Hatsukoi Limited - manga

Hatsukoi Limited is a slice of life romantic comedy by Mizuki Kawashita of Ichigo 100% fame.  This 31 issue manga was published between 2007 and 2008 by Shueisha.

    This manga is a series of stories about a small group of middle and high school kids and their first experiences with love and relationships.  The stories intertwine with each progressive issue as all of the characters know each other in some way or another.  They all have to overcome their unease and the embarrassment with their feelings and fears of being rejected.  They also have to overcome other parties participation in their love affairs.

    There really is no central plot line with this series so it's a bit hard to do my typical style of review, so the majority of it will be my reaction and critique.  First off, there are some funny moments in this series, nothing off the wall, just the character reactions.  There is too much fan service in this series for my tastes, especially considering most of the girls are supposed to be 14 years old.  Yet I don't think any Japanese 14 year old ends up looking like half of the characters, let alone many American 14 year old girls.  But whatever, that's manga for you.  Panty shots and provocative poses aside this was a moderate series.  The best part about it was the way it was presented; as a series of stories that end up being intertwined.  If this was a straight forward romance that focuses on one or two main characters and a revolving cast of supporting characters it would be pretty sub par.  But the fact that each issue usually brought the viewpoint and story of a different character made it fun to read and interesting.  The art is ok, I've seen worse and seen better.  Over all the feel isn't bad though.  Innocence and childhood fun.  Nothing too over the top, nothing dark; not even the terrorist plot arc was dark.  This is an OK and average story.  The only thing unusual it brings to the table is the way the story is told.  Otherwise it's just worn out and familiar territory in the endless landscape of school age romance titles.  It's a quick read for anyone looking for something new and not wanting to invest in a really long series, like so many end up being.  After reading it I found they made an anime, so I will have to track that down.  It seems this series is better suited in an anime format than manga anyway.  You can use the motion in the anime to add to the humor the series tried to produce.

    This manga has not been licensed in North America...not sure if it ever will be, I highly doubt it.  Authorities in the US have issues with drawings of 14 year olds' panties.