Imadoki volume 1
 | | |
(quoted from the back of Imadoki volume 1)
For Tanpopo Yamazaki, life at elite Meio Academy seems way out of her league. The daughters of wealthy families snub her, other students make light of the fact that she actually tested into Meio instead of relying on family connections, and the cute boy she saw tending to a dandelion the day before won't acknowledge her existence. Hoping to make friends and have some fun, Tanpopo starts up a gardening committee, but will this help her survive in a school where superficiality and nepotism reign supreme?
|
Imadoki volume 1 contains:
Imadoki volume 1
Storyline:
While Imadoki may start off sounding like an original story because of Tanpopo's gardening committee don't let it fool you. It is basically the following: girl meets a boy, that boy then realizes that the girl is cute, and finally they both realize that they are in love. Imadoki follows the tried and true method of shoujo mangas everywhere and gives a shoujo fanatic another nice story to add to their collection. Simply put, Tanpopo has the typical shoujo girl's attitude by being the person that never gives up no matter how bad she's treated. While this is all fine and dandy in the world of shoujo, this doesn't make the series very original and is hard to recommend to anyone other then shoujo fanatics because of one fact: it's all been done before.
Artwork:
Yu Watase is known for her excellent art and this series is no exception. The characters are all original, their expressions are accurate, and Imadoki has that shoujo charm added into each page which really helps win over the reader. Simply by opening this manga it is obvious by what type of genre it is, and the average reader could probably easily tell what is going on simply by looking at the pictures. The artwork is definitely the first volume's greatest strength.
Characters:
The characters from Imadoki all seem to lack depth in this volume. While reading this volume every person seemed like the stereotypical shoujo character. As the main character, Tanpopo was missing some important characteristics which make a series great. For one, the girl has only one mind set and that is to never give up. Surely characters are supposed to have more to them then this but that was all I could get out of this volume. While this is a good theme there has to be more to a series or it just gets old real fast. The other characters also suffer from similar problems, but thankfully in later volumes they start to get more depth and the story really starts to blossom.
Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers):
Imadoki volume 1 starts off with Tanpopo accidentally running into a mysterious young man gardening in front of her new school. After a bit of shoujo moments Tanpopo leaves and the next day she sets off to make some new friends at school. Tanpopo immediately becomes and outcast at her school, and even when she spots the boy from yesterday, Koki Kuygo, he ignores her and acts like a completely different guy. She quickly finds out that Koki is the richest guy in school and that no matter what she says he won't pay attention to her. At the end of the day she calls him a jerk and declares that he will be her friend no matter what.
As the volume progresses Tanpopo's bullying becomes worse but she always manages to keep her positive attitude, and after days of pestering Koki she finds out that he does remember her, he was just pretending so that he could get rid of her. Later on, Tanpopo comes up with the idea to create a gardening committee and Koki quickly silences all opposition. This is where Tsukiko Saionji is introduced. Tsukiko quickly volunteers to join the gardening committee, as well, and she seems like a nice enough girl at first. She offers to help Tanpopo plant real flowers all around the school.
One night, a huge thunderstorm breaks loose and Tanpopo goes back to the school to try and save the flowers. Luckily, Koki runs into Tanpopo and saves her butt from the ice cold rain. Koki is in shock on how far Tanpopo went to prove herself to him and he develops a slight crush on her. The scene quickly switches back over to the school and Tsukiko destroys the flowers that Tanpopo worked so hard to protect.
In the next part of Imadoki, Tsukiko does more things behind the scenes that hints on her sinister plans directed towards Tanpopo. After some more cute moments between Tanpopo and Koki the school quickly finds out that Tanpopo had planted real plants on the school (there was a rule against it) they set out to destroy the plants. Koki quickly comes to the rescue and after the mischief the mastermind behind the destruction turns out to be Tsukiko (GASP!).
After another truly touching moment, Tanpopo finds out that Tsukiko likes Koki and after trying to set things straight with Koki they find out that Tsukiko only loves Koki for his assets. At the end of Imadoki volume 1, it switches scenes to one of Tanpopo's classmates murmuring some stuff and then saying "delete."
Extras:
Ha, ha, ha, ha! Wait!!! That wasn't a joke? Oops, well there is only one extra in this volume and that is the basic author commentary included between sections. Other then that, don't expect anything except advertisements and a definition of a shojo manga from viz.
Content Warnings:
-Language: No
-Violence: No
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: No
Overall:
While not a bad volume it wasn't great either. What really hurt this volume of Imadoki were the pretty predictable shoujo characters and the unoriginal storyline. Although, if you are looking for another shoujo manga to add to your collection, Imadoki will definitely deliver.
+ Great artwork and manages to set the stage for future volumes.
- This series is currently missing a few key elements that brings a shoujo story to life. Also, Imadoki will only please shoujo fans so others might want to stay away.
Score: 6.5/10
