Verlangen nach Liebe

by Kozue Chiba, Hana Rude (Translator)

Fünf romantische Kurzgeschichten über die Liebe laden euch zum Schmökern ein: Schürzenjäger Yutaka wechselt seine Freundinnen wie andere Leute Unterhosen, bis ihn die süße Maruyama verzaubert; eine schelmische Meerjungfrau erfüllt so manchem die Liebe, während es für die Gefühle zwischen Lehrer Nomoto und seiner Schülerin Beniko kaum Hoffnung gibt, genauso wenig wie für Moemi, die sich in den fahrenden Schauspieler Rito verliebt hat, und auch die jungenhafte Kikuko hat bei ihrem Schwarm nicht den Hauch einer Chance! Doch die Liebe geht seltsame Wege.

Genres: Manga, Romance

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 26, 2013

About the author

千葉コズエ

Reviews

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Koi to Yokubou no Susume is a more recent and much better developed short-story collection than her older ones. The same still holds true as for all these kinds of collections; the stories are too short to fully develop and don't deliver much depth. That being said, these particular tales are pretty well-paced and don't draw from completely ridiculous ideas. With the exception of the last story, the art is Chiba at her best; it's absolutely lovely and has a dreamy quality to it.

Koi to Yokubou no Susume
The title story of this collection follows the unremarkable Maru and her philanderer classmate Yutaka who seems to have a new girlfriend every month. Bringing these two kinds of characters together is very typical for shoujo, yet Chiba changes things up a bit, as neither of the two is actually all that true to their character type. Maru might appear unremarkable, but her personality has more spunk than that and she's a lot more outspoken than most would assume just by looking at her. As it turns out, Yutaka ins't that much of a philanderer after all and it's usually him that gets dumped rather than being the dumper. This story isn't super outstanding, but the slight twist on their personalities made for a fun little story.

Itazura na Ningyo
As far as short stories go, this one is near perfect. Legend has it that your love will come true if you manage to sight a mermaid. Nagi is helping her childhood friend Futa and little sister Kanami. The truth is that Nagi is in love with Futa, but she is convinced that he and her little sister are in love with each other. As she cares a lot for Kanami, she takes a step back and hopes the two of them can become happy. But it seems both Futa and Kanami have a different reason to seek the legendary mermaid.

What made this story work better than most short stories is that all the characters already have a long history with each other. It's not a romance out of the blue and therefore doesn't need to develop as such. It's a very sweet story of love - both in terms of romance and family. The actual mermaid only makes a very brief appearance but it adds a nice sprinkle of humour on top.

Koi wa Beniiro
Beniko is a down to earth girl who isn't sitting around waiting for love. Yet love finds her anyway as she enters an unexpected friendship with her new teacher.

Let it be said, Chiba seems to love student-teacher romances as this is about the fourth I know by her. However, Koi was Beniiro is really well-executed and a lot more realistic than most manga of its kind. I found that Beniko, her teacher Nomoto, and all other characters that make an appearance are very level-headed. Beniko and Nomoto are both aware that there are lines they cannot cross given their position - the way their feelings developed seemed very natural - they were just a girl and a guy who got along really well but found themselves in a situation where they can't be together. Unfortunately, the ending lost its good pace - while still a realistic ending, it felt very rushed and I would have liked to know more about it. I must confess, Beniko and Nomoto were so adorable together, I would have loved this as a longer manga series.

Kare no Yubisaki
Moemi is in love with her new classmate Rito who rejects her at every turn; he doesn't believe in relationships as his family is a travelling group of actors who never stay long in one place. But Moemi won't give up so easily and is determined to show Rito that she is serious and willing to enter in a long-distance relationship.

Moemi is cute and that's just about it. There's nothing terribly wrong here, but I don't see this as the type of plot that makes for a good short-story. Nevertheless, I like Rito and how he is genuinely hurt by past experiences of long-distance relationships - the one panel where he shows it does make the story rather worth it.

Bishoujo Ouji
This is the only older work in this collection, and it shows; the art is nothing to write home about and the story is decidedly weaker than the others. Essentially, it's about a tomboyish girl and a feminine boy who find that they're just right for each other. There's nothing exactly wrong with this story but it doesn't have the best pacing, neither main character was overly appealing and there was just no feeling to it.

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Das ist ein wenig gut als Dich zu lieben - einfach magisch!. Vielleicht hängt es davon ab, dass dieser Band eine Anthologie ist. Er ist nämlich keine einzige Geschichte, sondern fünf. Charaktere können nicht entwickelt werden und es gibt nicht genug Platz, um eine gute Geschichte zu schaffen.

Verlangen nach Liebe: ★★
Nicht Besonderes. Sie ist in ihn verliebt aber er lässt Mädels immer sitzen. Aber er verändert sich wegen ihr.

Die schelmische Meerjungfrau: ★★★
Ok, ich mag Meerjungfrau... ^__^ Nach einer Sage wenn man eine Meerjungfrau sieht, dann geht die Liebe in Erfüllung. Und zwei Sandkastenfreund sind vielleicht mehr als nur Freunde.

Rot wie die Liebe: ★★
Schülerin-Lehrer Liebesgeschichte. Meh... Sie hat aber eine gute Endung.

Seine Fingerspitzen: ★
Er ist Schauspieler und zieht oft um. Sie will nicht, dass er weggeht.

Der hübsche Prince: ★
Sie ist sehr jungenhaft und er arbeit als Hostess... Er wird sie beibringen, wie eine echte Frau aussieht... Ich weiß es nicht, warum eine Mädchen sich schminken soll, um eine echte Frau zu sein.

Insgesamt war dieser Manga nur OK.

[Lilienknochen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute!