Take one young actress used to getting her way, add a handful of ruthless bullies, some humorous twists, and a plastic toy hammer, and you've got the recipe for one crazy story Kodocha follows the antics of Sana, a spoiled 11-year-old TV star, and Hayama, a 6th grade Machiavelli who terrorizes both his teachers and his classmates. In their classroom war of wills, Sana and Hayama find there is more to both of them than meets the eye.
Miho Obana ( 小花美穂, born April 26, 1970) is a shōjo manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan. She began her manga career as an assistant to Momoko Sakura, creator of Chibi Maruko-chan. She debuted in 1990 with the (one-shot manga) Mado no Mukō, which was published in the autumn 1990 issue of Ribon Bikkuri. Soon, stories from her started appearing in Ribon Original and in the regular Ribon magazine too. Other notable manga by Miho Obana include Kodomo no Omocha (10 volumes, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1998; the official English title is Kodocha), Partner, (3 volumes) and Andante (3 volumes). Partner is especially noted for its dark, mature, and almost disturbing tone, which is very rare in a Ribon series. Her most recent manga is Honey Bitter, which has run in Cookie since February 2004. Also in 2004, she made a foray into the world of josei manga, writing several manga for the josei magazine Chorus. She has been on maternity leave for the past year, but will be returning soon, as Honey Bitter is expected to start up again in the Dec. 26 issue of Cookie. Other works include Mizu no Yakata; a spin-off of Kodocha, Neko no Shima, Pochi, Setsunai ne, and Shiranami no Gensō.
“She`s so spoiled it makes me very very angry! She`s so retarded. She would say she likes me then calls us “in the past”...then disappears in a flash. But now she is everywhere i look, i see her everywhere...I don`t want that kind of spoiled girl.” -Akito Hayama
*** He turns in bed, refusing to think of her anymore and then in agony runs out from his house and runs the whole night until he is drained from his thoughts of her. In the morning he falls in front of his house and his father cathes him and takes him to his bedroom. The one word that comes out of Akito Hayama`s mouth while tears is running from his eyes is “Sana”...only her name. Sana.
This made my heart ache so much. I hurt everywhere with Akito Hayama`s unfulfilled love and his gnawing loneliness and longing for his Sana, the girl he always loved and silently waited for. The scene where she sees him outside and hugs him, knowing he needs her...just made me cry even more. Sana & Akito always made sense...ever since elementary school where they became enemies and eventually turned into friends. Its always been about them. Even all the people around them knows it.
The series is getting closer to the end, so it’s getting more serious, a bit darker. And while it’s a bit of a surprise at times, it’s so exciting. I’m loving it.
The volume starts with Akito asking Sana how she feels about him, and she questions him back, but in the end they both end up telling each other that they love the other. But when they see that Fuka heard all of it, Sana goes chasing after her, and says that it was all in the past and she’s gotten over it now (which is such a frustrating lie). Sana sees Akito once more and officially says goodbye, then she devotes herself fully to her acting, gets a tutor, and doesn’t come to school for a while. A long while.
While she’s gone, Akito gets in trouble with his new teacher, who has a grudge against mean students because he was bullied as a child and so tries getting Akito in as much trouble as possible (also, because Akito told the class that he wears a wig, which, whatever). It’s obvious that, with Sana gone, Akito is reverting back to his old self, and he gets suspended. Surprisingly, his dad isn’t very upset about it, since he was a ‘hoodlum’ when he was in school (this is revealed during a very entertaining conversation--I rather like Akito's father, though).
While suspended, Akito isn’t allowed to take a test for karate to move up a color, and is super pissed, but he goes out with Fuke and Tsuyoshi and Aya. They go to an arcade, and Akito ends up getting in a fight, and then later says some biting words to Fuka. This is where I realized that Fuka doesn’t know about Akito’s violent past, and that she might not be able to handle it very well.
Sana visits with Tsuyoshi and Aya (who are kind of really sweet together; also, Tsuyoshi seems to have matured a bit, and seems just very sweet and adorable), who tell her about Akito getting in trouble, and she gets super upset. One night, on her way to work, Sana sees Akito running (something he’s taken up because of how he has nothing else to do and can’t sleep for not being able to stop thinking about Sana), and chases after him. They share a very sweet and sad moment, seeing as how they still can’t be together because of Fuka.
After this, Sana decides to start going back to school, and has a talk with Fuka. Sana has finally decided that she wants Akito and is tired of trying to make everyone else happy (finally!), and so she tells Fuka that she’ll steal Akito from her if she doesn’t buck up and actually try talking to Akito. Fuka and Akito haven’t been getting along and Fuka doesn’t know how to talk to him and she has a hard time dealing with his violent tendencies, and while it doesn’t even seem like she wants to try talking to him when he is the way he is, she won’t give him up (but she's acting like talking to him is some impossible chore--ugh! just back off and let Sana and him be together!).
This is where I realized the big difference between Sana and Fuka. They’re very similar, but Sana can deal with Akito’s violence. She has a way of calming him down and getting him to relax and not beat people up or be a total jerk. And she doesn’t shy away from him when he gets that way. Fuka, on the other hand, does. Obviously, Fuka needs to just back off already. Which I think she realizes, when she hears his full past from Tsuyoshi, and what part Sana had in it.
Anyway, there's this guy at their school, Kazuyuki, who thinks that he and Akito are best friends, but when he finds out that Akito never even knew he existed, his dreams are ruined. On Sana's first day back, we find out that he's run away and decided to kill himself. Kazuyuki’s mother is freaking out, Akito’s teacher is trying to blame him, Fuka doesn’t know how to deal with any of it, and Tsuyoshi and Sana are trying to help Akito.
Kazuyuki left his journal in Akito’s locker, which mentions how the guy thought he was getting closer to Akito and how his mother isn’t very nice but he wants her approval and pride anyway. And then how Akito betrayed him, and the guy is going to kill himself because of it. Or kill Akito (as you can imagine, I'm not happy about that thought).
Akito knows that the guy just wants some attention, so Akito talks to Sana before getting on a train and heading to where the guy should be, which is when Sana sees the bit about wanting to kill Akito. And, honestly, the ending picture of the psycho Kazuyuki is not reassuring in any sense. Oh, also, before Akito got on the train, he told Sana that he still loved her, and she cried. But, I mean, we all knew that already.
Now, I don’t believe that Akito is going to get killed (I mean, no way), but I am very excited to find out what happens next. It’s sure to be good. I’m not happy that I only have two books left, and am going to be stuck searching even more for the last one, but I do want to know what happens next. I love how the series is getting darker and more serious; the direction it is taking is very exciting.
It still strikes me as odd that these characters are only supposed to be in their first year of middle school. As I’ve said before, while the humor does seem very middle-elementary school, the characters act much more mature than that. It’s just odd to me, but I do like it.
Sidenote: I hadn’t realized that this series was being released at the same time as Sailor Moon, way back when Tokyopop was still releasing it, but there’s an ad for it in the back of the book. It just caught me off guard when I saw it, and I wanted to say something.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was my absolute favorite manga when I was in middle school. I decided I wanted to try reading the series again, so I tried requesting volume one from my library. But somehow I requested volume seven instead lol. But this series is still so good. It’s still an all time favorite. Can’t wait to reread the other volumes as well.
Another volume with the charming cast of Kodocha. It still keeps up its signature gags and light humor with a slight veering off into some real drama with real stakes and mature themes (Kodocha volumes tend to do this once per book). A quirky manga that keeps me entertained.
I seriously recommend the Manga Storm app on the ipod touch, iphone, and ipad. I READ THIS BOOK OFF OF IT FOR FREEEEEEEEE AND IT WAS SO FREAKISHLY AWESOME!!
Anyway, can I just say something?
There is an anime for volumes 5, 6, and 7, right? (The volumes where Fuuka exists??) I KNOW THERE IS!!! Tell me, WHY THE HECK WASN'T IT RELEASED IN AMERICA! It's the best half of the series and THEY DIDN'T RELEASE IT IN AMERICA!!! Darn it, Japan! Don't keep all the awesomeness to yourself!!
But anyway, I have this minor grudge on Fuuka. FUUKA, LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!! You're the reason these two lovebirds are trying to look away from each other when THEY CAAAAN'T! GAAAH, FUUUKA!
Anyway, I loved it when Akito was thinking, "BAH! First she says she likes me, then she says she doesn't. Then she says goodbye and disappears, and I keep seeing her everywhere I look!" Yeah, I'm a girl, but I don't understand the anatomy of the girl's brain either. And the guy's brain might be less complex, but I'M UNDERSTANDING GUYS EVEN LESSSSSSS!!! Anyway, yeah. He and Fuuka are dating and he's thinking, "I don't like Sana! She's ridiculously ridiculous. Fuuka is better! I like Fuuka. Fuuka. Fuuka. Fuuka. FUUUUUKA!"
Let me tell you fellow review readers something. When you like someone, you don't have to TRY and like them. YOU JUST DO. If you're in a situation where you're looking at somebody and you're thinking, "Grr! I should like this person!" and you're in the point where you're PURPOSELY trying to like them and you're using EFFORT, chances are....you don't TRULY like them. You think you do.
And if you're trying to convince yourself to like someone in order to look away from another person, that's even WORSE!
If you try to convince yourself that you like them by saying things such as, "Oh, they're better than that other person. They look better. They act better. They can love me better and treat me better and do everything better! I should like this person and look away from that other person." chances are...you like the person you're trying to look away from, not the one you're using.
Because when you like someone, you don't have to convince yourself or force yourself. You just DO, whether you like it or not. But if you're convincing yourself to like someone, and then when you decide that you don't want to like this person anymore and you're able to just stop and look away without even TRYING, then you never did like that person. Not REALLY, anyway.
This guy likes Sana. YOU LIKE SANA, AKITO! 7th graders...they're so young and yet they're in this drama.
Then again, being a freshman high school student is pretty young too, and I've survived the drama to understand how forced love and true love work.
Sana confessed her feelings toward Hayama, even though at that time Hayama is dating Fuuka. Hayama also said that he liked Sana. But since Sana knew his relationship with Fuuka, she added that those feelings are in the past. What they both don't know is that Fuuka was listening to their conversation, which makes everything awkward.
After that incident, Sana tried her best to avoid Hayama and Fuuka. She likes both of them and consider them best of friends. While on one side Sana likes Hayama, Fuuka is also her best-friend whom she doesn't want to hurt. She then agreed to do a lot of TV-series, commercials, and movies to take most of her time so she can skip school. Sana even hired a private tutor to catch up the lessons she missed at school. But Sana cannot deny her feelings that she still thinks of Hayama a lot.
I watched the whole anime and I loved it, it's so funny, I've never laughed this much from a tv show or a book before. I just started reading the manga a few months ago, and I love it too. Even though I'm past the age group for this manga and anime by the time I got to it, I still love it, and this is rare that my sisters actually like an anime, they hate animes and mangas, plus I rarely rate anything 5 stars. Also, I usually read and like books that are in the supernatural, fantasy, action, mystery genre, but I just ended up loving this one and I want to buy the anime and manga volumes so much. This is the first manga I read this year (I was too busy reading novels and ARCs).
This isn't exactly a review this time, it's more like a mini review, a very mini review.
Bingung sebenarnya mau kasih 3,5 bintang yg lebih condong ke 4 bintang atau 3,5 bintang yg lebih condong ke 3 bintang ^^;
Karena dibilang bagus ya cerita ini bagus banget. Tapi aku sebel juga sama alur yg begini.. dimana kita saling cinta tapi kok ya tak bisa bersama hanya karena 'salah paham' dan terlanjur 'salah langkah..'
*lagi ngalamin soalnya*
Tapi itu yg namanya Komori gilaaa... serem amat yak -_- Bahaya banget kalau beneran ada anak kelas 1 SMP yg kayak gitu Astaghfirullah.. udah kayak psikopat aja :/
Kodocha is a series that blends comedy and drama in the lives of a child actor and her friends. This volume is a bit weak - there's not as much comedy, and the drama isn't as emotionally intense. However, this is for perfectly understandable structural reasons - it's keeping the plots going that were introduced in previous volumes while building up to a big emotional climax in the next volume. Still, it feels just a bit padded.
La mia recensione sarà identica per tutti i volumi di questa serie manga. Sono veramente stupendi, l'anime è identico per moltissimi aspetti, cambia solo verso la fine, dato che almeno in Italia il finale è stato censurato. Tornando ai volumi devo ammettere che li ho divorati. Sono molto scorrevoli e pertanto li consiglio veramente tanto!! L'intreccio che si crea tra Sana, Heric, Charles e Alyssa è un qualcosa di stupendo essendo dedicato principalmente verso un pubblico giovane.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I won't spoil anything but I will say that I did have low expectations for this series. But every since i started reading it I haven't been able to put it down. The characters have developed so much throughout the books especially akito. I can't wait until i read book 8.
I soo loved this manga. I loved the art though it looked pretty much old for today’s generation. I loved the story. I laughed, became sad and even shed one to four drops of tears haha. I really enjoyed it!!
A distanza di anni, rimango ancora colpita dalla bellezza di alcuni dei ritratti di Sana Chan, come quelli della pubblicità sul cartellone. La storia diventa sempre più angst e drammatica.