Manga Review: Lovely Banchou
Title: Lovely Banchou
Mangaka: Ikeyamada Go
Genre/s: Shoujo, Romance
Publisher: Shogakukan
Serialized in: Sho-comi
Synopsis:
From MU
Ichikawa Itsuki, 15 years old, a 148 cm little boy who practices karate and whose dad is the best karate expert around! Itsuki will become the perfect ispiration for Suzuki Mio, a 15-year-old girl whose dream is to become a manga-ka!
I can’t help but giggle like crazy in this story. Too cute!
The art is so not my type. It is too moe. Probably I’ll like it during my teenage years but right now they look more like a shota and a loli dolls in my eyes. Well it can’t be helped since they are both still in middle school. More like it’s the guy that I found less cute. He is a delinquent for crying out loud so why does he look like an idol much less a baby and have round features, nothing rough-looking at all. The girl is okay and is pretty cute. Both main characters have the usual small face, big round eyes, with a big bulk of hair. Though when the two combined I feel like I’ll suffer from toothache for their oh-so-sweet and pure looks.
So basically the story is about Suzuki Mio who wants to be a manga artist and she asks Ichikawa Itsuki to be her inspiration for the main guy of her manga. Itsuki is popularly known as “The Underdog” for being a strong guy who beats anyone despite his small stature; to which Mio finds him cool. Sounds like Fall in Love like a Comic (Manga Mitaina Koi Shitai!) other than the delinquent part.
Lots of sparkles and blushes spread all over the manga. If you think that is mainly because of Mio, you are dead wrong. Funny thing is it’s the guy who blushes a lot more than the girl.
There is this part where the guy shuts the crying girl up through a kiss and both of them blushes furiously with the guy turning away from her lmao. Just as the girl steels herself to confess to him, he wound up avoiding her! That should have been the other way around! I swear, Itsuki is more otome than Mio xDD. And I think that is what makes this manga charming. The adorable moments and the refreshing personalities of the characters is the best point of Lovely Banchou.
Wrapping Up!
Surprisingly, I enjoyed this more I could have expected at the start. Mio is a commendable heroine with her courage and all. She appears to be a klutz but really she is just an innocent, lovely girl. Meanwhile, Itsuki is not really a cool guy … more like endearing delinquent. I don’t think I can take him seriously with the puffy cheeks that I want to pinch every single time.
