The plot of the story starts out just like many other manga, boy meets girl in an all female populated location similar to Love Hina. However after a few chapters, the similarities between this and most other "traditional" romantic mangas end. Another thing that I like about the plot of this title is that Akitsuki Yamato (the male protagonist and lead character) is the one who is exerting the effort to get close to Asahina Suzuka (the lead female character), this is something that reminds me of my own high school endeavors to capture the heart of my first girlfriend. Anyway aside from the similarities between this story and my own, the real reason why I like the way Akitsuki is the one who exerted the effort to get close to Asahina is that it is more realistic compared to most other romantic comedies where a hot chic would fall in love to a complete nobody, I mean come on am I the only one who thinks this sort of thing is totally unrealistic?
As the story unfolds, the characters face challenges which I believe many teenagers face such as peer pressure and dealing with their own feelings. I particularly like the part where the anime version left off because that's where things really get complicated for the characters and it's interesting to see what they will do next.
As for the characters, there is a mix of good and bad characters in the story. I particularly like Asahina Suzuka because I believe that she does not fall on any particular female anime stereotype (although I know that many people who read the manga and seen the anime are not quite fond of her). She displays a personality that I don't think I've encountered in any other character thus far and she personifies the complexities of the female mind. This is why remains one of my favorite anime characters to date.
The artwork of this manga is increible. the attention to detail is unbelievable and I like the way the characters' expressions are shown, plus I also like the large arsenal of clothes each character posses (this is something many mangas don't have, characters who have more than 1 set of clothes)
Overall Suzuka combines great artwork, great story and great characters. This is definitely a must read.
