After I had read all the available chapters of Skip Beat! and craved for some more shoujo manga, I found Honey Hunt.

The setting is the showbizz world, with an emphasis on the acting business. I find the plot pretty OK and logical. The villain is Yura's mom; I think this is the first time I came across a villain I genuinely despised... She has the whole world fooled into thinking she's the best parent on the planet and loves Yura, when in fact she doesn't care in the least. And on top of that, she sleeps with her daughter's best/only friend while knowing Yura has feelings for the guy... I don't blame Yura for saying "People like them should just burn in hell" and then wanting to become an actress after her mom went on tv again and acted like she was hurt by Yura's words. What a gawd awful woman...

First off, one of main reasons I like HH, the art. It has a very "sweet" feel to it (like Honey? Bwahaha. Too cheesy right...). I especially like how the guys are drawn, very handsome (:x). And I think some of the backgrounds use pictures instead of being hand drawn. First time I've seen it used this way and I liked it.

The story progresses as expected: she starts off all nervous, then after some encouraging words by love interest number 1, Q-ta, she slowly finds her niche and becomes a better actress and gets better roles. There aren't too many unexpected plot twists (or should I say almost none?), but the dialogue is pretty good (read logical), I think that's what kept me interested. There aren't many funny lines, so don't expect too many awkward comedic scenes. The part that didn't sit quite right with me was why they needed to add a 3rd guy to Yura's love interests; he was perfectly fine in his role as her guardian/manager and I think that it wasn't needed to add him as a love rival. And also the twist that the other two love interests are twin brothers.

As for the characters, to be honest, I don't really prefer the overly stereotypical shoujo heroine: damsel in distress, blushes at every little thing and overly cute( I know, I know; if I don't like these I should probably stop reading shoujo huh... :p). And Yura is exactly one of these. It's not that I dislike her, but I just can't bring myself to care for her (yet). Next we have Q-ta, the primary love interest and Mr. Nice Guy. He's the singer of the the band Ash.H and he's just too dreamy... A little too perfect imo. His only flaw is that he openly admits that he worships Yura's dad (ultra famous musician) and wants to do anything possible in order to get close to his idol, including proposing to Yura. He eventually starts liking Yura as well. Love interest #2 is Q-ta's twin brother, Haruka, the meanie. He's one fourth of the boy band "Knights". He doesn't like Yura in the beginning, but then slowly falls in love with her. I think partially because he sees how his brother is also into Yura... Love interest #3 is Yura's manager. Again, I just can't bring myself to see him as a love interest; somehow he feels like someone who is 30-35 years old and just doesn't give off the boyfriend vibe.

Granted Honey Hunt might not be the most original shoujo manga out there, but it is nicely drawn and the dialogue throughout the story is pretty good. Would recommend it if you have some free time and want something sweet to read. :))