[...] in this series, I can’t recommend it, even though I continue to read it. You can read my previous reviews to see why. [...]

i wish they have the video now that would be sick!!!

[...] news! At the NY Con today, according to MangaBlog, Yen Press (publishers of With the Light, Sundome, and the monthly anthology Yen+, among others) announced that they would be publishing [...]

[...] own dysfunctional relationship with this series continues. I’ve previously reviewed volumes one and two. Volume three represents the series’ pinnacle of nudity and sexual content, although [...]

BTW i read chinese ^^

i highly recommended this manga.. The plot is very very very intresting..

i still feel sad now.. Need volume 5 to get better now ^^

someone above is right.. it really needs take sometime to forget it. So long i haven’t got this sad feeling. About ten years ago i did cried at Final Fantasy 7 abt Aeris.. i think japan stil the best at anime and comic.

btw, u guys should check out Sundome real action movie.. i watched until 2.. start getting better at 2. Plot starting to change at 2.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

I agree with you, though. I really would like to know what’s going on in Sahana’s mind, but that’s part of the mystery that makes to story so alluring. I’m still not even sure if she’s seriously ill or just animic, let alone who those shoes belong too! (Won’t say much else so I don’t spoil it)

As far as the age limits… I bought number one when I was sixteen and at Borders no one cared. I’ve bought tons of books with the warning sticker on them. I’m actually amazed you couldn’t.

It’s definatly a perverse book, more so then simple ‘hentai’, but with enought plot and emotion that kept me hooked through the whole thing. And so much so that I forced my best friend to read it!

Her reaction was the same as mine. She called me when she was only half-way in, and said it was SO yucky. So I told her “No, no wait. Read the LAST chapter, then tell me what you think.”

She came to school the next day, handed it back to me, and asked me when the next one came out. XD It was great.

In response to the actual book, I’ve read the first volume and have no clue why one would find the extremeties of Sahana’s demands and Hideo’s tortures so repulsive and distasteful. Personally, I found the whole thing infinitely hilarious (not laugh out loud like, but many a smile). Of course Sahana seems quite cruel at times, but she is giving Hideo some experiences I’ve never had, but wish I could have. I mean, if I loved a girl as much as he does, hell yeah I’d have my arm broken, if that’s what it took to…
The only thing I’m kind of concerned about is Hideo being let down in the end. If that ends up happening I’ll be extremely upset. That would make the author quite malevolent in my eyes. A little disappointment here and there, paired with a lot of sexual teasing is what makes this series entertaining.

I really enjoyed the first two volumes of this, and I’m hoping to find the next few volumes sometime this millennium.

Anyway, I wish I could buy this book, but the rating means I need a parent to get it for me, and the covers aren’t exactly… Y’know. Anyway, I have yet to read the second one, but I predicted most of what was left in the review.

Mind you, I have no qualms in knowing what happens in a book before I read it. It’s different hearing it from someone else and actually reading it, so I don’t mind previewing it. Anyway, it was really annoying remembering the title because you don’t see it plastered on the shelves.

I do agree with Teirasias in that there will be a slow and gradual move to a likable ending. I also feel the ending will be “happy”, or at least the horror Kurumi has planned will make us feel the ending is “happy”, like putting your hands in freezing water and slowly raising the temperature, just fast enough so we can tell until it’s a few ten degrees higher, but still really cold. It feels warmer, so we’re happier with it.

Taken at face value, Sundome seems a rather prurient take on the inequalities of power within relationships.

But as I read further, I began to change my opinion. Hideo seems almost a stereotpye of the so-called “shut-in:” He cannot function in society: Hides in corners and/or clubrooms, doesn’t participate in or with his class, can’t swim, can’t or won’t fight for himself, won’t talk to girls, etc.

While Sahana clearly manipulates him, she also appears to be slowly liberating him from his hikikomori, or isolation in its broadest meaning.

From my perspective, Hideo grows significantly from start to finish. I like him better as a character at the end than I did at the beginning.

There are those who will argue that Sahana endangered him in the process, and thus plays an extremely negative role. I can’t argue with this. It’s definitely a strange dynamic, but not necessarily baleful.

I can’t help but feel the opposite. But maybe that’s because, like Hideo, I’m blinded by my attraction to the rather enigmatic, yet charismatic, character of Sahana.

Seriously, I think the manga is a tier higher than most others in terms of addicting and character designing.

As for the ending thing… I dont expect the mangaka to make it a sad ending, judging from he’s previous work (in fact I hv only read 1, thats “Not in the text books!”)

I have to wait till April for the next one, and even longer for book three. Book three, being the one I desire most, it looks like it has a twist, but I can’t read Japanese so I can’t comment.

I wait anxiously for the next title, this has me quite hooked.

On a side note, I just finished another of your translations (Manga Sutra).