KARE FIRST LOVE

Maybe I've grown old and cranky and don't feel as sentimental and "moe" as I should, but a spineless character always having glassy eyes, crying at the drop of a hat and constantly needing assurance, pulling the damsel in distress, fixated with her boyfriend act really annoyed me in this one.

On the plus side, the male lead is portrayed quite realistically, albeit a little too affectionate and obsessed, hehe though I suppose that's what shoujo is all about. Also the mangaka has clearly considered almost every dilemna and heartwrenching issue that adolescents are faced with and has dealt with each such situation very maturely, so yes, for the right age group, I'm sure this story will hold much appeal and fascination. The humor and subsequent facial expressions, chibi versions and dialogues at many points made me unexpectedly laugh out loud, which is always a bonus.

There are plenty of intimate and touching scenes drawn very sweetly and appropriately, but sometimes, you just want to see what's happening from a different angle or perspective. The close ups for Aoi (who after one year into the relationship is still called by his surname by Karin!) are disarmingly ethereal, as are Karin's.

However, my main gripe with this otherwise well made story is the two leads' first kiss. I don't know if that can ever happen in even manga universe, but it was a little far fetched for me. I suppose it was essential to character development though, and made the story all the more charming.

Omg, STAY AWAY!
Seriously mannn I totally wasted half my life watching this crap T_T.
Well I wasted maybe an hour, so do yourself a favour and don't read this okay?

Like, the reason I read this was because it was on Mars' recommendation list (awesome manga you've probably read it? If not GO READ IT NOW!!!!!!).

Umm yeah what's the story about?
There's a hot guy and he's popular and a playboy and there's a plain girl who's shy or whatever.
Anyway they start to like each other but girl can't be with boy so she gets depressed and goes to a club gets wasted and almost gets raped. (She's 16 btw >.

I have seen people who either love or hate this manga. I am one who loves it. Yes is cliched, yes it is predictable. But it is adorable and the artwork is amazing.

The artwork is what first caught my attention when I was looking for a new manga to read. I picked it up and immediately loved the cover. So I figured giving it a read wouldn't hurt. If I didn't like it, I'd stop. Turns out I loved it more than I thought. I read all 10 volumes in a week. just because I had to order in book 5-7.

As for the story, yes it is cliched, but it really works with the plot of the manga. If it was any other way I don't think it would be an adorable story.

I'm not generally one to read much in the way of romance in anything, but this is one that I will come back to again and again. When I need an escape from life, this is the manga that I will pick up to read.

So if you enjoy a cute little story with not a lot of thinking involved. Just an escape piece, then check this manga out.

This manga may seem as though it's one of the typical makeover stories but it's not; sure enough, the protagonist wears glasses and turns out to be a really attractive girl, but issues such as family, first time sex experiences, and other issues such as first love experiences all occur in this manga.

I wouldn't call it a short series or long one, but just about readable! I thoroughly enjoyed it. This manga was sentimental, there were funny parts too, but definitely a touching manga for those who are into shojou and romance!

RECOMMENDED =D

Also, photography plays quite a main role in this manga, but it doesn't discuss anything about specific techniques whatsoever. More importantly, the main character (the girl) renews the main character's (boy) passion for photography once again after a tragic incident in his past which prevented him from taking photography seriously.

oops. written a bit too much here.

enjoy ^^

This story was wonderful. it actually tells a story about true love and the hardships of it. i really enjoyed reading this story.

My review may be a bit skewed since I dropped the book like, 3 chapters in.

But I've never wished so desperately to be a character in a book before (okay I have HAHA)

If I ever met Kara I would do this:
*knock knock tok tok* on her head. "Excuse me where's your brain?? Have you tried looking in the dustbin?" *opens dustbin* "OH wait, even the dustbin doesn't want your brain!"

I was so fed up with her. Ugh. I CANNOT understand why she was so submissive towards the mean girls but towards the ML (sorry, can't rmb his name) she was so aggressive? The difference in attitude is just wow.

I am not hating on the author, it's just that I didn't really enjoy this. I hope I didn't offend those who enjoyed this book! See you all :)

Kare First Love is just another shoujo manga. I feel that while it does discuss topics that not many other manga do, I also feel that its lackluster leads drag the story down somewhat.

Story: I feel that the story is about average. It does discuss topics like dating older men and teen pregnancy and overbearing parents, and the characters play their parts well. I do feel that the story somewhat reaches a plateau for a little while in the middle. But overall it is a good story.

The real trouble I had with this series is the characters. The two leads are not compelling at all. Karin, our female protagonist changes very little from the beginning to the end of the work. As for the male protagonist, you hate him or love him. There is not real depth to them. I found the side characters to shine more, especially the character Nanri. Miyasaki-sensei put in so many shades to her character and really made her dynamic.

In short, read it if you are waiting for the release of something else, or if you're looking for something to do. Otherwise it's not really worth too much effort.

I started reading this with the impression that it would turn out to be a cute enjoyable manga to read, with the cool guy falling for the geeky girl. And it was for the first maybe 16 chapters.
But then I really couldn't help getting irritated...The story got stuck on one certain problem and I only got fed up with the main person Karin, and the story got stuck there for too long without moving on.
I think this story could suit those who don't mind cute innocent and a bit oblivious lead characters, but for me it all became to much.
Up to about chapter 16 it was a 7 but I lowered it to a 6 after I had finished it, cause this manga just didn't do it for me.
I like the art though but as I said the story should have moved on and not lingered too long at one place.
But then this is my opinion there eill be others who'll defenitly think the opposite of what I do.

Kare First Love features the kind of tropey set-up I really personally dislike. Karin is super nerdy, mousy, has no real friends, and is a constant target of bullying. Understandably, this makes her really suspicious and even a little hostile to any popular person that acts nice to her, as she's had so many bad experiences, she can only assume they're making fun of her or have some other ulterior motive. However, this also means that's she's basically completely unlikable, with no redeeming features except surprise, surprise she's just so cute when she's not wearing glasses, as if somehow glasses can somehow trick everyone into thinking she's just so ugly. For some reason, Kiriya alone notices how cute she is, and even though she continues to be a little hostile, he's just so interested in pursuing her, I guess mostly on the basis of she's just so cute when she's not wearing glasses. For some people this might be fun wish fulfillment, but I personally can't enjoy a romance where I can't understand why one of the characters would be so into the other. The other thing about this one that's a turn off for me is the focus on bullying, which is rather realistic and therefore can be hard to read.

This was one of the manga's I read while in high school. I came back to it about 7 years later and enjoyed it just as much. It's a cute story and the fact that the relationship between the characters flourishes the way it does, warms my heart. It hit a lot of the pressure points most girls have when it comes to strict families and upbringing to start understanding that it's okay to have a boyfriend. Also stresses a good part about how she deals with a teenage boys libido with the way she is. The insecurities and all make it very real. It felt like a touch of slice-of-life but not as "depressive-ness" I guess?

I also love the guy's point of view where it's not all about the girl. He also has a life of his own and he's pursuing that. He's ambitious and passionate about his photography which really adds to the story.