I like the insight into life and work as an aspiring mangaka. Love is at the heart of this story in the unlikely friendship between Takagi and Moritaka, and the desire to live out a difficult dream and to be with a beautiful girl. My favorite part of this volume was how much Moritaka admired his uncle, and his family's response to his dream.

surprisingly they were very receptive.

Y'know, I knew the anime-animation industry was predatory with terrible wages and poor work-life balance, but I had no idea mangakas with hit series could be scrounging for money. Could you imagine if the creator of DBZ or Sailor Moon was broke??? Are they? Don't answer.

While I think this premise could be interesting, one character, in particular, is so overly bland. Azuki feels like this dangling carrot or prize for Moritaka to achieve. She's again bland, but maybe the manga might surprise me and develop her further. Hopefully...

In the same vein, there's this tangible, sexist tone that hits you full-blown. Azuki is "smart" because she knows better than to aspire to be anything more than someone's wife. Nothing's wrong with being a wife or a kept woman and finding someone who loves you, but the way it's phrased feels so condescending. It's like someone telling you to go to bed vs. you making the decision.

Somehow, I don't think the manga was trying to lampshade Takagi's ignorance either or point out the irony. Also, why do y'all hate ambitious women? There's a character (who might stuck up) who many guys in school don't like because she's smart, beautiful, and rich. But none of the guys in school like her because she's <i>too much.</i> I don't know, y'all might be <b>too little</b>.

Anyway, might read volume two later, but it's not high on my priority list. As an artist and someone who desires to create her own graphic novel or long-form comic, I always enjoy seeing others' creative processes.

 Light-hearted, episodic comic strips about a (usually) stone-faced man and an adorable cat. These comics are just wholesome and make me smile. Good for any age or non-catlovers too! 

Again, the death of this series is its pacing and scene transitions. It opens with the new character introduced last volume. Fine. Freya and the gang are on the same ship as him. Also, fine. Freya’s not dressed as the prince. Well, okay. But suddenly they’re escorting a ship of enslaved children??? Where did this come from? The last volume they were on a trip to find some jewels. Then, it went a whole another direction with the queen who handpicked handsome men. What happened to the kids? They just threw that plot away.

With how slapstick and lighthearted the story can be, the gruesome violent or sexual moments can be jarring. Why were there the makings of a threesome in a shoujo manga??? That was majorly uncomfortable. ._.

I wanted to see Aleksi finally confess his feelings, but I think I'm done. 

 This volume is a turnaround. It was fun and engaging, and Aleksi makes a bold move until he takes it back in usual shoujo fashion. It’s only volume 4, y’know. Pacing is still fast and Julius is still inappropriate, but I’m curious to see where the story is going now that the gang has to go on a journey.

We also meet the Prince’s father, who has regressed to the mentality of a child, who knows more than he lets on. I thought their interaction was very heartwarming.

Also, the artwork has improved and become exceedingly beautiful. 

 EVERYBODY GETTING POSIONED!

*ahem* Anyway, I enjoy how this series doesn’t shy away from the realities of being a courtesan/working in a brothel/sex work. Also, I find it adorable and hilarious how fond Jinshi has gotten of Maomao. She’s truly a charming, clever character. 

 Some of Marvel’s smartest, young minds in a group called W.E.B. Should be fun right? Except everyone excluding Peter Parker was pretentious or insufferable in their introduction. You can be smart and likable, y’know. No chemistry between the group members and the dialogue was crusty. Boring.