What is nice about Manga is that one can choose something to read whatever his mood is. Be it deep, intelligent, kickass or even stupid, there is a genre for every taste. Ai Kora is pretty much a manga one would read to pass time, and it’s actually a good one at it aswell. A typical story where a boy lives in a girl dormitory, this seems like a recreation of Love Hina isn’t? I’ll have to say that you should never jump to conclusions.

The story of Ai Kora resolves around our main protagonist Hachibei and the relation he has with the girls of the dormitory. By relation, it is understood that Hachibei is someone who will go after his love parts and protect them at all costs. This insures lots of jokes and slapstick comedy. The story itself can be considered more of a collection of short stories rather than a story itself just like any manga of its genre. However, there are still connections between the chapters and thus still holds room for character development during the series.In term of originality, Ai Kora delivers quite well actually. Even though the story is predictable by miles, the characters are cliché and the setting was done lots of times before, Ai Kora is still very original. What strikes me is how the manga actually makes fun of a lot of fetishes during the manga and this at any degree. Whether it is a breast fetish, a doll fetish or even a hand fetish, there`s room for any kind of fetishes and jokes around it which is actually quite well done. Sadly, Ai Kora never developed itself during the years it was published and the jokes get repetitive and ineffective after a while. Step aside the comedy, Ai Kora also delivers drama. As expected from a series of its genre, the drama is quite forgettable. They`re either badly placed in the manga or simply leaves not interest for the reader. All in all, the story is enjoyable but lacks a bit of initiative.

Hachibei is not doubt of the star of the show and the only character which I would consider good. Contrary to other harem where the main is a sore loser with sexual insecurities, Hachibei is a mad man and self-assumed pervert who never stop to amaze me. For the girls, it was quite a letdown for most of them. Having single personalities, they were only interesting for the relation they had with Hachibei. Alone, they don`t stand out as characters and are pretty much bland. Plus, one can actually draw a parallel between the girls of Ai Kora and the girls of Love Hina and it doesn`t leave a good impression.

The art of Ai Kora is not a superb one, but not a bad one either. The characters are uniquely drawn and are easy to tell them apart and the art is what you would expect for a manga of its genre. Sure it’s not a beauty, but it is not disgusting as well. This being said, there`s very few aspects to say about the art.

In the end, I have to admit that I did enjoy Ai Kora for its sense of originality that it offered. Once in a while I feel like reading something that I wouldn`t need to be serious about it and Ai Kora is pretty much a perfect example. It is not perfect like all the manga of the same genre and get quite repetitive, but it`s still a good manga to pass time.