|
Suki, Dakara Suki is about a little girl called Hinata (or Hina for
short) Asahi who lives on her own in a big house. She goes to an all-girls
school. She seems to be somewhat of a prodigy as she is in a class with older
girls who always tease her for being little, but she is still smarter than them.
She loves teddy bears and has two which she talks to - Waka, who is black, and
Tono, who is white. She is very hyper and often sings the daftest songs! She
has two friends, Touko and Emi. Emi is completely boy mad and very hyper (not
unlike Hina). Touko is more mature, and seems to have some tragic secret which
is something to do with Hina.
The main story revolves around someone moving into the house next to Hina's -
Shiro Asou. The day after, Hina discovers that Asou is in fact her new
teacher. Having him move in is a big thing for Hina as she loves that house,
despite it being smaller than her own. Having a new male teacher is also a big
thing as Asou-sensei is the first young male teacher to have taught at the
school for a while! Hina seems to have a bit of a crush on him from the
start, like all the other girls in her class. Hina's feelings towards him are a
little less defined than the other girls' - and she seems to take a naive,
childish outlook on things, despite being perfectly able to take care of
herself.
As the story develops, more characters are added to the mix and Hina, Touko and
Asou-sensei's pasts soon become very mysterious to the reader. Why does Hina
live on her own? Why is Touko sad every time Hina or Asou-sensei are mentioned?
And most of all, why is Asou-Sensei so interested in Hina?
Having finally bought all 3 volumes of Suki, I must admit that this series has a
great deal more charm to offer than the first volume did alone, as the story
concludes with quite a sweet and innocent ending. The second and third volumes
develop two new characters, Tomoaki Namiya and Masaya Kizu. The purpose of these
two characters is a bit indistinct when they are first introduced, and I don't
want to spoil it by telling you! Although, at the end there is still quite a
bit of confusion over their character, depending on how you look at it. However,
it is clear from the first introduction that they are both friends, or at least
acquaintances of Asou-sensei. Kizu remains quite a mysterious character, while
we do learn a little about Tomoaki - he is 21 and a writer, and of the three
adults understands and enjoys Hina's company the most. He is fun-loving and
quickly becomes Hina's friend, much to the annoyance of Asou-sensei.
If you are a CLAMP fan, or a fan of good manga artwork and clever storylines,
this series would be a good one to add to your collection. Despite the ambiguity
of the characters (which I feel adds to the book), this is a clever and
extremely well-drawn series. The eye-catchers ("covers" of each episode) are
simply stunning, and the plot is unique and heart-warming, without relying on
usual devices such as magical powers, aliens, powerful enemies and the like. A
good example of why CLAMP are a leading manga company.
Publisher: Tokyopop
Price: £6.99 GBP/ $9.99 USD
No. of volumes: 3
Quality of artwork
Extremely nice, but what else would you expect from CLAMP?
Storyline
Truly unique and intriguing.
Cuteness
Possibly the cutest manga I have ever seen. Hina is just adorable.
Value for money
This is one of the cheaper manga, and worth every penny.
Overall
A sweet and innocent manga, with a heart-warming story.
Who should buy this manga?
Fans of cute, and anyone who likes CLAMP will certainly not be disappointed. Lovers of the
shoujo genre would also like this.
|
