What do you think?
Rate this book
Doubt!! #1
Doubt!! Vol. 1
Average, unremarkable Ai Maekawa navigates school life unnoticed...until one day when a spiteful classmate totally humiliates her in front of everyone. Determined to jettison her embarrassing past, she overhauls her image and enrolls at a new high school where no one knows the old Ai. From the start, Ai is the target of romantic advances and jeolous gossip--can a formerly invisible girl handle this avalanche of attention? And is Ai's erstwhile identity as a loser really as far behind her as she hopes?
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2005
7 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Kaneyoshi Izumi
79 books21 followersAssociated Names:
和泉兼好
Name (in native language) :
和泉かねよし
Kaneyoshi Izumi is a Japanese manga artist, born in April 1st. Her blood type is A and her hobbies include hiking, piano playing and feeding wild cats.
She received the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo in 2006 for そんなんじゃねえよ [Sonnan ja nee yo] and in 2015 for 女王の花 [Joō no Hana].
和泉兼好
Name (in native language) :
和泉かねよし
Kaneyoshi Izumi is a Japanese manga artist, born in April 1st. Her blood type is A and her hobbies include hiking, piano playing and feeding wild cats.
She received the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo in 2006 for そんなんじゃねえよ [Sonnan ja nee yo] and in 2015 for 女王の花 [Joō no Hana].
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 20, 2018
Pulls no punches and doesn't try to make you think that all Jr high and high school girls are "pure, innocent angels". But it's a little too much like a soap opera for my tastes.
July 22, 2020
Doubt!! is now the second Shoujo manga I have read and although the genre seems to be a garbage dump for trashy chick-lit, it is actually quite a lot of fun.
Gone are my days of reading intricate sci-fi plots that make me question myself and all of existence. Now I spent my days reading Shoujo manga, where the protagonists only real dilemma is which one-dimensional prince she finds more dreamy. Really, I should set fire to this book and throw it out of the window, but instead I turn another page, then another. And that is the magic of Shoujo; that no matter how bad and trashy it becomes, you just cant help yourself.
From what I have seen so far, this manga doesn't seem to differ too much from the other title I read in the genre. The female protagonist seems interesting enough, but I'm not too keen on her male counterparts. They are so vacant and clichéd that is is just sickening. I struggle to imagine why any female reader would get doe-eyed over these characterless pretty boys. But maybe that is just me, I am a heterosexual male after all.
What did surprise me about this series however, is it's adult nature. Don't get me wrong, this manga is in no way explicit, but it does deal with matures themes and I find that quite refreshing. I thought all anime and manga pretended that students don't have sex, but this one paints a far more realistic depiction of teenage life. V-cards, condoms, they all get a mention, and for that, I have to tip my hat to this manga. Kudos, Kaneyoshi Izumi, Kudos! 4/5
Gone are my days of reading intricate sci-fi plots that make me question myself and all of existence. Now I spent my days reading Shoujo manga, where the protagonists only real dilemma is which one-dimensional prince she finds more dreamy. Really, I should set fire to this book and throw it out of the window, but instead I turn another page, then another. And that is the magic of Shoujo; that no matter how bad and trashy it becomes, you just cant help yourself.
From what I have seen so far, this manga doesn't seem to differ too much from the other title I read in the genre. The female protagonist seems interesting enough, but I'm not too keen on her male counterparts. They are so vacant and clichéd that is is just sickening. I struggle to imagine why any female reader would get doe-eyed over these characterless pretty boys. But maybe that is just me, I am a heterosexual male after all.
What did surprise me about this series however, is it's adult nature. Don't get me wrong, this manga is in no way explicit, but it does deal with matures themes and I find that quite refreshing. I thought all anime and manga pretended that students don't have sex, but this one paints a far more realistic depiction of teenage life. V-cards, condoms, they all get a mention, and for that, I have to tip my hat to this manga. Kudos, Kaneyoshi Izumi, Kudos! 4/5
June 10, 2024
After putting this on my TBR in like 2009 I have finally read this. Safe to say I will not be continuing the series.
It reminds me of Kare First Love except the main character in Doubt!! is entirely unlikeable, as are most of the other characters.
I think I can do without reading this era of girl hate girl awful men manga.
It reminds me of Kare First Love except the main character in Doubt!! is entirely unlikeable, as are most of the other characters.
I think I can do without reading this era of girl hate girl awful men manga.
March 16, 2016
Ai Maekawa is tired of being plain and unpopular, and spends the entire summer between Jr. & Sr. high improving her outer appearance. At a new school, and with a completely new look she is instantly beautiful and popular and best friends with the two best boys in school. Although, as a former "jimi" she is still learning the "ropes" of what it means to be popular - resulting in a number of misguided incidents.
This isn't my favourite series as it progresses, but I love how Kaneyoshi has written a complicated female lead having both the plain and the popular in her. She becomes an intense and unstable personality which I find both charming and entertaining.
This isn't my favourite series as it progresses, but I love how Kaneyoshi has written a complicated female lead having both the plain and the popular in her. She becomes an intense and unstable personality which I find both charming and entertaining.
September 10, 2014
A studious, but plain young lady is humiliated by a mean girl in middle school, and decides to reinvent herself. She deliberately enters a high school where no one knows about her past. But no matter how beautiful she is in her new life, she is still the same person inside-still filled with doubt. There is some promise here, but I'm reserving judgment. It's pretty silly and superficial.
August 15, 2007
Good shojo manga read. Girl goes from "jimi" (unpopular, loser) to popular in the jr high to high school transition through hard work. Let's you see into her mind and how, even though she's now popular, she still feels like a jimi. Kind of inspiring, actually.
December 14, 2015
Silly, shallow, and somehow entertaining.
Ai has transformed herself for her freshman year. She is now pretty, popular, and perfect. But how long can she keep it up? Especially when she runs into someone who knew her when she was a plain Jane in middle school?
Ai has transformed herself for her freshman year. She is now pretty, popular, and perfect. But how long can she keep it up? Especially when she runs into someone who knew her when she was a plain Jane in middle school?
March 8, 2010
Loved it ^_^
May 31, 2012
about extremely two-faced girls trying to get hot guys
i liked that art, but the characters weren't lovable
i liked that art, but the characters weren't lovable
January 2, 2018
Pretty artwork but bland story in the end. Forgettable.
December 28, 2021
I knew I wasn't going to like this and almost didn't bother at all but the clock was ticking on my reading challenge for the year!
Doubt is one of those stories that I can only enjoy if I know there is a moral at the end or the characters learn to be better people. Every chapter had Maekawa "doubting" (ha) her new popular persona and encountering people who reminded her of her old "plain" lifestlye. But in reinforcing her resolve every time this happens, the writer is only emphasising the wrong message. By having her run back to a boy who doesn't want her to have a personality and is overly handsy with her from the get-go, you're saying that it's okay for women to be treated that way by men.
I'm new to shojo and I usually make it a point to avoid stories that focus on attractive people being assholes or whatever you want to call it. So this series definitely isn't for me and I could never in good conscience recommend it.
Doubt is one of those stories that I can only enjoy if I know there is a moral at the end or the characters learn to be better people. Every chapter had Maekawa "doubting" (ha) her new popular persona and encountering people who reminded her of her old "plain" lifestlye. But in reinforcing her resolve every time this happens, the writer is only emphasising the wrong message. By having her run back to a boy who doesn't want her to have a personality and is overly handsy with her from the get-go, you're saying that it's okay for women to be treated that way by men.
I'm new to shojo and I usually make it a point to avoid stories that focus on attractive people being assholes or whatever you want to call it. So this series definitely isn't for me and I could never in good conscience recommend it.
Read
December 4, 2024Nope. Too much sexual assualt and not enough character for comedy romance which is what it appears to be aimimg for. (Besides the creepy teenage boy behaviour - probably realistic but not what I wish to spend my leisure hours reading about - I knew something was off when the mangaka described the FL as a "blank slate". And sure enough, the character's main traits are being blackmailed, and yelling.)
December 5, 2022
Surprisingly enjoyable
Let's get it out of the way that the characters are shallow, problematic, and all-around bad role models, but they were entertaining. There was an eccentric enough tone that none of it felt serious in intent. My main complaint is the male love interest is the flirty playboy archetype that kills all incentive for further reading.
Let's get it out of the way that the characters are shallow, problematic, and all-around bad role models, but they were entertaining. There was an eccentric enough tone that none of it felt serious in intent. My main complaint is the male love interest is the flirty playboy archetype that kills all incentive for further reading.
July 31, 2025
Super interesting with lots of things going on. I can’t wait to continue the series.
March 2, 2013
I feel as though I need to say how I acquired this series in the first place, especially when giving it only 2 stars. Called me old fashioned, but people may find the story interesting. (Just skip this paragraph if you want the start of the review!)
It started about 2 years ago with one of my ex-friends going to a thrift shop, and the owner gave her 100+ manga because her son was going away to college to study Manga illustration and cartooning. (The books she gave away were ones he bought to study the art techniques and story from, but didn't need anymore. He kept the titles like Naruto and Bleach though) So she came back all giddy to share her manga with us, which was pretty cool of her at the time. She had given me this title to borrow, and I absolutely loved it. She never got around to letting me borrow the second one though (Around the time she suddenly decided she didn't like me) so I kinda shrugged it off and went on my way. Towards the end of the school year last year, after she had moved, I headed to one of my friend's lockers, and what did I find? The second volume of Doubt!! My ex-friend had lent it to her before she moved, but never got it back. I said something to my friend along the lines of "Of wow, I never got to finish that series!" She handed it to me and told me to keep it, because I had so much interest in the series. When I got home, I tried reading but I couldn't remember what had happened before that. So until recently, the 2nd volume of Doubt was sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I went to my local anime store recently, and was perusing the used section, when what do I find? The 1st AND the 3rd volumes! I quickly bought them and rushed home, very happy to have something to read.
As I began to reread Doubt this morning though, I had doubts about this series altogether.
As others have said, the art in this series is great. The story falls quite short though. The art should be reserved for a story with mare class, not this stuff that I read. I have two more volumes to go, I hope that this story picks up some more. Frankly, I'm not expecting much.
No wonder this series isn't in print anymore.
It started about 2 years ago with one of my ex-friends going to a thrift shop, and the owner gave her 100+ manga because her son was going away to college to study Manga illustration and cartooning. (The books she gave away were ones he bought to study the art techniques and story from, but didn't need anymore. He kept the titles like Naruto and Bleach though) So she came back all giddy to share her manga with us, which was pretty cool of her at the time. She had given me this title to borrow, and I absolutely loved it. She never got around to letting me borrow the second one though (Around the time she suddenly decided she didn't like me) so I kinda shrugged it off and went on my way. Towards the end of the school year last year, after she had moved, I headed to one of my friend's lockers, and what did I find? The second volume of Doubt!! My ex-friend had lent it to her before she moved, but never got it back. I said something to my friend along the lines of "Of wow, I never got to finish that series!" She handed it to me and told me to keep it, because I had so much interest in the series. When I got home, I tried reading but I couldn't remember what had happened before that. So until recently, the 2nd volume of Doubt was sitting on my shelf collecting dust. I went to my local anime store recently, and was perusing the used section, when what do I find? The 1st AND the 3rd volumes! I quickly bought them and rushed home, very happy to have something to read.
As I began to reread Doubt this morning though, I had doubts about this series altogether.
As others have said, the art in this series is great. The story falls quite short though. The art should be reserved for a story with mare class, not this stuff that I read. I have two more volumes to go, I hope that this story picks up some more. Frankly, I'm not expecting much.
No wonder this series isn't in print anymore.
May 30, 2013
Pertama baca komik ini karena gambarnya. Maklumlah, suka artwork manga yg cantik2. Setelah baca, lumayan juga.
Jadi manga ini bercerita tentang cewe SMA bernama Ai yang termasuk cewe jimi (cewe biasa2 aja yg ga cantik & beresiko besar jadi perawan tua--eh, ekstrem bgt) yg kecil hati. Karena muak dg nasib dan ke-jimi-annya, setelah lulus SMP dia langsung perawatan dll. sampai akhirnya jadi cewe cantik dan masuk ke SMA yang ga dimasuki temen2nya. Ya aslinya sih anak ini ada potensi manis, cuman ketutup sama lemak dan jerawat dan zero sense of fashion and beauty.
Di SMA dia satu kelas sama 2 cowo cakep dan dia akhirnya suka sama salah satunya & berambisi menjadikan cowo itu sebagai pacarnya. Petualangan Ai pun dimulai.
Aku suka karakter Ai karena dia bukan cewe cengeng yg akan depresi ketika keinginannya ga tercapai. Berangkat dari cewe jimi, dia jadi lebih berempati sama orang2 yg ga cakep, tapi ini ga mencegah dia untuk bermulut pedas pada jimi2 yang memandang diri mereka sebagai korban dan ga mau berusaha mengubah keadaan. Dia jatuh bangun mengejar So yg cakep dan punya banyak fans & mantan, tapi itu ga bikin dia merendahkan diri sendiri dan mengakomodasi So cuma karena So has the upper hand. Dia punya banyak keraguan, tapi keyakinan dan prinsip Ai adalah kekuatannya, yg bikin So nempel sama dia.
She's got some nerve, the girl. And I applaud her for it. I can only hope I will have the courage to step into her path when the circumstances call for it.
Jadi manga ini bercerita tentang cewe SMA bernama Ai yang termasuk cewe jimi (cewe biasa2 aja yg ga cantik & beresiko besar jadi perawan tua--eh, ekstrem bgt) yg kecil hati. Karena muak dg nasib dan ke-jimi-annya, setelah lulus SMP dia langsung perawatan dll. sampai akhirnya jadi cewe cantik dan masuk ke SMA yang ga dimasuki temen2nya. Ya aslinya sih anak ini ada potensi manis, cuman ketutup sama lemak dan jerawat dan zero sense of fashion and beauty.
Di SMA dia satu kelas sama 2 cowo cakep dan dia akhirnya suka sama salah satunya & berambisi menjadikan cowo itu sebagai pacarnya. Petualangan Ai pun dimulai.
Aku suka karakter Ai karena dia bukan cewe cengeng yg akan depresi ketika keinginannya ga tercapai. Berangkat dari cewe jimi, dia jadi lebih berempati sama orang2 yg ga cakep, tapi ini ga mencegah dia untuk bermulut pedas pada jimi2 yang memandang diri mereka sebagai korban dan ga mau berusaha mengubah keadaan. Dia jatuh bangun mengejar So yg cakep dan punya banyak fans & mantan, tapi itu ga bikin dia merendahkan diri sendiri dan mengakomodasi So cuma karena So has the upper hand. Dia punya banyak keraguan, tapi keyakinan dan prinsip Ai adalah kekuatannya, yg bikin So nempel sama dia.
She's got some nerve, the girl. And I applaud her for it. I can only hope I will have the courage to step into her path when the circumstances call for it.
August 29, 2007
It was okay, but not good enough for me to bother reading the rest of the series.
October 5, 2008
It wasn't bad and a bit funny, but it was a library book and I don't think I'll buy the series. I liked the art.
October 19, 2020
awsome i love this book
January 19, 2011
It was good. Not bad.
May 15, 2015
these books were real cute, and funny. i liked them.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews