Customer Reviews

Rose Hip Rose, Vol. 1

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Rose Hip Rose is an interesting hybrid of several manga genres, blending fast-paced gun-slinging action with elements of the traditional High School drama. Having never read GTO, I was unfamiliar with the author, and was surprised to find this level of quality - I'm fairly picky about manga.

However, I will say that the series fares much better if you read it AFTER reading the prequel, Rose Hip Zero. Some of the unrealistic parts are elaborated on, and you begin the series with an attachment to the main character. Over all, I probably prefer "Zero," but the two series complement each other well.

I don't know why everyone seems to bash this series. It's a solid, escapist manga, with good action and exceptional art, harkening back to Yua Kotegawa's "Anne Freaks." Admittedly it has a few fan-service panty shots, but hey, you're dealing with killer teenage girls. It was bound to happen. If you were looking for the meaning of life, you won't find it, but I would recommend this series for sheer entertainment.

Poor Shohei just wants to take photos of girls panties with his cell phone on the train he rides to school each day. He uses these photos to run a for-pay web site with a couple of friends that is apparently quite popular. In the endless quest to satiate customer need, Shohei inadvertently attempts to get the goods on a girl on the train he has never seen before. While attempting to take the shot, the girl catches him, and proceeds to give him a berating in front of the other passengers. Upon arriving in class, the girl from the train shows up in his classroom - She's a new student! Later in the day he sees her near his apartment - She's his new neighbor! Even later that week he sees her in full assault-suit regalia taking on some bank robbers, but he fails to recognize her because she is not wearing her glasses.

Thats right, she's completely in disguise wearing the same clothes but without her glasses on apparently. This is far from being the only point in this book that I rolled my eyes.

I had expected good things from this manga, as I enjoyed GTO quite a bit. This series however is just plain terrible. Many of the plot points make no sense. Coupled with the inconceivable amount of coincidences and the notion that a high school girl is a one-woman SWAT team I found it difficult to finish this book. The guy that works at my local comic store recommended this book to me, as I asked for something that was more grounded in reality than most manga, and this is what he gave me.. Last time I believe him. I also take issue with this manga for the fact that its rated "M". Usually when a book is rated for adults, it has adult situations, sex, along with some cursing. The cursing is so over-the-top in this book that it begins to feel "forced" many times as if the translators want to say "tee hee hee, look how naughty we can be.."

I honestly cant recommend this series to anyone, as it plays out like a Hollywood Z-grade action movie. No characters to care about, no real story to get into, physics/laws of reality constantly violated at the heroines descretion, it goes on and on, but I dont want to write a 4 page dissertation on this book, its just not worth it.

Final word - Pay no more than $2.00 for this book - The art is nice, but the story is absolute garbage.

I'll keep this short and brief. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought this item. I was sorely disappointed when I read the first few pages. Me being a big fan of Tohru Fujisawa's other series, GTO. I thought it would've had the same effect but to my unruly surprise I was evidently mistaken. I'm just happy that I only bought the first two volumes and not the whole collection.It was just too boring for me.