Manga Digest: One Shots

Theme 03: Fabulous One-Shots~

~Before I start, I’d like to say that I’m sorry for not replying to the wonderful comments you viewers leave here on the Manga Digest posts ^^; School has started and it’s been a bit tough to juggle all the duties I have both online and in my school life.  I do read all your comments however, and they truly do brighten up my day! I’m glad I’m getting all of you out there into different types of manga ;D Now, let’s get away from all this sappy stuff and into the good stuff!

This week I’d thought I’d bring you fabulous one-shot stories, for days when you’re too lazy to follow a whole series. For people who don’t know what a one-shot is, a one-shot is basically a one chapter manga with about 40 or more pages. Of course they can be shorter than that, in fact the shortest one-shot I have ever read is a 6 page Korean manhwa (the Korean term for Korean manga) called Two Cups of Coffee (which is a really sweet one if you get the chance to read it. I unfortunately forget to include it on here ><). For this post I bring you six fantastic, sweet one-shots each with their own unique story that’ll have you wishing for more.~

Minna KiraKira
Author: Nakamua Asumiko
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Year: 2007
Summary: Daddy, Mommy, and Mika make up the perfect modern family. Mika is Daddy’s little princess, and he won’t hand her over to any one. But when handsome Atsushi-sensei at the daycare center becomes Mika’s perfect prince, sparks fly. What ever will Daddy do?

Thoughts: When I thought of this one-shot theme, I knew I had to include my most favorite one-short from my most favorite mangaka ever: Asumiko Nakamura. She has such unique and delightful one-shots, most of them very sweet or very sad. Yet this one turned out to be something totally different than what I expected from her. The story is so cute, and rather comedic. It’s actually one of the most light-hearted stories I’ve read of hers.

The father’s reaction to his daughter saying she wants to marry the sensei is HYSTERICAL XD I’m even cracking up right now just thinking of it.  I just love all the reactions he has to the young sensei. I also love how Nakamura-san puts all those little girls around the sensei; they look so funny! He’s got his own little groupies, haha! I wish I had a sensei like that…Mhm, girls, you know you do. Anyways, I’ve always been a fan of Nakamura-san’s art, which is why I love her works so much. Her art style is really unique, and in this one-shot, she draws the little girls, and the father’s hysterical reactions so nicely! The little girls look really adorable and perfectly child-ish, and the sensei looked…so cool<3. I promise you’ll love this cute little story, and be wishing you had a sensei that looked like that, heh.~

Dr. Rabbit
Author: Ogura Akane
Genre(s): Mecha, One Shot, Sci-fi, Shoujo
Year: 2007
Summary: Saeki Fumio is a genius who earned a PhD at the age of fourteen. When she goes back to Japan to announce her invention, a bunny robot endowed with artificial intelligence called Alice, it turns out that someone is trying to steal Alice. With the help of Nishizaki Haruka, a personal bodyguard that she hired, will Fumio be able to keep Alice safe and sound?

Thoughts: At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put this one in the post, but after re-reading it, it was just so cute, I couldn’t help myself. I won’t lie, the story is kinda bland attimes and a bit predictable. Yet, the ending just turns out to be really cute, and you can’t help but like it after all.  I have to say the action and the twist that came at the end was pretty entertaining as well. This story wasn’t too shoujo-y, which I liked. It was a good balance of action and romance. As for the art, it was really simple, at least to me, but it’s pleasing 8) The chibis were adorable!<3

I think one of the reasons why I like this one-shot is because I can identify with the main character, Saeki Fumio. I’m actually a bit similar to her, both in our way of thinking and how we act. The realization she comes to at the end actually gave me a bit of enlightenment, if you get what I’m saying ^^ I also really liked the robot bunny, and the boy who became her bodyguard<3. For a perfect blend of minor shoujo and action, I’d recommend this for your enjoyment~.

13
Author: Sorachi Hideaki
Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Martial Arts, One Shot, Romance, School Life, Shounen
Year: 2008
Summary: Mondo Fujieda is in love with a girl named Izayo Gorugo. However, there’s a problem: her family are all assassins. He ends up humiliating her and upon this humilation, she vows to kill him. Luckily for him she moves away. Years later, she comes back to seek vengeance, but what is a guy to do against a skilled assassin?

Thoughts: This was also another one-shot I was going to pass, but after I saw all the forum topics on how awesomely weird and funny it was, I flew right into it. Now I can tell you that truly…this is a very awesomely weird and funny story. The story description sounds pretty simple, but once you read it, it gets kinda complicated, in a good way! The whole situation of how he embarrassed her was hilarious!! And what makes it even more hilarious is the seemingly calm narration the boy does! In fact, that calm narration is what gives it a comedic edge. Everything else is just loud and totally blown out of proportion, and then there’s that little calm narration box on the side in the middle of all the hysterical chaos. For me, that’s what keeps me cracking up.

My favorites part has to be when the guy reminiscences back to when he went to the girl’s house. That’s when you see her father, mother, and grandfather and they just start yelling and throwing weapons and stuff. And the boy is just standing there like, “WTFFFF!” XD I busted out laughing.  Underneath all this comedy though, it’s actually a very sweet  love story.
As for the ending, I was extremely confused. I’m not sure what the ending is supposed to mean! I’ve read it over a few times, but I really don’t get it x’D Yet, the fact that if you don’t get it kinda makes the ending even funnier, at least it did for me.  I really, just extremely recommend to read this. You may not like the style it’s in, but it’s just…so awesomely weird and funny, you can’t pass it up~.

We Can Fly!
Author: Megane Mirin
Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, One Shot, Shounen
Year: 2009
Summary: Dissatisfied with life, Sei, a cynical boy, decides to commit suicide and leave Earth with a bang. To his surprise, instead of dying, he is transported to another world and meets Sakura, a girl with wings. On that planet he is labeled as the god of destruction.

Thoughts: For some reason, my thoughts for this one-shot always changes. At first I was like, “Eh, so-so,” but then I think “Oh, well, it was actually pretty good.” And it goes back and forth, back and forth. Overall though, I did enjoy this one-shot, and it’s really good! It’s a very enlightening story. My mind is just being very bi-polar about this. I think it’s certain elements that make me don’t like it at times, like I don’t really like the ‘I can’t fly’ metaphor. It’s been used too many times in my opinion. Yet, the storyline I really adore in the end, even if the outcome that happens to the main character is predictable.

I can say I really enjoyed the mangaka’s art on this~ ^^ I love the style, and it has really lovely detail. Anyways, I sound like I’m really hating on this, but I’m not! ^^; I just can’t find the words to describe how much I actually like this one-shot. This is more of one-shot you have to judge for yourself, I guess. I’m trying my best, but ultimately I’m failing =A=; (Bad Hoshi!) All I can say is read this, and judge for yourself 8)

Yume Kurai(Dark Dream)
Author: Saitou Ken
Genre(s): Drama, One Shot, Romance, Shoujo, Tragedy
Year: 2009
Summary: Whenever Akane falls asleep, she always dreams of talking to a boy. This boy says that he “eats” her dreams. Who is this boy?

Thoughts: Okay, the cover to this one-shot is very misleading. At first I thought it was going to be a horror story, but it was totally different that what I expected. It’s a  bittersweet story with a tear-jerker ending. Oh my, I almost cried at the end! I was like, “Noooo way! ;A;” It’s sort of about becoming aware of what’s it front of you, you know? She sort of denied a certain feeling, and before she knew it, it became too late. I won’t tell you, because I don’t want to spoil a great ending.

I really loved the whole idea for the one-shot, of the boy eating her nightmares, and the way a story she made up from her childhood played into that. The plot was surprisingly complicated for a one-shot. Usually I feel that one-shots have a simple storyline, but this one was actually very unique. Overall it was just  a really well written one-shot, and one of the best one-shots I have ever read. Like I said before, the ending is gonna be pretty sad, and you might end up getting that burning sensation in your eyes, warning you of tears x’D The ‘tradegy’ genre tag it gets doesn’t lie! For a truly unique and well-thought of storyline, Yume Kurai will deliver, with tears along the way~.

The Miyama-Uguisu Mansion Incident
Author: Katou Kazue
Genre(s): Action, Fantasy, One Shot, Shounen, Supernatural
Year: 2009
Summary: The one-shot pilot of Ao no Exorcist. Monaka, the heiress to a prestigious family, is staying with her sadistic and controlling uncle after the death of her parents. Her life is given a twist upon the arrival of an unsual exorcist claiming the mansion is being haunted be a demon.

Thoughts: If you read my last Manga Digest post, I mentioned the awesome action manga called Ao no Exorcist, which is turning out to be quite more amazing then I said. Well, this one-shot is actually the pilot for the series! In fact, I read this one-shot so much, I looked up Ao no Exorcist and now I’ve become a huge fan! Anyways, this one-shot was extremely enjoyable, and ended up being a very sweet story! I won’t lie, the story was a bit predictable, but when it came to the climax of the story, you were kinda hit by a twist, and if you read the Ao no Exorcist manga, you know what I’m talking about.

The pilot is totally different from the series, story-wise that is. The whole demons and exorcism stuff however is all the same in the series. This one-shot actually left an impression on me for some reason, and I’m starting to believe that it was a sign that I’d end up falling in love with real series, heh. Also, the art was utterly fabulous. The way the manga-ka draws the demons is amazing, and the rest of the characters were very well drawn too. If you love the Ao no Exorcist manga, I’d strongly recommend the pilot! Or if you haven’t read it, read this first and then go for the main series (I’m on a little Ao no Exorcist high right now, so please forgive me x’D)! Katou Kazue’s manga on demons and exorcists just can’t be missed~!

I feel like I said ‘sweet story’ like a billion times, jeez.  I either need better adjectives, or need more manga that isn’t so sweet! I guess this should have been called ‘Sweet One-shots’ x’D Anyways, see ya’ll next week~!

About Hoshi

A tired, over-dramatic 20 year old college student who likes manga and cheesy Korean boy bands. Prone to succumb to laziness and refuse to work for hours on end.