heartwarming story. The plot is there not because it has to be there but because it really has something to tell the readers. This is the real work of Junko for me. I'm so captivated with it.

So Yep. I'm giving this a rate around 7, but as for the last stort, I'll rate it as 10!

The first story, "Ouji no Kikan", was the weakest. It was...somehow confused and I didn't like it at all.
"Metamorphosis" was much better. Nice plot but the ending (which make you feel what-the-heck-is-going-on) somehow spoiled whole impression of story.
"By His By His Side" was best story from this manga (and main reason why I'm rating as high as 7). Though it wasn't anything breathtaking but it was quite nice and easy story.

... Last updated on October 11th, 2013, 12:33pm