Laid Back Camp is a manga series written by Afro about girls in high school who are very passionate about the outdoors. The first two main characters are Rin Shima and Nadeshiko Kagamihara. They’re complete opposites who meet while Rin is camping. Nadeshiko is a very bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl who loves food, while Rin is just and introvert who likes to camp alone and read.
 
They become friends and later find out they go to the same high school—Motosu High. Every since first meeting Rin in the wilderness, Nadeshiko discovers a love for the outdoors and wants to join the school’s more relaxed outdoorsy club, the OEC (Outdoor Exploration Club) where she meets the only two members, Chiaki Ōgaki and Aoi Inuyama. Chiaki is very serious about camping and tends to overreact, and makes life kind of fictitious. Aoi is Chiaki’s friend, and is very kind and goes along with Chiaki’s strange habits. 
 
Then we have Rin’s friend, Ena Saito. She’s very cheerful and has a pet Chihuahua. So, just watch as they learn about wildlife, and food while battling their high school life, and meet new friends.
 
My Opinion:
 
This manga is adorable! The art ranges from very detailed to very cute chibi. I think anyone can enjoy this manga, and it actually gives you camping tips that are quite useful, such as reviewing types of sleeping bags, and food tips. This is also an anime that you can watch on Crunchyroll.™ A second season is also in progress, so hopefully that comes out soon!

Voices of a Distant Star by Makoto Shinkai is a science fiction manga based on the animated film from 2002 that follows the perspectives of Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Terao. In the year 2046, Mikako and Noboru (both age 16) were classmates and very good friends when suddenly Mikako was chosen to become a pilot and fight the alien species “Tharsis."

Now on Mars, Mikako (eight years away from Earth) tries to stay in contact with Noboru through texting, but as she gets farther away it begins to take longer for her messages to send. The more time she spends in space the more she realizes how scared she would be returning to Earth and trying to deal with all the time that has passed without her, since she wasn’t aging and everyone else was.

Meanwhile, Noboru checks everyday waiting for a message and he struggles with loneliness since Mikako was his only friend and they were planning on going to the same school together. As time passes, he begins to hear from his friend less and less until he starts to think that she has just moved on and forgotten about him. Noboru, now age 25, tries to start over and forget about Mikako until one day he receives a message from her that was sent eight years earlier. When he realizes that she has been trying to message him all this time, he sets out to try and see her again, not knowing if it will be in space or on Earth.

I love this manga! The art in each panel was very detailed and beautiful, the writing is also very well done. So many of the scenes gave me the chills because even though it’s science fiction you can still very strongly feel the same emotions as the characters while reading. Honestly, I’ve never really been a huge fan of sci-fi mainly because I feel like a lot of the stories repeat themselves, but this story was very unique and kept me interested.

I definitely recommend this manga to anyone who likes the genres of: drama, sci-fi, and fantasy! This book is not a series so it's quick to read.

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I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  (4/5)
 
Horimiya by HERO is a manga that takes place at school. The first character you meet is named Kyouko Hori. She’s beautiful, smart, popular, and has many friends. The other main character, Izumi Miyamura, is pretty much the opposite. People think he’s gloomy, and weird. Hori also has to manage her brothers’ life too. Her parents work quite a bit and never really come home, and her friends and most people don’t know this about her.

 One day, her brother comes home with a bloody nose and she rushes to see him. She notices someone there with him. It’s her classmate, Miyamura. There’s also a side of him nobody’s aware of. He normally keeps his hair down to hide some of the piercings he has during school, and wears his school jacket all year long to cover up his tattoos. Hori and Miyamura are actually more alike than they think. They become friends and Hori introduces Miyamura to her friends with him becoming a part of their group.               
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My opinion:
 
I think this manga is cute. At first I kind of thought it was cliché, but I was wrong. I have to admit the beginning was a little slow, but the second and third books pick up the pace a little and make it quite bubbly – yet sad. I have not finished the series, but I really hope to. There are eleven of these books written and illustrated by HERO. It can be quite funny at times, so I’d label it a romance comedy in a way.

A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi) by Yoshitoki Oima is a drama manga following the main character Shoya Ishida. The first book starts off by showing the present time and then telling Shoya’s past and explaining where he is currently. In elementary school Shoya was never interested in what school had to offer, and was constantly bored. He decides to beat this boredom by doing dangerous dares and games with his friends that sometimes lead to physical fights, eventually becoming known to the school as a bully. 

One day it’s announced that a new student will be joining Shoya’s class and this new student is Shoko Nishimiya. Shoko is deaf meaning that she can’t hear and can only communicate by writing in her notebook and using sign language. Shoya decides that she is his new target for mischief and he begins to bully her in any way possible. Shoya suddenly is surprised when he learns that everytime he bullies her she doesn’t react or get angry, making him determined to get a reaction out of her. This goes on for good amount of time until one day the teachers tell his class that Shoko had transferred to different school. Now years in the future Shoya is still incredibly guilty about how he treated Shoko and is determined to apologize to her. 

I am currently on the 4th volume out of 7 and a huge fan of this series! I like the story a lot because it is very original and doesn’t have a lot of the cliches you see repeated in other mangas. The characters are also amazing and the author did a really good job of expressing the emotions the characters feel. For example, for most of the first book I kind of hated Shoya for what he did to Shoko but in the end I just felt really bad for him. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I didn’t like how the teachers were portrayed. While teachers don’t always know what to do in certain situations I still was annoyed with how in the story they just let the kids keep bullying. Even when they did try to make the other students stop, they basically admitted that they also found Shoko annoying, which I didn’t like. 

I definitely recommend this series to anyone who anyone who enjoys manga and it’s also a great first manga to read. The series was made into a movie, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available to buy anywhere I’ve looked. 
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