my humble opinion on 'Cherry Project' by Takeuchi Naoko

here you can see the name of the source I got the manga from

Being honest with myself made me so happy. I was constantly repeating myself I do not need to push myself anymore, I became confident and calm, thinking I shall never again lie to myself, and allowing myself to do anything I want

I let myself listen to the music I want, read the books and manga I want, watch anime, doramas and movies that I want, but more importantly I let myself drop those I do not want to go on reading/watching/listening to. It felt so pleasant, to be free…

And still, there are things I cannot drop. And one of them is ‘Cherry project’ by Takeuchi-sensei

Admiring her style and her manner was a usual thing to do. Not only BSSM, but her one shots and short stories were always great examples of both graphics and storytelling

Plot

And then there comes ‘Cherry project’. I was completely aware I would face the usual (usual for Naoko-sensei, for shoujo in particular and for anime/manga in general) extroverted and active girl and a cold ‘unapproachable’ guy, usual everyday life and usual path to happiness, full of obstacles and tasks. What I faced was much more awful than I could predict

First, the usual girl I was waiting to see was so utterly usual that she never paid back for being slapped on her cheek. Is it ok to be hit and say nothing but ‘why did she lecture me?’ Is it ok for a guy to see one girl assaulting another and say nothing and do nothing?

Then the usual girl picks up the challenge brought for her, agreeing to become a pro single skater ONLY to beat the other one. Is it a merit when someone makes fun of you and you buy it?

Then the usual guy leaves the usual girl. And as usual, he has a deep explanation for that. She only wants to be with him, to the extent she even wants to quit sports when he is not by her side, but NO, he understands better what she needs. He is a pro not only in skating, but in helping other people as well. And the best way to help another person is to leave him/her alone and create as much obstacles for him as possible, so that he fight on his own and becomes strong, not caring for the fact ‘tis rather harsh. Is it the ideal image of a man, to treat his most important people harshly?

Then we have a light in the end of a long tunnel, the light called ‘another guy’ who represents another kind of personality. And the moment when I already start admiring him for his personality, his faith in the girl, she realizes ‘he is not the one’ – and throw a stone in me if the author did not mean that we should realize it as well. Is it wrong to be so caring and supporting?

And what the usual guy does is to add more tension and set up a huge competition instead of the one that started by the foolish behaviour of two girls. Is it ok to use innocent people for reaching one’s own goals, moreover being fully conscious of this fact?

Well, he only cared for his dream. And the girl was completely ok with it, following his instructions as a marionette. He trains her, she does what he says. He leaves her, she wants to quit, then he tells her to continue, and she continues. He places a condition to follow if she wants to pair with him, and she agrees. Suddenly he realizes the girl’s merits (in 15^th chapter out of 16… what a nice speed) and returns closer to her, and she gladly accepts. Remember that the girl knew nothing of the guy’s motives, she simply believed in him. And the guy never explained her, to say nothing of trying to say he was sorry. He simply came to her taking it for granted that she was doing all that stuff for his sake, and moreover, that she was still waiting for him to come. Erm… Is it the oriental ideal of a woman?

Then we have the last chapter when suddenly all the problems vanish. The same desire to show the guy her skills which was preventing the girl’s skating suddenly turns into an advantage. The process of inheriting father’s business no longer prevents from going on skating. The spirit of rivalry of the other girl turns into ‘I knew from the beginning I would lose’. Are we supposed to take these absolutely irrelevant miracles as they are?

Well, I should not forget to mention a one shot ‘Dream Park de Mattete’ which is a prequel to the main story. It tells us about the guy meeting another girl long before he met the girl from the main series, but the girl chose to keep dancing. Are we supposed to be touched by such a messy story?

And all the weird and stupid stuff with the same nice, gentle lines of Naoko-sensei’s graphics. The same ones that I saw in other mangas of hers… How come???

conclusion

Growing up is a complicated process. Sometimes you lay your hands on rare albums of a singer whose song you were fond of, and realize the albums are not as great as the only song you heard. Sometimes you see your favourite Takarasienne collecting cards from her fans, and you see her face expression is not as friendly and delighted, as it seemed to be on stage. Sometimes you let yourself read manga of your favourite mangaka which you were not daring to read expecting it to be beyond all limits of an awesomeness, and it proves to be even worse than a one shot of an amateur. And then you realize there are disappointments in your life. Even my Mom knows this saying – shit happens

Well, I should thank Naoko-sensei for this piece. It taught me that a mangaka can also make mistakes, can be unable to think properly of a plot and sacrifice all his/her logic for an opportunity to draw a lot of cute ‘shots’ of girls skating