Travis

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Travis is Currently Reading

Travis is currently reading

恋の奇跡 (8)

by Yuko Morita

bookshelves: 2007, manga, pre-2005, reread, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in November 2007

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Travis said:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

" I gave this five stars, not because it's actually "good", per se, but it is the best soap opera crack manga EVAR. I read it originally years ago when they made a drama of it, and reread it again a year or so ago when getting rid of a bunch of boxes o I gave this five stars, not because it's actually "good", per se, but it is the best soap opera crack manga EVAR. I read it originally years ago when they made a drama of it, and reread it again a year or so ago when getting rid of a bunch of boxes of manga that were taking up space in the closet.

More rambling below, totally spoilery.

The nice thing about rereading this is that while I remembered the basics (who got with whom, that people had tragic pasts, etc.) I didn't remember much of the specifics. It wasn't quite the same as being surprised the first time round, more like "oh yeah, I remember that", but it wasn't like I totally remembered everything and there was no point in reading it.

I had forgotten just how horrible people were in this. It's not just Yukino and Hijiri who are horrid. Like with Peach Girl, people jump to believe Yukino and hate on Taeko because of Yukino's lies. Or even if they're not hating, it's still really teeth-grindingly annoying how they believe Yukino. Of course that's the whole point, but argh!

I forgot so many of the twists and turns. I forgot that it turns out Yukino's mother had plastic surgery, too, and that's why she hated ugly!Yukino so much (not because Yukino reminded her of Yukino's father). I forgot the reason Yukino had plastic surgery was not that she was ugly (which she was), but because she'd been beaten so violently her face was mishapen, as well as having had her face burned (all this was while she was held for days by a group of high school boys who repeatedly raped her). I forgot the woman Hijiri loved so much was his own sister, and especially forgot that the reason she'd killed herself was because when she was blinded and delirious and thought Hijiri was her husband, he'd slept with her. I forgot that in the end Yukino's face gets ruined. I forgot that the reason Taeko's dad disappeared is that Yukino drugged him and put him in a shady hospital. So much I forgot! XD

Also, I totally forgot the "plastic surgery doesn't work that way!" reveal of Yukino's mom. She burns to death and they reconstruct a model of her face from the remains, to try and identify her body. But it's of course her real face, not the post-surgery face. But how would burning somehow "burn away" the plastic surgery? Even though I love the plot twist that she did have plastic surgery, the way they revealed it is so ridiculous. (Not that this whole story is based anywhere near reality anyway, but...)

And my one complaint about the ending is that I really would have liked to see public reaction to Yukino's crimes and to find out what happened to her.

Aside from the cracky soap-opera goodness, there is one thing that really bothers me about this manga and that's the focus on beauty. Even though as the series progresses, Taeko learns that inner beauty is what's important rather than just physical beauty, there is still a lot of emphasis on being beautiful and basically looking pleasing to a man. Hijiri at one point berates Taeko for coming to breakfast without wearing makeup, telling her that's part of the etiquette of being a woman, and this is presented as being the right view, not as something obnoxious!

The thing I did like, though, is that even after losing weight, Taeko was not "beautiful". She was normal-looking, and it was her personality that drew people to her (and she could be pretty with makeup, etc. which is how most people are). A nice touch of realism somewhat unexpected in a shoujo manga, where normally losing weight would make her automatically beautiful. Also she wasn't automatically a good actor. She flubbed her lines and was stiff and wooden and only after working really hard at it did she begin to get good. So I liked that there was some realism (unexpected!) amidst the over-the-top soapness.

Anyway, I'm definitely glad to have had a chance to read this again and see that I liked it as much as I did the first time round. ...more "

Sep 20, 2017 10:47PM · see review