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ようこそ。若葉荘へ #1
ようこそ。若葉荘へ (1)
In the throes of his first love, Kentarou Sawai can't even count on beginner's luck to get him closer to Karen Toguin, the girl of his dreams. When he spontaneously enrolls in Karen's high school just to be closer to her, his hopes are crushed when it turns out she's on a leave of absence! Now poor, luckless Kentarou is stuck in a dorm full of girls who aren't Karen and insist on pushing Kentarou to the brink of insanity! Can Kentarou hold on to his love for Karen, or will his new living experience make him swear off all women for good?!
- GenresManga
Comic
First published June 9, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2013
This was the second evening I read the final book that I had planned to finish in one night but after reading halfway through, my eyes demanded to shut down (as well as my brain). So I went to sleep until morning came and found myself having a headache demanding some Advil.
This short series astonishes me.
To think the editor and writer decided that the story was good enough to publish.
To think overseas publishing companies thought it was good enough to bring over and invest in it with the possible consequence of losing profits over it in a bad economy/crumbling manga publishing and print it. Lots of people can't afford much and they have the internet, where they can access stuff legally or illegally like manga. In fact this manga is probably on one of those sites. There has been that controversy going on for a good few years now.
A good friend of mine got these books passed onto him and he passed them unto me even at my insistence not to after hearing the romantic comedy with a love triangle involved set in a typical Japanese middle school with the typical big eyed Manga character style. The writer/artist of this manga did in fact work in the gaming industry before leaving it to work on this.
Abeno, the writer/artist, mentioned her editor told her to take it easy.
Well, I think Abeno took way too easy writing this series.
How?
Have you ever read a review of any book/movie/show/game and the complaint was the plot was bogged down with cliches? Its common from my experience reading these.
This manga is built on cliches. It took stock (basically all of it) from different anime/manga that are commonly set at a middle/high school. The main male character is infatuated with a gorgeous girl; fate brings them to live together, with the other neighbors being young girls their age. And of course they are beautiful.
And they all happen to BE THE MOST POPULAR GIRLS AT THEIR SCHOOL.
And one of the neighbors HAPPENS to be the long lost childhood friend of the main male character!
...Ri...vet..ing....UGgghhh...
Dead Or ALive has more of a thought out plot than this series and it in general doesn't have a deep theme to begin with. Its just characters beating each other up with sex appeal.
Now transitions can be hard especially with changing careers, its understandable.
She also stated she added all the elements she was not good in writing:
One:a story at a time
two: comedy
three: no lolitas (or gothic lolitas)
four: lots of characters
five: slice of life story
six: the main character is just a ordinary boy.
However it clearly shows.
The comedy is forced for one. Misunderstandings, underwear shots...you can probably name it.
Yes there are lots of characters...that I have seen before but they have given themselves new names.
The plot mentioned before has been stale for a while now and is now rotting like wasted food.
The main character is indeed an ordinary human boy. The problem? He has no interests besides Karen and the long lost childhood friend.
I do not know his interests, hobbies, etc...Heck the girls have hobbies like Kendo and writing manga (albeit yaoi another common cliche but its something at least).
Karen (the main female character who the other main is infatuated with) likes to clean....even though she is from a RICH family. And do a bunch of feminine (by society's standards) associated stuff.
Seen it.
You know what this series could have been better as?
An encyclopedia. Yes, really. An encyclopedia of tropes, stereotypes and cliches (rotting as we speak) for romantic comedy manga/anime/games.
It a tv tropes into itself.
This short series astonishes me.
To think the editor and writer decided that the story was good enough to publish.
To think overseas publishing companies thought it was good enough to bring over and invest in it with the possible consequence of losing profits over it in a bad economy/crumbling manga publishing and print it. Lots of people can't afford much and they have the internet, where they can access stuff legally or illegally like manga. In fact this manga is probably on one of those sites. There has been that controversy going on for a good few years now.
A good friend of mine got these books passed onto him and he passed them unto me even at my insistence not to after hearing the romantic comedy with a love triangle involved set in a typical Japanese middle school with the typical big eyed Manga character style. The writer/artist of this manga did in fact work in the gaming industry before leaving it to work on this.
Abeno, the writer/artist, mentioned her editor told her to take it easy.
Well, I think Abeno took way too easy writing this series.
How?
Have you ever read a review of any book/movie/show/game and the complaint was the plot was bogged down with cliches? Its common from my experience reading these.
This manga is built on cliches. It took stock (basically all of it) from different anime/manga that are commonly set at a middle/high school. The main male character is infatuated with a gorgeous girl; fate brings them to live together, with the other neighbors being young girls their age. And of course they are beautiful.
And they all happen to BE THE MOST POPULAR GIRLS AT THEIR SCHOOL.
And one of the neighbors HAPPENS to be the long lost childhood friend of the main male character!
...Ri...vet..ing....UGgghhh...
Dead Or ALive has more of a thought out plot than this series and it in general doesn't have a deep theme to begin with. Its just characters beating each other up with sex appeal.
Now transitions can be hard especially with changing careers, its understandable.
She also stated she added all the elements she was not good in writing:
One:a story at a time
two: comedy
three: no lolitas (or gothic lolitas)
four: lots of characters
five: slice of life story
six: the main character is just a ordinary boy.
However it clearly shows.
The comedy is forced for one. Misunderstandings, underwear shots...you can probably name it.
Yes there are lots of characters...that I have seen before but they have given themselves new names.
The plot mentioned before has been stale for a while now and is now rotting like wasted food.
The main character is indeed an ordinary human boy. The problem? He has no interests besides Karen and the long lost childhood friend.
I do not know his interests, hobbies, etc...Heck the girls have hobbies like Kendo and writing manga (albeit yaoi another common cliche but its something at least).
Karen (the main female character who the other main is infatuated with) likes to clean....even though she is from a RICH family. And do a bunch of feminine (by society's standards) associated stuff.
Seen it.
You know what this series could have been better as?
An encyclopedia. Yes, really. An encyclopedia of tropes, stereotypes and cliches (rotting as we speak) for romantic comedy manga/anime/games.
It a tv tropes into itself.
May 19, 2023
This may be the most scatter-brained manga I've ever read. The author can't stop dropping in new characters and changes subjects regularly. The art is occasionally nice.
October 29, 2010
As I've read more & more manga, seen more anime, I have to admit that I've gotten really tired of harem-style anime & manga. While there are some series that do a good job of making it entertaining, there are just as many that are either mediocre or just plain tiring. Welcome to Wakabah-Soh manages to stay between "mediocre" & "entertaining".
Wakabah-Soh surrounds the character of Kentarou Sawai as he joins a local high school with the hopes of winning the love of Karen Toguin, the daughter of the school president. Sawai decides to live in a local dorm & is overjoyed to discover that the object of his affections is going to take over as the caretaker. However, what he doesn't know is that certain people from his past are intent on capturing his attentions!
This is one of those manga volumes that make me really long for half stars. I don't know if this is really a 4 star manga, but I think it is a bit higher than a 3 star rating.
The premise of the manga has been done many times before this- and done better. However, there is a certain charm to this series. I liked the overall feel of the characters & I liked that the manga kind of keeps me guessing as to who Sawai will end up with. Unfortunately, at the same time I have to say that part of me doesn't entirely care who Sawai will end up with & I kind of hope that the characters move on without him. The artwork in this is nice & it appeals to my "cute girl" manga fetish, so it won me over.
The saving grace of the series is that it is only 2 volumes long. Any longer & I'll admit- I'd lose interest in this series. This will probably appeal to some fans of harem series & cute girls, but for some of the more hardened anime/manga fans out there, they'll just get bored & know that they've seen this before.
Wakabah-Soh surrounds the character of Kentarou Sawai as he joins a local high school with the hopes of winning the love of Karen Toguin, the daughter of the school president. Sawai decides to live in a local dorm & is overjoyed to discover that the object of his affections is going to take over as the caretaker. However, what he doesn't know is that certain people from his past are intent on capturing his attentions!
This is one of those manga volumes that make me really long for half stars. I don't know if this is really a 4 star manga, but I think it is a bit higher than a 3 star rating.
The premise of the manga has been done many times before this- and done better. However, there is a certain charm to this series. I liked the overall feel of the characters & I liked that the manga kind of keeps me guessing as to who Sawai will end up with. Unfortunately, at the same time I have to say that part of me doesn't entirely care who Sawai will end up with & I kind of hope that the characters move on without him. The artwork in this is nice & it appeals to my "cute girl" manga fetish, so it won me over.
The saving grace of the series is that it is only 2 volumes long. Any longer & I'll admit- I'd lose interest in this series. This will probably appeal to some fans of harem series & cute girls, but for some of the more hardened anime/manga fans out there, they'll just get bored & know that they've seen this before.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews