Fuuka

This review has no spoilers, safe to read.

For the story, I gave it a 9, this manga is about highschool kids forming a band and aspiring in the big stage. The story is a bit cliche, but they add in a little spice, that makes this worth reading. The fast pacing is actually nice in this manga, even though they seem to rush the manga, they gave out the informations really well. For a music genre manga, of course it would be fast pacing, since it doesn't really have a music in it to fill in the gaps for time. Pretty sure if it were adapted into an anime, that would fill in the gaps and make that worthwhile to watch.

For the art, I gave it also a 9, the art was very good, it was pretty detailed; I mean the backgrounds took a whole lot of effort to draw. Not really much to say about the art since this is almost the standard in any manga, but this standard is what other manga tries to achieve but fails at it.

Characters, I gave it a 10, the characters were colorfull; the way they were describe in the manga were very accurate, there was no inconsistency among the characters, they acted the way they should have. The characters are the main reason I read this manga. They were all different to each other, that they fill in the gaps that were lacking in some other characters.

Enjoyment, As a musician myself, I hear the sounds even though it is a manga, I'm not exaggerating. The reason I read this was I need an inspiration in writing my music and I got the inspiration I needed. I really enjoyed this anime, but for those who didn't enjoy this very much, I respect your opinion. I highly recommend this for people who likes fast pacing story, but for those who doesn't I don't really recommend this that much.

I can't believe that I read Fuuka first instead the prequel Suzuka. So, I've come a prequel that need to be done. By the way this is my first time read Seo Kouji's work, I'll give my opinion based on my experienced reading fuuka not to compare with another Seo's work. I like the story even though a little bit cliche, but who cares? I enjoy the art that Seo's gave so beauty and clean. The development on characters are really good although a little bit being rushed. And I'm impressed with the way Seo's afflict me to be emotional with the conflict he put. Overall, I think Fuuka is worth to read.

[WARNING: SPIOILERS AHEAD!]

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So this will be my first review, so if I make mistakes I'm terribly sorry.
Fuuka starts off as a really good sequel to Suzuka as we are introduced to her right away and from the very beginning you can see the personality of not olnly Suzaka but also Yamato, and the story continues with a very nice flowing ring to it with the male lead Yuu. However the this manga then attempted to go down a path that nobody saw coming and it kinda all fell to pieces with (SPOILER INCOMING) the death of Fuuka after only 36 chapters. Here's why it doesn't really work out.

Story: 6
The story of Fuuka is one of a romantic comedy up until Fuuka's death, it shows how very determined both Yuu and Fuuka are to build their relationship while Fuuka also organises to make a band. However after Fuuka's death the romantic comedy genre is seemingly mostly lost, as it attempts to turn itself into a music tragedy sort of thing, but this is working off the Storylines of Suzuka and Kimi no Iru Machi (somewhat with this one). It's attempt to space itself from the two and make it into something it's not, just doesn't do justice to the stories we've seen in the past from the author.

Art: 8
Now I will say that since Suzuka and Kimi no Iru Machi, the art style has improved a lot more than what it used to be. Very good shading of characters and even when some may have similar facial structures or hair, the art makes them individuals which is sometimes an issue with other manga.

Character: 5
Now the reasoning for my lowest score to be on characters is simply because although the character of Fuuka was designed excellently to be the daughter of Yamato and Suzuka, she's basically the only real developed strong character and when she dies, Yuu (Male MC), Makato, Sara and Kazuya aren't really developed and really are connected to the story by Fuuka herself. It feels awkward to see all of these characters as you keep reading and see how it is they somehow get along after Fuuka.

Enjoyment: 7
Now my overall enjoyment of the manga was at it's high as I was reminiscing of the good stories of Suzuka and Kimi no Iru Machi, which before Fuuka's death it would have been about a 9, but with how stale it's currently going at, not sure how it'll end up.

Overall: 6
In the end Fuuka attempts to be something it's not and is not something I would recommend to new readers who haven't read Suzuka and Kimi no Iru Machi, and instead should mostly be read if you respect the author enough to read through the heartbreaking tragedy.

Ok, just a bit of warning, I will put up some spoilers in here. But I'll start off with a spoiler free review then move on to a spoiler review. I'll put up "SPOILERS" right before I start the 2nd review to warn you guys. Also, another warning, I like to babble a lot so this may be a pretty lengthy review.

Ok, here we go. In case you don't know, this manga is a sequel to one of Seo's first works and quite possibly the very manga that made Seo as famous as he is today: Suzuka. The fact that we got a sequel to this 10+ year old manga is insane. The main protagonists of Suzuka's daughter is the main character of this manga, and the title is basically all about this character: Fuuka. Let me tell you that Fuuka, as a character, starts off being quite similar to Suzuka in the sense that Fuuka inherited the tsudere trait of Suzuka which is shown in like the 2nd panel of the manga. Then we have Yuu Haruna, a quiet, shy kid who is obsessed with his phone and afraid of facing the real world. Of course our two protagonists, Yuu and Fuuka, meet up and start being friends. In my opinion, the development of Fuuka and Yuu throughout this manga was amazing. I can say with sincerity that this manga was going to be my favorite manga with how it was going, the story was easily a 10 for me, art is great, nice and smooth and easy to see what's going on. I mean, this is a romance manga so it's not like we'll get some crazy action-packed panels. And the characters, although Yuu is quite on the shy side, his development with Fuuka and how he progresses throughout the story is such a beautiful sight to see. Not to mention that Yuu helped Fuuka as well find her dreams. I apologize but I can't really explain WHY I really love this manga without spoiling it, but I'll tell you that if you liked Suzuka and Kimi no iru machi, Fuuka is an amazing manga for you. Fuuka is just such a joyful girl, it would be impossible to not like her. Now that I've gone through this, you're probably wondering, why is my story, enjoyment and overall scores so low compared to what I'm saying here? Well, it's actually because the story takes a massive turn at around chapter 30. I mean, an INSANE twist happens. While many might consider this twist to be genius, I can't help but say that it ruined the plot almost completely. The pacing for the first 30 or so chapters was at a slightly faster pace than usual Seo works, but that's what set Fuuka apart from Kimi no iru machi and Suzuka. However, once this unexpected twist happens, the story goes on a halt, and basically goes at an EXTREMELY slow pace. I really have so much sympathy for the people who had to wait a week to read the chapters after the twist, cuz I'll tell you that I marathoned the 71 chapters of this manga thus far and even I got depressed reading the digustingly paced chapters. There were a few new surprises after the incident around chapter 30, but the story and enjoyment simply went completely downhill all the way to where I am now. Now for the recommendation. If you have read Suzuka before, I'll warn you. Fuuka might ruin your experience with Suzuka. Reading Suzuka before Fuuka will simply make the feels worse than they already were, but I'd still recommend reading suzuka first anyways since it's the prequel and a lot of things in the Fuuka manga will make more sense that way. If you're not someone who enjoys unexpected twists, you have been warned. Alright, that's all I gotta say for the spoiler-free section.


"SPOILERS"




What the FUUK. What the FUUK. Seo. Really? REALLY? You guys know what I'm talking about. Fuuka's...mother...FUUKING...death. I found it so hard to believe when I whitnessed it, and I have to say I feel so sorry for you guys who had to endure it when it first was revealed way back in october. Luckily, I marathoned this manga so I'm not as hurt. But still, Fuuka was such an AMAZING character. She is the very reason that makes me rate this manga a 10 for characters. My lord. She's cheerful, she's mature, she's a tsudere but not nearly as much as suzuka, AND she was the one to kiss Yuu FIRST!!! She's not the average scared, girly MC. AGH! And then after she died, the plot moves into some generic, tragic musical where one band member takes over the dream of the band member that died... the romance is gone, the pacing disappeared, AND, we didn't even get to see Yamato and Suzuka's reaction TO THEIR OWN DAUGHTER'S DEATH. WHY??? This manga had so much potential. If Seo was trying to be different, THIS BAND CONCEPT SIMPLY ISN'T WORKING. I mean, I know a school romance is generic too but that's what Seo IS KNOWN FOR BEING AMAZING AT. And with such a delicate character like Fuuka too...WHY? I can't imagine how the Suzuka fans from like 2005 feel after knowing that the baby that stopped Suzuka and Yamato from pursing their dreams DIED AT THE AGE OF 15. COME ON SEO. Fuuka has been built up so much, from the suzuka specials to the kimi no iru machi cameos. And guess what? We got a Fuuka clone? Fuuka Aoi? What the actual FUUK IS GOING ON? Well, at least Fuuka Aoi seems to be a pretty nice character thus far. Nothing really to hate about her honestly, but mostly because she hasn't really done anything drastic yet to progress the plot. If Fuuka Aoi eventually becomes the main heroine for this series, I'm not sure how I'll feel. The only thing I want right now is a supernatural tag to be added in, where Fuuka's soul will somehow be connected with Fuuka Aoi's soul, and they're memories can connect or something like that. Well, sorry that this turned out being more of a personal rant, but this is the spoiler section after all, not like this part can help newcomers or anything. Hopefully the series picks up the pace soon.

Story: 9
The story to Fuuka is well paced, light-hearted, funny, romantic... It's heart-warming to read stories like this. Kouji Seo puts amazing effort into all of his stories.

Art: 10
Every piece of work done by Kouji Seo has out-of-this-world art. This manga is no exception. You can see how much work is put into this every day, just by looking at the art, without even reading anything.

Character: 10
Honestly, I like the characters in Fuuka a lot. Fuuka's character is a music lover who needs music to feel complete. Haruna is a likeable character who keeps to himself, and values peace of mind. Although, he's a bit dense. The best character in my opinion is the gay guy, Mikasa. He seems like he's got Haruna's back no matter what, and will help him build his relationship with Fuuka. As I said before; I like the characters. But liking characters isn't enough to give them a 10. What made the characters worthy of a 10 was the cameos from other manga written by Kouji Seo! If anybody has read Kimi no Iru Machi, you see Haruto crying on the train after he breaks up with Yuzuki. Then a little girl walks up to him, hands him the fallen ring and says "Boys shouldn't cry." What's this girl's name? FUUKA! Time skip several years to the final chapter of Kimi no Iru Machi, and a girl bumps into Haruto as she's running through a crowd. Who's this girl? FUUKA! Now, we get to the cameos in Fuuka. When Haruna is looking at the movie tickets in his hand deciding who to take, the movie was Half & Half. AN OTHER MANGA BY KOUJI SEO! Then on the train, Mikasa is wearing sunglasses, then asks him "Where did you get those sunglasses?" He says "Mizumoto Restaurant." Who owns Mizumoto Restaurant? MIZUMOTO-SENPAI FROM KIMI NO IRU MACHI! *sorry for the rant*

Enjoyment: 10
So far, I'm in love with this manga. Even before chapter 15, Haruna realizes he's in love with Haruna. By then, I knew I was hooked. I'm seriously enjoying this. It's awesome!

Overall: 10
All in all; I'd recommend this manga to anybody who reads manga in general. This will have you statring at your screen, waiting for the next chapter. I wish there were more stories like this in the world. Oh wait, there are. ANY OTHER MANGA WRITTEN BY KOUJI SEO!

**DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Simply put, many of the bad reviews for Fuuka are due to a single plot twist. Just one.

A plot twist so atypical of this genre, so uncharacteristic of the creator, and so devastatingly unexpected given the premise of the story that it was *bound* to divide readers into two very distinct groups: those who drop the series on the spot vs. those who can't stop reading if they wanted to.

After slamming my laptop shut, storming out of my living room, and screaming off my balcony for 15 angry minutes, I found myself in the latter.

IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT SPOILING IT FOR YOURSELF, PLEASE DO NOT. I don't think I've ever been so emotionally shaken by a single chapter of fiction—manga, literature, or otherwise—but despite the rough ride, I've found myself wishing I could forget it all to experience it again.

If you can push through the psychological trauma, the payoff is well worth it. The characters are vivid and unique. The plot is expertly-paced and unforgettable. The art is expressive, attractive, and not overly-stylized. Seo Kouji, a legend of the Slice of Life/Romance genre, is at the very top of his craft.

While many may disagree, as a fan of Kouji's Suzuka (the prequel series), I find Fuuka to be a massive improvement because of—not despite—the apparent differences. Suzuka was more steadily-paced and the plot developments were slow and incremental. It was defined by long chapters of anxious internal monologues and running-gag fillers in between short bursts of romantic drama.

Of course, this is the standard fare for the Slice of Life/Romance genre, but I found myself loving being swept up in the whirlwind of passion and character-driven plot movement that is Fuuka. There have been no "minor/forgotten" characters. There have been no "back where they started" filler arcs. The lack of hesitation in advancing the story has been unbelievably refreshing and addictive.

If you read Slice of Life/Romance for the scenic, slow-to-grow love stories, you will enjoy Fuuka, but you may not fall in love with it. If the moments of passion, character development, and emotional tension are why you gravitate towards the genre, you will not be able to put this down.

Yes, it's a rocky ride. Yes, it's not what we expected from Seo Kouji. No, I would NOT have it any other way. Fuuka is as close to a "perfect" manga as I've ever read.

SPOILER ALERT!

This is my first manga review and the first time I have sat down and read nearly 150 chapters without stopping. I loved it and can't wait for more!

Much of the criticism comes from the early death of the title character. In my opinion, the death is what allows the story and characters to go far beyond a typical high school slice of life/band story. The tragedy allows the characters to have much more depth and maturity. It is a catalyst to allow the characters to become stronger as individuals and as a band.

The love interests are all realistic and as someone who's first love passed away during college, it really resonates. These emotions allow incredible music to be written and act as an outlet for the emotional overload caused by tragedy.

The characters all have their own unique personalities and quirks. Even if you don't like a character, the character/story development allows you to at least understand that everyone has their own reasons/experiences for why they do what they do.

Art work was really solid and consistent. Also, it's nice to have a story that starts in high school but isn't a high school manga. It is just the first step in their journey. My favorite part starts after the tragedy and them leaving school. Lastly, I really like how much the manga has focused on the music/band lifestyle and difficulties of becoming pro.

Cons/things people might not like. (none of it bothered me)
*lots of nude scenes
*sometimes the pacing during songs/concerts went a bit too fast.
*sometimes you want to slap yuu-kun for not being a bit more forward with the ladies.(JUST KISS HER ALREADY!!!)

Overall, if you want a mature story about starting a band and one that forces you to confront difficult emotions, this is the perfect one for you!. It has music, love, heartbreak, friendship, real life shit, humor, and much much more. Enjoy Fuuka and thanks for reading my first manga review!

Spoilers so be alert: I have just started reading Fuuka yesterday May 4 2016, so I'm a bit late about the shit that it is happening.

So Fuuka, Akitsuki Fuuka, the daughter of Akitsuki Yamato and Akitsuki Yamato, both main characters of "Suzuka" is already dead, and followed by another girl who is named is Aoi Fuuka the child of the one who is driving the truck that hit Fuuka, at first I can't believe that she died and both Fuukas are knew each other just because of the guitar pick which has been missing and soon have been found, and both of them separated each other after that.

The question is this, who is the real Fuuka? the Fuuka who is alive? or dead? What if she isn't really dead, the Akitsuki household just wants to hide Fuuka's real status, that she maybe in a coma because of the accident, then just held a funeral, because to avoid all of the ruckus that may happen because she is also a daughter of two legendary athletes. Well that's just what I want to happen, because she died so early or yet why did she have to die in the first place? Just to be replaced by Aoi Fuuka? Why was she at the cover page? Why is she the one who bumped Eba Yuzuki after Kimi Machi?


I really like Seo sensei's manga stories because I read all of them non stop, I just don't want the cast of Suzuka being sad and all because even the title just like her mother's has been given to her, then there is her death and another Fuuka, why sensei? Well even though this pisses me off big time, I still want to read how the story will be portrayed, even if the real Fuuka that is being mentioned in the title is Aoi Fuuka, who right now in Chapter 106 is being pursued by Haruna Yuu.

background:
I'm a new fan of Seo, Koija I started with Kimi no iru machi and then went to read Suzuka now Fuuka. So I was quite excited to read this. It is a continuation of the same universe of the three stories. They have some cameos of the other characters from both series which is always fun and nice.

Story: What is this about? Well its about Yuu-Haruno your typical shy guy who can't communicate in person but is obsessed with twitter. That all changes with a chance meeting with Fukka. (Who is the daughter of Suzuka and Akitsuki). They become friends and meet some other character and they decide to create a band. Then something F****** TRAGIC happens. That s*** shook me. It almost made me want to stop reading because it came out of no where. It was so unsuspected but I trusted SEO writing and continued reading. The story in the end was quite wholesome. It deals with the tragedies of loss and coping with hardships. I really enjoyed the story as a whole. It was one of my first music based manga's I've read. I would absolutely recommend reading this story by SEO but warning it will hit you in places.

MC: Usually you get really annoyed at the MC for being shy and having no gall but Yuu-Haruna is different. He feels more real as a character/person. He acts in a realistic in the way things happen. He may be too optimistic vs the usual pessimist.

Fuuka tells the story of 5 students (initially) who decide to start a band after some events. It is a very common plot in this type of work, but the way it is counted makes all the difference.

Things you need to know:
Seo-sensei(author) has a unique universe in which some of his works take place in parallel, they are:
- Suzuka; prequel to Fuuka (tells the story of his parents); You don't need to read to understand Fuuka..
- Kimi no Iru Machi; Which has no connection with the previous two, but takes place in the same world and sometimes the characters interact in their works.


Strong points:
- All the characters are extremely pleasant (of course, they have their difficult moments, but none hateful).

- The protagonist and most of the supporting characters have real development and growth, you really feel that each situation happened to make you someone better. And yes, understand that he was a NEET and so it starts out super dense, but there is a lot of evolution in that part.

- There is real romance and not those meaningless flirtations of some works that do not advance or take a lifetime to show affection (kiss)


Story 7/10
As I said, it is a very common story and has nothing very original, what makes it good is the way it is told and the development of each situation (yes, it deserves recognition). I will talk about my considerations at the end with spoilers, because I could not give a higher score in this regard.

Art: 9/10
The character designs are fantastic, especially the female ones. I have never seen in any work the care for body curves that this author has. Beautiful faces, fantastic scenery (especially in the presentation) and best of all, the pictures convey a lot of feelings!

Character: 8/10
This should be 10/10, but some of the author's decision making during the work made me step back. Make no mistake, all the main characters are very well developed and some of the support characters to, but in my final remarks I explain why I couldn't give a higher grade.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I read Fuuka twice and once more starting from chapter 130, so you can imagine if it's enjoyable or not. The reason for not being a score of 10 is more a matter of opinion about some events in the work.

Final Conclusion
**There's a lot of SPOILERS, so just read if you're like me. When I get spoiler I feel even more eager to see this happening on paper**

Yuu Haruna is a NEET who meets Fuuka in a funny situation. They become friends, Haruna ends up meeting his bandmates through Fuuka. Then we met Koyuki Hinashi, a childhood friend of Haruna with whom he was always in love and both share the same dream. So far cliché.

* Reasons why I consider the general story (not the character development) to be the weak point of this work

- 2 point:
The author has a courageous decision to kill the female protagonist at the beginning of the work, I thought it was fantastic (although sad) the development of the other characters was fabulous, but then he cowered and created a second Fuuka female main character. In my opinion the outcome of this work should be Fuuka as a kind of motivator for Haruna's songs while he continues his life with his bandmates without ever losing his affection for her (Fuuka) but overcoming his feelings to open up to something new . At this point he would have 2 female characters as possible for his sequel in the novel, Koyuki or Sara. Why don't I consider Shelley? Because she has a solid career that she would have to give up to be part of these possibilities. This question of Haruna overcoming some things due to having met another Fuuka has weakened in my opinion the real value of the character's development.

- 1 point:
Hinashi, Koyuki. As I said, almost all the characters are well developed, but Koyuki is forgotten during a good part of the work after his "main arc". As I said above, for me, she should have been Haruna's romantic couple due to the influence that Fuuka had on both of them. She confessed her feelings to Haruna because she was afraid that Fuuka would steal him, she became stronger after the way she saw Haruna after Fuuka's death, she always supported him. I believe that the feeling of "we are grateful that you existed Fuuka" in a relationship between Koyuki and Haruna would be fantastic and in the end make them lovers, but rivals (with Koyuki on the hedgehog vocals) would give a great outcome to the work. But I believe it was strategic for the author to forget about Koyuki to focus on the development of Fuuka Aoi.


Excuse me because I am not a native English speaker, I hope you enjoy this fantastic work.

*SPOILERS!!*


Okay, so I was super hyped hearing about the Fuuka anime and loved the synopsis so I checked out the manga. I'm going to say this right now: I put this manga on hold and possible, and probably, will drop it. I found out about the manga through the anime and I am SO disappointed.

Characters:
Fuuka had the potential to be fantastic, but it went downhill, and extremely fast. The character Fuuka was one of my favorite characters I've seen in a while. She was cute, fun, really nice, and overall a good character. She didn't have much development though. There was practically NO development for any of the characters in this show at all, aside from the Yuu and Koyuki past stuff, which i cant even consider development. It was just another aspect to add to the unnecessary drama in this manga and soon to be show. Just saying this again, but I haven't completely finished this manga, so please don't bash me.

Execution ( I added this bc why not ):
This manga could've been a fantastic music anime, which I love a good music anime from time to time, but instead it turned into extreme unnecessary drama without any substance. There was just intense overdone scenes every chapter and the scenes weren't executed properly. The way most scenes were executed were just abysmal, being as they all felt rushed and surprising, but not in the good way. *SPOILER* An example of this is the most ridiculous scene I have seen in a long time. Fuuka, the main character, drops her charm in a crosswalk during a stoplight. She goes back to pick up her charm, and a the light turns green. This truck then proceeds to go at 30 mph to hit Fuuka who was obviously there beforehand. There is no way I believe this truck would just "Full Speed Ahead," while a schoolgirl is standing in the way. I understand main characters CAN die, and I'm 100% fine with that, I've seen it before. I'd be completely fine with it, but the way they killed her off felt so rushed and out of place. Her funeral was rushed, every scene I read in that manga, from what I've read thus far, most things were out of place and it made this less enjoyable. It was absolutely absurd. This manga was just extra drama when it could've been a sweet and light-hearted music anime with it's own twists.

Story:
Fuuka started off strong with so much potential, and as I've said multiple times, went so far downhill there was no saving it. It was strong but it turned into "OMG I love him now im sad:(," and "My girlfriend is dead," and "OMG love triangle !!!" What was the whole point? It could've been a dram that would've been enjoyable. I could've respected it. I felt like I was reading a poorly scripted soap opera. I know they carry on the band in Fuuka's honor, but it was just poorly executed like most scenes in the manga. I was disappointed so much because I love my music animes.

Art:
Art-wise, depending on a person's taste, could be good or bad. Personally I really liked the art in the Fuuka manga. I thought the art was nicely executed and seemed really clean and professional, which can be a nice breather. I thought each character fully came to life through the art and how the manga was drawn. This was probably the only this about this manga I was truly happy and satisfied with about this manga. I don't have much else to say about the art, as discussing art and explaining it's beauty isn't exactly my forte.

Enjoyment:
I was really enjoying Fuuka in the beginning when I first started reading. I was enthralled and couldn't wait to read the next chapter. It would be the next thing I did. I would immediately go to the following chapter and be hyped to read it. Later on, I was just hesitant. I didn't want to see what unnecessary drama was next. I didn't want to keep reading. I put this manga on hold for now, because I think there's better stuff I could be doing/reading/watching instead of the Fuuka manga. I eventually only read one chapter a day, then a week, and just got bored of the extra drama andpoor pacing and just most elements of the show. I gave enjoyment a 5 because when I was reading the beginning, I was truly enjoying reading the manga. I've only gotten through 50 chapters, so many may not trust this review or not feel the same way, but this is what I think. I enjoyed half or so of what I read, but not the whole thing. After Fuuka died, I felt something missing. I know it seems unnecessary to say that and some or most of you guys will disagree, but I really felt for Fuuka and enjoyed her. Something was missing to me. That's my opinion of course, so you don't have to abide by that.

Overall:
Overall, Fuuka was decent. A four. I'm pretty sure what I said above was a pretty good explanation of why, but I just felt Fuuka wasn't that fantastic as most people are raving it to be. Fuuka was mediocre at best. Maybe fair if your really crave that drama and if you just so happen to win the lotto. Fuuka didn't have what it took, and there are so many other manga you could spend your time reading.

Sorry this review was so long! Nobody will probably read this whole thing anyways heheh... I just get passionate about this stuff sometimes oops. Anyways if you're a human being and bothered to read this review, thank you! I appreciate you for putting up with this review, because it probably took a while to read. Once again, sorry for the length, but once again, THANK YOU for reading my review and I hope someone or anyone found this review helpful at all.

-s <3

This manga is really good, I really liked it. It was depth and interesting. The story talks about the MC who quickly joins a musical band. We'll see the musical band growing bigger. Of course you will have to follow their problems as a band. Being a band composed of many persons is very complicated, each person is important, the band have to stay together to perform well and even the personal life can make problems to perform.

This manga is not only focused on the music, I usually dont care about musical manga/anime. The only one i have watched is Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. It didnt prevent me to really love this manga. Be careful, this is one of the most dramatic manga i have ever read (typical Seo Kouji but in worse...). I absolutely do not recommend to read if your are not good to handle drama and sadness or even frustration. This manga will show you that unfortunately not every drama scenes can be handled and solved, that's why it's one of the most dramatic manga. In this manga, you will mostly see musical world of course, huge friendship, good romance, every good little things in drama (jealousy, anger, frustration, icomprehension, big kick in your balls seriously, sadness...). I recommend do read it until the end and do not be discouraged this the sadness for instance because it worth the read. The worst mistake is to take this thing for a light-hearted romcom as the start seems to make you believe, it's a trap, at your own risks.

(BIG SPOILERS TO READ IF YOU HAVE FINISHED FUUKA)

Of course, fuuka is a big kick in the balls. Seo, that sneaky *censored* put us in confidence at the start just the make a bigger fall. It was frustrating and my first reflex was to go to the internet to spoil me and see if she was really dead. It was 5 am, i was shocked, i needed to sleep, the sun was beginning to shine here and fuuka was one of the best character that i have ever seen. Totally the opposite of Suzuka. The MC was dragged by fuuka, he couldn't keep the pace with her. The only thing this girl let us was her smile that she kept everytime. She got sacrificed by Seo to continue the plot and to let the real manga begin.

It was disgusting and it's sad to say, but to make the rest, it was necessary. Unfortunately, it couldnt have been a secondary character that we dont like, once again it was a trap. The main goal was to enhance the emotions on the rest of the story. I am still mad even 2 months after finishing it and I almost gave up that manga like a bunch of other did. The manga totally changed his direction in 1 poor chapter by using truck kun, the rolling cliche always used in medium/ bad drama... I completely understand the people who felt deceived and gave up at this time, I cant imagine the thing it was to read that in live at the time were the manga was airing. Even if i'm mad, i feel like we needed, in the drama world, a manga like that. That one sly and vicious manga that uses your inner weaknesses only to grab your emotions. Seo did it (honestly, he's the only masochist that can write that after the ultra long NTR and the incomprehensible girl that gives you some murder wishes).

Now that it's done, I really no other mangaka will have the same stupid idea. It was like, imagine you do your thing with an unknow girl without any protections, then you notice she gave you the SIDA (bad luck yes). It was really fun to do so but i dont think you will have the idea to do it again with a random girl. It's a bad thing to experience but at least not everything is to throw away. That's the feeling this manga gives me.

I'm a fan of shoujo. Some of my favorite animes are Kimi Ni Todoke and Ao Haru Ride. But I have to agree with the reviewer Legendzerox that this work is "abysmal", mainly because it has ZERO buildup. The pacing is extremely fast and doesn't leave you any time to get excited and full of expectation for their romance. Furthermore it's very liberal with using classic tropes from anime/manga that everyone has seen a thousand times, which get irritating very quickly and scream unoriginality.

Let me lay down some examples:

- The Main Characters (MCs) meet when the girl (Fuuka) bumps into the guy (Yuu), and calls him a perv when he sees her panties, even though it wasn't his fault. Originality level: 0

- At the end of the very first chapter, Yuu comments about Fuuka: "She's a weirdo who *never* listens to *people*, she's violent, and she *always* misunderstands the situation" (asterisks are mine for highlighting).
Really? You've known her for literally five minutes and you can already draw conclusions about the stuff she ALWAYS and NEVER does with PEOPLE? This line was absurd in so many ways that I facepalmed. Had to restrain myself from dropping the manga right there.

- Also at the end of the very first chapter, he says about Fuuka: "Even right now, it feels like some great force is pulling me in. Into the hot wind that envelops her". This was so corny that, again, I had to restrain myself not to drop. This stuff would be acceptable some chapters later, but not on the first.

- Hot guy hits on Fuuka, Yuu gets jealous, then we find out the hot guy is gay... wow, so original!

- Love rival appears on the *second* chapter. Oh, and she's also Yuu's childhood friend. 'Nuff said.

This story had potential, but it's so poorly executed that it eventually became too painful to go on. I dropped it on the 10th chapter. Its only reedeming factor is its clever use of the Yuu's obsession with Twitter and his cellphone. Yuu's thoughts regarding Twitter and the social comment thety provided were quite interesting.

~ NO SPOILERS ~
Hello this is my first review so i hope it will help you .
I almost read all the manga by Kouji Seo sensei and they have all this beautiful art ,
i don't think that fuuka is his best manga "FOR NOW " ,
but I think the story is appreciable and has a large potential of development he is trying something new and it's really successful.
each character is well exploited and he has its own charm , and I think even those who do not like Suzuka will appreciate Fuuka because although it is in the same world the story is different and deals with a different subject .

this is my first try I do not think I did well but in the end I suggest you really throw a glance to Fuuka because it is really nice and fun

A miracle story that could give you the strength to change your life !!!
Having read all Seo Kouji works, from Half&Half, Kimi no iru machi,... to the recently Suzuka, I strongly believe Fuuka is the best among already-great Seo's masterpieces. Fuuka is a miraculous journey of a legendary music band begun from zero. The story will take you through every level of emotions, from the deepest stage of sadness to the highest level of happiness. It also taught me the beautiful of friendship, family and love.
The best thing about Fuuka, in my own feelings, is that it taught me one life's lesson that i needed the most: "It doesn't matter you can or can't, it matters you do or don't". It you really love something, giving your best to it, then you will find infinity of ways to make something presumingly-impossible a reality.

I started reading Fuuka when it started coming out in 2014. I had finished Suzuka and that was one of my favorite manga at the time, so of course I was going to try the sequel. I made it until about forty chapters in and decided not to follow it as it was publishing anymore, partially because of the upsetting things that happened and moreso just because I was in university at the time and didn't feel like it anymore.

Fuuka is basically, brazenly Suzuka in reverse. It's about overcoming grief and deciding to live again through applying yourself to a new vocation, but with the protagonist boy's story switched with the protagonist girl's this time around. And that worked very well. I could take-or-leave Yuu as a protagonist, honestly, but I can't deny that it was satisfying to see him work through everything with the band.

The art in this is very good, very Seo Kouji. There's a lot of instant gratification, and the overtly sexy ecchi shots of women only get more frequent and prominent as the thing goes on. That mixed with some rushed story beats makes me think the manga's popularity was in question at some point along the way, or something else happened behind the scenes. As much as it's done in fun, it can feel a bit skeevy at times because this absolutely does not pass the He-Man/She-Ra test. There's only a few similar shots of sexualized men throughout the whole run. I know the primary demographic isn't coming for that, but it felt unequal.

As it goes on, there are some extreme Seo Kouji twists thrown in. The best one is the obvious one that really kicks off the story around chapter 40 or so. That absolutely worked. Others did not. One of them was, I suppose, valid in a vacuum. But in the world we live in, it came off as homophobic to me. Another was just ridiculous and a blatant excuse to pad things out before the main couple got together even though they were basically already official. Others were fine.

It was fun. I picked it up towards the end of 2020, years later, and it was like putting on an old shoe. I fell right back into the rhythm and breezed through the whole thing. It's not quite as good as Suzuka, but reading it was so easy and (mostly) fun that I (mostly) didn't mind my gripes with it.

This is my first review ever on MAL since I have started to use this site just a couple of months ago despite being a manga&anime fan for over a decade.

I have to come clean- I started with the anime when it came out, there was one thing that really piqued my interest and made me check this one out- the color picture of Fuuka herself for the anime thumbnail. then I started watching and by the time I was done with the anime I realized 2 things:
1- Fuuka(the character) has charmed me as few other characters ever did
2- something felt fishy with this anime, especially the ending.

And so with that, I went to the manga- chapter 1. and I read all the way to where Truck-Kun makes his appearance, and then everything fell into place.

Story 6 :
Highs and lows, sometimes it was thrilling and exciting but many times it was dragged out, over-dramatic and major plot twists were handled poorly

Art 8:

I liked the art style, one of the redeeming qualities of this manga.

Character 6 :

There was character development but a lot of it felt quite awkward, and overall I could not really connect on a deeper level to any of the characters in this manga except 1. more on that later.

Enjoyment 6 :

Reading this was sometimes very fun and exciting, but more often than not I was bored or frustrated by how things progressed(or didn't). but in the end, I did "enjoyed" this manga a bit more than i "didn't enjoy" it.

Overall 7:

I was lured in by one of the most mesmerizing characters in AnimeManga I have ever seen, I connected to her and sympathized with her more than any other character in this manga, and yet she was the one who had ended up as the most major plot-twist by having her meeting with the infamous Truck-Kun.

I will not forget easily the character Fuuka, she really captivated me and honestly, I have read a 204 chapters manga pretty much just because of her, but objectively speaking- this manga has lots of problems and I would not recommend it unless you did your research and know what you are heading into, but if you do, than its quite possible you will love this one despite its flaws.

Fuuka is not a fantastic story as Suzuka. It has good and bad points. The hard question: Is it Suzuka’s sequel? For me, it is not. Some characters from the previous series appear here, at some point in the story, you will notice a disjuncture separating Fuuka from Suzuka, however. On the other hand, we can appreciate Seo’s style in the story. Furthermore, the story has some interesting twists that could get you happier and angry at the same time. It is hard to describe my feelings towards Fuuka but it is not Suzuka and never will.

If you are a fan of Suzuka, you will read the story but will find that Fuuka prolonged too much to the point that some parts of the plot are irrelevant and useless. Furthermore, Seo sometimes used a loop in the story that is very tedious. I don’t know, maybe it is Seo, but he enjoys reaching a climax and maintaining a never-ending loop until we get tired of it. In the end, you will be grateful for the story, but it won’t fulfill all your expectations. No matter the despiteful parts, the story is entertaining and combines an excellent visual with adequate flow from panel to panel. Also, if you haven’t read Suzuka don’t panic, you don’t need to read the previous series to understand Fuuka. Both stories separate after some chapters.

Sadly, some plot events will divide the readers. The half of the readers will call the manga abysmal, and another half-titled Fuuka as “unusual.” I call it, a tale of unexpected events with fascinating art and boring chapters. Also, I understand it is hard to express music with drawings and onomatopoeias, but give some credit to Seo; he did a good job. Sometimes, I felt the music rhythm and the lyrics, but the broken plot in some chapters end up lowering the momentum.

Lastly, maybe you are wondering, should I read Fuuka? My answer: Yes and no. I will say yes, if you are a fan of Seo’s works, you will know what to expect. No, if you cannot handle the plot twist and the disjuncture events that could kill the narrative. Also, a big NO if you don’t have patience in a story that overuses some events and exhausted the plot after several chapters. I loved Suzuka, and I follow Seo’s works. However, Fuuka is not Suzuka and isn’t near to the emotional level from the latter.

This sequel to Suzuka is great so far. With only a handful of chapters out, I can tell it has a bright future just like it's prequel series (Suzuka) not Machi. The story is in the same world as Suzuka (obviously) and is about Suzuka and Yamato's daughter Fuuka, and Fuuka is already much like her mother was in the early chapters of Suzuka. It kind of already feels like Suzuka except just different characters. Also, Fuuka is the same age as her mother was in the Suzuka manga.

I highly recommend this to all Suzuka fans out there who have been dying for an "After Story" of the Suzuka manga, this is much better and hopefully longer. I think 18 volumes sounds good :) So I say again, to all Suzuka fans, I know you'll enjoy this great new sequel series.

I can't tell you why I read this far. Here's how I imagine this series got created.

Author: What's the most formulaic way to make a popular manga. Let's take another androgynous lead and make a bunch of archetypical girls to form his harem! Wait we need another hook. Screw it, throw in some music and talk about climbing to the heavens or some bullshit. Wait we need Drama and angst! Let's kill off a character early in! That'll show that I'm edgy and anything can happen.

Seriously the art isn't anything special and is filled with fan service to keep 13 year old boys happy. The storyline is poor with only a few real twists and mostly focuses on the girls falling for this one moronic lead (who sucks but more on that in a sec). Now my real gripe with this story, The Characters.

If you aren't into the harem Genre this will have nothing for you. The characters don't really have any depths to them besides the superficial amount they mean to the main character. All of the girls in the series have one or two main characteristics and, shockingly, are in love with the MC. The few guys in the series are the same thing minus the loving the MC.
The one that really cements this for me is the Main Character. He is cheesy, wimpy, and a bit annoying. Now he turns out to be a giant hypocrite. I don't know why I was even a little surprised. SPOILER warning: I don't know how the hell an author could kill off the main character's girlfriend then bring in a girl that could be her clone in as the true love interest WITH THE SAME NAME as the former girlfriend. It is seriously like he was trying to troll his readers. Guess what, you succeeded and I hate you for it.

TLDR: If it looks like poop and smells like poop, its poop.