Tsuki no Shippo - tale of classic romance

Tsuki no Shippo (Tail of the Moon) is set in historical Japan, specifically during the warring states time with all that Nobunaga stuff. Usagi, the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village was, how best to say it, weak and his grandfather who has lost all hope for her sent her off to marry the leader, Hattori Hanzo, of the main branch family and bear his children but what happens when the person himself declared no such interest to do such thing with her? Is there not any hope for our Usagi who has already fallen head over heels in love at first sight with him?
This series was very much fun to read at first but what drew me in was what happened with the couple when they were faced with a lot of challenges during a time where war was just something that might happen at any point in time. I loved reading this manga so much because the story is rich and the way it was presented was great! The emotions of the main character where she tries to win Hanzo's heart was nicely done. Usagi's journey and her transition from a delicate girl to a strong woman was one of the greatest feats that this manga overcame when such a thing is a bit hard to present without overdoing it. Hanzo's character was also amazing I had to say! The art is just lovely! If I had to rate this manga, I would have to say 9/10!!!! This manga would be something I recommend to people who loved reading Basara, Anatolia Story, and Tokyo Crazy Paradise. Have fun reading!

Mixed Vegetables - mixed feelings

Mixed Vegetables starts off with the female protagonist, Hanayu, who is the daughter of a pastry shop wants to become the wife of her classmate Hayato whose family owns a sushi restaurant. Simple? Yeah, it is but when the two become entangled with each other and became "lovers", Hanayu actually finds out that Hayato wanted to become a pastry chef. What happens when their goals get mixed up with their feelings for each other? Does one need to give up one or the other? If that's so, then who would end up having to give up something?

Mixed Vegetables was something I picked up long ago but I wasn't able to complete it and now I just did so I am making this review. Mixed Vegetables got me into reading it since the art is amazing! The characters are well drawn and after reading a couple of chapters, I wanted to read more but scanlations got too slow to update and I caught up so I eventually dropped it at some point. I read it again from the start till the end and as the story progresses, I think it was dragged quite a bit and sometimes I don't feel any empathy with the characters any more. I did not feel much emotion especially romance. It got to the point of just reading for the sake of finishing what I started and thinking that just a few volumes more would make me finish the whole thing. Well, there you go. I finished it and it was a good read but not something I would recommend. I couldn't compare it to much-loved series where emotions were overflowing and makes you think of those times when you think of putting yourself into the main character's own shoes and see what you would do. Nah, I did not feel anything much in the series. Other than the art, everything else is not so good.