the reason to start reading was that I just saw some scans somewhere in the web and judgung by the shape of eyes, nose and lashes I decided the graphics to be that of the 'old school'
I was completely wrong but 'twas already too late to drop so I decided to read the manga to the end
it has just some more than 100 chapters so the task seemes to be an easy one for me. however, I was wrong again
the manga is full of fanservice and cliches, but the author was so aware of it that the manner of storytelling already was enough to understand that the author herself was not very serious about it
well, of course we were doomed to see an inevitable 'happily ever after' in the end, and I am not going to discuss why shoujo manga ends like this
however, I should mention some other points
the plot and characters
the first one third was very good, full of jokes and funny situations, but the closer to the half, the more I was getting tired. the plot was gaining something that was meant to be 'seriousness' if this word can even be applied to such a piece and the story was more and more complicating. I was also realizing more and more distinctively that I am no longer sympathyzing with the main characters, as their relationship, and more importantly, the probable further developments did not promise anything very unique or intersting, at least
instead, I found my pleasure in following the stories of supporting characters. well, to be honest, they were not 'supporting' every time, but they were not the mainm, or even 'minor' ones
the first one whom I liked was Yuuri. she is not the type of girls I like but among all the characters she seemes at least to be just a little interesting, especially when she started to fall for Goemon and I started to feel sorry for her, because in shoujo all the males are obligatory to love the main female only, no matter how clumsy or irresponsible she might be
the second one was Yukimaru. oh yes, I was surprised myself, that I liked such a feminine guy, but well, I liked Nuriko, whose case was a way worse. for the reason I already mentioned, I could not enjoy him to the end, when he reappeared in the third part of the manga, but at least he saved me from complete boredom by appearing with his cute face and different funny expressions on it
and Mamezou, of course, was a great delight of mine, as he was just the necessary kawaii element to make me smile when nothing else interested me
of course we should face a huge drama somewhere close to the end, and of course we should see the main characters growing a little older and getting serious. this time, the change happens within a year and all of a sudden. well, I know there were historical, political, psycological reasons why Iga was destroyed, but bear in mind that the reason 'author needs this' always stands above them
the happy end was just as it is supposed to be. as for me, this is the happy end I hate to see. everybody getting so calm and passionless, so utterly boring that I almost regret that the time of heroic deeds has passed. 'tis not that I am against peaceful times, I am only happy when I see wars ending and death withdrawing, but I am against the peaceful times to be portrayed in such a way that it has no charm, no meaning and no bright colours
the graphics
also changed a lot towards the end. the most strange thing is that the girls started looking if not ugly, then somewhat deprived of their beauty, which was so peculiar in the beginning. vice versa, the men were more and more handsome, their eyes, lashes, brows, lips, when their faces were drawn in a big frame, were beautiful
still, that does not mean I like the graphics a lot. while there are some pictures I liked, I would not put the style among my favourites. sometimes 'twas just too... refined? well, I am in no position to complain about refined style, as there are lots of other mangakas who draw much more refined picures, including my goddess Naoko-sensei. however, Ueda's style was sometimes making the effect opposite to what it was meant to, as it looked like 'too perfect' without even traces of human hand that had drawn the lines. I prefer seeing some labour put into works, eh?
recommendations
perfect for young girls, and suitable for those who appreciate sense of humour - but only the first half of it
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