Honey Hunt, Vol. 1

Having read the "Hot Gimmick!" graphic novel by Miki Aihara, suffice to say, I've immediately become a fan of her work. As a fan of Japanese dramas, I tend to enjoy dramatic storylines that revolve around young adult or adult couples. A story that doesn't always have to incorporate a supernatural or magical element, but a story that is real and dramatic. Aihara does a magnificent job with that and her latest manga series available in America is "Honey Hunt". Yura is the daughter of popular and beautiful actress Yukari Shiraki (think of her popularity like a Julia Roberts or a Kate Winslett) and popular musician Takayuki Onozuka, the first Japanese to win an Academy Award. Yura is quite normal and despite being the daughter of a popular actress and musician, she does not hone their entertainment skills and there is a lot of pressure and expectation from her teachers and students at school because of her talented parents. While her father is staying in New York and her mother is always working, Yura confides to her friend/tutor Shin. Her best friend and a guy she thinks she's attracted to. One time, while both were watching an interview on television with Yura's mother Yukari, she sees how talented of an actress she is because she is able to lie about being a great mother despite having a busy schedule as an actress. Her mother walks in while Yura and Shin are watching television and immediately we get to see how Yukari is when the cameras are not on her. Yukari tells her daughter that her father was caught with another woman and that their agreement was to keep their affairs with other people down low and hidden. Yura is just shocked because she never knew her parents had such an arrangement. She tells Yura that she and her father will divorce and that she is selling their home and that she is old enough to make her own decisions and do what she wants. For now, her father's manager Keiichi Mizorogi will hide her from paparazzi and have her staying at another location until the news of the divorce dies down. While at her new place, Yura feels a bit isolated and all she wants to do is be with Shin but also wants to see if her mother changed her mind about the divorce. So, Yura sneaks out and goes back home and what she sees is absolutely shocking. Her friend Shin and her mother Yukari making out. Her mother tells her that they have been seeing each other for quite awhile and that she can't help that Shin likes her better than her. Shin says that he considered Yura like a younger sister. Her mother then tells Yura that she can still stay at her place if she'd like and that she can't move in with her father because the woman he is having an affair with is pregnant. You see how Yukari is behind the cameras, she's a cold mother. With paparazzi around their home, Yukari declares in front of all of them that she hates all of them and wishes her parents would both go to Hell! While the paparazzi try to get more out of her, her fath

The story centres around Yura, a high school girl with famous parents, who has lived her life trying to avoid attention. Volume one basically starts with problems between her parents leading to her deciding to try and enter the entertainment industry. I picked this up as a fan of Hot Gimmick and haven't been disappointed so far. The artwork is pretty and the characters are interesting and seem to be well developed. The tone can be serious but is pretty light hearted too, which makes this a fun read overall. As far as shojo series go, Miki Aihara's work is definitely among my favourites and so far, Honey Hunt seems like a solid read. This series already has me hooked- I definitely recommend it!

When I first heard that "Honey Hunt" was going to be serialized in "Shojo Beat," I was a little worried. I loved "Hot Gimmick," Aihara's previous work, but was bothered by the passive heroine and selfish love interest. Fortunately, the characters in "Honey Hunt" are much better than those of that series. They're balanced instead of stereotypical. Yura is kind of shy and doesn't have much confidence in herself, but she's not down on herself, and she doesn't mind standing up for herself once in a while. She reacts to her situation in a realistic way. The story is hard to judge at this point. There's not a whole lot going on in the first volume, but it's only the beginning. Yura finds out that her parents are getting divorced AND that her mother has been having an affair with her (Yura's) crush. Feeling rejected by her selfish mother and her absent father, she decides to get revenge by becoming famous herself. This sounds a little like another "Shojo Beat" manga, "Skip Beat" (which I highly recommend), but the tones are different. "Skip Beat" focuses more on the acting aspect of the story, while "Honey Hunt" focuses more on romance. There is some drama, but it's not over the top like in "Hot Gimmick." I thought Yura's situation with her parents was realistic enough, and the problems she encounters in her path to stardom all help to show and develop her personality. The romance is sweet, and, although I have a favorite, I like all of the love interests. Like Yura, they're balanced. Q-ta, a musician, is cheerful and laid back, but he's a little clueless. It's hard to tell whether he's really interested in Yura or just trying to get close to her father (and his idol). Haruka, Q-Ta's twin and the lead singer for a boy band, is a little rude, but not mean-spirited. He's a little unnerved by his interest in Yura. Haruka and Q-Ta don't get along so well, but they don't hate each other. They can have a conversation without being at each others' throats. Finally there's Keiichi, Yura's manager. He seems to be all about business, but he might be keeping his true feelings hidden... The most recent chapter serialized at this point is chapter 10, and I'm still not sure who Yura's going to end up with. So far, I'm enjoying "Honey Hunt." I really appreciate the balance in the characters and story. Shojo characters tend to go to one extreme or another- really strong or really weak, really sweet or really mean- so the realism here is refreshing. The lack of extremes doesn't make the characters any less distinctive, either. The plot's a little under-developed in this volume, but the story is still being set up. It's not too slow or too fast. "Honey Hunt" is off to a good start and has the potential to become a great manga. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

This is a really fun new manga. About a girl named Yura who grew up in a famous family and her struggles to make a life and a name for herself. If youre into manga's like Honey and Clover, Sand Chronicles, Sensual Phrase, Nana, then you will def like this one.