Welcome to Happy Berry! Das ist allerdings kein Obstladen, sondern der Name eines Modelabels, das sich Mikako Koda, ihres Zeichens extreme kreatives Energiebündel und Studentin an der Yazawa-Kunst-Akademie, ausgedacht hat. Mikako mag Mode, Früchte, Farben, Katzen und ihren Sandkastenfreund Tsutomu. Die beiden sind Nachbarn und die besten Freunde - oder ist da etwa noch mehr? Mit „Gokinjo Monogatari“ erscheint nach „NANA“ bereits die zweite heißersehnte Shojo-Reihe von Ai Yazawa bei EMA. Die Autorin gehört mittlerweile zu den erfolgreichsten Mangaka Japans.
Ai Yazawa (Japanese: 矢沢あい, Yazawa Ai) is a Japanese manga author and illustrator. Her pen name comes from singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan. Yazawa started her comics career in 1985. She specialises in shojo manga (girls' comics). Most of her works have been serialised in the magazines 'Ribon', 'Cookie' and 'Zipper'. Yazawa's stories focus on young, often rebellious women and their relationships. The characters are always very stylish, and Yazawa herself is known for her sense of fashion. (She even attended a fashion school for some time after high school.) Among her most famous manga are Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm No Angel, 1992–1995), Neighborhood Story (1995-1998), Paradise Kiss (1999-2004), and Nana (2000-2009), the latter awarded a Shogakukan Manga Award in 2003. Some of these works have been adapted into anime and live action movies.
This series is just too good to put down. Last night I stayed up until four in order to finish the series. I don't regret it at all! The whole series was just a classic Yazawa creation. Although it lacked an extremely tragic ending (this is not a spoiler, who knows, it could have been a slightly tragic ending) like in Paradise Kiss, the rest of the stories along the way just make the journey worth while.