Honest, intelligent news and reviews for manga romantics
Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi has been publishing in North America since July of 2010. A little less that five years and sixteen volumes later we have the conclusion to this beloved shoujo manga.
SO IF YOU’VE NOT READ THE ENDING AND DON’T WANT TO SPOIL THE SERIES FOR YOURSELF – PLEASE DON’T READ ANY FARTHER THAN THIS. I MEAN IT. NO, REALLY, STOP RIGHT HERE! 🙂
Volume 16: Volume 15 left off with quite a cliffhanger. A bomb goes off and we don’t see the characters. However, I had faith that Motomi was not going to kill her beloved protagonists right there at the end. She would have had quite an uproar to deal with and lots of hate mail, haha. I liked that Motomi wrote Akira as being saved by Tasuku, as if Tasuku was paying it forward for Teru’s brother saving him. Seeing Tasuku play the hero was satisfying, but Teru was in no way the damsel in distress. She sure let Akira have it! Thankfully Antler gave them the video for Akira, because it really made Akira feel loved.
I was satisfied with the ending of the main series, but those extra stories that were included in volume 16 were a fabulous way for Motomi to please fans and give readers a little bit extra that they might have been wishing for. For instance the story where Tasuku paints Teru’s nails is really cute, but it also ends with a reader fantasy of the two of them getting intimate. It’s great commentary from Tasuku, and got a lot of readers excited.
Then there’s the story of Soichiro and Riko, that really makes you want to cry. I love Riko’s character, she’s such a strong person. Seeing her strong arm Soichiro was funny, but also watching her defy Soichiro’s decision to end their relationship was touching. However, my favorite extra was the story where the neighbor leaves her baby. Watching Teru and Tasuku try to be first time parents was so funny and adorable!! Some of you that aren’t parents wouldn’t know from experience, but that part at the end where the apartment was a wreck was sooo accurate. Hahaha, it still makes me laugh. I really loved that Motomi had Tasuku imply that there will be a next time with a baby. It’s so sweet and really gives promise of the future that the two of them can have together. A very happy conclusion for one of my favorite OTPs.
The Series: A while back I shared that Dengeki Daisy is one of my favorite shoujo manga series, second only to Skip Beat! There’re a lot of reasons behind that but it has to do with how well it breaks the mold of a “typical” shoujo manga. While Teru attends high school, it’s not a high school shoujo romance. It also isn’t a supernatural fantasy and it doesn’t include a love triangle at any point. It’s full of action and thrills, and includes mystery and intrigue. Spies and hackers, a secret program, all of these add a lot to the story to make it anything BUT a typical shoujo manga.
Yet my favorite element of this series isn’t necessarily the plot, but rather the way Motomi writes the characters. All of her characters have interesting personalities. They have good depth, with strengths and weaknesses. They become like real people you can feel affection for. She isn’t afraid to make her characters act like idiots and that makes them even more endearing to readers. There are so many funny moments along with the more emotional ones, that it strikes a great balance in the series.
You guys, I love this piece of work and I’m so grateful that we were given it in English. It’s a series I can read and re-read and love the characters all over again. So thank you Viz and Shojo Beat for your hard work on this series. We really love it!
I’ve done two other reviews of volumes of this series – volume 1 and volume 4. You can also see some of the memorable moments I love from volume 1, volume 2, and volume 3. I’ll have to add some more memorable moments, as I found myself wanting to put so many from later volumes into this post.
If you like Dengeki Daisy, then we will be getting Motomi’s new series QQ Sweeper in October. Be sure to buy it!
I had to skip the rest so as not to spoil myself but seeing how highly you recommend this, I need to give this a go 😀
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