The Dangerous Love Zone

Muito bom

I feel that I think authors always make females leads sh*tty or needy but ima still try this out

love this book so so much

Hazel realizing how important Miranda is to him after she left is one side of him I always wanted to see, I hope he wins her back......... Nice one Author Kane, looking forward to more interesting chapters

It's easy to mistakenly use the term "deconstruction" when you actually mean "subversion" or "variation." When you take a well-known element and present it differently, it demonstrates your grasp of the medium. However, this isn't truly deconstructing it since you're following a single line of argument. This manga is a genuine example of deconstructing classic elements of a shonen manga, from the evolution of the panty shot to the underappreciated importance of the friend with glasses.  

If you love shonen, you'll likely enjoy this. The only real issue, and for some, none at all, is that Japanese comedy can be a peculiar entity at times. Another low point includes occasional references to whatever was significant when the manga was released, along with the author's apparent self-admiration. If you agree with every single point he makes, I regret to inform you that you might be incorrect. But if you disagree with most of it, then you know nothing, Jon Snow.  

I hope this review remains relevant for 10 years so readers can't fully grasp why someone would find the Jon Snow reference amusing, as it highlights some of the biggest issues this manga deconstruction faces.

"Supply and demand economics led to exponential growth in panty exposure, and panty flashing became omnipresent."
-Takekuma-sensei  

In the distant, magical days of the 1980s, one of Japan's best-selling books was 'Structure and Power: Beyond Semiotics' by Akira Asada. In it, he delved into simulacra, post-structuralism, historical psychoanalysis, Saussurean signs, the New Left, the desublimation of post-modern culture, and other impressive-sounding yet obnoxious sophomore Philosophy undergrad nonsense. By the turn of the millennium, psychiatrist Tamaki Saito and critical theorist Hiroki Azuma redefined otaku culture and introduced it as a subject of sociological study with their works 'Psychopathology of the Beautiful Fighting Girl' and 'Otaku: Japan's Database Animals,' respectively. In these books, we learn that Tsukino Usagi is a phallic girl, explore the fascinating history of Gainax, and touch upon the supreme icon and the industrial sex appeal tailored to otaku psychology that is Rei Ayanami. However, between these two phenomena, nearly twenty years passed, and editors don't like vacuums. That's where this work from 1990 fits in. Now, you too can become a million-volume-selling manga artist and cultural phenomenon if you just follow these simple instructions!  

Character-Story (10/10): The story revolves around two aspiring manga creators discussing their plans to become billionaires and conquer the world through manga, offering advice from the professor-character to the young man burning with ambition. Following Anatole France's famous dictum, "if you find something written down, and it's written well, don't hesitate for a moment," most chapters focus on a specific archetype, trope, or cliché of manga in general or trash a particular genre like shounen battle manga, mysteries, shoujo, mahjong, etc. The characters are over-the-top, making it one of the funniest satires I've ever read. It combines the outrageousness of Furuya Minoru (glad to see he's on the recommended list) with the somber tone of 'A Drifting Life.' However, whenever the protagonist grapples with artistic integrity versus loyalty to friends and employers, shown contemplating under a starry night, the seriousness is dismissed with an excretion joke. Moreover, what they discuss about the '80s remains eerily relevant today, potentially sparking a mini-rampage against the garish, ludicrous copies of copies dominating the cultural landscape consumed by mindless drones. Really, the only two things they don't fully nail in amazing style and economy of expression are the moe boom and angsty deconstruction, for which you can refer to the latter two books mentioned earlier.  

Art (10/10): While the art stands well on its own merit, featuring hysterical/constipated faces often dealing with excretion or erogenous zones (or the characters' DREAMS), it gains elevated significance in two ways. First, while critiquing a specific industry aspect, the manga parodies the prevalent art style of the niche in question with a Spinal Tap-like aesthetic, boasting the third-best facial expressions I've seen in manga (after 'Boku to Issho' and 'Otokojuku'). More importantly, and how I discovered this manga, are the all-encompassing, source-citing, two-page infographics. Whether analyzing shonen manga plotlines (it's all about FIGHTS) or dissecting the marketing intricacies of children's entertainment (it's the mother who buys it), they provide crucial, timeless frames of introspective, hard-hitting cultural analysis and should be part of any self-respecting Humanities major's curriculum.  

Enjoyment (10/10): Can't compare it with regular manga; the 10 is a cop-out. If you disagree, you're not meta enough.  

Overall (10/10): A hard copy of this deserves a place between 'One Dimensional Man' and the Haruhi Suzumiya LN series on a mahogany bookshelf.