Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu

I puked.

I puked.

I cannot

comprehend

the mind

of this author.

What

is going

through

the mind

of the editor?

What

is going

through

the mind

of people

who liked

shit?

The characters are pathetic.
The stories are putrid.
The protag can't decide what the fuck she wants to be.
The ove interests are fucking bland.
The fucking character development is non-existent.
The plot is basically horse pile on top of more horse pile.

God. Help those who consider this as literature to find new light and pave their way to a better future.

All in all , burn this entity to the ground.

I've never felt the need to write a review on such a manga.
It started off well with the basic plot line of "plain girl with potential to be pretty being bullied" and what other reviews say about the beginning is all the same, but what REALLY gets me is how the story progresses and how it starts to end.
Their relationship feels TOXIC to me, where both rely upon one another in a pathetic manner. It upsets me to see such a character with the potential to be strong and independent turned into such a needy girlfriend. Yes, because of their relationship shes able to overcome obstacles in her own life, but most of her life just seems to revolve around needing to be with him and instead of seeing it as "cute puppy love" I see it as "toxic and pathetic".

What really gets me is that I continue to read this wanting to understand how it could all end in a way that won't tick me off anymore then this manga already makes me.
If you want to read a story that has their lead female as a pathetic neediness mess, this is the manga for you.

# Let’s get the first thing out of the way! I do not know how the author managed, but they put drama in every, single, chapter. Yes from chapter 1 to 99. Albeit that most of the drama was cliche and you could spot it from a mile away, but wow that is a record. After reading 99 chapters in one sitting, all the constant drama was getting annoying. Everyone could use breathers and a pause from some of the eye-rolling I was doing.

# This plays up the “ideal” couple. Now when I say that yes they do have their flaws, but overall they are happy, and faithful just to name two. And before anyone can tell me that it does happen in real life, yes it does. But it is soooo rare so the “ideal” couple is not something everyone can resonate with and raises the bars for guys/girls. But again they had flaws, which was great. They could grow and become better people together and that was something to read this manga for.

# This manga felt like life lessons were thrown one after one at me. They were sly but it felt like that nonetheless. One being decide your own path for yourself. Work together and support each other, each other’s dreams and wishes. respect. Happiness takes work. You can always change and better yourself if you choose to.

# The side characters were just brought in when needed or for a side gag. That’s all. Only 2 get major improvements to themselves, but after that poof. And yes, I get it, they aren’t needed overall but they shouldn’t be dumped either, but thats something I greatly believe. For one example, I actually thought that Tsubaki and Sakura’s father wasn’t in the picture until I saw him in ONE PANEL around chapter 80.

# [SPOILER]
I am not a big fan of having the guy force themselves on a girl. And that happened in the first few chapters (although there wasn’t any sex, that happens WAY later). Even if it is a kiss or undressing someone, no. I extremely dislike when the male characters (based off the majority I’ve read/seen) do this.

# Apparently, in most places you try to read this, some of the pages are scanned terribly and/or missing translations. So sometimes its just plow through and try to enjoy by zooming in.

# To stop my ranting about the negatives, let’s go to the positive. The story flowed so smoothly. The romance parts were well written.

# Art I would say rates a 8/10 for me.
Also side note, for some reason this reminded me of Lovely Complex? I can’t say why nor was it the art solely but there was something there that led me to that thought.

# The drama as much as I complained that there was a lot, was not dragged out. And the whole story didn’t dwell on one thing for too long that ended up killing it. The ending was great as well, it left you happy for the main characters without spoiling it too much.

# The characters, the emotions, and even some of the experiences can and will definitely resonate with readers.

I really love stories wherein the guy is a playboy and an ordinary girl will set him straight. Yup, I know haha. I love that cliche.

That's the reason why I settled to this story until I finished it in just 2 days! I actually love how their story started. This Kyouta guy is a real time jerk but he looks like Adonis!!!! Literally! And the girl, my, the transformation was amazing.

When the bet was off and they're already in a relationship, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed on how things are going so far. There's just so many petty misunderstandings, so many third parties and all those things in a teenage romances. But later on, I realized that those scenarios are somewhat true to life. So yep, I think it was not that bad afterall. And besides, I actually admire the fact that it covers what are mostly the things you'll encounter when you're in a relationship and I love how the two of them were able to solve them. It's not all flowers and butterflies and they have their own share of tears and heartbreak which makes it relatable to some.

And my! I love the HEA! The proposalwas definitely not like the previous stories I've read before so that was really a plus.

So yep, if you're looking for a good shojou manga, this one should be on your list ;)

ahm,,,this is a very interesting story,,i started reading and i just cant stop myself anymore :))
,,anyway im still waiting for the update :)

Well, this is a very typical shoujo manga. Hibino is interesting in the beginning, ordinary "old-fashioned" girl and all. She can be strong-willed, but very sensitive.
Kyouta...well, ok he's a BISHIE playboy blah blah blah has a bad history with women but since Hibino is very different compared to the others, falls in love with the ugly duckling who transforms into a pretty princess. They obviously have problems and ups-downs in their relationships...
So.
The art is good, characters are not too bad and the story is sort of...random.
Its still ongoing, a new character has come in, so I'm only reviewing whatever I've read till now.
If you want to read a shoujo manga with a hot guy, romance and a relationship, go ahead. It's not too bad, you can read it to pass time or something.
I'll rate this as a SHOUJO (=romance+school life) manga, even though I'm a girl I'm generally into mangas with a good storyline, plot, some action, something that really makes me think. I read this manga just like that, so I'm not going to be too harsh.

All with all a pretty typical shoujo manga, albeit being quite a bit too smut for that. The main character is a typical ugly girl which turns out to be extremely beautiful and the main male character is an arrogant playboy with a good side to him.

Story - Typical, but fairly interesting and there is enough development to make it interesting, but not enough to make it stand out.
Character - The character development itself is quite good, however quite a number of times the choices and reactions of the characters seemed to be a bit overdone, which was quite frustrating. Also the main male character on himself is quite unrealistic, as he hates women, yet is a playboy (can't go into that too deep, as it would be a spoiler, but lets just say its extremely unrealistic)
Enjoyment - The story would have been quite enjoyable, if not for the smut moments which would spoil it a bit (especially up to chapter 30).

Overall it isn't a bad read, but it's nothing special either.

I found this by pressing the "surprise me" button on magna reader many times.... yeah I was bored. It looks like a really shojo manga, and it was. It was cute, somewhat heartfelt, sad at moments, and entertaining. Kyouta made me want to scream sometimes, but sometimes he was just really cool. I liked it, Tsubaki the main character reminded me a bit of myself, the way she acted, thought, and made decisions. I'm not old fashioned like her, nor do I have her incredible ability for hair. It was cute and entertaining! Its the kind that makes you want to go out and fall in love. If your looking for something to read, read this. I wouldn't put it at the top of you list of things to read, but if you have the time and are looking for something to read check this out.

Honestly I started reading this just because it was like 11 pm and I was on the smut tag and this popped so I thought why not. It was then on chapter 20 that I realized this shit was actually 100 fkn chapters long so it was too late for me to turn back. I ended up reading this in 24 hours... I didn't sleep that night and it didn't help that I had a trip the very next day... over all it's just a good memory cause this was the first night of the school year where I pulled an allnighter. (Little did I know there are plenty more that followed).

Story:
I like the story. It does start off very typical and shallow which off puts people at first glance but then after awhile you notice that this isn't gonna be all roses and candy and that these characters really do think like a person would (even if it's not rationally). I think once you get over about the first or second story arcs, which I didn't mind and did enjoy, you get into some of the more entertaining and interesting parts. It's those chapters that got me hooked and keeping updated with this manga.

Art:
The art is really enjoyable in my point of view. Most things are in proportion, the clothing is recognizable (and cute!). I really like how the characters hair are draw as well! Also even the sub-characters have recognizable faces, cause sometimes all the background kids have the same face and you can't even tell who's apart of the conversation.

Characters:
I think the characters are constructed well. They have problems that have been rutted into them from past experiences, albeit they can be a little over the top about it sometimes but you do understand where they come from and why they feel the need to do things.

Although the main character Hibino can be misunderstood a lot or seems annoying, I did feel a connection to her because I felt we were kind of similar (not that I'm gonna go chopping off peoples hair and falling in love with them LOL). Not really in her romantic point of view but some of the other attributes she has. She was an insecure yet hard headed girl with a big sense of responsibility. She changes gradually, although she still keeps a lot of her previous attributes, but I think it works out well for her character.

Overall/Enjoyment:
I really enjoyed it! In all honesty I read it, I liked it, I continued reading it. I decided to write a review because I really do think it deserves a little more credit than it is given. Maybe it isn't for everyone, or maybe I like it more than I think I do, but really it's up to whoever reads it to decide. C:

NOTE: I'm not really so much a nit picker about reading manga or watching anime which is why my review is probably all over the place.

I stumbled upon this one day and started reading it, I don't usually read love mangas but after reading the first chapter I realized that the main character, Tsubaki, reminded me of my girlfriend from junior high. I am no Kouto (the other main, the boy who sweeps her off her feet), but I felt a personal connection to the story as many of you might. A lonely girl who doesn't fit in, but catches the eye of the most handsome guy in school and changes to be with him. I have only read up to chapter 23 because that's all I can find translated. I must say that the story seems to be evolving into a good plot though from what I have read. I think this will be a good manga once completed, but all the scans and translated versions I have seen for this manga is sub-par. I still thank the person doing it cause I know I cant, but I would wait for the manga to get father along and maybe a pro translator to pick up this series before I would jump into it. I am still reading it weekly though. Also I am trying not to spoil but pay close attention to Tsubaki's sister in the beginning, I didn't pay much attention to her but she is turning out to be a big part of the plot so I went and reread some of her parts to get a feel for her. I didn't pay attention the first time cause I was so wrapped up with Tsubaki and Kouto. Also I probably misspelled the names, only because I have seen it translated different ways in each chapter lol.

The beginning blew me away. I was hooked on, and I loved the main character... Then I got to the later chapters. I don't know exactly what happened, but she became the typical shojou girl that is hopeless and against all feminist beliefs. Other than that I sort of like the story.

As the reader will quickly realise, Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is a story about a girl's first love as well as the various first experiences that also come with it. The story contained many elements which reminded me of my first love - and for that reason, I found Hibino's thoughts and actions to be quite realistic when compared to my own experience.

There are times that the reader will want to snap the book shut, curl up into a ball and squeal because of how awkward/inexperienced Hibino is... and, during those times, it is really hard to go on - it's honestly so hilariously embarrassing to read some of those parts!

Nevertheless, this manga to be an easy read for those who suit Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu's style of writing, pacing and plot. The whole series really goes by in a flash if you're into it.

I'm genuinely disgusted and horrified. Boy tried to freaking rape her and gave her trauma from all of the bullying and harassment! I done with this crap piece of trash. The author seriously needs some help. I hope my girl finds a better man who actually respects her. And this whole school is trash. F them.

I can't believe people actually find this manga okay. What's so romantic about some dude who tries to manipulate you so he could touch your private parts? Seriously. I'm just so disgusted. And female lead actually think he's a good person just because he's hot and did something "good" for her. Burh, in reality, she was just playing right into his damn trap.

I do not understand why this terrible series is so damn popular (though I say the same thing about Twilight too) and just when you think THAT story couldn't be made to be more misogynistic than it is, Kyou, Koi Wo Hajimemasu will unpleasantly surprise you. This is bad as Mayu-f*cking-Shinjo's works. In fact, I will be amazed if the author of this garbage didn't EXCHANGE WRITING NOTES with Shinjo, let alone know her They'd probably be best friends! Yes, I imagine it would go something like this:

Minami Kanan: Hello! I love your work! Your men are so hot. God, asshole rapists sure do turn me on!

Mayu Shinjo: Oh yes!! They are the best! RAPE IS LOVE! I love your work as well! Horrible men are beautiful! They are so perfect too...like GODS! They should be the only sex in this world....that's what I've always believed.

Kanan: LOL! I know....women are so STUPID! All they do is cry! They belong in the kitchen for all eternity!!

Shinjo: Like TOTALLY!! I wish I'd been born a man. :(

Yeeeeeah.

Art: The artwork is nothing spectacular. It's much like the mediocre style of shoujo series that remain that: mediocre. But to call this series as a whole "mediocre" is far too much of a compliment.

Character: This is the part that will probably make you bash your head against the wall...if you were holding high expectations. Because shoujo manga in general really does characters right when it tries.

But this manga doesn't try. Not at all. Neither main character is likable. The heroine is a doormat who puts 1+1 together and ends up with "purple". The "love interest" is an abusive jerk who makes the childish "bad boys" of the more family-appropriate shoujo series look like saints, BEFORE their character development. He's perverted, he's a bully, he's mean. I don't mean as in name-calling or playing impish pranks or tsundere-pretending that he doesn't care (when he clearly does)
I mean "MEAN" as in "why hasn't this girl called one of those hotlines that help with domestic abuse yet?"

Now, as you can see, I did not finish this manga. I don't want to....because the ending to chapter 6 disgusted me so much that I don't think anything could possibly save it. NO girl with a brain or an ounce of self-respect would come to the same conclusion the heroine did. Unless she was a complete masochist, perhaps. It's so infuriating that I'd probably throw this book into a wall and then burn it.....had I been reading a physical copy...and thank God I didn't decide to buy this on a whim because I'd be demanding my money back in order to do something more productive with it, like using it to clean up my dog's poop. :(
.......actually that's a brilliant use for this manga for everyone who was unfortunate enough to spend money on it. :'D

I absolutely loved this manga. Its a really corny manga and you can tell that after reading a few chapters. Everything about it. I LOVE corny manga's, so of course, this manga was perfect for me.

What I love so much about it is that you can see their love progress. You see what they go through and all their hardships and that they make it through in the end. I think that's really beautiful. I love reading manga's like these. They remind me of my own relationship and it warms my heart when I can relate to the characters.

I read all 100 chapters in 24 hours. It's an addictive read. Especially if you love corny stuff. Reminds me of Kaichou wa Maid-Sama. May even be better.
Anyway! This manga is a great read!

This was the worst manga I have ever read. Recently, I've been on a girly romantic manga binge so this seemed right up my alley. Wow, was I in for a shock.

The main male character is a huge dick, no seriously this guy treats his girlfriend horrible.

You might find this spoiler-ish so read at your own discretion,

This poor girl starts out a innocent girl, poor girl gets harassed by her whole class and then somehow falls in lover with the guy that almost rapes her and the one that treats her like absolute garbage. This guy is CONSTANTLY bringing her down.

They take a school trip and Tsubaki really wants to not sneak out and stay an extra night because she could lose important recommendations she needs to further her life. This asshole actually makes her feel bad about it and basically guilts her into it.

This girl made it painfully obvious she was not ready for sex but this doucheturd literally makes the moves on her everytime and then somehow HE gets his feelings hurt over it,

This manga was painful. The main girl was a crybaby constantly looking like she was butthurt about something. Constantly apologizing for shit that wasn't even her fault. Plus she almost gets raped THREE TIMES and just shrugs it off. One of the guys even leaves marks on her but she ends up helping him out later on. Come on girl.

Tsubakis sister Sakura, is a damn whore, who's writing this shit? She's 14 and sleeping around. This whole damn family needs help.
You know what forget the family, let's talk about the members in the school. Do these kids have anything better to do than to sleep around with the school whore, aka Kyouta the main male character. These people are literal trash. Why does no one bat an eye that EVERYONES slept with this guy? And Tsubaki is totally fine with it?.


So if you want a crybaby girl, who blames herself for her asshole boyfriends actions, look no further than Tsubaki, if you want a total toolbag main guy, Kyouta is your guys,

Join these two on their everlasting struggle to stay in a relationship over bullshit fights that don't even make any sense. Don't waste your time, please. This was absolute trash

I just wanted to describe the one thing that really bothers me about this manga.
Tsubaki calls Kyouta by his first name (with an honorific but still) when they weren't dating yet but then when they are, she starts calls him Tsubaki-kun. Isn't that weird calling your bf your own name despite it being his last name? He's your bf now so you should be calling him by his first name as a sign of closeness. It's almost conceited
'cause it's also her first name. There's no way you can mistranslate names right? I'm reading it online and some parts are translated by other people but the translation for some dialogue has the same meaning even if it's completely different wording. The only reason I can think of is that now that they're seriously dating, she's embarrassed to call him by his first name, since at the beginning he was a boy she despised. Comment, if you agree with me so I don't think it's just me that thinks this way, haha.

Reading shoujo manga, at one point of time, was almost a hobby of mine, something that I enjoyed tremendously. I could read almost anything and everything that the genre had to offer, irrespective of how good, bad (or downright horrible) that piece of work was. The obsession was relatively short lived though, thanks to the gradual loss of interest in the genre. Through the course of pursuing this guilty pleasure activity, I came across works that could be passed off as decent and those which made me feel like I might punch my computer screen in disgust if I read any further.

Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu without a doubt falls rightfully in the latter category for me. Yeah, you get the drift; get ready for the rant.

If I have to sum up this manga in one word, then it is ‘atrocious’. It is your clichéd, run of the mill shoujo story without any substance or sensible development; rather it only keeps getting worse with every chapter. Actually, there’re better stories out there with more or less the same setting and plot but this one is so bad that even calling it ‘mediocre’ is unimaginable, in my case at least. Throw in a bunch of shallow, stereotypical characters of the worst sort and you have the recipe for a horrendous piece that is Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu.

Speaking of the characters, Tsubaki Hibino, frankly speaking, is one of the most infuriating shoujo manga heroines I have come across. She was somewhat likable in the beginning when she actually had a backbone and didn’t let her guards down before the male lead but that façade of her wears off in the blink of an eye when one morning she wakes up and the realization dawns upon her that she is in fact madly in love with Tsubaki Kyouta, the male protagonist of the story and an equally annoying character who appears to suffer from something called the jerk syndrome. He is your clichéd, school’s heartthrob with a nasty personality and yet girls dig him because he is just so hawt! The other characters, if there are any that is, are more or less bystanders. Oh wait. Did I mention Hibino’s sister? She pulled off her role of the ‘bitchy rival’ in this incredible love story pretty well. I will give her that.

The artwork is the only aspect of this manga I can rate a bit high in comparison to everything else it has to offer. There is the typical shoujo feel to it but it is well done nonetheless.

For some reason, this manga is actually admired by many people which comes as a surprise to me. Well, whatever said and done, I am no one to question their taste. But now that I contemplate, I wonder why I even went through the trouble of reading those 13 chapters. Was I that bored and jobless? Possible. That or I, somewhere deep inside me, was wishing for something good to happen in the story, only to be utterly disappointed as it did not even come close to anything that would make me feel optimistic about it. The bottom line is, Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu is by no means worth recommending to anyone who is looking for a decent piece to read. You might pick it up if you wish to pass your time but if you ask me, I would suggest you to look for something else.

-Dissection of the score-
Story: 3 | Art: 6 | Character: 2 | Enjoyment: 2| Overall: 3

[This review is an edited and improvised version of the original review posted on October 16, 2011]

Although I've read a lot of reviews somehow I've never written one myself. I just had to make an exception while reading this manga. This story irritates me so much but for some reason I am unable to stop reading it. It's addicting even though I just want to pull my hair out because of the main character.

This starts nicely with the main character having a brain and some attitude, but somehow slowly(or not even that slowly) she ends up being this ditzy girl who can think of nothing else except for the boy she likes. I want to stop reading after every chapter but at the same time I want to continue reading and find out what happens next . I guess I'm a masochist. I like shoujo but I also like characters who have a little more personality than that of a rubber duck.

Overall, this is not a bad story( plus, the art is very enjoyable) and obviously I like it to some extent as I continue reading it. I'm a sucker for these ugly-girl-gets-her-dream-guy- storylines even though I have to vent out once in a while :)