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Beauty is the Beast #5
Beauty Is the Beast, Vol. 5
Happily ever after comes with a curfew!
When bubbly eleventh-grader Eimi Yamashita finds out that her parents are relocating for work, she decides to strike out on her own and move into a dormitory for girls. Little does Eimi suspect the exciting romantic adventures that await her there!
Eimi's going home for the holidays--but she's only been to her parents' new house once! Shimonuki is all set to accompany her, but a family emergency keeps him in town. Eimi doesn't want to take the train alone, so she drags Wanibuchi with her. They spend the holidays traveling across the country and through Wanibuchi's past. Will his revelations bring them together, or ruin any chance of a happy ending?
When bubbly eleventh-grader Eimi Yamashita finds out that her parents are relocating for work, she decides to strike out on her own and move into a dormitory for girls. Little does Eimi suspect the exciting romantic adventures that await her there!
Eimi's going home for the holidays--but she's only been to her parents' new house once! Shimonuki is all set to accompany her, but a family emergency keeps him in town. Eimi doesn't want to take the train alone, so she drags Wanibuchi with her. They spend the holidays traveling across the country and through Wanibuchi's past. Will his revelations bring them together, or ruin any chance of a happy ending?
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 5, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 9, 2013
This is the volume that, apart from the bizarre frame story of Taka accompanying Eimi to her parents for two days where they never reach the new home but are lost in the wilderness (and it is strongly implied that Eimi's parents are as weird as she is), has the last puzzle pieces for the dark past of Taka.
I think it is a much more believable dark past than the one in Kare Kano: a womanizing father, a mother who already left, a much older brother who is uninterested in his younger siblings and more concentrated on finishing school, Taka who might be 10-12 and his youngest sister who has a weak heart and whom he spoils and raises.
For once he goes on a school trip, because he believes his father will keep his promise to be on time for once and his older brother might be there, too. Both turn out not to be and that night his sister dies alone.
Eimi keeps repeating it wasn't his fault (and if you consider that a 12 year old kid was raising his younger sister and isn't emotionally a grown-up, which I would hope you would consider, I agree). He was just a selfish kid for once and the others let him down. Unfortunately it cost his sister her life and no one could have foreseen that.
His bad rep started with him basically destroying kids in his own grade, who made fun of his dying sister while she was still in hospital those ten days she lay in a coma. Teaching at an all boys' school unfortunately lets me confirm that we have pupils who would be capable of that kind of cruelty, too.
This talk makes Taka realise and admit to Eimi that she fulfills the role of his good luck piece (he compares her to his grandfather's good luck piece ^^, a yellow wallet). She manages to make him feel happy (sorry Simone and Keito, this is it foreshadowed) to the extent that he always wants to keep her at his side (in any kind of way). Basically he has become emotionally dependent on her. Is that good for him? I don't know. Is it good for Eimi? She seems satisfied. You can't call it a happy-end, not even with the short pages showing their daughter at the end.
There's a sort of artificial drawn out resolution which at least addresses Simone's feelings about this and then we get a totally unrelated early short story. It is a bzzuh ending.
I think it is a much more believable dark past than the one in Kare Kano: a womanizing father, a mother who already left, a much older brother who is uninterested in his younger siblings and more concentrated on finishing school, Taka who might be 10-12 and his youngest sister who has a weak heart and whom he spoils and raises.
For once he goes on a school trip, because he believes his father will keep his promise to be on time for once and his older brother might be there, too. Both turn out not to be and that night his sister dies alone.
Eimi keeps repeating it wasn't his fault (and if you consider that a 12 year old kid was raising his younger sister and isn't emotionally a grown-up, which I would hope you would consider, I agree). He was just a selfish kid for once and the others let him down. Unfortunately it cost his sister her life and no one could have foreseen that.
His bad rep started with him basically destroying kids in his own grade, who made fun of his dying sister while she was still in hospital those ten days she lay in a coma. Teaching at an all boys' school unfortunately lets me confirm that we have pupils who would be capable of that kind of cruelty, too.
This talk makes Taka realise and admit to Eimi that she fulfills the role of his good luck piece (he compares her to his grandfather's good luck piece ^^, a yellow wallet). She manages to make him feel happy (sorry Simone and Keito, this is it foreshadowed) to the extent that he always wants to keep her at his side (in any kind of way). Basically he has become emotionally dependent on her. Is that good for him? I don't know. Is it good for Eimi? She seems satisfied. You can't call it a happy-end, not even with the short pages showing their daughter at the end.
There's a sort of artificial drawn out resolution which at least addresses Simone's feelings about this and then we get a totally unrelated early short story. It is a bzzuh ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2012
Sigh... I hate it when books end like that. And was it just me, or were the last two volumes kind of all over the place? It almost felt like I was missing entire chapters of the story.
I was always a Wanichin fan, didn't like Simone much to be honest.
But then, I'm always routing for the guy with the tortured past! Bad habit of mine =D
Eimi was hilarious throughout the story. I like that she didn't immediately fall at Wanichin's feet in a drooling heap. I like that she was pretty much unaffected by his gorgeous looks and wasn't put off by his moody persona.
And I liked the way Wanichin's character played out - he was a moody, bad boy, but whenever Eimi needed him, he never hesitated.
The dorm girls trying to interfere and get her to like Simone rather than Wanichin annoyed me to no end - I'm a big fan of people making their own choices, even if those choices lead to a mistake. It's how we learn.
Apart from that, I loved the artwork and the dialogue, it was a good number of volumes that made for a super quick read. Now all I have to do is go out and buy them so I can add them to my collection!
I was always a Wanichin fan, didn't like Simone much to be honest.
But then, I'm always routing for the guy with the tortured past! Bad habit of mine =D
Eimi was hilarious throughout the story. I like that she didn't immediately fall at Wanichin's feet in a drooling heap. I like that she was pretty much unaffected by his gorgeous looks and wasn't put off by his moody persona.
And I liked the way Wanichin's character played out - he was a moody, bad boy, but whenever Eimi needed him, he never hesitated.
The dorm girls trying to interfere and get her to like Simone rather than Wanichin annoyed me to no end - I'm a big fan of people making their own choices, even if those choices lead to a mistake. It's how we learn.
Apart from that, I loved the artwork and the dialogue, it was a good number of volumes that made for a super quick read. Now all I have to do is go out and buy them so I can add them to my collection!
June 1, 2013
Well that was an.... interesting ride. Can't say the ending was tied up too well, because we never really got to SEE Taka's true feelings for Eimi, is was more told to us using the very very last two pages after that weird short story. I don't know, although there was a definite end and you know where everyone ends up, I wanted to SEE more of a resolution, the characters admitting their feelings to one another/saying goodbye, etc.
Overall, it was a pretty funny, cute series.
Overall, it was a pretty funny, cute series.
July 3, 2008
the last volume in the series and i have no idea what happened. seriously: this one does not make ANY SENSE AT ALL.
which i guess was the case in vol. 4 too. one she stopped focusing on the dorm-girl hijinks and tried to make it a tortured love story, things went downhill quickly.
which i guess was the case in vol. 4 too. one she stopped focusing on the dorm-girl hijinks and tried to make it a tortured love story, things went downhill quickly.
August 14, 2013
This wasn't an ending this was quitting.
August 8, 2017
It ended so abruptly!! But it was a sweet manga overall.
March 12, 2013
*SPOILERS*
I am very sad that this series is over :( Only 5 volumes! What the heck! I knew from the start that Eimi would end up with Wanichin, but throughout the series, I was sorta rooting for both him and Simone? I really liked Simone! Poor guy :'( Wanichin and Eimi are definitely better for each other though... Can I just have Simone then...? Please...
I am very sad that this series is over :( Only 5 volumes! What the heck! I knew from the start that Eimi would end up with Wanichin, but throughout the series, I was sorta rooting for both him and Simone? I really liked Simone! Poor guy :'( Wanichin and Eimi are definitely better for each other though... Can I just have Simone then...? Please...
July 28, 2009
I hate the loose ending. Although it sounds like a happy one?
October 26, 2011
Loved the series. was kinda disappointed on how it ended =/
August 14, 2013
This is a what the crap ending. What the crap, it was like the author was like, "I'm bored drawing and done." anticlimactic
July 28, 2019
È stato un viaggio molto divertente, con una protagonista che pensa solo a mangiare ed è sciattissima (ricorda un po' KareKano) e non si accorge che ha due pretendenti 😂
Nonostante sia ad episodi e non abbia una vera e propria fine...c'è comunque l'epilogo (divertente anche questo) 😂
Peccato non sia uscito in Italia, ma è una serie davvero semplice e carina, senza pretese e che insegna anche il reale significato dell'amore.
Ho sofferto e riso con Simone, mi sono innamorata di Wanichin ed Eimi...beh, mi ci sono riconosciuta (mi piace il cibo eheh).
È bello anche il rapporto che si è instaurato con le ragazze del dormitorio...insomma, leggerò altro di questa autrice e spero che questa serie venga tradotta ❤
Consigliato?
Sì, se vi piace il nonsense totale con un protagonista maschio particolarnente ombroso e dal passato oscuro e una protagonista che sembra essere un aninaletto 😎
Nonostante sia ad episodi e non abbia una vera e propria fine...c'è comunque l'epilogo (divertente anche questo) 😂
Peccato non sia uscito in Italia, ma è una serie davvero semplice e carina, senza pretese e che insegna anche il reale significato dell'amore.
Ho sofferto e riso con Simone, mi sono innamorata di Wanichin ed Eimi...beh, mi ci sono riconosciuta (mi piace il cibo eheh).
È bello anche il rapporto che si è instaurato con le ragazze del dormitorio...insomma, leggerò altro di questa autrice e spero che questa serie venga tradotta ❤
Consigliato?
Sì, se vi piace il nonsense totale con un protagonista maschio particolarnente ombroso e dal passato oscuro e una protagonista che sembra essere un aninaletto 😎
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2024
I am at peace with who Eimi ended up with, but I did not like the way the series was wrapped up. A golden opportunity was missed - parts of the story and characters feelings could have been further explored. Maybe it was a publisher's directive and not Matsumoto's intent, but *sigh*...a lingering disappointment remains despite my love for the series.
September 15, 2019
I enjoyed this series. I found the characters very interesting, and the romance really different. I did feel that some things could have been explained a bit better, but in the end, it didn't matter. Overall, an enjoyable series.
August 30, 2022
Not great. Chapters felt like they were out of order or missing something. One of the worst endings on a manga I’ve read. Overall, it’s an easy read but not really worth it. The main character is cute, but that’s not much
April 24, 2025
nostalgia re-read / Series overall 3* for the good ol' shoujo tropes of the mismatched pair and wacky dormmates fun, but it slides back towards 2* for the abrupt/time skip ending. Obviously ended early - the natural death of a series with no long-term plan beyond characters the mangaka loves.
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October 13, 2025I liked most of the series but the ending was abrupt and confusing. no real romantic happenings between the leads, which felt like a ripoff. could have missed the unconnected final story and fleshed out the last chapter or done bonus chapters instead
March 1, 2020
This ending felt too sudden
January 14, 2021
Definitely not my favorite series and I probably won't revisit it...but it wasn't terrible. The storytelling style really threw me off and the character development just wasn't there for me 😕
May 1, 2021
That is a unacceptable ending if I have ever read one, dammit.
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August 2, 2021author said pause…..
October 15, 2021
What a bizarrely anticlimactic and affectless ending to this weak story.
Seriously, don't bother.
Seriously, don't bother.
June 27, 2014
This was a little tough for me to keep up with. The time sequences, dreams, the present, seem to jumble a bit together for me. I have to say I was rooting for you Simone! To not even get a happy epilogue is a first for me though. Most romantic comedies/shojo have everyone with nice-ish ending. Anyway- at least Wanichin got the girl. It's not that I don't like him, or was rooting against him, I just liked Simone better. haha!
I still don't recognize their actual names. I read Shimonuki and was like, "who?" I didn't realize who it was until Eimi said Simone. haha!
I still don't recognize their actual names. I read Shimonuki and was like, "who?" I didn't realize who it was until Eimi said Simone. haha!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2015
3 stars because I'm still in a confusion state with the ending. Reading the extra at the end helped... But I feel like it was all rushed because the book wasnt doing well and said it had to end... If that makes sense
January 2, 2016
Maaan I wish there were more of these. But I'm very pleased with how the series ended. Eimi is so adorably wonderful. I love her so much, and there's so much of her weird quirkiness in this volume (plus some tiny peeks at her parents).
January 12, 2011
I hope that's not the last of the series, I would be very pissed if so.
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December 13, 2011sometimes i don't know who to root for Wanibuchi or Satoshi
May 16, 2015
Huh, I kind of like the series. Some of the volumes were good to okay. This one is the finale. Kind of cute at times. Makes you want to know what will happen to the characters at least. Good volume.
July 24, 2017
Overall this series was 3 stars. I thought it was a cute series with nice characters but the story often felt like it was jumbled up and I had to read some parts several times! The ending to this series was a bit unsatisfactory for me too. This series is still a very cute, cheerful read but it just didnt have me as invested as other series I've read. In fact, I actually liked the premise of the short story at the end more than the actual series.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews