Manga Friday: Romance Is in the Air

Andrew Wheeler

Andrew Wheeler spent 16 years as a book club editor, most notably for the Science Fiction Book Club, and has been a judge for the 2005 World Fantasy Awards and the 2009 Eisner Awards. He is now Marketing Manager for John Wiley & Sons.

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1 Response

  1. Linda Gold says:

    Sorry about that, I hit the button too soon. You may be right about the gender thing Andrew. I never thought of Ai Yori Aoshi as anything but shojo so I find the idea of it being aimed at young men odd (despite the occasional fan service). It is one of my all time favorite manga. I just finished reading the last volume and I hated to see it end. Aoi and Kaoru have to struggle against overwhelming odds to stay together. Much of this comes to light in later volumes. (The title means "true blue love"). Also, I think it has some of the most beautiful artwork around, especially Aoi's kimono. Anyway, I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow so I'd recommend it to all the romantics out there. Love Hina is also a favorite of mine but it is a much more light-hearted story. Keitaro's nebbish is a stock manga character so don;t let that put you off. There are dozens of them. All in all I'd recommend sticking with both these series for more than one volume. I liked them so much I invested in the entire series for both as well as all the anime.