That's what the cover says. Engrish, you know? And the story went just as the title was: completely wrong, but probably they did not aim for anything better anyway.
story and characters
The funniest thing is that Sakae, our Hero, is completely right - if a guy teases the heroine constantly, and then suddenly becomes all tender and caring, this gap is what's so precious and wonderful.
By the way, this gap is not limited to only one kind of story. It can be a cold-blooded knight who seems not to care about love or romance, but then finds his fair lady and swears to protect her. It can be a playboy who looks like he doesn't want any serious relationship, but then finds his only one. It can be a proud lone wolf who initially hates the Heroine, but after knowing her better, gradually grows to like her. It can be a perfect guy who shouldn't be interested in a girl like the protagonist - because he can easily find a 'better' one, but actually wants exactly her. Or a positive boy who looks carefree, but turns out to be too shy to express his real feelings when the time comes. And I, being a very narrow-minded person, always believed that this sudden change in the Hero's attitude was the best thing in shoujo.
There is that wonderful word in Japanese I like very much: 'yoyuu', which means 'having enough' of sth, like time or money or possibilities. It's also used to describe a person who looks like he's not bothered at all by the problems that lie in front of him and dealing with them is a piece of cake for him. I thought we, female readers, want to see the Hero lose his 'yoyuu', or 'freedom', when he falls in love with the girl in focus.
But what we have here in 'Shiori ojousama' is actually a girl who, after some inner struggle, admits that she loves being teased, to such an extent that she eventually finds herself unable to judge the feelings of her partner other than by his teasing. Sometimes she reaches her limit and snaps at him, but it's enough for him to say he was doing it for her sake, and she's again satisfied. So when he finally starts treating her gently, she deliberately refuses.
Basically, it's not a problem that he teases her. And it's not a problem that she likes it either. After all, who would read a manga where the characters simply get along very well from the beginning to the end with no development, misunderstandings or obstacles. The problem is, Sakae never had to put up with anything, and his occasional confessions were absolutely unrealistic and uninspiring (Stanislavsky would say 'I don't believe you!'). In other words, I wouldn't want to have such a guy by my side, and I cannot imagine a girl who would, either.
Graphics
This is obviously not a manga for admiring, it's a manga for reading. This itself is no disadvantage, I know many a manga where art was nothing special, but the story made up for that. However, 'Shiori' looks like it's made by a graduated-from-being-an-amateur-month-ago.
Conclusion
After reading another short story by Ms Takamiya - 'watashi no okusuri', I thought I was about to discover a new solid source of shoujo manga. However after 'Shiori', I guess I will be reading this author no more.
