• Reviews :
• Manga Reviews
• Manga Reviews Main

• Beauty Pop Manga Series

The Review

First Impression

Yay for tomboyness!! Well, not just any tomboyness (ahem, like sloppy baggy clothing or acting like a monkey), but with style :).
Kiyoko-san knows how to create good characters!. This is one of the few manga I've read that gives the girl heroine a "cool" image that's not too overdone, and at the same time not a damsel-in-distress either. That, with a balance of the usual bishie guy characters who show their human side - they've all got their good points and bad points. A balanced group to tell a story of life (in a fictional way :D).

The Artwork

The artwork definitely gets high marks. It's clean, and cute or cool when it needs to be. There's also a pop-like quality to some of the scenes that's reminiscent of the fashion sense often seen in manwha (such as Akuma de Soro or Crimson Hero).

Overall Impression

While the first impression gives you a good idea of what kinds of heroines and heroes you would follow in Beauty Pop, the story itself doesn't really have much of a direction. Rather, it meanders along, showing some signs of a bell curve (i.e. the typical storyline breakup of beginning, climactic middle, and an end) and then vanishing into odd but admittedly cute tangent stories. Thus, while the character profiles are great, the actual character development is somewhat lacking.

The "growth" and "slice of life" elements are there for sure, but they're not ordered in a clear, chronological line like in The Prince of Tennis or Yakitate Japan. If I had to name a similar series, it would be Ouran High School Host Club. Not necessarily a story that keeps you at the edge of your seat, but something nice to read at the end of a long day.

Breaking It Down