The World's Greatest First Love, Vol. 5 (5)

Excellent start to the series. Most people have heard of Sekaiichi Hatsukoi or at least read some of it, though I had only seen the anime. I was glad to pick it up and finally read it to see several scenes in more detail. As usual anime of BL tends to cut scenes away or just give sound effects leaving it up to the imagination to see what is happening, though fortunately the manga is free from doing that. It also comes shrink wrapped so one can probably tell why that is. In any case it has two scenes for such things, which depending on ones tolerance of the genre are good or probably not since the consent issue is present. However, putting that aside, I found it enjoyable. I enjoy this series for Onodera and his coming to see the one he had a crush on again and try to avoid what his heart is telling him. Additionally it is fascination to see what goes on behind the scenes for managing various authors of shoujo magazines. Its a great, though wordy start, and the feelings of romance are present. Looking forward to more.Quality wise, its a pretty solid manga volumes with a relatively harder than usual cover and spine which doesnt crease while casually reading. There is a color insert at the start too which is pleasing. Extras include a 2.5 chapter which details Onodera's past with Saga, which has a really lovely scene. There is an afterward too. There were no typos present, sound effects are all translated and lettered (no hiragana or katakana here folks), which I find great. All in all a perfect suBLime volume.

Ritsu Onodera quit his job at the publishing firm run by his father after his frustration final boiled over at not ever being considered for his own merits. He ends up at Marukawa Publishing working on the shojo (comics targeted at teenage females) magazine Emerald which is run by Masumune Takano, also known as Ritsu's first love and the person that Ritsu blames for making him into a jaded adult. Their relationship was a short lived one that ended dramatically based on misunderstandings 10 years prior. The main story in this first book sets up their relationship and their new dynamic as the combination of boss-subordinate as well as love interests. The last chapter is a look back on their original relationship.What's great about this story is that you get multiple levels. There's straight-up knowledge of how manga publishing works, then there's the humorously exaggerated view of the work life of the editors, the romance between two people who hurt each other deeply in the past and are struggling to come to terms with their new dynamic, and lastly there's the comparison of the storyline itself to a stereotypical shojo romance. Sometimes the comparison is fairly obvious with comments made by the characters. Sometimes it's more discreet like with the introduction of the maidenly heartthrob panel only to be shown later in the chapter with sarcasm instead of sweet words.The book itself has a nice color plate at the front. Nakamura's artwork is a nice blend of beautiful and humorous with some incredibly detailed backgrounds especially at the publishing house. The translation of the work is well done. It keeps the usage of -san and a few other terms which preserves the feel of a Japanese publishing house without overwhelming a western reader. Some of the sounds effects took a bit of getting used to as they were shortened versions with the vowels removed. Sex scenes are present though relatively tame. Takano is also fairly forceful with may not appeal to some.

This has always been my favorite manga and to own my own copy of it is incredible! Covers more than the anime of course. Nice wrapping and packaging too

One of the hallmark themes of the series is dealing with misunderstandings and facing reality. It’s a common problem in relationships, romantic or not. A person can either choose to ignore and pretend it doesn’t exist or try to understand the situation and discover a more definitive answer. Enter Ritsu Onodera, a former 25 year old literature editor at his father’s company thrown into a girl’s manga publishing department in a similar position, who fell in love in the past with a senior classmate that turned sour for him and ultimately jaded his perception of love and romance. On the opposite end is Masamune Takano, the 27 year old editor in chief of Marukawa Publishing and Onodera’s boss whom over a period of time revealed himself to Onodera’s as his first love from the past. As their relationship reignites, they discover that one of the prominent issues that caused the wedge between them in the past was the lack of proper communication which resulted in misunderstandings that later in the series Onodera blames partially on teenage stupidity.A bulk of the first volume itself sets up the setting, the major character in the Marukawa Publishing shoujo department, and some backstory about Onodera and Takano from Onodera’s perspective. The author takes the time to develop the characters and while also explaining with side segments terminologies common in the manga publishing industry (type setting, proper toning, a manga artist typical work set up).Both main leads are likeable and do have a touch of realism. Onodera is initially stuck in the past in a sense that he A) wants to prove himself as bigger than what he’s seen due to former workers at his father’s publishing company labeling as nothing more than a coat tail rider B) is still jaded by the belief that Takano treated their relationship in the past a joke which he misunderstood. Essentially he's stuck in quarter life crisis, however, even with those anchors he’s grounded when it comes to work and tenacious in that to him it’s not a matter can or can’t but just doing it. Takano from the little details unveiled from Yokozawa (and later in the manga you find out more) that he had a troubled past pre and post initial breakup with Onodora, however he is very fair and intelligent in his decision making despite lacking tact. Although not obvious initially, he’s very caring towards Onodera at work in his own way by pushing him to succeed (since that’s what Onodera strives for) even if that meant overworking him. The author does a great job fleshing and developing the characters.If you’ve seen the anime, it follows the first episode few episodes except with more dialog in some instances along with explanations about terminology which in the anime explained itself at the end of the episodes during the previews in a very fast paced dialog usually done by Onodera. If you’ve previously read the manga this release does provide a full translation of additional pages, so it’s definitely worth a second read. For those that never read or watched the series there is sex, but it’s done in a tasteful manner where it’s not thrown in out of nowhere. As always Nakamura does a great job with the art. There’s usually build prior to the act.I was very happy Sublime licensed the series and finally able to have a physical copy. If you enjoyed Junjou Romantica then you’ll enjoy Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. The manga is very character driven and focuses on developing the characters. Highly recommended.