20 replies to this topic

[svines85]

Not quite sure why there's never been a discussion thread started for this manga, it's a great shoujo romance. Lots of story left even at this point, 4 more volumes from here says Akuma Love Scans.........and thanks to them for continuing this great manga.

Chapter 61 was a little cliched......that's really been on the rise since the earlier part of the story it seems......but still very good with Meguro now starting to excel in his musical work and Maria seemingly starting to remember and deal with some of her earlier childhood trauma.

Hopefully everyone who's a fan of this manga will take the opportunity to discuss it here.

[inzaratha]

That was a shame he misunderstood, but he didn't know someone tried to hurt her.

[Purple Library Guy]

svines85, I must say I'm less forgiving than you. This manga had a strong start, but it's been getting more and more histrionic, more and more implausible, and at the same time the one major element that gave it gusto is disappearing. That is, at the beginning Maria herself was this interesting, strong character with a strange combination of benevolence and coldness. IMO the author hasn't handled her transition well; she's on an arc to shed certain neuroses and acquire the ability to be more touchy-feely and personable, which is fine, but in the process she's losing her mojo.
She was always the only character in the cast who rose above typical stock manga personnel (don't get me wrong, a couple of the others are quite decently done for what they are, but what they are is classic cardboard manga central casting). Lately she hasn't been, as much.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind cliche in shoujo, as a rule. But when you take cliche and add in plot manipulation, jerking the events around with implausible but oh-so-predictable co-incidences, my patience begins to wear thin. For me that kind of tactic makes the manga lose sincerity, lose heart. And for me, the most absolutely essential ingredient for a shoujo is heart.

Somewhere in the early-to-mid-going I considered this a great shoujo romance. But for all the skills the mangaka is showing, at this point I'm barely considering it an OK shoujo romance. It doesn't make me feel eager to read new chapters any more.

[svines85]

@PLG

Well, I can't say I disagree with you. It really was far better, much more original in it's story line (or certainly in some of the background of the story line) and characterizations earlier in the story. It seemed to me that the author created a wonderful character in Maria with some fairly original motivations and back story, but in doing so actually seemed to, at least as far as the originality part, somewhat paint herself into a corner about just what to do with her after she'd created her.

Not that having Maria "overcome" all her obstacles, everyone come to love her and get the Hero and ride off into the sunset "happily ever after" style together isn't still good stuff...........but yeah, it's become much more formulaic in the last third or so of the story we have so far. Kind of like this most recent chapter, I mean, how many times in a shoujo story (romance of any genre for that matter) have we seen one character secretly see their potential love interest doing something we know is innocent but looks like a "betrayal"? Too many times to count.........and that's a little bit of a let down.

But I won't give up on it, I think the author began very well so I'm hoping we've just been coasting for a while and things will escalate from here.

[svines85]

Well, I guess it was a given that the tension and misunderstanding between them were going to spiral from last chapter, it's not like there's ever been a lot of honesty between the two about their feelings.........both of them at fault at this point, though it looks like some of it on Maria's part might be subconscious.

[inzaratha]

Yes I agree with both of you on the decline. I hope that her saying that pushes him to say something at least, I got so frusterated with Meguro I like the other guys better.

[svines85]

Oh wow, that seemed like an eventful chapter..........after forever that is. We've been circling around for so long now it seems weird that he's just now deciding he likes her >_<

[Purple Library Guy]

For sure. Let's see how hard that current can hit now that the dam is burst. Things are looking up.

[Kaybee]

Wait, did he just say embrace? Isn't that the euphemism for sex that they use in shoujo manga?

[yserieh]

Dramatic misunderstanding! And Maria slowly drifts towards her dark thoughts. This could have been avoided had Megu just been a decent human being and been honest.

 

 

Wait, did he just say embrace? Isn't that the euphemism for sex that they use in shoujo manga?

 

And yes. Or at least give her a loving kiss in the PG-13 world.

Edited by yserieh, 24 March 2013 - 10:15 AM.

[svines85]

Ahhh, so Shintarou finally found a way to step on a land mine..........it had to happen sooner or later, he's not exactly the king of tactfulness. >_<

 

And finally somebody in the story actually said it.........."you're both so clumsy after all"

[svines85]

Wow, those were some kinda ugly repressed memories  >_<

[inzaratha]

That was a pretty intense chapter. 

[svines85]

Yeah it was. And though I know we already knew some of that information (second hand at least) from the nun at her previous school, it's really been quite a while........... so all that really kind of hit hard to see her reliving it like she was. 

[svines85]

..............wow. This has taken on like, Shakespearean tragic proportions. >_<

[svines85]

well, that was a pretty generic, shoujo-y chapter............oh well, I still hope we'll back to more like it was in its earlier chapters. 

[inzaratha]

Maria was being a bit forward there, or she probably misunderstood his intentions.  Last couple of chapters were ok, but I still don't think Maria is as strong a character as she was in the beginning. 

[svines85]

Maria was being a bit forward there, or she probably misunderstood his intentions.  Last couple of chapters were ok, but I still don't think Maria is as strong a character as she was in the beginning. 

Yeah, definitely, it was a much more  "different" type of shoujo work when it started than it is right now.............still good, I still enjoy it.........but yeah, it's definitely become more "main stream". 

[inzaratha]

Wow, so she is a half and the child of a rape, which is probably why her mother killed herself ( ptsd) and shw was in an orphanage. Also a huge stigma in Japan to be such a child.
But uncovering the truth might bring Maria some way to deal with it mentally.
Meguro had learned that but hid it from her, acting like he knows what is good for her rather than having her know what is good for her herself.

I know people very well with similar backgrounds and they usually lie about the child's source to protect the kid, at least to strangers. I don't mean they necessarily lie to the kid but tell others a different back story such as they were divorced or the child's father died. This is usually done to prevent the social stigma which is one of the worst one can have in many societies.

Some things that annoyed me - the rapist Had to be an American, right?

Whatever, I guess this is going for a Meguro end... But I don't like the treatment of the side guys etc.

[svines85]

Yeah, that was a very revealing chapter as far as Maria's past..........I think maybe her being the child of a rape victim and that social stigma leading to her mother's death might have been alluded to in the earlier chapters, but we've certainly never had it confirmed and spelled out so clearly and definitely before.

 

And on a side note it seems like she really may have messed up his hand, it's a wonder he hasn't gone and gotten some better medical opinions/treatment on it given his piano playing dreams.