Manga
Imagery ✮✮✮✮
Storyline✮✮✮✮
Controversial Content✮✮✮✮✮
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This manga is about 83 chapters long. This also includes the Manga Special as well as the side stories for each band member.
Man where to start. First of all, Let this be a trigger warning. This manga has a Smut rating. There is a lot of sex... No two ways about it. There is also emotional abuse, and there is one tragic rape scene as well as a few suicide attempt scenes. For a story about a girl who falls in love with a rockstar, this is a very high drama, high emotion story. This is something Mayu Shinjo is simply superb at.
Kaikan Phrase starts off with the heroine reading some lyrics she writes for a contest to her two best friends. These lyrics are what starts her topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride into the dark world of entertainment.
Our heroine is in la la land thinking about her lyrics and the contest and doesn't notice a light change as she's crossing the road. Leading her to almost be hit by a high-end Ferrari.
Enter Sakuya, lead singer of Lucifer. Ironically the heroine doesn't even recognize him mostly cause she doesn't listen to his band. Heh. He finds her lyrics after very sensuously checking to see if she is injured. The lyrics blow his mind and what does out top rockstar idol do. That's right. He steals them. Cuts them to music and claims it as his own. Well. He ends up giving Aine a backstage staff pass with all access and rushes back to the venue.
Aine starts to freak out when she realizes her lyrics are gone and wonders if he picked them up. She's already entranced by this man thanks to his sexy wellness checkup. or is it love at first sight?
Ultimately she ends up at the concert after going home and changing into something decent and she stops short at the entrance. The moment she hears the singers voice she is frozen. She recognizes that voice. Slowly descending the staircase she makes her way towards the front of the venue and then... Her lyrics are sung. With the melody and arrangement and his voice, she is enveloped in the memories of the moment he ran his hands on her leg and whispered in her ear. Basically, this girl has got it bad for this guy and its only a few chapters in.
Once they make eye contact he focuses on her then as the song ends he leaps off the stage and heads right to her tilting her chin up to face him and he simply says "I missed you". Lights go out he grabs her in a princess carry and returns to backstage.
Now There's an explanation of why she's there and that she wrote the lyrics which leaves everyone including the band dumfounded but since the manager has decided she is a burden he sends her away while they are doing an encore. A pissed off Sakuya then becomes determined to make her the lyricist.
The next few chapters are a simple battle between Aine and the manager. He sees her as a nuisance little girl and wants her gone and he is mean to her every chance he gets but Sakuya keeps her by his side, even gives her an apt to write in. She says she can't write lyrics like that a second time because she's a virgin, she wrote those as something she would want her man to say it was a fluke and Sakuya just smirks and offers to help her find some lyrics.
This is where he begins to toy with her without actually being full on intimate. At this point, I figured Sakuya was already in love with her he just was oblivious to it. He is too protective acting as if she is already his woman and all. Even his bandmates snicker that he hasn't realized it yet.
As the story goes on love blossoms between the two and he even writes a love ballad for her when he realizes she's being bullied by his manager and staff and sings it to her live. They become an official couple but not without a ton of trials down the road.
There's the bitter half-brother determined to steal Aine away by any means necessary and destroy Lucifer in the process. And bitter jealous fans attacking Aine at some points. Ralph, however, really does a number on them. So much so Sakuya leaves Lucifer and goes to America while Aine is basically held hostage by the half-brother. With a condition, she must love him and not Sakuya. Sorry half bro It isn't happening. This is where the first attempted rape happens. Out of anger Ralph throws Aine on the bed and demands she forget the bastard child and love only him. She just cries while calling Sakuya's name. I guess half brother has a heart because he walks away from her without forcing sex on her. Months pass and Sakuya is still in America and Aine is in a terrible state the whole time. Not even allowed contact with the other guys in the band sh is isolated and chained to Ralph unable to write the lyrics he is demanding. Well, after all, she can only write lyrics to and for Sakuya. She isn't a pro. She's a dreamer in love with the man who brings life to her personal wishes and thoughts of him.
Our Beau suddenly returns while Ralph is in the middle of scolding Aine for still not writing good lyrics and for still loving Sakuya. The moment he is about to force himself on her to force her change of mind his doors slam open and the new president of Metro Records enters.
Guess who? President Sakuya Ookochi. While Ralph was playing the villain in Japan Sakuya was earning the father he despised favor to become the next heir. Given the title of President of Japan branch, he heads home to demand Aine is returned. He throws a contract at Ralph and says you can have everything I took from you back all I want is Aine. elder brother accepts but thinks he is stupid to give up wealth and power for one girl. Sakuya just reminds him that one girl is worth more than all the wealth and power in the world. Awwwwww. So sweet.
Anyway, things go back to lovey-dovey state for a time and by this point, Sakuya and Aine have finally become one intimately. He refused to let anyone steal her first time from him. At one point the girls in her school, as a way of punishing her for being close to their prince, had gotten some ruffians to try and rare Aine but Sakuya showed up in the nick of time to beat the crap outta them and show the dark side of himself to his fans. It's also right around the time the manager told her because of that he was late to a tv show and she was a burden on him causing him to unveil love melody for her live to declare his love for her. By that point, the manager relents and accepts because he is starting to like the changes in him.
Fast-forward a few chappies to the next real big incident. The bitter child molester from the past. Well technically she's Sakuya first but I find her despicable to sleep with a twelve-year-old. Just me. Anyway, she has her sights set on the old flame and this woman is relentless towards Aine. basically, a paparazzi gets photos of Aine and him and he threatens Sakuya but says go see this woman if you have a problem with it. She gave me the tip. He makes love to Aine then slips out after she sleeps. Aine is already scared of losing to the pretty actress so when she wakes up and he is gone she goes into depressed mode. Needless to say, the next day Rumors of a love affair between costars come out and right in front of his own girlfriend Sakuya claims to love and treasure the actress from his past. That, of course, pisses her off. She wanted the hidden secret lyricist to be the brunt of the scandal, not her. Que weak suicide attempt 1. Actress breaks into Aine and Sakuya's place and slits one of her wrists but in a way where she knows she won't die. Or she hopes anyway. Then puts on the victim act with tears in front of Aine causing more pain and anxiety for her. This feud goes on for some time but in the end, Aine is the victor of course.
There are sooo many more incidents to talk about but I'll briefly list them. A trip abroad brings in a new love rival for Sakuya. Parents disapproval and possible transfer, New producer against families and lovers being apart of the band's lives, Scandal between Aine and Atsuro another member of the band. A complete misunderstanding Aine refuses to talk about because of a promise made to Atsuro and his lover/ Nonblood related sibling. A near breakup. Rework of the band's name and world launch. Notifying family they cannot go with to London. Band losing heart due to forced conditions they don't agree with. Sakuya finally acting his young age when he breaks down in tears at the thought of leaving Aine behind for such a long time after promising her parents he would take care of her. The leader of the band called off the London launch producer getting pissed off about it but instead lights a fire under a band that lost heart. Aine being forced to write lyrics for another band. Strife between the two bands competing and a possible love rival? This actually happens twice, though the first story of it is more involved as she's a woman who lived as a man who becomes all woman with half brothers help of course to steal Aine's man away so half-brother can have Aine.
Now the most tragic thing of all happens around this time. I will not fully spoil it here but Rape success Number 1 happens here. Causing distance between Aine and Sakuya and causing the producer to become enraptured by Aine. Suicide attempt 2 happens after this. as well as a band breakup. Ralph returns to protect Aine in the only way he can by crushing the high profile man who hurt Aine and his brother. By this point, the two brothers no longer fight over Aine and I think, now have a modicum of respect for one another since Ralph is engaged to a woman from a previous story after their plans to bring the two to splitsville failed, by this point. Ultimately this story gets a super happy ending and I really love this manga. I've probably read it 4 times already in the last few months. I don't want my review to spoil everything so just read the manga for yourself and I know if any of this appealed to you, then you will love it too.
Now on to the Anime Review
Imagery ✮✮✮✮
Storyline✮✮✮
Controversial Content✮
This will be short and to the point. The anime is absolutely nothing like the manga. There is basically one villain the entire 44 eps. And actually, The anime is more of a How we made the band kinda story. Not to mention each band member except Santa in the manga had a love interest. Be it girlfriend or Wife(Yuki was married due to arranged marriage before the band got big) The only one in the anime with a love interest was Santa and then Sakuya... Talk about a huge rewrite
The love story between Aine and Sakuya wasn't even really developed fully till near the end of the series. SHE doesn't even appear until episode 19... Basically the whole time it was an unrequited love of Aine loving him but him not really admitting he loved her too. The only story from the manga they got right, sorta, was the actress vs Aine plot. That's it really and even that was reworked and rewritten. The tragedy they choose for the anime is fans beat up Aine... The ultimate tragedy in the manga was the pinnacle of the story for those two and I feel it was important to their story so to see none of the controversial tragic scenes in the anime at all annoys me. Nothing worse that placating people who never read the manga and oppose controversial scenes in animes based of those mangas they never bother to read. The anime ends with them going to a place they never even went in the manga because they opted to go to America later instead...
The anime made too many changes for my tastes though it is still a good watch. It just isn't good enough to hold Kaikan Phrase as the name since it isn't anything like Kaikan Phrase.
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