I,A Gangster, Became a High School Student

Chapter 179 Shang ZhangMing asking to search for families with surname wang. I must say it's a wild goose chase considering that Wang is the most common of Chinese surname. Even if they search for aristocratic families it's difficult. LOL

You're welcome man, hope you'll like the read ^-^

This should have the tag romance and harem, because there are many love relationships it's kinda overwhelming honestly, and slightly over the top. it's ridiculous the amount of mingling that happens between characters, like d*mn.

This was quintessentially Ken Akamatsu. Indeed, by the end, the girl bears an uncanny resemblance to Saati! As a Christmas one-shot, it was fairly well-crafted. A bit clichéd for the 90's (the pervert protagonist ends up with a beautiful woman), but it fits here. The storyline was relatively unique, yet the backstory of her family and her affection for him were left undeveloped, leaving a void. That said, the narrative flowed smoothly, and the art was solid, typical of late 90's manga. There wasn't much depth to the plot or a significant climax; it was just... average. I enjoyed reading it till the end, but there are noticeable flaws.

I found Santa's constant breast-related comments and Mai's casual acceptance of them off-putting. Additionally, the lack of antagonists in the story is disappointing. There isn't much incentive to keep reading beyond wanting to understand why he's unlucky or why she loves him, but these questions remain unanswered. The only reason I persisted was my loyalty as a long-time Akamatsu fan and my familiarity with his style, drawing comparisons to other works like Love Hina and A.I. Love You.  

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When people think about holidays, the first things that usually come to mind are joyous, happy, exciting, fun-filled celebrations with friends and family. This may be true for most people, but not everyone celebrates the holidays on such a premise. There are many reasons someone might have an unhappy holiday season, yet there are very few reasons why someone should endure a sad holiday season throughout their life. In this one-shot, Ken Akamatsu, the writer of the classic harem Love Hina, attempts to shed light on how one might experience a depressing holiday every year and how someone tries to lift the gloomy atmosphere surrounding their holiday.

The story centers around a boy born around the holidays, specifically on December 24, and as a result, he is named Santa. This name causes him hardship throughout his childhood because he is constantly teased for such an unusual name. On top of that, his parents were never around for him, so the anger within his heart continues to grow. The fact that his parents were absent turned holidays into a depressing event rather than a celebration. Just thinking about being alone during the holidays while everyone else around you is having a great time can bring your spirit down. (Imagine: You're in Times Square in NYC, and everyone is happy and having a fantastic time while you're all alone. Depressing, right?) The main part of the story revolves around a girl from Santa Claus Academy who has trouble with magic and is sent to cheer Santa up. The story develops from there, and we see a blossoming relationship between the two. The author tries to convey the ideas of Hope, Happiness, Desires, Dreams, and BELIEVING.

If you've ever seen any of Ken Akamatsu's works, you can practically predict how each character will look before reading this one-shot. The emotions are clearly portrayed, and his art is clear but sometimes the content can be overwhelming and cluttered. Although this may be true, it is sometimes necessary to fully get the point across. His artwork, compared to other mangakas, may not be brilliant, but it is awesome in its own way.

The two main characters developed in this one-shot are quite fantastic. You can easily grasp their personalities and understand how each would respond in a situation. As much as a one-shot can, this one develops the characters well enough to show a change in both.

In the end, with all the work combined, this one-shot is satisfactory. Since I am a Ken Akamatsu fan, I give this a 7 out of 10. (May be biased)

Thanks for Reading!

So there was a time when I reviewed a 2-episode OVA called Itsudatte My Santa. The manga was so bad that I wondered if the source material was just as poor. Surprisingly—or maybe not—the manga turned out to be based on a one-shot. What confused me even more was that the second episode of the OVA wasn't part of the one-shot. This made me question why a one-shot could spawn two OVAs, while some superior manga with five or six volumes remain unadapted.

Returning to the comparison between the manga and the OVA storyline... how anyone thought this would make a good anime is beyond me. The story lacks depth, focusing merely on a girl trying to cheer up a guy on Christmas Eve because she's a Santa. The only redeeming aspect, which was sweet to some degree, came from the anime. In the anime, the main male character's parents, who are Santas, help children in a third-world country during Christmas, explaining their absence on his birthday. However, in the manga, they simply go on vacation for their anniversary. With such logic, it's understandable why he'd feel neglected if his parents disregarded his birthday every year for their anniversary. While the anime gives the parents a noble cause, making the protagonist's frustration justified, the manga leaves him without such justification.

And now we arrive at my main issue with both the manga and anime: Mai. Mai is the peculiar Santa attempting to uplift the protagonist but ends up complicating things further. In the anime, she can conjure items starting with "S" out of nowhere, adding a slight utility. In the manga, though, she can only produce fish. WHY ONLY FISH? She's supposed to be a Santa in training, right? When would someone want fish for Christmas unless she's the Santa for cats? Even then, why would she care so much about pleasing a human?

You might ask, "What about the summer beach trip and the annoying love rival from the anime?" They don't exist in the one-shot. Simply put, none of the events from the second episode were present in the manga except possibly the ending. I doubt I'm spoiling much by stating that the endings are similar. This revelation frustrates me even more since I had to endure that silly episode.

The artwork follows Ken Akamatsu's typical style—clean lines, intricately detailed hair, and nerdy men who all resemble each other. His characters often look identical to me across different manga, which has both positive and negative aspects. On the downside, it's challenging to distinguish characters outside the context of the manga. On the upside, he does excel in drawing them. Interestingly, I once saw a picture of him, and many of his male characters bear a striking resemblance to him. The backgrounds are also well-detailed and visually appealing. He does an excellent job with the art; it's just that his character designs seem somewhat limited in variety.

In conclusion, this one-shot isn't particularly impressive, offering nothing new. Surprisingly, the first episode of the anime surpasses the manga, and I regret saying that.