Momoko Tenzen

This is actually two short stories in one book, and therein lies the problem: the mangaka tries to pack a lot of character history and relationship development into a very small amount of pages-- and if Momoko Tenzen has the storytelling chops to pull it off, she's certainly not showing it here.

The dialogue is melodramatic and choppy, as is the storyline. In the first story in particular, the development of the relationship between the two leads seem far to sudden and overdramatic, given what we've seen of their interactions. The story is too short to get a real sense of who the characters are, and there's little to justify the sense of intense attachment Nana feels for Mitsuha. Sure, he's been abandoned in the past, but the author doesn't do enough to show why he's attached to Mitsuha in particular, and not someone else. It's hardly romantic. The second story is loosely connected to the first, and a little better but not by much. It's a pretty typical yaoi setup, entirely predictable for a seasoned yaoi fan, but you do get a better sense of the characters in this one.

Both stories would benefit from being expanded; lots of details were skimmed over which could have added to the reader's understanding, and there could have been more substantial character building. The art, too, could use more detail. Tenzen has a really clean and delicate style, and a lot of panels are used on close ups of the characters faces to show their expressions. These worked fairly well. However, she leaves a lot of the backgrounds sparse where they could have been used to reveal things about the characters-- for example, what do they have in their living space, how do they organize their bedrooms, etc. All in all, this was a really forgettable read.… (mere)

I always get nervous when a manga-ka tackles an iconic American city as the basis of their book. Not that I don't trust them to get the vibe and energy of the place but damn do their American names get ridiculous. And let's be real - names like Lock and Diamond are ridiculous. But I can forgive Momoko Tenzen for thumbing through a Japanese to English dictionary for main character names because they are just so darn adorable. There is drama, yes, but it is heavily tempered by the power of cute.

You can read the rest of my review of MANHATTAN LOVE STORY at my manga blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/… (mere)

I adore workplace BL manga. It's just one of those sub-genres that ends up being an insta-read for me when I see it. Now, they are not all great - but if they wrote half as good as Momoko Tenzen, they would be. I'm a great fan of her title The Paradise On The Hill and I'm incredibly pleased to see that Flutter is equally great. Her handle on co-worker relationships and romantic dynamics is something for fans of atypical BL to truly love.

You can read the complete review of FLUTTER at my manga review blog, Nagareboshi Reviews: http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/… (mere)