Fushigi Yuugi and others

Read 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya', art is ok, but story too weird because I have only read 3 volumes. It's finally developing and now I can't read anymore... Crammed too much in, also weird bits with like Suzumiya being hard to actually sympathise with at all, her moods are too erratic, and her sort of sexual abuse of Asahina. Anime probably the same but I heard it was popular. Oh well. I think 'Lucky Star' would be better. Nothing like a bit of multi-coloured moe-moe overdose in the morning! I am gonna watch Lucky Star one day!!!! Argh!
Ok I don't know if I have actually reviewed Watase Yuu's 'Fushigi Yuugi' yet or not. So here goes.
I liked the anime, btw. I liked the omake the most... and the videos for their image songs (which may have been fan-made but you couldn't tell, man, look them up!)
I give the manga **** out of 7 stars because she makes Tamahome, Tasuki and Nakago have the same hairstyle, or too similar at least. Also the men in this manga are obsessed with rape! Everyone seems to want to rape either Yui or Miaka! It's creepy and surely men are not that bad! And Soi's power is too kinky. Other than those two glaring problems, its great, love the plotline although it is too melodramatic and so on. But loved her characters, (Chichiri!!! *sigh* Tasuki! *sigh sigh* and Tomo! YES, TOMO!!! SO WHAT??? I know he's extemely gay, so what???? I'm pretty sure he's not worried about being Bi. I know he's not real! Ok? *sobs quietly* Anyway, Ah, and Nakago... *sigh !!!* Ok, I'm done with sighing now) and her work on clothing and the flow of her art was very nice. It worked. Imho not all artists get the right look for their story. But Watase has. This is an old manga now, I suppose. She did a prequel, called 'Fushigi Yuugi Gaiden' (I think...) and I liked that too, but only read vol 1. Anyway, I liked the 4 gods and their seishi. The miko idea was ok too. Some of the seishi were so cool! Anyway, so because of Chichiri and Tasuki, and also Tamahome and Tasuki's fights, I will say you should read this. But it is a bit heavy-going, drama-wise. It can be wearying, for newbies to manga.
Sideline: Man, I think Yui is so cute! Wayyyy cuter than Miaka btw. Miaka is a sweetie but Yui is a LADY (only kinda mean). Those melting eyes... (although actually Yui and Miaka do look a lot alike if you ignore their hairstyles). Um, so... Tama-chan was real sweet, as the obligatory animal mascot/token cute beast. Yep. Love cats.
Well, that's it I guess, except to say also, I may have mentioned 'Kitchen Princess', um, it's real good but I hate how the writer kills one of the main boys (the one I liked!) halfway through and then replaces him with another guy who looks just like him but has a lousy personality. It seems pointless. I guess I have seen a similar plot like that before but this one was kinda brutal and because it had no subtlety, it was a waste of what could have been a real heart-wrenching plot point.
Art for Kitchen Princess: Shoujo, cute, good for fabrics and baked goods etc, real eye-candy.
Tends like many mangaka to not to develop the boy's looks enough (or token girls, in shonen manga it would be) because they are mostly either 'rival' or 'love interest' or both, and so not important.
However I really liked Akane's look. The heroine, Najika, was cute too. Interestingly though, Akane seems to have been developed more as a character both in personality and looks. I felt she outshone the main character a little.
This is the problem with many main manga characters. If the writer wants to make them likeable/identifiable with the target audience they are usually so passive and have one large flaw (which in girls is supposed to be 'cute' e.g. clumsy or a bad cook, in boys usually he's a lecherous type, but this is glossed over as him being 'a normal boy') and the writer tends to fail to let the main character develop much if they make supporting characters quite dynamic or weird. The audience will write and say, 'I like B-kun, he's my favourite', when it's A-kun's life story! So the writer must make sure B-kun gets lots of panels to keep audiences reading.
And I think that this is why the main character is kept devoid of many characteristics, so that the diverse audience can pretend they are like that person. It's the same as in games, the person you play as is quite generic so that anyone can feel they are that person.
I think perhaps I would like to see more manga make their main characters more defined. Like in Koukou Debut, the main character plays baseball, and does not seem to be losing interest yet, even past the first volume, which can be usual for some manga where the main character lists her interests or hobbies in the first chapter and then barely ever mentions them again. So I'm glad to see that.
Anyways, sorry I rambled on there (not sorry enough to delete it tho) and have a good day.
Btw do read 'Mink' (Cyber Idol Mink?) about a girl who can transform into a popstar, it's cute! But I can't get it here and don't know the original title, sorry, I will try to find out. I really enjoyed it and the art style was cute, it reminded me of 'St. Tail'.