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Chocolate Christmas

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In der Reihe 'Sailor Moon präsentiert' lernt ihr die Frühwerke der Sailor Moon-Autorin und -Zeichnerin Naoko Takeuchi kennen.

Wir beginnen in diesem Band mit den beiden 1988 erschienen Geschichten Chocolate Christmas und Wink Rain.

172 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1988

119 people want to read

About the author

Naoko Takeuchi

194 books2,098 followers
Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子) born March 15, 1967, a manga artist (mangaka), lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime/manga fans. She has become a well-known mangaka worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become one of the most recognized manga/anime figures to date.

Takeuchi is married to Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of the YuYu Hakusho series and Hunter × Hunter series.

Please note that anime related books are listed under Kōdansha.

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5 stars
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4 stars
47 (29%)
3 stars
60 (37%)
2 stars
15 (9%)
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4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Bibliothecat.
1,751 reviews77 followers
December 25, 2020




Chocolate Christmas consists of two short stories which are both cute though one is Christmas themed while the other is about a summer holiday - one kind of takes away the feeling of the other. And as much as I adore Takeuchi's art, these two stories are very messy. To be fair, it's not in the least Takeuchi's fault - okay, maybe the similar-looking characters add to it as well, but the main issue at hand is the horrendous translation. This was an early publication when Western-release manga were still flipped around. The text is often in the wrong speech balloons, character's names are messed up and some things just plain and simple don't make sense.

Chocolate Christmas tells of the cute Ryon who falls in love with the radio DJ Choco whose show is about matters of the heart. It's not the show that catches her attention but the fact that the Choco hates Christmas as his birthday falls on the same day and no one ever seems to pay it any mind. Ryon, who knows lonely Christmases all too well, soon becomes his number one fan.

It comes with a lot of coincidences, but at its core, it's a sweet story that does deliver the feeling of Christmas quite nicely. The bickering between Ryon and Choco is fun and it's just beautifully drawn.

Wink Rain tells of Marin whose two best friends have suddenly become romantically involved. Not only does she not want to be the fifth wheel but she also needs to hide her feelings, for she too loves one of her friends. When both of them invite her along on a beach holiday, she needs to find an excuse not to go.

This was actually unusually realistic for a manga. It's believable and tells of the difficulties in a group of friends when some of them go beyond the friendship. It's another cute short story, though it's really the art that makes it worthwhile.

It's a real shame that this translation was so bad - it ruins the otherwise cute and fluffy manga. Should this ever get republished, chances are high I would get a new copy.
Profile Image for Harumichi Mizuki.
2,438 reviews73 followers
December 25, 2024
Komik ini berisi dua cerita yang cukup manis. Yang pertama adalah Chocolate Christmas. Tentang Ryon, gadis yang selalu kesepian saat malam Natal karena kedua orangtuanya terlalu sibuk untuk merayakan bersamanya. Suatu hari di malam Natal dia mendengarkan program radio yang dibawakan oleh Mr. Choco. Dalam program itu, sang penyiar memberikan nasihat cinta bagi berbagai permasalahan yang dikirimkan via kartu pos. Ryon tersentuh dengan nasihat-nasihat Mr. Choco. Dia pun pergi ke studio untuk mengirimkan sebuah kue bagi Mr. Choco, tanpa bisa bertemu dengan sang penyiar karena identitas lelaki itu dirahasiakan.

Karena terkesan dengan program itu, Ryon pun mendedikasikan kehidupan sekolahnya untuk jadi mak comblang bagi banyak pasangan. Cakupannya tidak hanya di lingkungan sekolah SMP-nya, tapi juga sampai ke tingkat SMA (sekolahnya memiliki sistem eskalator). Dia tak tahu bahwa ternyata Mr. Choco adalah cowok yang bersekolah di SMA itu, Keiki. Namun, Keiki yang asli berbeda dengan persona Mr. Choco. Sebenarnya Keiki sudah mulai bosan memberikan nasihat bagi permasalahan cinta orang lain. Lagipula semua nasihat yang dia berikan itu sudah ditulis oleh penulis naskah radio, bukan keluar dari hatinya sendiri.

Ryon lalu kerja sambilan di radio tempat Mr. Choco siaran dengan harapan bisa bertemu dengan Mr. Choco. Dia shock saat tahu awalnya Mr. Choco tak mau pihak radio mempekerjakannya. Dia mengira Mr. Choco membencinya. Padahal, sebenarnya itu karena Keiki tak mau identitasnya diketahui oleh murid yang bersekolah di lembaga yang sama dengannya.

Pada akhirnya Ryon tahu bahwa Keiki adalah Mr. Choco. Namun, sebelum ia tahu, sahabatnya sudah minta tolong untuk dicomblangi dengan Keiki. Ryon pun jadi bingung. Ryon lalu tahu bahwa Keiki sudah bosan dengan programnya. Namun, Keiki terus melanjutkan perannya sebagai Mr. Choco demi seorang penggemar setia yang sudah mengiriminya kue ulang tahun di malam Natal tahun lalu. Lah itu kan Ryon.

Kisah itu terkuak pada suatu hari ketika penulis naskah berhalangan hadir, entah bagaimana pihak radio menyuruh Ryon untuk membantu acara siaran Keiki. Sebenarnya tugas Ryon hanya memilih kartu pos untuk dibacakan Mr. Choco. Namun, dia malah terlibat percakapan dengan Keiki dan semua itu masuk ke dalam siaran. Untuk pertama kalinya, publik tahu bahwa Mr. Choco sebenarnya mulai bosan pada program itu, tapi bertahan demi satu penggemar yang mengiriminya kue. Tak diduga, siaran yang terkesan natural saat itu jadi populer di mata penggemar. Ryon pun diminta jadi partner tetap Mr. Choco. Pihak radio pun berpikir bahwa kualitas siaran Keiki jadi meningkat sejak Ryon ikut hadir.

Namun, suatu hari Ryon hampir saja membocorkan identitasnya dan Mr. Choco saat ia mengatakan soal tradisi para lelaki di sekolahnya yang membawakan bel emas bagi para gadis yang disukainya di bawah pohon sekolahnya. Akhirnya demi keamanan, Ryon terpaksa dinonaktifkan dari siaran untuk sementara.

Ini cerita yang manis. Hanya saja kok ketika siaran radio Keiki dan Ryon gak pakai headphone, ya?

*

Cerita kedua adalah Wink Rain. Tentang Umino Marin yang jatuh cinta pada sahabatnya sendiri, Itou Hajime. Namun, sayangnya Hajime akhirnya jadian sama teman Marin juga, Aya. Setiap bersama mereka, Marin merasa dirinya jadi third wheel. Dia mulai tidak enak, tapi kedua sahabatnya tetap ingin dia terus bersama mereka.

Kemudian di musim panas, Aya dan Hajime berencana pergi ke pantai. Mereka mengajak Marin ikut serta. Marin menolak dengan alasan dia tak bisa berenang. Namun, Hajime malah mengajaknya bergabung ke klub renangnya agar dia bisa mengajarinya berenang.

Marin lalu bertemu dengan seorang pemuda yang juga anggota klub renang dan merupakan rival Hajime, Kazuomi. Kazuomi lalu bilang kalau dia juga akan ikut ke pantai agar Marin tidak jadi third-wheel. Hati Marin pun mulai berdebar karena pemuda ini.
Profile Image for BookVoyage.
79 reviews22 followers
December 3, 2017
Die Ideen dahinter sind ganz süß für die Weihnachtszeit. Aber ich habe dauerhaft die Charaktere vertauscht, dem Faden nicht folgen können, etc. Der Zeichenstil gefällt mir aber sehr gut - wie auch schon bei Sailor Moon. Deswegen leider nur zwei Sterne von mir.
Profile Image for Hapsari Darmastuti.
520 reviews5 followers
May 13, 2020
This is a shoujo one-shot about a girl who is obsessed with this late-night DJ, not knowing that the DJ is actually a guy from school that he hates. This is cute but nothing special. However, the art style is gorgeous as usual
Profile Image for Roberta.
236 reviews27 followers
December 31, 2023
Chocolate Christmas è una storia bellina, ma Wink Rain è stata troppo scombussolata per i miei gusti. Il mio voto è quindi una sorta di media fra le due short stories
Profile Image for #ReadAllTheBooks.
1,219 reviews93 followers
December 23, 2011
(I read this via MangaFox)

I recently read this today and while it was pretty, it just wasn't the best I've seen out of Takeuchi. The story is simple and sweet, the artwork is cute, but overall it just felt sort of bland. I wonder if it might be a result of the story being several chapters long without anything truly major happening. I really feel that if more had gone on in the series or if everything had been condensed into one chapter, it probably would have been far better story-wise. There was a bonus story in the version I read called "Miss Rain" (one of many stories by Takeuchi with the same title) and while it was cute, it just felt like it suffered from the same reasons: it was just too drawn out for the story it contained.

But for free, it's not bad. It's just not something that I would really want to purchase, is all.
Profile Image for D.
1,093 reviews11 followers
July 4, 2024
A cute and ultimately harmless Christmas story. There's another story in the second half of the book. Would recommend reading around Christmas time. Otherwise it's only for die-hard Naoko Takeuchi fans.
Profile Image for Brid Baas.
396 reviews10 followers
December 29, 2022
Me pareció una historia súper linda y navideña. A pesar de que tiene sólo cuatro capítulos, llegas a conocer por completo a los personajes y su romance ya que está bien establecida la historia.
Profile Image for Yufel.
446 reviews2 followers
January 1, 2023
Estuvo bonito y cortita me hubiera gustado ver más interacción entre los protagonistas, pero su final estuvo cute 💜💜
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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