Honey and Clover – The End

Honey and Clover (ハチミツとクローバー) is about five art school students who become close friends for one reason or another. The three guys – Morita, Takemoto and Mayama – all live together in a crumbling apartment, while Yamada lives with her parents on the local shopping street and Hagu – the shy, tiny art prodigy – lives with her cousin, a teacher at the school.

It wouldn’t be a group of young folks without a few love triangles, but the relationships of the students and their interests are realistic and very easy to relate to, even for those of us who have long since become jaded adults.

B. Ichi

Almost as soon as it was published in Shonen GanGan as a one-shot, Soul Eater became wildly popular in Japan with fans clamoring for more. However, B.ichi was actually Atsushi Ohkubo’s debut series.

In an alternate world there are dokeshis who have special abilities and are generally hated by the rest of the world. B. Ichi (B壱; B.One) is about one named Shotaro with the ability to take on the power of any animal whose bone he puts in his mouth. He is searching for his childhood best friend Emine when he meets Mana and Yohei, who decide to help him out when the other dokeshis run amok.

Arina Tanemura Otaku Week: Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross

In Japan, Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross (紳士同盟†; Shinshi Doumei Kurosu) was affectionately referred to as ShinKuro, which I adopted immediately as both the original and translated titles were both tiring. It’s fitting, though, for a series that spans 11 volumes and has something along the lines of 30-40 characters.

Haine is a former delinquent who was given to the Otomiya family in return for a business loan to save the Kamiya family from bankruptcy. She ends up going to the prestigious Imperial Academy to chase after Shizumasa Togu, a boy she’s been in love with since they were children, only for him to treat her coldly and refuse any contact with her whatsoever. Haine is upset but the blow is softened just a tad when she walks in on Shizumasa and his lover – who happens to be another guy.

Arina Tanemura Otaku Week: Fullmoon o Sagashite

Fullmoon (満月をさがして; Fullmoon o sagashite) is the magical alter ego of Mitsuki, a girl with throat cancer whose only dream is to become a singer. Forbidden to have anything to do with music by her domineering grandmother, she submits a demo to a record company’s talent contest and wins a spot – only to be locked up by said grandmother and have a pair of shinigami come through the wall to take her soul.

This was actually the first manga I ever read in English by Arina Tanemura, which is why I thought it best to start off the week.

Arina Tanemura Otaku Week: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne

I knew of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (神風怪盗ジャンヌ; Kamikaze Phantom Thief Jeanne) before I’d ever really read any of it simply because I saw a few chapters in Ribon. Oddly, Viz (who holds the rights to every other Tanemura series) didn’t have the rights to it and it was published by CMX, making it a bit harder to find. But we have ways, don’t we?

Jeanne has one of the oddest premises for a manga ever: Maron Kusakabe is the reincarnation of Jeanne D’Arc, able to seal off the demons that are hidden inside beautiful paintings.