SHINSHI DOUMEI CROSS

Wow. This series was incredible. Amazing, breath taking, and astounding! When I first started it, I didn't know it was by the author of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, which btw, I loved and Full Moon wo Sagashite. I had thought the art had looked very familiar.

Story - 10

I love stories like this. One girl, two boys, high class academy. Many books may have the same story outline but none as good as this one. I couldn't stop flipping the pages. It's very unique and addictive.! I don't want to give anything away.

Art - 9

Very adorable art. I love Arina Tanemura's artwork. She did a great job in Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Full Moon wo Sagashite. Although there is ONE thing that caused the art to get a 9. Sometimes, I really can't tell the characters apart. When you're farther into the book, it'll be easier to tell apart.

Characters - 10

Now, I absolutely loved the characters. Now, I'm not gonna say much cause I don't want to spoil the story for those who want to read it. Tanemura makes her characters very nicely. They don't all sound the same and are all very different personality wise.

Enjoyment - 10

Did I enjoy it?? Of course I did! If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't have completed it. There are cliffhangers sometimes but I love cliffhangers! :) You really never know what's going to happen next in this series.

Overall - 10

Absolutely perfection! They really need to make this into an anime. The other two series Tanemura wrote got made into an anime. Why not this one? I know if they did, I would love this even more!

Shinshi Doumei Cross is a wonderful manga! I love it! The characters are so insightful and kawaii! You wonder what will happen next and there is surprise after surprise after surprise! If you like a manga with plenty of fluff, twins, suspence, and rich smexxy guys, Shinshi Doumei Cross is perfect! XD

The story focuses on Haine Otomiya and Shizumasa Togu's relationship, but Tanemura also takes time to explain the other characters' stories as well. As in Full Moon, there were some pretty surprising twists and turns which make the story very interesting. The ending... was cliché Arina Tanemura, and was the only part I didn't like about the story. But when I think about it, there really isn't any other way it could have ended. All of the characters have interesting pasts, and the overall story is pretty enjoyable.

Art--As usual, Arina Tanemura's art is superb. I love the way she draws hair and clothes. Her drawings are always so detailed and pretty, I really wonder how she makes all her deadlines... I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 because I think Full Moon's art was better, but SDC's art is awesome as well.

Character--The main character, Haine, was a bit disappointing. Right from the beginning she's in love with Shizumasa, and I just thought "not another smitten-girl story!" (don't worry, it gets better) She's not that bright and can get pretty annoying at times. The other characters are much more tolerable than Haine, though I really didn't like Maora's identity thing. In general, I don't think the characters were developed all that well, but some do mature throughout the story.

I think the overall enjoyment of the story is great. There are flaws and problems, but when it all comes together everything becomes tolerable. And the amazing art just makes it even better! I highly recommend this manga.

In Imperial Academy, students are classified into ranks. the ranks ranges from Gold, Silver, and Copper. Haine Otomiya, the heroine of the story, ranks as Copper in the Academy. She is inlove with the Koutei (Emperor) Shizumasa Tougu, the only Gold ranked student and heir of the Tougu family.

This 47-chapter shoujo manga was written by Arina Tanemura, same mangaka of the popular Full Moon wo Sagashite. The story revolves around Haine, her family, friends, and lovelife. Expect this manga to provide you with lots of twists every now and then. As the story progresses, same goes to the development of the characters.

The characters were drawn beautifully. From the looks to their clothes, it is all good. There are also times that a certain character will remind you or certainly, looks like the another character.

I guess, the only negative comment I can give to this manga is that it ended so quick. There are things that still need to be disclose or give further attention. All in all, Shinshi Doumei Cross is a must read..

Story: I first found Gentlemen's Alliance Cross while I was searching through my high school library for something new to read. I heard the series was good, so I checked it out. Never did I know I was ever going to be so indulged in this. The story is about a girl named Haine, who her family gave up to another as a baby, which you will learn the real reason than the one she explains in the beginning of the series later on. She goes to a very rich school, but she is still considered an outcast until the "emperor," Shizumasa, the son of the very prestige Togu family accepts her, reluctantly at that, into the student council, where she gains a few friends. The strange thing is that Shizumasa himself seems to be bipolar with Haine. He appreciates her; then, he utterly hates her. She doesn't know why, but she starts to fall in love with him (and you will also learn why he acts so weird later). I bet there's another story like this out there, but this is the first time I ever found a love story like this. I was very intrigued and I always wanted to know more about it. Of course, there are some flaws, but they never stood out like a sore thumb to me. 10/10

Art: The art is also pretty cool, but sometimes, it could be cluttered on some pages. This is drawn by the same person who made Full Moon, so you would expect the stuff to be good, right? It's good, but the clutteredness, like blood spots or flowers, get the way of what is actually happening the scenes sometimes. It's not bad, but I think the artist did too much. No offense to the creator of the series. 9/10

Character: The characters finally have substance. I don't want to reveal too much or else I'm going to spoil the series for you. Haine's life wasn't always so sweet. She always knew that her biological family gave her up, and when she was younger, she actually went through a rebellious stage and joined a gang, there was a term for this, but I forgot what it was. She stopped her gang banging when she met Shizumasa as a child, the person who supposively wrote her favorite childhood book (and you'll understand what I mean by that later). Like I said, Shizumasa is a very weird case. He seems to be two different people at different times (that's a hint). Her friends in the student council are funny. There are two cross dressers who fall in love with either other (that's always sweet), and there is a girl who actually came out as a lesbian for Haine; however, I did hate her at one point. There is always development with the characters, and they aren't stick figure types, which is always great when it comes to writing a great series. 10/10

Enjoyment: I was always flipping pages. I never wanted to put the books down. Honestly, if this series were to become an anime, I would jump on and watch all of the episodes. There isn't much else to say about it because I blabbed about it all above. 10/10

Overall: This is my favorite manga series of all time, and if you want to read it, you will understand why I gave this a rounded up 10 out of 10.

Well, honestly, at first, I became really irritated with the story. It was so complicated that I didn't know what I was reading most of the time. When I reached the 15th chapter I almost decided to just drop reading the manga and start on another. But, my curiosity would not hear of it. The manga's plot gave me a lot to ponder that it urged me to go back to reading it in less than a day after I opted to quit.

So, I finally finished all 47 chapters plus the extra chapter and I am very happy to say that I LOVED it.

[MAY contain SPOILERS]

STORY: 10/10
Despite what I'd said about getting confused so much that I decided to quit on the series, the complication of it all just picked at my curiosity so that's basically why i loved the story line. There were a lot of twists I really enjoyed. It was definitely a page-turner and each chapter leaves you wanting to read the next. The ending was rather amusing though somewhat predictable. Nevertheless, I think it was brilliantly done.

ART: 10/10
Not much to say about the art besides the fact that it was phenomenal! All characters were so intricately done. I just love Haine and the Togou (I can't quite spell their last name right, oh well) Twins. I also was impressed with the amazing detail the author did with it. Very lovely.

CHARACTER: 8/10
Well, as much as I loved everyone, I get easily confused. Sometimes they just look so alike. I often mistook Ushio for Haine (and vice versa) when the latter's hair was long (after she cut it I mistook her for Maora, instead). But that's just minor. Anyway, I don't know if I liked the fact that Maora was actually a boy but it was sweet that he tried looking like a girl for Maguri's sake. It was just very surprising. Another thing I didn't think I liked was the portrayal of Shizumasa as the "evil" twin. I hated him at first and at the same time pitied him for his condition. I was glad that he was good deep inside all along. He also loved his brother as he loves Haine. And must Haine be so. . . .I'm not sure if stupid or ignorant would fit her better. That may be one of her quirks but sometimes I think it's overly exaggerated? I don't know. It was all just pleasant.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
You may think I'm very shallow and/or crazy but I actually wanted to cry at some emotional climaxes in the story. Everything asked for in a romance story can be found in this masterpiece. I love all the drama and fluff moments very much so there's not much to say! Bravo!

OVERALL: 10/10
Apparently, the thing about the characters doesn't affect my overall rating for this manga. I just really loved it. Of course, nothing (and no one's) ever perfect so that's just normal. In the end, this is a manga I highly recommend for people who are a sucker for romance who wants something. . . .slightly unique and heart-touching. Gah! But I do wish I can have Shizumasa-sama now (since Haine already has Takanari). Anyways, I think that's all I can say. :D

Oh man, this manga. If you like over-dramatized, high school, slide-of-life manga, go right ahead.

-Story-

The plot is so over-dramatic I found it impossible to connect with any of the characters or the story at all. Even the overall plot of nice girl slowly melts the icy heart of popular boy so dull.

So much goes on with this story at such an inflated, ridiculous scale.

-Art-

It looks pretty.

-Character-

This manga tries to offer interesting characters like Ushio and Maora and attempts to include substories, but for me it really just falls flat. Takanari's family backstory is ridiculous and unrealistic. The only sadness I feel is for how badly-written it is.

Shinishi doumei cross is a shojo manga that no one would ever look at but I'm here to say its a decent piece of work.

Story:7/10
The plot I wasn't expected to have a bit of a dark turn as Haine is sold off just because she couldn't meet expectation. Her father is a F#Ck head. She got adopted by the Otomiya's and is enrolled into a school for aristocats where her one love is. I think the plot is simple but after reading the first volume of it, I was excited of what is going to happen. But then I got lost when reading it as there are so much things happening in one time, you can get confuse on whats happening. Its like when you are in and argument of five people of seeing who is right and hearing all of them will get you lost. But the twist would really be shocking even to me which really is clever and makes you ask whats next to come. It also has bit of dark elements to it. Not much but is enough to be noticeable and adds to the plot. I feel that this has ended to fast as the ending didn't do a good job of closer. It's not bad but I feel like they are getting ready for another volume but something must of happen so they stop. While it didn't do well in some part, I think the story is decent at best.

Art:9/10
The art is incretably detail and well suffice. The backgrounds looks really well and there are no flaws to point out. The character also look very good but when I look at them, they kinda look the same from each other. The designs felt like its reuse just in a different way to a different character. That's the only complaint I have as everything else is fine.

Character:8/10
Character are really well done but it will take time to settle do to the fact of so many things that happen. Haine is really good and is not much of the damsel in distress which I much appreciated but she does have her fair shares of moment. Her relationships and interaction with the other really help out fleshing her and the others characters. There are time that has its" OMG is that possible" moments which really didn't help but they are not a huge deal.

Enjoyment:7/10
If you can handle the fact of getting lost in the story, Then this is good read but its not something I would like to re-read. But this is something that is worth checking out.

Overall:7/10 Decent enough to read

>Story---------------10

The first few chapters made it seem like Shinshi Doumei Cross would have a pretty predictable plot. Normal girl with a troubled past goes to elite school and falls in love with the most popular, powerful guy, then works hard to make senpai notice her. It's been done a million and a half times. However, once the story really gets going, twists--I won't say what for the sake of not spoiling--are introduced that really make it stand out. Most of the romantic pairings are still pretty predictable (once you know the characters involved), but the way in which they develop is, in my opinion, fresh and unique. There's also some guy/guy and girl/girl romance, which I can definitely get down with. I only wish the latter had gone on a little longer..

>Art------------------8

The art is probably the part that frustrated me most about this manga. It's undeniably stunning. Even a cursory glance will tell you that a lot of work went into every panel, which is why it's hard for me to criticize it. However, there were a lot of times when the pages felt too "busy" (sooooo much shading!!) and made it hard to follow. There's almost no empty space, so it can quickly get overwhelming. Also, the designs for some of the characters were very, very similar, especially early in the series, so I ended up spending a lot of time trying to figure out who I was looking at.

All that said, the it's still absolutely gorgeous. If you like "pretty" manga, it'll be right up your alley!

>Characters---------9

There are definitely some unique characters in the series. All of the main cast had very compelling backstories--though I wish there'd been room to delve into some a little deeper--and all had good development from beginning to end. I didn't like how they made so many jokes in the beginning about how stupid Haine was, but that was dropped pretty quickly anyway. Though she seems like your typical ultra-cheerful-to-the-point-of-being-an-annoyance heroine at first, she has other sides to her that make her a pretty compelling protagonist. I especially enjoyed the hesitant camaraderie that developed between Haine and Maguri for some reason. I also found it interesting that, by the end, there was no longer a clear "villain" to hate.

>Enjoyment--------9

Do recommend.

I rarely found out that Tanemura Arina has a straight story, considering that most of her stories will be involved some magic, except for this one.
The story was a bit complicated, but it's complicated in a very good way. It includes some cute scenes between the main characters, but not so cheesy as well. The plot was good, as it has lots of unpredictable plots unlike other manga did. And the art... well no one can deny Tanemura's art, huh? She is one of my favorite mangaka based on arts.
So far, this was my favorite manga from her.