Junpai Manaka is a slacker 3rd year middle school student who dreams of making movies. One day while on the schools roof a mysterious girl falls in front of him, displaying her strawberry patterened panties. Immediately he desires to film this heavenly vision. The girl runs off in embarasment before he can find out who she is. A notebook is left behind belonging to a girl named Aya Toujou who happens to be in the same class as him. He thinks that Aya is this heavenly beauty but he doesnt recall anyone in his class that looked like the girl on the roof. The next day he discovers that Aya is a quiet and unasuming book worm that does not look like his rooftop angel. Aya wears her hair in pigtails, has glasses and is shy and introverted. Yet the notebook is definitely hers. When he tells to her about finding it she asks him not to read it, he says he didn't but that he forgot it at his house. That night his curiosity gets the better of him, thinking that he will find clues to the girl with the strawberry panties he reads the notebook. The next day he confesses to Aya that he read what she had in it and wants to read more. Aya has dreams of being an author and she filled the notebook with a story she is creating. Junpei confesses his lifes ambition too and tells her that he wants to make movies with her when they are older. Convinced that Aya is not the girl he is looking for though he continues his search. He brings up his search to his two friends who convince him it is probably the schools top beauty, Tsukasa Nishima. Even though her hair is different Junpei is convinced Tsukasa is her. He musters up his courage and confesses to her...to his and everyones surprise she agrees to date him. Junpai has the girl of his dreams, or so he thinks; he does have the most popular girl in school though. He becomes friends with Aya too as they share a dream of writing and making movies now. When Aya changes her appearance one day, Junpei realizes that it really was her on top of the school that faitful day. As high school approaches he needs to decide who he has stronger feelings for and once in high school his situation becomes more complex as he and Aya build a film research club from the ground up and Tsukasa enrolls in a different school.
It was really painful reading this manga. The entire plot device of the series is bassed around strawberry patterened panties. There are more panties in this manga than in Victorias Secret. This is classic ecchi harem manga...but there are parts of the story that are really good. I pushed through it because everyone said the ending was good. I kept expecting it to change and become a really well done series that wouldn't make me want to puke. It really didn't change. The writting is top notch for harem titles, but its still an annoying manga. The typical bullshit plot devices, character interactions and rampant fan service. Junpei's character is an indecisive shit head. There were countless times where I had to resist the urge to punch his image. Misunderstanding abounds between all of the characters to build unneeded tension. This story really could have lost a good portion of its plot and been better. The entire thing covers about 4 years of the characters lives. The ONLY saving grace in my mind is that Junpei chooses the girl I was hoping he would choose from pretty much the very beginning. If he didnt I would have probably started flaming this damn series all over the interwebs. There was a real gem in this whole thing though. At the end of the series there is a really well done omake dealing with a side character and falling in love in her first year of college. It was very well done and such a nice change of pace compared to the rampant panties, clothing articles flying off and other bullshit. Yet the omake wouldn't have resonated as deeply without reading the manga. The story in the omake is more like a condensed mirrored version of Junpei's possible relationship with one of the main girls. So in a way it is also a bit of a tease as to what kind of love may have developed with Junpei instead...just with two different characters.
In conclusion...I didn't like this manga. Some of the writting was good, too much of it was bad. The fanservice was rampant and annoying. It ended the way I wanted it to but honestly it wasn't worth my time. There was a 13 episode anime adaptation I have heard was pretty bad so I won't even bother watching it. The manga and the anme have been available in North America for quite some time. If you love harem romances you will have already read this manga.
Gotta love the Loose Socks!!
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