Sakura Tsukuba

The first volume of "Land of the Blindfolded" was more quiet than I was expecting - this isn't a bad thing. You will not find over the top romance schemes, or super powered talents - but you will get a quiet story about a normal (mostly) life at a Japanese high school. It captures that first moment of totally connecting with a first love, the total focus on school and school activities. The talents of Kanada and Arou are both subdued, but important. Both characters try to figure out what to show more do with this power, but at the same time, are very much the teenager kids they are. Its a simple story, of first loves, growing up, and taking responsibility. I highly recommend it as a book to read if you are looking for a Manga volume that is more down to earth than what is generally available. show less

Contains Chapters 1 - 3: This book was a lot of fun to read and has a unique and entertaining plot. I love all the characters and am looking forward to seeing how they develop as well as how their relationships grow.

This volume also contains a bonus story called "Sweet Bite Mark" about a Vampire and a girl claiming to be his daughter when she shows up on his doorstep one day. It's a really cute story.

I think I read this series, or most of it at least, years ago when it first came out in 2004. This would have been right up 20yo Lexie's manga tastes.

That said I don't remember much at all of it so. Its practically new to me!

Really this is 3 chapters of the main story, and two additional stories not connected (as far as I can tell).

Despite the premise the first couple of chapters are standard shoujo fare - girl meets boy, a catalyst happens and somehow a new love interest occurs!

Its cute, show more though I felt a bit impatient to get to an actual plot. Like... there's gotta be more to it then Kanade sees the future, Arou warns her to be careful...right?

The first short story, "After the Festival" is a sweet story about two classmates who share time after the festival, so neither is lonely.

The second story, "The Mistaken Man" features friendship, first love and how the truth will set you free. show less

Kanade sees the world as being full of blindfolded people, unaware that there is more to to it than what meets the naked eye. In her case this blindfolds slips and sometimes when she touches someone, she can see their future. However, the future is not always pleasant and Kanade has made a point to keep her distance from everyone around her, until she meets Arou. Arou is also a secret seer, but in his case he sees the past. Can a girl afraid of the future and a boy comfortable in history show more help each other to make their small portion of the world just a little safer?

This was quite a cute shoujo story. Both lead characters were very pleasant and genuinely nice people, hence the addition of the third party interloper, Namiki, in the third act. I enjoyed the friction between Arou and Namiki and the obviously brewing little love triangle. As a whole, this is a nicely drawn, sweet manga but did seem to lack a little extra something that would make me feel really hooked on it.

Since this is the first book of a series I would have thought that they would have just had a complete volume of the main story. Annoyingly, about one-third of the book was taken up with a random one-shot which really wasn't nearly as interesting as the main one. show less