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メンクイ! / Menkui! #1
Menkui!, Volume 1
Kotori is an average high school boy burdened with an exceptional older sibling. Being brought up under the same roof as his legendary drop-dead-gorgeous brother, Kujaku (a name that literally means "peacock"!), has given Kotori a bit of an inferiority complex. This all changes when a schoolmate, Akaiwa, takes a shining to him and the two begin a rocky relationship. Kotori is often called "menkui" (superficial) by his peers because he tends to be easily entranced by good looks. This can be a problem because Akaiwa gets jealous very easily, especially when someone attractive catches Kotori's eyes. Can their relationship overcome their shortcomings?
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Suzuki Tanaka
53 books51 followersName (in native language) : 田中 鈴木 (たなかすずき)
Zodiac : Pisces
Blood type : B
She enjoys watching TV and eating delicious foods.
Zodiac : Pisces
Blood type : B
She enjoys watching TV and eating delicious foods.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 13, 2020
Picked this up in a second hand bookstore a while ago, and picked it up as I really enjoyed another manga by this author His Favorite, Vol. 1.
Menkui!, Volume 01 came out a good few years before His Favorite was released, and you can tell. A lot of the aspects, themes and topics, in His Favorite show up here, however they're not as good.
One thing I don't really like about a lot of yaoi, is how there's always one person who denies any feelings to the other outwardly, while in his inner monologue he expresses his true feelings. This trope can be pretty annoying, and thankfully it's not here much. Unfortunatly, on the flipside, here the couple get together super fast and exchange 'I love you's' WAY too fast.
The humour that I loved in His Favorite Vol. 1, isn't as good here.
If I see volume 2 of Menkui! for cheap I might pick it up, but otherwise I'm not in any hurry to continue this series.
Menkui!, Volume 01 came out a good few years before His Favorite was released, and you can tell. A lot of the aspects, themes and topics, in His Favorite show up here, however they're not as good.
One thing I don't really like about a lot of yaoi, is how there's always one person who denies any feelings to the other outwardly, while in his inner monologue he expresses his true feelings. This trope can be pretty annoying, and thankfully it's not here much. Unfortunatly, on the flipside, here the couple get together super fast and exchange 'I love you's' WAY too fast.
The humour that I loved in His Favorite Vol. 1, isn't as good here.
If I see volume 2 of Menkui! for cheap I might pick it up, but otherwise I'm not in any hurry to continue this series.
May 13, 2020
I really thought this was going to break three stars for me. The first 3 chapters of the title story, Menkui (which means shallow or superficial), were quite good. There was some interesting characterization and nice artwork that looked like some care and attention was given to the production. I might have given those chapters 4 stars. Sadly, the bonus chapter derailed that and the supplemental material rounding out the book was even worse. In fact each subsequent story is worse than the one before it, once you read past about page 100 or so. Based on the entire volume, I think 3 stars is being generous, but 2 stars really doesn't reflect the promise of the first half of the collection.
June 30, 2016
originally gave it 5 Stars
Rereading it, it's more like 4. Still love it, just wished there was more...
Rereading it, it's more like 4. Still love it, just wished there was more...
July 3, 2018
They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE. And I'd forgotten all about the fact that and I remembered Akaiwa's sisters, but not how MANY there were, and just, ahhhhhh!!! The unrelated comedy stories were really fun, too. I've read this before, and I loved it even more than when I first read it a decade ago.
January 16, 2018
Dated artwork but if I recall I think I liked this one. 3.5 stars.
June 2, 2008
I tried this because it was featured in one of the "Overlooked Manga Festival" features but honestly I was pretty disappointed.
Much like the title implies (Menkui= superficial, shallow) the manga is pretty shallow. Much of the focus is on good looks, but even more disappointing was the lack of character and character development.
Since yaoi is all pretty much about getting hot fictional boys together anyway, there's not really much appeal to it other than character in the first place. And these guys personalities are pretty much solely defined by their relationship and how they feel about each other, which makes them too simple. (Didn't they have a life before they met?) They would make a great supporting cast, but they're just not that interesting by themselves.
It does improve a bit by the end (volume 3), but there's just so many side stories and not that much content. I can't really recommend this series to anyone except BL fans.
Much like the title implies (Menkui= superficial, shallow) the manga is pretty shallow. Much of the focus is on good looks, but even more disappointing was the lack of character and character development.
Since yaoi is all pretty much about getting hot fictional boys together anyway, there's not really much appeal to it other than character in the first place. And these guys personalities are pretty much solely defined by their relationship and how they feel about each other, which makes them too simple. (Didn't they have a life before they met?) They would make a great supporting cast, but they're just not that interesting by themselves.
It does improve a bit by the end (volume 3), but there's just so many side stories and not that much content. I can't really recommend this series to anyone except BL fans.
April 29, 2015
After re-reading this book I thought I should give it a review.
There are a couple stories in here. And if it focused entirely on Kotori and Akaiwa it would be a better story as not all the other stories are of high quality.
Luckily, Kotori and Akaiwa are the focus and get the most pages. Its a rather sweet story about those two finding love and having misunderstandings. Its nothing spectacular on the story front, but I found I think it could be very relatable. Kotori is dealing with being worried about others finding out about their relationship as well as having low self esteem. Akaiwa is less developed. He is cool and collected except when it comes to Kotori.
There are a couple stories in here. And if it focused entirely on Kotori and Akaiwa it would be a better story as not all the other stories are of high quality.
Luckily, Kotori and Akaiwa are the focus and get the most pages. Its a rather sweet story about those two finding love and having misunderstandings. Its nothing spectacular on the story front, but I found I think it could be very relatable. Kotori is dealing with being worried about others finding out about their relationship as well as having low self esteem. Akaiwa is less developed. He is cool and collected except when it comes to Kotori.
October 28, 2014
I enjoyed Menkui. My favourite part is definitely the art, the facial expressions are brilliant and I loved the layout of the panels and everything just flowed so well. The story is incredibly simple but I mostly liked the characters. I would have given it a higher rating but I docked a couple of stars because the incest vibe in the bonus chapter and side stories creeped me out.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews