Kyousuke Motomi (最富キョウスケ Motomi Kyōsuke) is a Japanese mangaka whose stories have frequently been published in the monthly Betsucomi magazine. She is most currently working on Dengeki Daisy.
She uses a male pseudonym and draws herself as a man, but she's actually female."If my stories can touch you, make you laugh, forget unhappy things, or even give you that 'good job' feeling, then I'll be super, super happy!" - Kyousuke Motomi
I'm so happy to see a return of humor and Teru's belly button threats! LOL'd a bunch this issue before it got serious again. I started this issue tired of the Jack Frost stuff, but the funny moments and warmth of friendships have gotten the series back on track, and the newest development shows how much Teru has matured. Her growth reminds me a lot of Yuki in Vampire Knight—that same silent resolve and determination that comes with observation and an open mind. 🖤
Boy, it's been a long time since I looked at this series. It's been long enough that I've managed to get away from the "good gosh when is this series going to DO something" feeling that came with vol. 10. Reading chapter 50 reminded me of all the reasons I love this series: Kurosaki's protectiveness, Teru's kindness and intelligence, the growing feelings between Rena and Kyoshi, and the general awesomeness of friendship that fills the story.
Not to mention the humor. That's still very strong.
Though Teru is still recovering somewhat from the effects of Akira's attack, she's relying more on her friends for protection, not just herself. It's nice to see that she's internalizing the fact that she's not alone, though there are times when her friends are farther away than she'd like.
Rena ends up facing the same, except her situation is far more isolating than Teru has faced. Still, it's wonderful to see how she also trusts in her friends not to abandon her, and makes the choice to try to contact them in a way that is totally Rena. I was impressed with her strength, her growth, and her bravery.
Kyoshi also shows a lot of growth in this, especially in regards to his feelings for Rena. They're adorable together and I love how he honestly cares for her and tries to bring out her best side when he's with her. I'm looking forward to seeing them as a couple in the very near future.
Another thing I loved in this volume was the easiness between Kurosaki and Teru. They act like a married couple now, even though no kisses have been shown or anything like that. As far as I can tell, they're just very comfortable around each other. However, I've also read manga series where all physical intimacy is implied, never shown, and you have to be on the lookout for clues in order to guess just how close the couple has gotten. Given that Kurosaki still gets nervous when Teru lifts her shirt and Teru blushes like crazy when Kurosaki has his off, I'm guessing nothing has happened in that department. However, there's one very tender scene where Teru tries to get Kurosaki to come out and say that she's his happiness. Instead, (AND I LOVE THE WAY HE'S DRAWN WHEN HE SAYS THIS) he says he won't and tells her to figure it out. I think it's the sweetest and sexiest I've seen him drawn since Teru made him cry on the beach.
Oh, and they hold hands now almost all the time when they're alone! I'm so thrilled! I can't remember if they did that in the previous volume. It's been too long. But it's nice to see them getting closer.
The only problem I have so far with the series is that it's starting to feel a little uneven in switching between silly and serious moments. But that's a minor quibble. It's still a fun read and still very highly recommended, especially for those who want a manga romance that focuses on the heart.
In this volume, we finally meet Rena's fiance and that guy, Kazuki Morizono, is a total snake. Seriously, he's no good.
We actually get to see a lot of Rena is this volume. I felt really proud of her. She's hurting deep inside, but she's still so strong. In the beginning of the series, I didn't like her character at all and then, I mostly just pitied her. However, the more times I saw her together with Teru and Haruka, I began to care about her. I really love her character now. I hope she and Kiyoshi get it together and realize that they can make each other happy.
We're able to find out what Morizono is up to this time, too. He even keeps Rena prisoner when she accidentally finds out. Really, there is nothing likable about this man. I can't wait until he gets taken down a peg or two or three.
It really was so awesome seeing everyone working so hard for Rena's sake. They are all such a great group of friends. I was really happy with some of the scenes between Teru and Tasuku, too.
So really loved the art in this volume, top notch and then some with some really wonderful moments between Kurosaki and Teru. Loved when he covered her mouth, so, so touching. This volume is like a couple who have been married for a couple years and are so in love but also realize love is about the long haul. I love that about these two!
The over arching plot is about Rena, Teru's school friend who has gotten embroiled in a really bad situation with a not very nice man. I didn't mind this because it let us explore more of Kurosaki and Teru's relationship without drumming up more nonsense for them to deal with personally. Can they make it as a regular couple (survive the quiet moments in life) and we explore that in this volume.
While I wouldn't want to read it again it was a nice change from the couple's typical routine with enough of the funny moments to keep everyone happy.
BOTTOM LINE: if you are a Dengeki Daisy fan then you'll enjoy this volume, but the art alone is worth the effort.
Die Sache mit Kiyoshi und Rena finde ich sehr süß, auch wenn die Entwicklung zu erwarten war. Allerdings fehlt mir etwas der Zug in der Geschichte, sie ist auf ihre Weise spannend, kam mir aber stellenweise etwas arg langgezogen vor. Ich würde mir auch wünschen, dass die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Teru und Kurosaki sich endlich ein bisschen weiterentwicklt und fortschreitet, irgendwie kommen die beiden nicht wirklich miteinander voran.
Auf den nächsten Band freue ich mich besonders, da ich hoffe, dass es ein paar mehr RenaxKiyoshi Szenen gibt. :)
Despite the fact that I fell in love with this series from reading the first two volumes online before it was ever even licensed here, and despite the fact that I’ve had the whole series for some time now, it is taking me /forever/ to get through it. Sometimes it can get very text-heavy, which isn’t really a problem for someone who loves reading and fleshed out stories. But, even though the content isn’t necessarily DARK, there’s a lot of “what happened back then?” (and not getting an answer for several volumes), and lots of technical computer-y stuff. (I’d consider myself relatively tech-savvy, but when it comes to viruses and coding, I can’t call myself even remotely knowledgeable.) It’s not that I don’t understand what they’re saying, but sometimes wall-of-text is the only way to describe several pages in a row. It’s one series that I can’t really read a full volume of in one sitting, just because I’m typically looking for more showing than telling in a manga.
ALL OF THAT BEING SAID…
I love the art in this series so much. It’s not the typical shoujo look, but it’s still beautiful and I love the way the mangaka draws side profiles. The characters are all so expressive, and interestingly enough, the mangaka has stated in side panels that she worries her characters aren’t expressive enough. I think that’s actually one of the /strongest/ aspects of her art, and I love it.
I love all of the volumes for various reasons, but this one had a lot of humorous scenes mixed in with the serious stuff. The complexity of the characters has always been another great aspect of this series. Teru has been strong from the start, but she just keeps growing as a person. Kurosaki is great as always. But it’s the side characters having so much personality and such important roles in the story that really makes the series what it is.
I think the fact that the side characters play such a large role is why this series is probably going on for longer than it really needs to. There are several volumes that are mostly comprised of stories focused on Teru’s friends and a situation they’re in. This isn’t necessarily bad as I like pretty much all of the characters, but sometimes I think they go on for too long. Most of this volume focused on Rena, and so will the majority of the next one.
Least favorite. Rena, a character I still don’t care about, gets kidnapped by her own fiancé in order for him to maintain his secret meeting about revealing the Jack Frost virus. I still do not care about this high school student being engaged to an older rich man because the plot says so.
When did this series start to become a spy movie? I’m tired of this espionage and finding virus nonsense I just want the main characters to be happy. I think it’s clear this series should’ve ended by now, and I think it’s clear that the author revealed the Daisy plot too early on for this series to be at Vol 11 already.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.