Née un 19 septembre, dans la préfecture de Shimane.
Après de nombreuses années dans le milieu du fanzinat, Nikki Asada lance profesionnellement sa carrière en 2008, avec une histoire courte intitulée Hatsukoi Cheers (dans le “Monthly Princess” d'Akita Shoten).
En 2010, elle débute sa toute première série, Bienvenue au club, toujours dans le “Monthly Princess” d'Akita Shoten. Cette série s'impose très vite auprès d'un lectorat mixte, grâce à ses personages sensibles… et surtout comiques ! Le succès est tel que Bienvenue au club totalise aujourd'hui déjà 8 volumes.
Grâce à ce premier gros succès, la mangaka se fait remarquer, et commence de nombreuses autres séries chez d'autres éditeurs : Navigatoria (dans Be Love, de Kôdansha), Yowatomo (dans PASH! De Shufutoseikatsusha) ou même Meitanteibu kono ato sugu ! (dans Young Ace de Kadokawa Shoten). Cela n'est pas tout, puisque Nikki Asada illustre également Kanagatari, un essay-manga scénarisé par la très célèbre Kana Hanazawa (doubleuse, chanteuseet actrice). Il lui arrive également assez fréquemment de signer des illsutrations pour les concerts et goodies officiels de cette dernière.
Fin mai 2014, la mangaka très prolifique, débute encore une nouvelle série : Hoshigami-kun ha doukashiteiru sera prépublié dans le magazine shôjo très ado Dessert, de Kôdansha. Cela lui fera donc 5 séries en cours !
Suehiro hasn’t quite expressed her feelings to Takasago and now he says he wants to stop being friends!? Woe betide, surely a mix-up of epic proportions is about to befall us? Or maybe people are going to stop messing around as the last volume of the series comes calling…
Yeah, last volume, that sort of snuck up on us. Still, the series takes the reigns back immediately and while Suehiro sure does take what Takasago said in the cliffhanger the wrong way, he immediately explains himself in a triumph of people not just letting assumptions pile up.
And so it goes, as Takasago backs down because Suehiro needs to decide for herself and, while she already had ages ago, getting there isn’t necessarily the easiest step for her.
But that’s fine - the story also wants to show not just the impact Suehiro’s friends have had on her, but also the reverse. Suehiro was very shy and retiring and that might have looked like she needed “saving”, but it turns out that she had a lot to offer others and I love how much emphasis is on that here.
Between the dead rivalry to the changes in Tsuruhara’s personality (she’s hilariously blunt now and they should spin her off) to the mean girl to the writer’s block to Takasago owning up to his faults and the whole baseball thing and realizing that Suehiro is awesome, phew, you have one packed final chapter that addresses literally every single thing you might want.
A lot happens but it doesn’t feel rushed and it’s great the way Suehiro comes across and the last section is as much a tribute to a love of writing as it is anything else as the Literary Club (and the series itself) finally earns its name and there are some surprising results.
If I had a major complaint, it’s probably that we don’t get enough time with Suehiro and Takasago as a couple (again), as there’s definitely room to watch them grow as a couple that would have been a lot of fun.
Still, this might be the ultimate form of short shojo manga and definitely the best I’ve read since I’ll Win You Over, Sempai!. This is much more pure, however, and is certainly a great place to start if you wanted to dip a toe into the genre since it’s incredibly good, hits a lot of the tropes, is short, and also has gorgeous art.
4.5 stars - rounded up, of course. A stellar entry in the medium and, of her four works that I’ve read or partially read, hands down the best thing that Nikki Asada has ever done. I said that every volume and it was never not true. An easy recommend.
Soooo the last volume of this series has come out and ofc I read it the moment I knew it was available. For me, this series started out super good and full of potential. Like I truly enjoyed Takasago and Suehiro's "relationship" and Yachiyo as 2nd ML was amazing and great too. BUT for some reason I think the "length" got the best of it. By the time the fourth volume started (Tsuruhara arc), I felt like the series strayed away from the nice focus on Takasago and Suehiro's blossoming relationship + Yachiyo as 2nd ML. And now that we've reached the final volume, I couldn't help but think the ending was rushed too. I wish instead of last volume's sorry for saying this, shitty arc, last volume focused more on them so that when we read this volume, the ending didn't have to feel as rushed. I felt like Asada-sensei could've capitalized more on this "love triangle" or at least Takasago and Suehiro's relationship. Like I said, for me, the length was ultimately the downfall here. :((
With that being said, I still would like to encourage people to read this, but maybe just tell them to not expect a lot, especially on these last 2 volumes.
*gets to the end of the volume* *sees that it's the final volume* *stares in disbelief* What the FUCK?!
Final thoughts on the series...I guess.
This was a pretty lackluster and boring romance series. I know that sounds harsh, but the romance wasn't interesting, I didn't sense any real chemistry between Shiro and Tasakago, and the others characters kind of just...existed. I don't remember most of their names and most either existed to start drama or offer advice. That's it. And the ending came clear out of nowhere and was super fucking disappointing. If you want to read this, go for it, but there are so much better shojo romance out there.
I believe I will reread this series now that the final volume has arrived. I've followed along as it serialized over the past few years and can't claim that I've retained every thread in my head. It's possible I haven't retained much in my head at all because the space between volumes felt vast. Then again, my head isn't known for retaining things.
I enjoyed the character growth of the romantic leads, the growth of the supporting cast—even if slight, the fact that the supporting cast remained the supporting cast, and the creative twist on the let's-pretend-to-go-out trope.
If I had any complaints, it was that the art felt a tad predictable. Still, the boys were handsome and the girls were cute, which is to be expected of a romance geared for teens. The story flowed well, so the sequential paneling was strong. And there were subtle touches that delighted, such as the face the club president made when he asked to read Suehiro's novel.
I wish I could get my youngest daughter to enjoy these stories, but she's fixated with fanfic for another series. I believe this story would charm and entertain her. So I'll recommend it to you, instead!
This series was pretty cute, but I'm definitely going to forget about it soon.
The series is only 21 chapters long, so it seemed a weird choice to include a story line about a side character dating a coach. More time could've been spent on the main relationships.
This is a shojo series, so it was obvious from the beginning who Shiro would end up with, but I don't think he was the best choice.
Whole series review Series rating: 3 stars (or 7/10) Shiro is nice. The ML is nice. The story is nice. Everything is just nice. The romance is kind of lackluster, but it was enjoyable. the story needed more, something to make the series stand out. but it was nice, it's a good read