Having watched the anime back when it first hit fansubs on the web, I finally got around to trying out the manga. I went to my local anime store and purchased the first two volumes. Within a a few weeks I had bought up till vol 10 being completely hooked.

Story: The story was very good and interesting at the start. The stroy is fun and involving with lots of panal time for some of favorite characters. As the story left Japan however and moved to America the appeal tends to go down with the fact that suddenly it is less about Shuichi's career and more about a psychotic manager whom goes ballistic to the point of the unreal. The story being fairly believable and only swaying now and again into the realm of unreal fantasy was just perfect. The new introduction of the manager in a robot panda felt like it changed the story from a slice of life to more of a FLCL kind of feel. Overall the story is good and well managed with the exceptions of a few over the top characters pulling the plot in obscure directions.

Characters: The characters are good and believable. They have normal everyday personality traits pushed to there limits giving them a great sense of presence and vibrancy. They are enjoyable to follow along with, and to watch grow and mature throughout the chapters.

Overall: Overall I reccommend the series. If you can handle a sudden shift in tone that happens about vol. 08 you will surely love this manga.