Warning: Recommended Readers: 16+ 2nd and 3rd base scenes ( I hope you know what it means)
Synonyms: Double Prince, Moe Boyfriend, Moe Boys
Type: Manga
Volumes: 7
Chapters: 35
Status: Finished
Published: Jul 2005 to Sep 2006
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Authors: Ikeyamada, Go (Story & Art)
Serialization: Shoujo Comic
Moe Kare!! is a Shoujo, Romance, Comedy, Drama revolving around an interesting love triangle full of love, jealousy and heartache. The story is certainly typical for a shoujo manga however this doesn’t stop it from being a very enjoyable manga to read.
Moe Kare takes flight as soon as it starts, with a nice swift introduction of the characters and then its plot commences. That’s right, Moe Kare, was in all honesty, simple. Nothing far fetched or otherworldly (not including the way they fight and carry each other, that’s just ridiculous). It’s a story about a girl, not the smartest and definitely not the dumbest (hopefully), and the boy she likes.
On her way home Hikaru meets her prince by way of him saving her. It’s fate! Or so she thinks. This prince doesn’t want her handkerchief as a thank you, he wants her body. One saliva exchange and a few name callings later, she goes back home feeling violated and depressed. Her prince is a lecherous guy.
Later that week she meets him again on a group date, the infamous perverted prince, and she gives him a piece of her mind (which leaves her with a very small amount ..lol jk). But wait, is this really him?
The answer is no. It just looks like him.
Hikaru, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s the ducks brother of course!
The manga only really revolves around these three people. Hikari, Takara, and Arata:
Hikaru is sweet and average. She is the ass of the jokes in the manga, since most of the laughing is done at her expense (most, not all). Her character starts off really young but she actually grows in her role. Adapting to life’s curve balls or just putting on a brave face to ease someone else’s pain.
Takara is a sweet popular guy. He’s great at everything, is smart, athletic, and caring..boring. His one quality that makes him interesting is that underneath the face of this good looking boy is actually a dumb-ass. He couldn’t be more oblivious to his surroundings and to how much Hikaru likes him.
Arata, he is called the, “wild erotic prince." He was by far the best character out of the three. His spunkiness (real word?) made this interesting and humorous. Not saying that Hikaru’s many faces weren’t funny, it was just cute to witness a “bad boy” going soft. He was my favorite, though Takara also grew on me towards the end. Arata was the diverse in this manga, the variable in an equation that is known for its stability.
There are other characters, the side characters. The characters who were always hovering in the background as part of the landscape. They didn’t have a voice. Even the “Karata Fan Club” (you know there was one) didn’t have personalities. They were just there to fill empty page space. There was no girls jealous over Hikaru for stealing all the other girls spotlight and “number one” guy. Arata even went on calling two of Hikaru’s closest friend A and B. Probably to make joke on the fact that they were not important enough to be mentioned again. Actually this was just more funny than annoying. Also a little sad.
The art was very good, borderline beautiful at times. It has its funny and serious moments. It also has the moments were you can’t tell Karata and Arata apart. Which didn’t happen often but it still unnerved me, since they aren’t twins or anything. There is a lot of details that went with making their facial expressions uniquely their own and at the same time the same. Overall, the art is solid and always goes with the mood of the manga. It does have a lot of sexual content at first. It’s actually more talk than anything, but you do get to see partial nudity, so if breasts scare you, stay away.
Moe Kare could have easily ended in the middle of volume five. It was just right, the atmosphere, the circumstances (weren’t perfect but they were looking optimistic). It could have ended, I actually thought it would. Fortunately it decided to go on with its plan of making a memorable ending. Five volumes in, the story starts to get great, towering over the previous chapters cuteness.
I was surprised at the end to see that in such a light and fluffy manga, there was also depth and pain. Though it was cute and shows the bliss of first love, it also gives you a glimpse of the heart ache and of course, moving on.
