2009-09-25, 08:13
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Link #44 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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I recently discovered this. It's quite good; the romance reminds me of Special A, but faster paced, which is just right for my tastes. There've been quite a number of really cute romance scenes in the latest dozen chapters or so; 39 was just incredible. I must say, I really enjoy the character archetype that Usui and Kei (from Special A) represent as they embody in my opinion what it really means to be a man (lol, at least in the context of women).
Anyway: hmm, an anime; sound's interesting. And on Usui's family: somehow, I don't really get an impression that Usui is really estranged from them. He only moved out in the beginning of high school, and he's obviously not paying his rent himself; I don't think he has some sort of traumatic family history or something. Rather, the things that intrigue me about Usui are mainly the emptiness of his apartment and (I'm guessing) his actual lack of friends. There's something existential about the stark emptiness of Usui's life without Misaki, and I think it is this great singularity in his resulting character that appeals him to my romantic sense. |
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2009-12-06, 06:07
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Link #49 | |
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Modern Philosopher
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Quote:
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2009-12-06, 07:20
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Link #50 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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'One of' doesn't preclude others, and though I haven't read Highschool Debut, I gotta say KWMS is very high up there.
I think maybe the lack of discussion has to do with waiting for the excruciatingly slow updates? Although there have been the side stories recently. The latest one was pretty hilarious. Misaki mumbling 'no, stop, you pervert' in her sleep was priceless. The tension in this manga is amazing--you just know she wants him so bad. |
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2009-12-06, 11:21
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Link #51 |
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simp for Lyria
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: on the Grandcypher
Age: 40
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Its def gotten on the good side since Misaki's official declaration that she like Usui, but yeah, the updates are so slow, and chapters go by in the blink of an eye, esp if they're focused on something else(like the recent 'battle for Maria" chap that was just released).
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2009-12-07, 06:30
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Link #52 |
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Yami no Ou
Join Date: Dec 2003
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I figure there will be a KWMS explosion when the anime comes out this spring. Hoping for the manga to reach a very good "stopping point" of sorts by then, so that the anime can end on a satisfying note.
Oh yeah, I'm putting that much consideration into how my precious KWMS will be adapted. And while Koukou Debut is awesome, it's no KWMS on the "Daaaaw~" scale |
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2009-12-07, 15:56
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Link #54 |
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Kani Fascination
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Just batched this manga.
Have to say, its a pretty good shoujo manga. It starts off pretty slow but once it got to the festival arc, it got really interesting. I am really liking the chemistry between Usui and Misaki. That said, like all shoujo manga, the male lead is way too perfect. Whenever shes in trouble, he magically shows up to save her. The author should start to introduce Usui's dark background before his "knight in shining armor" routine becomes really repetitive.
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2010-01-01, 04:49
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Link #58 |
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Yami no Ou
Join Date: Dec 2003
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I just have to add this:
Even after reading and watching literally over a hundred different romance anime and manga, I can say without hesitation that Kaichou wa Maid-sama has the absolute best romantic moments out of any series I've ever encountered in any genre. Ever. And it's not even all that close. |
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2010-02-02, 22:56
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Link #59 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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46:
50 pages, what a treat. Usui's background is pretty decent, I like it; although I wasn't that bothered by the 'now that we've gotten together, here's some drama with the perfect guy's family' stuff in (for example) Kare Kano or Special A, I am kinda glad that neither Usui nor his family really want anything to do with each other. We've still gotta deal with the machinations of Miyabigaoka's student council president, though; now that we understand Usui's background (and Maria-sensei's relation to him), I kinda wonder what he wants with Usui in the first place. Anyway, enough of that; back to the real focus of this manga, the romance. Next chapter is (presumably) a close little trip to the hot springs--excuse me while I go squeal like a giggling schoolgirl (not really). Seriously though, I couldn't anticipate this more. |
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2010-03-03, 01:23
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Link #60 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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It seems kinda weird how the anime thread has more posts than this manga one, even though it hasn't even started airing yet. Anyway, so chapter 47 is out, and even though it was pretty short and didn't have that many satisfying moments, Usui's repeated 'being a couple is troublesome' comment did get me thinking again and I think the chapter was pretty interesting after all.
Before I get to that though, first: turns out I'm actually pretty interested in Kuga and Sakura's relationship. The 'two pairs' setup of this episode temporarily seems to have given them equal billing and surprisingly I don't think I mind at all that this arc will spend a fair amount of time away from Usui and Misaki to give them their proper development. I think the manga managing to make me feel this way is cool and kinda unexpected. Also: despite what I said about there being few satisfying moments, I actually am still pretty satisfied just because of that one manju sharing moment. I'll get into this in a moment, but when I think about it it's kinda weird to me how Misaki's angry face paired with Usui's simultaneously gently smiling face can seem so romantic. It really does though, and I think that is the charm of their relationship. Over at mangafox's page for this manga there seems to have been quite a bit of fuss kicked up in the forums over Usui's 'relationships are troublesome' line. I made a post about it in the 'Ok ~ now that doesnt make sense' thread (if anyone's curious) but my sense of it is basically that Usui is referring to the public or societal sense of 'lovers', 'dating', or 'couple' and (separate from that) that their relationship really isn't anything like that. There have been some obvious suggestions that Usui might consider his relationship with Misaki as somehow 'beyond lovers', and while I don't think he actually does so, I think there really is something to that idea in that their relationship isn't about courtship or sexual attraction in a conventional sense. In a basic sense, I think I've already mentioned how I think Usui's attraction to Misaki strikes me as existential, in how it contrasts with how completely empty the rest of Usui's life (or 'existence') is without her. I think Usui's feelings, rather than the rather nebulous 'love', could be described instead as a form of 'need', though not in a material/physical or selfish way. My thoughts on the specific form of this 'need' are less certain, but I think what Usui finds so fulfilling and attractive in Misaki is her sense of positive struggle, of how powerfully she embodies both her own potential and that of the world around her, despite the poverty of the conditions surrounding them both. For Usui, though he is not anyway in despair, I think perhaps particularly because of his upbringing he is able to see how ugly the rest of the world generally is, how selfish or meaningless the things humans usually struggle for are, and that is why he feels Misaki is such a nourishing existance for him. So in the end what draws him isn't really her 'womanliness' or sexuality. Similarly for Misaki, I think what Usui generally represents is (as one of the early chapters put it) 'something to chase after'. This is in terms of ability, of her own potential, and maybe perhaps 'human potential' in general, or at least potential in some otherwise universal sense. Because, after all, her determination to chase after Usui and see herself as an equal to him is part of her determination to not succumb to her circumstances, to somehow live up to herself--despite being poor, despite lacking a father, despite the state of her school. Then somewhat paradoxically there is also the strong sense of Usui being someone to protect her, to rely on and to be kind to her, which I am less clear on but which I think is also playing an important role in this romance. This sort of dual nature of Usui, of being both something to chase and also something to be kind to her, is an idea I see particularly clearly from Misaki's line in chapter 42, 'I already don't want him to turn his sight away from me', as given the context there, of Misaki seeing the world of the elites and seeing Usui belong there, and feeling like she is about to lose, I think the romantic sentiment might be, though indeed mortifying, "I want to chase after you, so don't run too far ahead". Anyway, it's clear here that Misaki's concern with Usui is not with a man in a sexual (or, perhaps more conventionally, a 'boyfriend') sense, but, as is the case with Usui, perhaps something existential also. You can perhaps see how this is tangentially related to ch. 47 and Usui's line and stuff? About how Usui and Misaki's relationship isn't really that of lovers. Anyway, this is all really leading up to my main point/idea here, which I didn't include in my post at mangafox because the discussion did seem primarily dominated by a bunch of underage fangirls. However, what I'm really thinking about is Usui and Misaki in terms of a sexual relationship. See, what I've just asserted above is that Usui's feelings for Misaki and Misaki's feelings for Usui aren't really sexual. The conflict I now have to reconcile in my mind is why, then, their interactions together so often come off as steaming, sizzingly even, hot. Is that okay? However hot they are, for a bit I was actually convinced that their relationship could never actually lead up to something sexual (to be clearer about my mental roadblock, I couldn't imagine either of them ever having anything to do with Takumi's penis), and this, although not the way I take it, would be entirely in line with some interpretations of Usui's 'aren't lovers' line. I think the entire focus of their relationship is on Usui 'having his sights on' Misaki, and Misaki wanting it that way, because then--Usui running backwards--she can chase after him. (If you think about the sexual interpretation of this--Usui's attention on Misaki, Misaki wanting it that way--indeed this seems to fit my earlier idea/mental roadblock) More importantly though, this implies a fundamental inequality, a separation, however small--whereas the tradition romantic conception of sex is about 'oneness', or 'being together' (y'know, simultaneous orgasms and all that). So yeah, basically I'd convinced myself out of Usui and Misaki ever having a sexual relationship, lol. At least, of that sort of thing ever fitting into the sort of romance they are having. But that's pretty ridiculous, right? Especially for a shoujo manga with such great chemistry (not saying they'll ever get there in the actual manga though). Anyway, to go back to that scene I mentioned earlier, the 'satisfying moment' of chapter 47. Thinking about this sort of struck me with a different perspective that made everything work out. What's romantic about that scene is Usui's gently smiling face, and also the fact that Misaki is going along with the dumpling thing, despite her angry expression, telling us that yes, she likes it too. However, what's hot about that scene is Misaki's angry expression itself, stemming from her competitiveness and determination to keep up with him, a vital component of their chemistry. So in the end, and I'm getting further and further away from any sensible interpretation of Usui's 'not being lovers' line now, I don't think their sex life will be about 'simultaneous orgasms', i.e. like ordinary 'lovers' or 'couples', or the public or societal sense of it. Instead, aside from the fact that, as I spent so much time outlining earlier, the basis of their attraction to each other really is something much more meaningful than anything sexual, and also that there is a bit of a fundamental sense of separation to it, when they do eventually develop a sexual component to their relationship, I think their sex life will be about a) Usui watching Misaki, and b) Misaki angrily retaliating out of a sense of competition, i.e. yes, very hot  .
Last edited by Sol Falling; 2010-03-03 at 01:48. |
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