I have two, really. I can't decide between them.
First, there's Lovely Complex. What don't I love about this manga? The characters are great, for one. Risa is pretty realistic. She's a bit rough, and she acts overly dramatic and embarrassingly sometimes (which is hilarious). But she really perseveres with what she wants. She's also honest with herself, which I appreciate. I hate it when the heroine spends ten volumes denying to herself that she likes the guy when it's blaringly obvious that she does. And Ootani is good, too. He works hard at basketball, and he's just a nice guy in general. Really, really dense, but nice. I love how he and Risa freak out over Umi Bouzu, their favorite band, together. They fight a lot, but they're still friends, and they have a good chemistry. I don't like shojo romances that are just aboutfighting, but there's more depth here. The side characters are great- they have really big personalities. They're funny most of the time, but they have serious moments, and they really contribute to the story. Lovely Complex also turns around a lot of shojo cliches. Like the romantic rivals. Instead of fighting with her rivals, Risa relates to them, which I find extremely refreshing. And some of the scenes are just so unique... but I don't want to give spoilers. The story stays interesting, though, I've never felt like it was boring or stalling. I like that it doesn't focus on the couple getting together- that happens mid-way through the manga. Instead it focuses on things like the difficulties of going from friends to a couple, and not knowing how to act once that happens. I also like that the relationship doesn't change much once they get together. I hate mush. Lovely Complex is also hilarious, and it doesn't take itself seriously. Plus, the art is pretty without being overly sparkly. It's really one of the best shojo out there.
The other one I like is Skip Beat!. I like it that the heroine isn't all perfect, and she doesn't just sit around crying, either. Kyoko goes into sho-biz, but her motive is to get revenge on the guy who dumped her. It's hilarious how she does this (especially her "curse demons"). I love her idealistic nature. She loses that true, sacrificial love ideal when she gets jilted, but she still loves fairy tales... And when she gets a best friend, she has all these ideas about what best friends are supposed to do together. Along the way, Kyoko really starts getting into acting, and she starts to discover herself. She starts living for herself, too, instead of for other people like she did with her ex. It takes time for this to happen, which I like. I hate it when manga characters have one experience that completely changes them. Ren is also a good character. He's really serious and professional, but he picks on Kyoko. It's not obvious because he does it with a "gentlemanly smile," but he has this cold sarcasm he uses on her. It's funny, though, that he's so professional, yet knows nothing about love. He has sort of a dark past which we haven't discovered yet... Anyway, I really enjoy the story. It always has something new. I really enjoy how the characters try to understand why the characters they're playing behave the way they do, and how they try to figure out how that character would behave in various situations. Skip Beat! is also hilarious. Kyoko's really out there sometimes. She's really... passionate, shall we say? And the other characters do some great stuff, too. I didn't like the art in Skip Beat! at first, but after reading it for a while, I feel like it fits the characters' personalities well. My favorite things about this manga are the complex, realistic characters, and the themes about loving yourself and others.
