Forbidden Dance, Vol. 4

天使のキス [Tenshi no Kiss] #4

by Hinako Ashihara, Takae Brewer (Translator)

Aya is more confident than ever that she belongs in the—formerly—all-male dance troupe COOL, founded and run by Akira, the boy she’s falling in love with. But COOL is at a pivotal time—their anniversary show is just days away and Akira's run off to London after Diana Roberts! What will COOL do if their leader fails to return by curtain time? Aya has a plna to save the day—one that's likely to make their financial benefactor very, very angry.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, Graphic Novels, Drama, Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novels Manga

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 1998

About the author

Pseudonym of Ritsuko Matsumoto, Japanese manga artist.

Debut with "Sono Hanashi okotowari shimasu" in 1994 on Bessatsu Shoujo Comics.

Japanese name: 芦原妃名子

Reviews

[Imogen Brand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Forbidden Dance conclusion I was a little disappointed as it is my first time reading the author work it felt rushed and unfinished although I highly praise the first volume of Forbidden Dance it went slowly down hill from the time Diane entered the story. Trying to introduce two strong female characters added conflict in the story line adding more drama less dance scenes in the manga which I was looking forward to as there is not many ballet dancer mangas to read.

I did enjoy reading her short story Land Of Happiness although it was one of the most depressing stories I have read in a long while it put a smile on my face as this is the true talent of Hinako Ashihara which she never shown in her main mangas. If she released her short stories in to a volume I would recommend them to any drama loving manga fans.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 3 out of 5]

And this is the end of Forbidden Dance... There's a part of me who feels sort of cheated by this volume, since it only contains 70 pages of actual story and the rest is extra.

I really like the ending and especially the phantom dance... But sometimes I'm just romantic.

The bonus stories... One sort of made sense since it's told from Tetsuya's point of view and add some details to the main story. The second one is completely different and it's set in 1919. There's a great novelist and a young man who has to retrieve a manuscript from him. It turns out the novelist is married to a very young girl and abuses her. The young man is hell-bent on saving her.

Nice series! I'm glad I've bought it.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never hated a book series so much in my life that the very next day after reading it I got rid of it.
This series had so much potential from book one, but the author was very good at including unnecessary pages for things that in no way shape or form related to the actual manga itself. Very disappointed.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

wasn't fully on board with the amount of faceslaps happening to girls in here.... but the dancing artwork is gorgeous. this is the only media that's ever made me interested or excited about ballet 😂

[Shiori]

I have never been so angry at a book that I threw it....until tonight....WHY WOULD YOU END THE STORY ON PAGE 70 WITH 135 PAGES LEFT IN THE BOOK!!!! THE STORY COULD HAVE USED IT BUT NOOOOOOOO HAD TO FREAKIN SHOW OFF OTHER STORIES ABOUT CHARACTERS WHO DON'T EVEN TALK OR WHO WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE!!!!! USE THE LAST 135 FREAKIN PAGES TO GIVE A SATISFYING ENDING NOT THIS LOAD OF TRASH!!! The worst part is that the first two books were so great. The third wasn't as amazing but still pretty good. Then we have book four....OH JUST KIDDING I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU 70 FREAKIN PAGES AND NOT TIE ANYTHING UP OR GIVE YOU A SATISFYING ENDING INSTEAD I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THIS BULL SO YOU WILL LIKE ME EVEN THOUGH I COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW HARD IT IS TO BE AN AUTHER AND ARTIST!!!! THAT BOOK WAS BULL CRAP!!!!!!! Never reading any of her stuff again. NEVER!!!!

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's very clear that this is one of Ashihara's earlier series. The art style lacks the effervescence and story depth of her later series. While it's not bad, it is very amateurish and hovers around mediocre in quality.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series revolved around ballet and the author draws you into that world in an exciting way (and I don't even like ballet). All of the characters were really well developed in the series and the plot moved along.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the way this series ended, but I actually liked the extra stories even more!

[Amy Peavy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfying if obvious ending (finished on our road trip)