Yue Takasuka

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Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

As I’ve gotten back into the habit of reading manga again, I’ve been rereading some old favorites. Rereading is always an interesting endeavor, because you never really know how things will hold up to your memories. Or at least, I don’t, what with my memory not being the most reliable thing ever. Good Morning Call was one of my favorites back in my initial manga reading. While I definitely still enjoy it, I can definitely admit it’s not one of the best shojo manga out there.

The premise of Good Morning Call is that two teens Uehara and Nao, due to family circumstances, need to get apartments by themselves. They manage to find a great deal, only it turns out they rented the same apartment. Either one of them has to move out or they have to share the two bedroom apartment. They agree to split the place and the rent, because neither can afford to find another place.

As one would expect from a shojo manga, the two fall in love over the course of the manga. That’s predictable. However, the way the romance evolves is rather different from the typical plot line. It’s a very non-sappy romance, without any traditional confessing or romantic dates. They sort of skip all of that and naturally evolve into a couple. The romance will be unsatisfying to a lot of shojo readers, I think, because there’s not much kissing and none of the stereotypical swoony moments.

The biggest issue with Good Morning Call is that there’s just not a whole lot going on. It’s mostly about the romantic foibles of this group of friends, which is consistently entertaining, but falls short of really being a plot. Plus, nothing is really resolved in any way by the end of the series. I do think the ending is cute, but I totally get why a lot of the people on the site where I read this were not impressed with the series. I’m still charmed by the quirky cast, but I’m not as in love with the series as I once was.

Currently, the followup manga Good Morning Kiss isn’t completely scanlated, and it had better be, because I need more, even if this series isn’t perfect.… (plus d'informations)