This manga's pretty cute. It's about this high school boy who has to take care of his 5 year old cousin, who was temporarily abandoned by her mother. Kippei starts out as a playboy of sorts with no responsibilities and when forced to be the replacement mother for this little girl, he slowly grows to be more responsible. It's more of a comedy than a drama, but there are a few emotional moments. Chances are you'll end up smiling a few times throughout the series.
Kippei's relationship with his girlfriend was also refreshing. She wasn't the typical dumb, clumsy girlfriend. Instead she was calm and collected and not freaking out about stuff. Women in general had more of a powerful voice in this manga, which is rare in manga in general, so to be appreciated when found I guess.
Overall, cute.
This was an awesome manga. True it's 21 volumes or some such amount, but it never gets boring and when it ends you get that bitter sweet feeling where you really want it to continue, but are happy that it ended happily. The relationships were well done, and quite honestly, never in my life have I expected to read, and enjoy, a romance story about long jump... but there it is I guess. For me it's one of those that gets better every time you read it (because yes I've read it more than once). Its really sweet, I recommend.
This manga sickened me. Don't get me wrong, I read the whole thing and thought it had the potential to be kind of romantic, but it ended up being a story about unhealthy obsession and relationship abuse. I understand that love is a passionate affair of swirling emotions and non-nonsensical actions and what not, but there is a fine line between a healthy relationship and an unhealthy relationship, and HG is an example of the latter. Hatsumi was treated with no respect by Ryoki and was referred to, and considered a slave (which has the potential to be interesting, but was just exploitation in this instance), a dog, and a piece of luggage. She was also admittedly afraid of Ryoki throughout the entire story and because of his insistence, began believing that she was stupid and worthless. This is not love. And I understand that Ryoki's childhood was in some way deficient and may be the cause of his actions and thoughts, but its not OK just to accept that as an excuse for his behaviour. One of the cool things about stories is watching the characters develop into new people by learning some life lesson. Hatsumi did not grow, and neither did Ryoki. This was an example of an emotionally abusive (and sometimes physically abusive) relationship that was applauded by friends and family. They show movies in high school warning kids about this kind of thing because it is wrong and all people, no matter their gender, should be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve as a human being. I shudder to think that this is socially acceptable and hope that no young girl gets a hold of it.
