Kare Kano: Vol. 1

(aka Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou)
by Masami Tsuda

Synopsis
Yukino Miyazawa has it all -- perfect grades, looks, the admiration of her peers. She's the #1 student at her school... at least she was until he showed up. The new boy, Souichirou Arima, one-ups her in every department. And the worst thing about it is that he's sincere! With her ego in jeopardy, Yukino will do whatever it takes to regain the spotlight, but falling in love was never part of the plan.

Review
This is another series where the anime is pretty popular compared to the manga. I checked it out because the anime didn't end well. In any case, I'd say this manga has been "relegated to obscurity" if not completely obscured.

I really like this manga for its straightforwardness. It shows the characters clearly, tells you exactly what's going on, and the development happens naturally, even rather quickly, at least, more quickly than it would normally happen in a manga. It's fascinating to watch Miyazawa, who begins a chapter one way, and simply because of Arima, ends up completely changed not two chapters later. Arima, too, seems one way at the beginning, but when we see his chapter, he ends up changed and developed too. Actually, I'm surprised the author could make a series out of this. I personally think that three chapters was sufficient for what she was trying to achieve.

It's pretty dialog and thought heavy, which is not something I mind at all, but it means that the author does a lot of telling, rather than showing, but sometimes, showing the change in one's thinking isn't "showable."

This series isn't bad, I'm just not sure where else it might go.

Final thought: I'll read the next volume.