Customer Reviews

Kare First Love, Vol. 3

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Kare First Love" is the kind of manga I wished I had read when I was in Junior High/ High school! This manga has a great story & characters that just about anyone can relate to!

Anyone who has ever been shy, socially awkward, or dealt with peer pressure ( growing pains) & been in LOVE =)... will be able to relate to this book.

Karin is that awkward, geeky girl who is socially awkward, a passive, people pleaser who lets herself get bullied by her popular classmate to share her home work. On her way to school at the subway, Karin met a boy named Kiriya. Kiriya seems to be fascinated by Karin & Karin can't stand him since she isn't use to getting that much attention.

Geeky Karin gets pressured by her classmate again to go on a group date where she meets Kiriya & Karin was humiliated by her classmate in front of everybody. As if things weren't bad enough her classmate wants Kiriya badly & Karin got drunk accidentally (making a very bad impression)!!!

What will poor Karin do? will she let her classmate snag Kiriya a way? or will she ever be brave enough to get close to Kiriya? Will Karin ever see herself the way Kiriya sees her?

Kare's First love is probably my favorite shoujo manga at the moment. It's a story about coming of age, self discovery, dealing with that awkward stage in your life & that unforgettable first love!!!

Such a great manga that is a MUST read!! One of the best current shojo!! Viz has done a great job licensing all these shojo titles!

For those that are reading these reviews to decide if they want to start (or finish) reading Kare First Love, let me give a short overview of the series. Most love stories revolve around the hero and heroine "almost" falling in love, "almost" hugging, "almost" kissing, and "almost" becoming a real couple, with the climax of the story being that they finally confess their love for each other. And then the series ends. And you, the earnest viewer/reader, never get to see how they actually fair in a real relationship.

That's not what Kare First Love is! From volume 1, you know Karin (the heroine) and Kiriya (the hero) are going to get together. In volume 2, they are. And from there, practically volumes 1-10, you get to see them in their relationship together from first date to fifth date to meeting parents, etc. and you watch how they mold each other into better, happier, more confident people.

Kare First Love is about metamorphosis and of course, love! Despite the shaaa, and sparkles, and manga bells and whistles, the tale is fairly accurate (sometimes frustratingly so) and realistic. They have their silly fights, they have their enormous arguments, they think about cheating, sex, and the future. A lot of people will be able to relate their own experiences and that is what makes this story so appealing.

So how do you end a series that, for most manga, could have ended at volume 2 (with the climax of Karin and Kiriya confessing love)?

Karin and Kiriya's final journey together brings back all of the characters you've known and loved as well as some new friends. The loose threads are tied up (not too neatly, but satisfyingly) and the final surprise will leave you gushing with joy. I am quite pleased with how the artist and author decided to leave us and I think all readers will be too! I could not write a more glowing review, I promise!

This manga centres around Karin, a shy, quiet, high school girl who meets the popular, outgoing Kiriya, who goes to a neighbouring high school. The story focuses on the relationship that develops between them.

The mood of this series is generally pretty light hearted even though it does have its fair share of drama. From problems faced within their relationship to trouble created by those around them, the series is basically about the couple's relationship and how this evolves over time.

On the whole, this is a solid shojo series, well worth picking up. The characters are all really well developed and Karin and Kiriya are both likeable. The story is pretty fast paced and I found myself instantly sucked in by it. It does have its sappy moments, but that's what we all love about shojo manga after all!

When I first started reading shojo, all of my friends told me I had to read this book; that this manga was one of the best out there. And it really is! The story is about a dorky, awkward girl who developes a crush on a guy she thinks is way out of her league; and when the guy starts paying attention to her, she can't figure out what to do. Its a really sweet story that I'm sure you're gonna love.

Kare First Love is one of the greatest love managa's of all time.

When I first began reading it I couldn't stop!

I finally finished reading all of them the other day and I was very sad when it ended. I about cried! Cause it's sad when something you like ends.

If you're a girl and you're in high school you MUST read this.

It may help you with even your own problems.

This series is a great example of how old manga cliches can be turned into something refreshing & new. The basic storyline is nothing entirely new- you have boy meets girl, boy & girl play cat & mouse, & lots of girls want boy. You even have the pretty ugly girl & the bickering friends. Still, somewhere along the way the author turned this into a refreshing & new spin on the entire series. Perhaps it helps that the main characters are all somewhat realistic & at no point do they make the lead female into a brainless wet rag ala Miaka or fall into the other cliches of female manga characters. While some of the situations & reactions aren't entirely believable, the characters are written pretty honestly.

In this final volume we discover whether our two young lovers will stay together or whether they drift apart. While the answer isn't that hard to guess at, it's still a fun ride. My only gripe is that some of the threads are left hanging (whether or not Nanri ever bagged Hiromu or if she ended up with the other guy), but it's not an entirely important point so it's not all that serious of a gripe.

Would I recommend this to a friend? The series, yes. This volume? Only if they're collecting the series. Still, I have to say that I'd probably only recommend this series to people who are fans of romantic manga, otherwise the non-fans would just get bored.

When you begin to Read Kare: First Love, you think a lot of good things. The art is dazzling, the characters likeable. This is enough to get you past the cliches. So what if Karin is transformed into a beautiful model simply by undoing her pigtails and taking off her glasses?

However, after the last five volumes of will-they-or-won't-they, it gets old. And in this volume, you have all these random things happening that are not only overused, but seemingly out of place and just -bad-. The guy that badmouths Kiriya's photography is really his dead brother's fiancee's ex-lover? Who cares? This same guy steals Karin's PLAIN DIAMOND EARRING (honestly, just go get another one, it's not like anybody will notice), and somehow blackmails her into taking a few photos, which later turn out to be video? (I don't know how his still camera turns into a video camera. I suppose we're supposed to suspend our sense of disbelief.) This video ends up being a commericial, in a plot right out of Hana Yori Dango, that here doesn't seem to get resolved at all.

And to answer your question beforehand, no. They don't have sex in this volume either. I guess there's always the next volume for them to move onto an issue more important than taking off their pants, but I won't be around for it.

I liked "Kare First Love" alright. It wasn't bad, just average.

I thought the story was pretty cliche. The hot guy falls for the girl-who-looks-ugly-because-she-doesn't-dress-right-but-is really-pretty. And of course, there's the obligatory rotten friend who's jealous and tries to screw up the girl's chances with the guy.

Characters were ok. Pretty standard. I had mixed feelings about Karin. She's the pushover type with no self-esteem, but I did think that the way she really thinks about things was funny, and showed that she wasn't a complete loser.

The art's good. Karin looks satisfiably geeky in the first part of the book, and she's beautiful later. Actually, pretty much everyone in this manga is beautiful. The environments are done well too.

Overall, you should read this if you don't have anything else, but there are better Shoujo titles like "Hot Gimmick" and "Peach Girl". "Kare First Love" is just mediocre.

I thought the best manga series were Girl Got Game and Hot Gimmick, but wow! When I discovered Kare First Love from a friend of mine, I couldn't stop reading it and I was begging her for the next book. I basically zapped through the series like lightning. Mark you, I still need to read the third one and I really can't wait! ^.^

I'll be honest. I would have the 9th book in your hands before you read the 8th. the cliffhanger at the end just really makes you unable to wait for the next ohe so if youve already got it then you dont go through the torture of waiting!!!