Customer Reviews

The One I Love

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

 

 

When it comes to magical girls and whimsical themes of romantic entertainment, I avoid. When it comes to anthologies, "GIMME!"

~REVIEW~

It was in 2003 that I bought and reviewed CLAMP's other anthology, the winter sense of collective fairy tales "Shirahime-Syo." It was beautiful, thoughtful, sad, and it's a four-star manga. Now, in 2004, Tokyopop released another anthology from the Femme Four, so I bought what's possibly one of their best work they have ever done. "The One I Love: Watashi no Sukinahito" is a gem of anthology in its own right.

Like every anthology that was made, "The One I Love" is collection of short stories that followed a similar theme (guess this book's theme). This manga contains 12 "scenes" with a different female protagonist (all nameless) in each one, all at nearly 130 pages. Yea, if you know your math correctly, each of these "scenes" are REALLY short; as short as a celebrity relationship. However, I understood the limitations of anthologies, so I don't consider the length to be a flaw like I use to. As short as they are, the quality of these stories cannot be ignored:

Scene 1 - DIFFERENT: A tomboy, seemingly enough, waits at a park to apologize to the guy she cares about over a little argument, while wearing a pink kimono to look like a different girl. That is, until, she complains if she wears to wrong color kimono (A girl`s gotta look appealing to please her man).

Scene 2 - CUTE: A perky young lady, who has a nerve to think that a manhole is cute, began analyzing how the word "cute" doesn't always justify the mean.

Scene 3 - I MISS YOU: This main girl's lonely, and her boyfriend works at a full-time job as a manga artist. She tries to cope with this limited relationship, but she's so frustrated over her loneliness, because all she wanted was for him to be with her.

Scene 4 - A YOUNGER MAN: She's upright, a reasonable worker, and in her mid-20s. It's Christmas time, and that would've been a great time for her and her lover, if they didn't break up months ago due to an age difference. She was older than her ex, so from the break-up, she became apparent that age made her feel insecure with her love life.

Scene 5 - SUDDENLY: What can I say: it's "instant love" for this girl. Work was stressful for a girl in a design studio, as she has to accomplish many things in a day-only deadline. It wasn't until later in her strict working schedule that she suddenly fell in love with "the big cheese."

Scene 6 - TOGETHER: A short-haired lady reminisces about her kindergarten days where she met her first crush when he lend her a harmonica to play for some "kindy" orchestra. His skills with the harmonica made her tried to be as good with the harmonica, so she can share a similar interest with him. Even to this day, her older self, waiting for him in the street, wonders what else both might share to deepen their relationship.

Scene 7 - PRETTY: She wants to look good for her date, maybe even look pretty. Unfortunately for her, it's raining on the day of her date and she was running late, so she quickly had to wear some unappealing clothes and suffer through the dampness of the weather condition. What will her date think of her now?

Scene 8 - INSECURE: A girl dreamt that she was a cat and that she got her butt thrown out of house, because her boyfriend doesn't need her anymore (typical). She thinks her dream was more of a premonition, believing that her boyfriend might dump her, so she felt insecure of what's going to happen to her.

Scene 9 - COURAGE: The main girl in this scene is probably the most "ugliest" one compare to the different babes from other scenes. It's Valentine Day, and she decides to buy a gift for someone she admire a while back. Now all she needs is the hubris to admit her feelings to that guy.

Scene 10 - NORMAL: When a man and a woman fall deeply in love, they either have a child in a premarital way or they get hitched. Fortunately for saints, this story's about proposal, but the main woman doesn't know if she wants to tie the knot, since she and his "fiancée" didn't interact much together. She doesn't know if she will love him through marriage.

Scene 11 - APART: Let's face it: long-distance relationships almost never work for any couple. This main girl thinks so otherwise, but she decides to give love a chance and asked her lover to meet at the train station, hoping that the distant between each other didn't cause for him to move on with other people.

Scene 12 - MARRIAGE: "...and to love each other `till death do us part." This vow would eventually be spoken from the bride, who starts having second thought about marriage because of what might happen in the aftermath. She has the right to be concerned of possible marital consequences: constant verbal abuse, irreconcilable compromises, divorce. Can she accept the obstacles to be with her hubby?

To make the scenes more enhanced, each scene ends with a written essay by one of the members of CLAMP, Nanase Ohsawa. There's more reading involved, but they brings better insight to how the stories were made; some were semi-autobiographical to CLAMP members. Not only are they stories, they surprisingly worked as life lessons . Though I have some favorites, the best scene has to be "A YOUNGER MAN", because I always had that similar problem with age being the focus of my love life. It used to bother me when the girls I like are older than me, which distant me from them, but thanks to that scene, it broadens my way of thinking and decided to not let age bother me from having dates.

Not only is the content and the art wonderful, but so is the packaging. The book feels so smooth to the touch and not plastic-y like the majority of the manga selection. The manga has color pages, and the paper quality (color and black/white) has that same smoothness as the cover. It'd be perfect if the book is in hardcover format, but as it is, I applaud Tokyopop for producing one of the best packaging I've ever held.

THE FINAL WORD: Lovely. This is a remarkable anthology that deals with issues that can help others adjust to certain parts of intimacy. Despite its female appeal, there's something within this book that can be suitable to any gender. Whether or not you're into romance or CLAMP, you must do yourself a favor and check this out. "The One I Love" is the one I highly recommend.

This is perfect if you want something ooey and gooey and lovey-dovey. It advertises that it asks deep questions about love, but all it does is barely brush the surface of things such as age, what "cute" means or how people can transition from dating into a marriage. It seems to be based quite a bit on the author's actual experience, so it's pretty interesting to read their little introductions before each short story. The characters are drawn beautifully in Clamp style...but it IS a slender volume, so may not be quite worth the price they are asking for.

This is one of those rare perfect manga that you come across once in a blue moon. Perfect for all ages, (I go for adult free content in my choice of manga). The stories are cute and very true to life. They've covered things I've experienced, and it's nice to have those subjects touched on in these uplifting cute stories. A must buy!!!!

CLAMP-You have to love the stories in this manga!! It is reallt awesome the way of style use---is really simple style and yet the stories are so awesome

The One I Love is very sweet and uplifting, the reader can't help but feel content and more understanding after reading it. An awesome book for any shojo-manga reader.

When I first purchased this manga, it was for the gorgeous artwork. I read the stories & really didn't like them. I'd contemplated returning it, but kept it since the artwork was so gorgeous & placed it on my bookshelf. There it sat for about a year until recently, when I wanted something quick to read. Upon re-reading it, I was enthralled by the stories & their characters. Unlike one or two of CLAMP's other works, the main characters are very human & likeable, even in their supreme flaws.

The stories range from a manga artist's frustrated girlfriend to an older woman who discovers that she's fallen for a younger man. Each of the stories are incredibly believable & are things that ultimately almost every person goes through in their life. Some of the stories are sweet but just as many are bittersweet in their tellings. Even when they end happily enough, you still get that faint hint of sadness in some of them. I'm incredibly glad that I re-read this manga, otherwise I wouldn't have seen how truly wonderful these stories are!

Would I recommend this to a friend? To some of them, yes. People who aren't fans of non-action stories or the more realistic love stories won't be as fond of this collection. Also, people who dislike open ended stories (like me) may not be as initially fond either. Still, I'd recommend it to most of them with the proviso that they really give it a chance to grow on them like it did with me.

When I read a description of this anthology, I was skeptical, because I'd yet to find a piece of work that could develop deep and genuine relationships in only seven pages per story. But CLAMP hadn't yet let me down, so I swallowed my apprehension and bought it.

And let me tell you, I'm so glad I did.

The artwork, as always, is exquisite. The first story is in color, and the colors have a soft, gentle, watercolor-esque feel to them; the remainder of the book is in black and white. Each short story is about a different, unnamed heroine in a different situation, and each one is followed by an essay written by Nanase Ohkawa. The essays themselves are sweet, though sometimes too brief or vague for my liking. Still, they always provide a nice bit of insight into CLAMP's own experiences with the kind of love written about in the preceding story.

The stories themselves are as follows:

Scene 1: Different. A girl wanders through the park after an argument with her boyfriend. She wishes she could have apologized, and to help her learn to do so, she wears a kimono so she can be "different."

Scene 2: Cute. A girl and her (male) friend take a walk, and the girl muses on her distrust of the word "cute," saying it can be used to describe everything from babies to manholes. Yes, I'm serious.

Scene 3: I Miss You. A girl in love with a manga artist spends an evening home alone, wishing she could see the man she loves more often. But who could that be at the door...?

Scene 4: A Younger Man. A twenty-four year old girl remembers her previous boyfriend, who was younger than she and broke up with her for that reason. Now, it's Christmas again, and as she helps in her family's bakery, she has no idea that another "younger man" has his eye on her...

Scene 5: Suddenly. A girl working at a publishing company reflects on how sometimes, love can come from the place you least expect it- with the person you never thought you'd look at twice.

Scene 6: Together. A girl remembers how she fell in love with her kindergarten classmate who offered her his harmonica when she didn't have an instrument, and this leads to her thinking about how much it means to her to do things together with the person she loves.

Scene 7: Pretty. A girl has a minor meltdown, desperately trying to find an outfit that will make her look "pretty" for her boyfriend. In despair, she arrives for their date a half-hour late under the impression that she is the ugliest girl alive... and then her boyfriend proceeds to dispel that mistaken impression with complete sincerity and sweetness.

Scene 8: Insecure. After a nightmare about her boyfriend no longer needing her, a girl shows up at his house in terror that she's no longer welcome there.

Scene 9: Courage. A student in love with her teacher muses on Valentine's Day and how it seems to give girls the courage to reveal their feelings that they lack on the other 364 days of the year.

Scene 10: Normal. A young woman, cooking for her serious boyfriend, wonders if she can accept his proposal of marriage when she has no idea what being married will really be like. How does she know that she loves him enough for marriage?

Scene 11: Apart. As she waits for her long-distance boyfriend to arrive, a girl thinks about how tough it is to be so far apart and how afraid she is that the physical distance might cause their hearts to grow apart- a fear that is not helped by the fact that her boyfriend is late...

Scene 12: Marriage. A case of pre-wedding jitters has a young bride terrified that she or her fiance might change after being married and their love might change as well. Her fiance's response: "Well, what's wrong with that?"

My favorite scene is probably "Normal" because of how closely I can understand the heroine's fears, followed closely by "Together" - I love the innocence of a childhood love that grew into something stronger. As a whole, I can't say I'm disappointed in any of the scenes, though "Suddenly" was a bit *too* sudden... it gave me emotional whiplash. The essays weave the book into a harmonious whole that seamlessly flows from one story to the next, and when it's over, I find myself wanting more. Since there isn't any more, I generally go back to the beginning and read it again. ^_^

I can't recommend this highly enough. It's a beautiful, poignant, and deeply introspective treatise on that which makes the world go 'round: love.

The art is not what I expected from clamp. The book is small, thin, and a very short read. It has a few tiny stories that are several pages long. I'm a huge clamp fan. I love their work. Chobits. Xxxholic. Tsubasa. Rayearth. Ccs. I. Love. Clamp. I adore clamp. This book though did not meet my expectations. Its ok at best. Its just a bunch (correction: few) of unrealistic thoughts on love and relationships that would make any adult (and I'm only 21) scoff. Really? Maybe you have to be a hopeless romantic with a really open heart and an empty glass of wine to enjoy this.. whatever ill keep it fo the sake of collecting.

this... was really bad. the book is comprised of several... you can't even call them stories because they are all around 7 pages in length and go no where. they all hint at a possible story, but none of them actually puts in any time to create something worth reading. it's more like a collection of possible love story ideas someone else could write about if they wanted to write a romance... but chances are that someone interested in writing a love story would already know about possible plot twists... making this completely and totally useless!! i can't see how anyone could read this excuse for a collection of decent plot lines and call it a nice collection of love stories, and the art is grade b. there is nothing redeemable at all... it's just so horrible. and pointless. honestly, why.