In the Clear Moonlit Dusk - Reviews

To the date I can say that knowing Yamamori sensei and the potencial of the premise this can be an excellent romance shojo. Of you enjoy love story who starts with a curious beginning and want to enjoy a terrific art dare you to start this manga. It's just 13 chapters until know so is easy to catch it in the current date I can say that knowing Yamamori sensei and the potencial of the premise this can be an excellent romance shojo. Of you enjoy love story who starts with a curious beginning and want to enjoy a terrific art I encourage you to start this manga. It's just 13 chapters until now so is easy and quickly to read

The artist of this series is one of my personal favorites! I've read all of their other works and so when I caught wind of this series, I was so excited to read it. Unfortunately, I think I've tried to read this series like 10 different times by now but for the life of me I just cannot get into it.

I don't mind romances developing fast but this manga's romance develops too fast AND there is no chemistry between either of the main leads. It really just feels like Fan-Service The Manga (tm) with how touchy-feely the male lead is and with all his cringe male manipulator one liners. He'll pick her up bridal style randomly, or pull her closer by her tie, or say "...you're really stirring up my desires," and it's so obvious the mangaka is writing this to make the reader squeal (like oh my gosh this is so cute!!) but it just DOESN'T WORK because they have absolutely NO chemistry. I know the female lead is supposed to react awkwardly to everything he does as it's her personality and she hasn't been "courted" by a man before, but the way the mangaka wrote it just makes it seem like she just isn't really into him at all, even with all her blushing. 

Another reviewer on here said that other mangas have done everything better and they are absolutely right.

You want a female lead who is more "princely" or even dressed as a man? Otonari Complex, Ouran, Hana Kimi, Mizutama Honey Boy, Takane no Hana Nara Ochitekoi, etc., etc. 

You want a popular male character falling for a girl who has never had a boyfriend? Skip to Loafer, Pochamani, Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai, Sakuraba-san wa Tomaranai, Kameba Kamu Hodo Amaku Naru, etc., etc... 

And if you haven't read this mangaka's other works and reeeeeeally like their artstyle, just real Tsubaki Chou Lonely Planet or Hirunaka no Ryuusei. 

Simple + refreshing read.

The art is rly pretty, interactions between the MCs are adorbs and the way the ML is dense when it comes to his feelings for the FL is funny. Their chemistry is very "blunt ML meets awkward FL" minus the cringe aspects of that trope.

Yamamori mika a little bit disappoints me, their tropes and plots are similar time to time.

Story

People keep saying this manga is so "refreshing," and I don't understand what exactly would qualify it as that. If anything, it's tired - high school romance, unconfident girl x popular "bad" boy sound new to anyone? Perhaps the "freshness" is in her androgynous appearance, in which case I would have to point out that shoujo has a long history of such - check out Ouran, Hana-Kimi, Basara, or perhaps the root of it all with The Rose of Versailles. In any case, the mangaka has her find happiness in conforming to femininity, so not only does it not do anything interesting with that particular trope, but it actively ruins it. The actual romance part of the story is tired, lackluster, and dull, lacking any tension or even intrigue to keep a reader interested.

Art

The art is beautiful. Character desings are fantastic. The paneling is rather stiff but loosens a bit with time.

Characters

The characters are the weakest point to me. The main character's major internal issue is that she's tomboyish – and seeing her struggle so much with that just feels silly. Gender dysphoria is no joke, but her issue seems so superficial that I can't figure out why she doesn't just grow out her hair and fix all her problems, free and effortlessly as far as hair growing goes. (At one point she resents her "masculine face" that she "got from her parents." That line made me absolutely crack up. Where else is one meant to get a face if not from their parents....) The girl prince character, I realized when this manga got it so wrong, is only great when she couldn't care less about gender. Despite her lackluster characterization, she's one of the better-developed characters - non-major characters get next to nothing, while her love interest is just boring. Kind-and-popular-boy-who-just-looks-like-a-badboy-but-secretly-isn't is old by now, and he has quite literally nothing else going on in terms of personality.

Overall

Dropped after volume 3. Not for me, due to the lack of any tension or characters hooking me or even a plot.