HOUKAGO, KOISHITA

Very light-reading, feel-good manga. It's got a good mix of drama and seriousness, lots of comedy, and a surprising range of deep emotions. I will say that the beginning is a bit slow and repetitive, but, if you give it a few chapters, things do start to pick up.

The story itself is pretty good. Nothing fantastic, but it was complex enough that the narrative gave readers multiple threads to keep up with and follow. Additionally, it added some depth to characters in an otherwise fairly straightforward story.

The art is the zenith of the manga. The characters and settings are very beautiful and carefully drawn. It's just gorgeous to look at (the cover of the first volume is what drew my attention to it).

The main character is a bit off putting at the beginning, but, once you start to learn about him, I think his charm and appeal really shines through. The other characters are pretty likable from the start, though they are all painfully oblivious at times. You end up caring about all the characters in one way or another, which is difficult to do for something like this in my opinion.

If for nothing else, read it for the beautiful artwork. I wouldn't go in looking for the greatest story of all time. It's just fun and heartwarming.

I feel like Houkago, Koishite is one of the most generic shoujo I've ever read, and I've read quite a lot. Shoujo are often not terribly original, and as a fan, I'm not necessarily looking for originality, but I feel like Houkago, Koishite has nothing to distinguish it at all. The characters don't feel to me like characters so much as very generic character archetype blank slates that are there just to hit all the right beats at all the right times, in order to follow the extremely route shoujo formula. There's the kabe-don, here's the sleeve-roll, drying the hair, hiding together in the futon. They just move from shoujo trope to shoujo trope with no original details of its own. She's the typical oblivious shoujo protagonist with nothing in particular to make her stand out. She works as the manager of the sports team of the hot boy that loves to tease her, and the other hot boy who's also interested in her for some reason. It's just no comparison to other shoujo like Namaikizakari which has practically the same basic premise, and so in that sense it's also rather tropey, but there's a huge world of difference in the execution. At the same time, Houkago, Koishite isn't what I'd call terrible, though maybe being ridiculously generic is its own kind of terrible.

Story: The story of Houkago, Koishita, might seem a bit too regular at first. And yes, it's pretty much like all the shoujo romances, but somehow this one had something so eye-catching, that I just had to keep on reading!! There's not that much drama, moreover, it focuses on the small big things in life that matter for us. It's a story which could be true for any of us and that's what makes it so exciting.

Art: For me I really like a lot this manga's art style. It's not too outstanding but keeps the cute mood going. And of course, makes the characters shine!!

Characters: Such lovely characters!!! More or less just normal high school students. But wait, what is defined as normal? Exactly! No one seems too normal when gets to be picked as main characters. However, they might not be characters, but the feelings, you remember after reading the manga.

Enjoyment: As to say, I myself, have really come to like the mood of Houkago, Koishita. It's a really beautiful story, which doesn't rush things too much. And that way it keeps the readers wanting to read more and more! I really enjoy reading this since it's just something so amazing, gives of the feeling of being in love, to put it simply. Shortly said: This is shoujo romance at it's best.