IMHO. Wataru Hibiki ~ how each next work gets worse and worse

It's just probably better to describe my impressions of all works together than one by one, as I usually do, since this is not a case of a single work I like or dislike, but a process of my disillusionment.

'Hanatsuki hime'
The first work by Hibiki I have read and the one that made me think Hibiki might become one of my favourite authors of all times. Hibiki uses her favourite fanasy-middle-East setting with fancy costumes with a lot of necklaces and hair decorations, turbans and veils covering the lower half of the girls' faces, curved sables and flowing fabrics, dancing, jinn and flowers in the desert. It seems Hibiki is very fond of such designs since she ruthlessly exploited the same in her other one-shot stories, haha.
The storyline is smooth, the characters are given enough depth and there are several really impressive heart-rending scenes that convey the characters' feelings straight from the screen of my computer (since I'm reading only digital manga) to my heart. The female lead is your typical overly-positive-and-never-giving-up kind of girl you will find in most shoujo manga. Now, I've met some likeable overly-positive-and-never-giving-up girls in manga and anime and it has been proved in practice that such girls can sometimes even become my favorites. Lys is one of the likeable ones, even though she doesn't really change much throughout the story. As for the male lead, he is calm and composed, usually gloomy, but his caring, tender side does not contrast with his usual composure to the extent that would make the reader feel cheated. His outbursts of anger look natural, too. The side characters are also credible, full of life and blend seamlessly into the story. While the plot is very simple and the big scary problem in the end is solved in a snap of a finger by introducing an absolutely author-led contrivance, I didn't mind, because the mangaka managed to make me sympathise with the characters.

'Shounen dolls'
The second longer work of Hibiki I partially enjoyed. Sometimes side panels in manga with the author's comments can be very, very informative. Hibiki admits herself that she had plans to expand the story and she wasn't sure what to do with 'Shounen dolls' next. As a result - the pace is jumping from slower to faster, the story flow feels disrupted, and even though every story requires several everyday episodes as well as building menace that will strike in the end, 'Shounen dolls' was hardly an example of how these two factors should be intertwined. Hibiki also shared that out of all the male characters, Yuki, the composed and tender guy, was the most popular. It's no wonder since Leo, the male lead, was a perfect tsundere, and even though you possibly won't take him as a textbook example of a tsundere, he is certainly a graphic example of such, and the problem is - there was hardly anything else in him except for being tsundere. Compared to him, Yuki was a character who could be more widely accepted, and he was given more detail, at least some 'tragic past' one had to consider. Since Ageha is nothing more than a generic shoujo heroine, there is nothing special to say about her.

Most of the problems were solved with a wave of a magic wand, and that was surprising - Ageha was shown to work harder backstage that she did in times of trouble when the manga closed-up on her. Her reaction to the imminent threat to her beloved was supposed to feel fresh, if only it were my first shoujo manga ever. The female lead saying something down-to-earth to the mighty enemy instead of trembling with fear or bursting into tears, is no longer original or impressive.

The last 'big scary problem' was again solved with a simple change of mind of a side character who, after threatening the good guys team, suddenly decided not only to spare them but even to help them live happily ever after. In fact, I might have enjoyed the 'slice-of-life' segment of this work more than I enjoyed the general storyline.

'Oiran girl'
The last of the three long works by Hibiki and the one that made me understand how vain my expectations were. It seems Hibiki prefers that the mystery encompassing the first chapter stays in the first chapter, and this is hardly a spoiler. Just like in 'Shounen dolls', where the missing character Yuki was found quickly, thus making the story so-not-about-searching-for-him, in 'Oiran girl' one has to be very dumb or very poorly acquainted with Japanese manga to fail to understand that the celebrity courtesan Takao is no other than the male lead. Now this attempt by Hibiki to make her characters original failed in an even more epic way than in 'Shounen dolls', to my taste. So, in the very first chapter the female lead learns that: 1) the guy she likes spent 8 years trying to avenge her family; 2) the guy she likes had not only to cross-dress but even to become a top courtesan; 3) the guy she likes does not hate her, but cares about her deeply and protects her constantly; 4) the guy she likes gathered money to buy her freedom. And what does she have to say about all that? 'I haven't beaten you as a top courtesan yet'. The most important thing to say at such a moment. But despair not, she and the male lead are two peas in a pod, and he has something to say: 'Go on and beat me, if you can'. You know. A girl he likes. Staying in a brothel.
Well, Tsubaki is just another 'strong-willed' girl who 'hates to lose'.

It's actually a type I like and respect. It's usually very funny when such girls take on a silly bet or take part in a silly game simply because they hate to lose. However, it's only nice when this bet or game is dictated by certain circumstances and leads to a favourable result. It's also very, very touching when a strong-willed heroine discovers something she can't cope with alone and changes from a strong confident woman to a fragile girl who needs help. It's just that it's not cool when this change is not written out properly, leaving a taste of artificiality.
Just a month or two ago I discovered a hot discussion of a certain Japanese TV drama. Poor viewers from developed western countries, they mistook it for a serious artwork and were expecting credibility and realism from it. They were complaining that the main characters were solving their psychological problems by the expense of each other rather than applying for qualified help of a medical specialist. I wanted to burst into the discussion and tell those people they probably don't know about the Japanese pleasure-oriented entertainment industry. You don't go to a maid café to eat something especially delicious. You don't compare eroge to classic literature. From shoujo to smut and to teens love, manga encompasses all genres of female-oriented fanservice. There's no escaping it. The trick is how to use that fanservice. If fanservice is sugar, it's good to use some flour and eggs as well, when you're baking a cake.
The first volumes show more or less absurd developments, while the characters behave as if it's OK. The heroine thinks her beloved is homo, and her beloved denies nothing 'cause he doth-not-dare. That does not, however, mean there are no doki-doki moments. My heart was supposed to flutter upon seeing the male lead hugging, carrying the girl (that's still okay), sleeping in one futon (that's still okay too), and then some really-really unnecessary licking. And an awkward yuka-don (floor), instead of a kabe-don (wall). 'cause he doth not dare anything else, you remember. By the way mangaka teaches the readers some basics of the Japanese superb service industry - treating all customers equally, serving them with sincerity and striving for excellence.

Somewhere around volume 2 or 3 I realised 'Oiran girl' made me one of those angry commenters. I could say the same thing to myself - why be so mad with these characters if they simply follow the necessary tropes? But that would mean I admit that this manga is fanservice only, that I allocate it to the section of 'loveburgers' you don't take seriously.
It's been a while since a shoujo manga made me feel nauseous like this. It's not a bad work I can read and dismiss, it's nauseous because it had potential and didn't live up to it. Again, most problems in 'Oiran girl' are solved with a single kick of a 15-year girl wearing a kimono. Those that are not, because the bad guy is too strong physically, are solved with a single word from the same girl. The enemies mostly freeze and let her pass because she said something unexpected. Troubles are far-fetched and fall apart if you simply start thinking. It looked as if mangaka herself was forgetting what she had been writing previously.

Just to remind you that Shin actually was able to buy Tsubaki's freedom in the first chapter.

Just to remind you that they could have plenty of opportunities to leave before Tsubaki offers her body to someone. Just to remind you that Tsubaki was the one who decided to stay in the brothel. AND to remind you that Shin was the one who let her stay there.

In volume 4 mangaka starts to shove in every story twist possible, as if it could make the manga more credible. Instead, this made it a soap opera on paper, with all those secret police, forbidden love, hidden past, betrayal by best friends which is so completely ill-disguised... and all of these twirling within the boundaries of 10 chapters or so. The characters go on making decisions that can only be explained by the will of the author to create moar drama and tradjedie. Again, those developments devaluated absolutely what has been built in the previous chapters but no one seems to care.
By the end of the manga I didn't give a damn about what happens to any of the characters. When the main characters finally kissed not a single heart-string of mine was touched. The rest of the events were like blank pages, not sweet, not bitter-sweet, not intoxicating. And I was not happy, not delighted, not relieved.
If I paid money for this manga I would probably demand it back, and I'm not sure if I wouldn't ask for a compensation for my non-pecuniary damage.

IMHO. Sayaka Sasaki ~ what a SIMS 4 disappointment

When I first heard J-pop flowing from the stereo system I had installed in my sim's house, I was thinking if I hadn't gone mad... but it was no such thing, it was just that the creators of the game obviously paid tribute to a popular trend. There even seem to be versions of some songs sang in Simlish.

But when I listened closely, that impressive song turned out to be simply too typical. Wasn't it chosen exactly because it's so typical, I wonder... After giving Sakaki a second, a third try, I realised there is no better Japanese artist if you need to explain what J-pop is to someone absolutely unfamiliar with the genre. It's something like this

but only for anime/game openings. I swear if you put a random song by Sasaki to a random opening video, it'll be okay. Well, maybe just a couple of twists.

IMHO. Takako Minekawa ~ and some consider this to be music

I'm just wondering if such 'artworks' bring money at all. Do people really want to pay money for this? But then, I guess they do, there are enough fetishists in the world.

I found Minekawa while searching for a female vocalist with a soft, pleasant voice. In the end I found what I wanted - just not in Minekawa, fortunately there are a lot of singers who perform real music, like Kokia, like Mai Fujisawa, like Rimi Natsukawa and many others.

UGH........

deleting this folder with pleasure