Bevore Sekaiichi Hatsukoi aired, I’ve watched Junjou Romantica, becasue pretty much everyone who likes Shounen-Ai seems to like Junjou Romantica, so I was willing to give it a try. Seriously… it was so bad, I don’t even know where to begin.
Let’s start with the style of art. This is something I can usually just ignore, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish all Initial D Seasons and this anime is damn cool. It’s always weird, when every character looks the same, because the exact same face is being used over and over again – only the hair differs. It actually gets kind of funny, when someone says: “He’s your brother? But you don’t look alike at all!” Yeah sure, aside the fact that every male human being looks like a clone. XD
Well, don’t take me too seriously on this one: like I said, I can live with it.
Now, the next problem is something that seems to be completely common in Yaoi and Shounen-ai, but manages to piss me off every time I see it. You know, rape isn’t exactly the best foundation for a romantic relationship. It usually comes with serious mental and physical damage for the victim… and guess what? Of course, the relationship of the main couple is based on rape. Why always rape? It’s a bad thing for heavens sake, it’s against the law for a reason, get that in your head. It’s not “cute” or “hot” it’s an act of violence and disrespect, it’s the worst. I can’t stand relationships based on rape, because it’s just… wrong!
The last huge point that pisses me off, are the side stories and this is when Sekaiichi Hatsukoi comes into play. You see, the sidestories kind of work out in Junjou Romantica, but only because Junjou Romantica Season 1 completely lacks any kind of story. The sidestories have a deeper story than the mainstory has. And yes, this is negative, because the main story in Junjou Romantica is boring as hell. It’s Season 2 when finally something interesting happens, but it’s 100% cliché so it’s actually more disappointing than interesting. Yes, this is negative, too. Although the sidestories are what makes the anime somewhat watchable, because you don’t bore yourself to death with thze main story, it’s still disturbing. Every time the anime changes to a sidestory, it completely destroys the “flow”. You can’t do this, this is annoying. I was torn apart between being happy for seeing something different and being pissed off, because the “flow” is being destroyed again.
Sekaiichi Hatsukoi has easily more story in one episode than Junjou Romantica in it’s complete first season. The story is actually kind of interesting and makes me want to see more. (Well… I’ll overlook the attemted rape-parts for now…for now!) The story has a beginning and a clear goal, I want to see how it reached it’s goal. It’s not such a “show the audience how character 1 and 2 are living together”-crap like we had in Junjou Romantica, it’s actually a real story with some kind of sidequest for Ritsu: The way to become a good Shoujomanga editor. So we have the romantic-storyline and the work-storyline.
Now, why in the name of… who knows… would you want to stop the story and randomly throw a completely pointless sidestory with different charcters into the anime? WHY? It’s only doing harm to the main story, because it actually has a real story for once. Why do you want to destroy this? It’s not as if the sidestories help the main story or anything, no. If the goddamn manga-ka wants to write more than one story, she should just write them one after another, but NOT at the same time in the same manga, this doesn’t work out well and pisses me off like hell.
Sorry, I’ll correct my mistakes later… I need to calm down.
A Glass of Manga 
Lmao! Finally! I’m glad someone feels the way I do about Junjou Romantica. The series is unbelievably overrated. I thought Sekaiichi Hatsukoi would be better, but it turned out to be disappointing as well. Sometimes bad things just get popular, and it confuses the minority that doesn’t like it.
I hope to see more deserving BL titles to have animes in the future.
(Like the Ai no Kusabi remake that got canceled… *sigh*.)
I’ve learned years ago that just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s good. Junjou Romantica is just this sort of manga that is being loved for no reason, because there’s nothing new or exited about it at all. Prople talk about how funny this is – yeah, funny enough to make me fall asleep.
I really think Sekaiichi Hatsukoi could have been much better than Junjou Romantica, but in the end it turned into a huge disappointment. There was so much going wrong, it hurts me, because I know it could have been better.
I really don’t know what’s the problem with BL-Titles, all the animes I’ve seen so far were crap, but I’ve read more than enough mangas that were actually pretty good. Why don’t they make an anime out of those? Oh right, because the wrong titles get popular… somehow.
Well I’m the same way I don’t get it ether I guess some people like watching men that look the same get raped by older men. in my opinion that’s what u call a pedophile
actually..maybe most yaoi fans watch it for the sake of it being yaoi,i watched it mainly because of that..its kinda like eating bread when what you really wanted was rice,…you know not too much yaoi or shounen ai animes are going out..(depressing)….ang if you are starving…most probably any yaoi would seem “good”…i do agree that there are sooo much more great mangas out there…its just sad that they dont make it into anime…
I agree as well on some stuff in JR like adding the other characters it’s really felt like destroying the main one’s whether they were good or bad, i watched JR first didn’t read the manga and i guess it’s the reason i didn’t like SIH because it’s has a very similar idea talking about their goal well usagi tried as well to let misaki share his hiding feelings and by making love to him is when misaki give up and go with it so it’s not 100% rapping he just didn’t admit his love to him face to face.
second season of it were really much better than first because i could feel some story in it they weren’t that show up in the first season.
in the end I do like the sadness which usagi was feeling because of misaki continues rejections and that’s what was less in SiH after all i bet we all read a better BL mangas and it’s so bad they don’t make animes out of it
GOD! I think I’m the only one on this Planet who really dislike JR. it’s very overrated. I don’t I don’t know why many people loves it while the art is so so, the characters is FLAT, and storline is boring as a crap. I read it four years a go till vol 5, and then dropped it because of nothing interesting reading it. The why do people fallin for it? mmmm…
I’m definitely agree with you. Finally, it made me so happy to see someone thinking like me. By thw way, Iwant to add one thing to your ideas as well.
Misaki is a adolescent. And he hasn’t got any family. Usaki has a problematical past as well. So, this is so appropiate to cause a pathology as a psychology. Sexual and developmental pathology… But, yes, I cried for this anime… Because I just watched the rape and traumatic experiences!!!
(Sorry for my bad English. English is not my first language.)
I don’t mean to offend I mean I’m sure most of you are nice people in real life but seriously fuck you most people commenting on this have no proper arguments and have never even read the manga, I’m all for people expressing what they think but the mangaka has put so much effort into the manga and all of you are acting like total bitches about it, I am of course fairly biased because I happen to love this manga I found Usagi and Misaki’s relationship hilariously quirky and fell in love with this couple immediately, I finished the whole manga in two days, that’s seventy chapters so clearly not everyone finds it boring. To all of you who have commented on the artwork, I really would like to see you do better bitches, it’s so not fair to the artist to be horrible about her work on the internet, the big hands that’s something you can just laugh about if you see a demotivalional poster about it. The plot line did repeat itself for a little while but I loved the original so much I didn’t care and volume seventeen is absolutely fantastic Takahiro is actually extremely close to being told about Misaki and Usagi’s relationship and I desperately want to know what happens next. I don’t like Sekaiichi Hatsukoi as much but that’s just because I love Misaki and Usagi so much more than Onodera and Takano. Overall though I love the characters, pairings, side stories and artist and I was actually pretty much crying reading everyone’s comments, it just made me so sad as someone who loves Junjou Romantica and aspires to create manga I’m the yaoi genre themselves once they finish schoo. 😦 No flames please I’m just ecpressing my opinion.
*school
*expressing
Oh and I forgot the bloody SEX! OMG so fucking hot!
I agree. JR is not boring and as well, Mangaka-san’s art is nice. ahhh.. Read it first you know, you’ll know why a lot of people love JR.
Ugh! I hate those series so much! Those anime are the most overrated shows ever! And they’re praised by other fangirls for actually NO REASON. Because rape is so kawaii ❤ and hot. There are so many underrated yaoi (for example Lesson XX- it's such a cute anime), but nooo!! There exist only Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi! I'm sick of those anime! JR this, Jr that! Screw you JR (and SH)!!!
You all have no taste and at most very homophobic of course people who are not lgbt or like the opposite sex isn’t going to like it and hate on it, the show is not for you to back to watching shonen anime bitch. Not even going to check for replies just ignorant.
1. I’ve read over 450 different manga, have 15 years of history with manga and am fairy certain I know my taste and what I am looking for in a manga. I don’t need you to tell me I have no taste.
2.This is my blog and if you like a certain title I don’t find appealing, I will respect your decision and your taste as long as you talk to me in an appropriate manner. However, since this is my blog, I have every right to talk about my dislikes in any way that I want to. Junjou Romantica is extreamy popular and I don’t dislike anyone for being a fan of this particular manga, but it’s still beyond me why it’s so popular and this won’t change.
3. Remember 1. when I said I’ve read over 450 manga? That includes over 80 Yaoi/Shounen-Ai titles. I’ve read good ones and I’ve read bad ones. And I’ve come to a conclusion: most of these titles are pure fan fantasies to satisfy the hot dreamy imagination of pubescent teenagers. And I can live with that. What I can’t live with are stories where rape is the primary foundation of a romantic relationship. Rape is a very serious topic and absolutely nothing to joke about. Rape is abuse and abuse is nothing but utter disrespect for human rights- heterosexual and homosexual alike. Rape leaves deep scars and victims traumatized for a lifetime. You don’t base a cuddly cute and hot romantic relationship on rape, that’s disrespectful towards the countless victims of such brutality. Of course you can write a shounen-ai/yaoi manga about rape, but it’s always how you do it and Junjou Romantica does not do it right.
I highly suggest you to read “REAL” by Takehiko Inoue. It’s a story about disabled people in wheelchairs and it handles the situation amazingly well. It won several awards and has great support from the disabled community, because of how well Inoue handles the subject. It’s a great example how you treat such a complicated and very emotional subject and one of the reason why it’s my personal favorite manga.
4. I hardly ever answer comments in general. People on the internet tend to drift into very… “passionate” arguments and are very creative when it comes to insults.
Well, I will say this; you are, indeed, stupid as hell.
As I read all the comments, I was sad. Really. I am a big fan of both JR and SIH so that’s why. Fairly, we have all our opinions and I respect whatever your stand about it. But still, we, fans are not ONLY after the “rape thing” nor how cute the latter is. We do read and understand the plot/storyline. I’m just expressing my thoughts as well. Thank you.
To each its own I suppose. I happened to enjoy JR, but I will openly admit there were a few flaws just as many manga/anime before and after Junjou Romantica. In fact, most of the flaws I found in JR were actually mentioned in this post. Lately, I have noticed Shungiku Nakamura’s art style and plot development changing for the better which is a definite plus in my book. There was a time when I found the plot line to be a tad bit repetitive but now she is introducing us to a newer and fresher feel. XD Enough of me rambling, I just wanted to say that everyone has their own tastes. I happen to love JR but I wouldn’t be angered by anyone who did not share the similar interest as I do.
Hmm.. sorry for being late. I am also a fan of JR, but i haven’t watched SH (which is why am i here cause i want to know about it) i’m on my way to season 3 by the way (no one cares..hehe..*cries*). Actually, that anime isn’t bad (“for me”) but i guess you’re right at some points. There was a point that I felt like this was just a fan service, more like a drink for thirsty yaoi fans out there.. you know like the rape scene is just for the visual stuff to blind the fans from its poor plot (only for usagi and misaki’s plot.. i love them but this is how i see it, it’s also wrong in some ways)- but i still the like series. For me, the only thing that the author must have done is to make the side stories stand on its own, cause i kinda’ feel the opposite, instead of being disappointed because of the cut of the flow on the main story, i tend to to feel that on the side stories, like the side stories had so much better and realistic storyline but i prefer for it to be a 5 episode drama (unless they prolong it before the confession which is the exact opposite in BL cause it’s super direct [except for Hey, Class President tho].) So yeah, i kinda’ understand how you feel, but i’m still a fan of the series, it was great to find this blog, it tickled the alter of my alter ego though~ haha
I really don’t understand how a anime like that is in the 1st place of the most shounen-ai/yaoi ranking lists.
For real- why always rape!? And then such a great anime like No. 6 is beeing completly ignored! Well between the anime with rape, 2 types of clones with only different hairstyles and that terrible uke & mike cliché and the anime with a sweet healthy relationship and a actually really interesting story- what do the people choose? Oh sorry stupid question, of course the rape ❤
Seriously why -_-
”You don’t put rape in manga in a romantic setting because it’s disrespectful to the victims”
Lol this mentality it’s hilarious honestily,yeah plenty of rape and mindbreak manga out there when they cum in the face of guy after having cornered him and beat his has,but holy shit a girl wants to read\make a manga about two dudes being in love with also forced sex?
GOOD LORD! How immoral!
Yeah no,fiction can have whatever the author wishes it has,whatever it is.
Sure you can not like it,but the fans and the author are free to consume and to create it.
What are you doing here is not criticism,you are basically going into something that plenty of women enjoy and saying ”stop enjoying it”
It’s like if you went into bdsm and complained about the women wanting to be strangled during sex,is she romanticized people who have been strangled in real life? how disrespecteful.
”OF course you can make a manga about rape! but it depends on how you do it!”
Yes and I want to do a manga with both romance and rape in it,I want to have forced sex with the characters falling in love. That’s the point here,a lot of women enjoy the idea of forced sex,but also enjoy the idea of characters falling in love and having feelings for eachother.
Like it’s the whole point here,but of course ((some)) people have to put themselfs on the moral high horse because that’s a thing everytime in communities dominated by women.
Do you see any guys complaining about rape in hentai? Hmm I wonder why.
Haaaa… I am very late here. >.<
I agree with you completely. The music of JR was good – seriously, I love that violin song – but the story was just… forced. It was a kind-of "they're together because I said so" kind of relationship. It wouldn't work in the real world.