Shugo and his twin sister, Rena, have won a special character avatar contest for The World, the greatest mmorpg going. Not long after entering The World, Shugo finds himself (or rather his character) dead... in cyberspace limbo he meets a strange girl named Aura who endows him with a strange and powerful bracelet. Let the mystery begin! Twilight has a lot of fun characters and in addition to the mystery solving and battles, it's really light hearted and funny.

If you've watched the anime adaptation, regardless of how you felt about it, I recommend picking this up. The manga has a more fulfilling storyline, not to mention some characters never even touched on in the anime. The only thing that bugged me about this was the ending. While it was much better than the anime adaptation, it still fell a little short. Though anyone who has entered the .hack universe will come to see that nothing ever really seems 100% resolved.

Usually I don't care for straight up romance. I prefer it peppered in with action or comedy because the straight up drama just annoys and bores me. That said, I was feeling a little extra hopelessly romantic one day and decided to give this one a shot. In the end, I did start to get bored, but I give the series props for keeping things for the most part in the realistic realm and having some nice character growth. A real romance lover might rate this higher, but for me it was cute, but not compelling enough to keep my full interest, so I'm giving it a 7. For more details, keep reading.

When I started reading Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu I was really worried this was going to be another case of a guy being a complete jackass, probably abusive and forceful because of a tortured past and OMG tortured past makes everything okay because he still really loves the heroine. I'm happy to say I ended up being surprised.

Yes, Kyouta is first introduced as being a kind of bad boy man whore who pretty much just uses women as his play things. While he wasn't the type to flat out rape a girl, he might as well have been because his attitude toward them was just plain unattractive and disturbing. And yes, he had a reason for thinking like that, but it wasn't thrown in my face and laid on thick to try to excuse his actions. Kyouta was still expected to change his way of thinking and become a better man, and I mean a complete overhaul. I've seen plenty of characters who continue with their occasional abuse throughout the entire series, but Kyouta really becomes a better person, kind and dedicated.

Hibino, is also forced to change, because living as a sheltered old fashioned girl just isn't going to cut it for her, though she never let's go of who she really is, which was great. At the same time, though, Hibino's naivety and insecurities can also get very trying, to the point where I was getting fed up with her.

Plot-wise, this manga is pretty cut and paste as far as romance plots go, but what was enjoyable was seeing her work through those little bumps as she slowly discovers what it means to be a lover. And as I mentioned above, Kyouta's dedication is admirable. There's no question how much he really loves her.

While there are bits of drama here and there, and a few "OMG that's stupid" dramatic points, most of the time conflicts are resolved relatively quick in a believable manner, such as with intervention from a friend. It was a nice change from watching a character cry and mope for pages on end, only to get back together, then break up again a chapter later.

Overall, Kyou, Koi Wo Hajimemasu really is about the actual relationship between two people. It lacks a lot of the major drama many romances have, so it may come off as a little slow or boring for some, but in the end I found it a pleasant enough read despite not being a fan of straight up romance and drama. And to those scared away by Kyouta's a**hole behavior in the beginning, I encourage you to trudge through it because I seriously can't believe it's the same guy in the beginning as in the end.

After catching the anime "X" on tv, I started looking into the series and learned Tokyo Babylon came first. The manga follows a young medium named Subaru who also happens to be a side character in "X."

Subaru is a young medium and head of the Sumeragi clan, a group that has been protecting Japan from hostile spirits for centuries. Tokyo Babylon follows him through various "exorcisms" for a lack of a better term, among other things. Through all this he also deals with his eccentric twin sister, Hokuto, and their friend, Seishirou.

I think what makes this manga so intriguing for me is Subaru's personality. Unlike a lot of stereotypical heros who are loud, boisterous, and stubborn (Hokuto fills that niche quite well) Subaru is actually a very quiet and gentle individual. His spiritual power is strong and there is no question that he is good at what he does, however, he isn't above needing help or succumbing to his emotions. His sensitivity is perhaps, his greatest weakness, but it is also what makes him so endearing. The fact that he was drawn in CLAMP's typical cute teen style doesn't hurt him either. ;)

The one weird thing is that he does look exactly the same as his sister. Subaru hasn't hit that last growth spurt yet, and Hokuto isn't exactly well endowed. If she and Subaru were standing side by side in the same outfit you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. If Hokuto's personality wasn't so over the top, I would have had a hard time figuring out who was who.

Plotwise, there is more going on than just the chapter by chapter spiritual incidents that occur. Each case Subaru works on reveals a little more about him as a person, as well as, hinting at a much deeper plot that began when he was just a little boy. This deeper plot is gradually revealed until we hit the climax near the end, and a very sad ending with a "to be continued" feel to it. And even if the outcome was the same, I would have liked to see more of a showdown at the end. Fortunately, this story is continued in "X" so I will be looking forward to picking that series up next.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga, even if the ending left me feeling a little gypped. 9/10

Let me start by saying... I... LOVE... THIS... STORY...

I first learned about "X" when I happened upon the anime adaptation of it. I was immediately grabbed by the whole encroaching apocalypse thing and after some digging around learned of the manga and its prequel, Tokyo Babylon. So I put the anime on hold and hunkered down into a manga marathon that has tossed my poor little heart around like a ship at sea.

For starters, there's a lot of disturbing things going on in this manga. I mean, body parts flying, decapitation, blood spatter. And that's just the visual part of it. Emotionally, you'll likely be left wanting to cry at times, heck, you may even shed a tear or two. And I think I've established a mental vendetta against one guy for everything he's done to another character. It's that engrossing.

Now no one goes into an apocalypse story expecting all sunshine and buttercups, but they are made sooooo much more tragic when you start to think of the characters as real people, and even worse when you start to really care about said people. That's what really makes "X" for me. I am amazed at the growth/change in the MC, Kamui, from start to finish. He's built up in the beginning as a savior of Earth, but it's never lost that he's still just a human, a teenager no less. There's a lot placed on his shoulders and sometimes he can handle it, and sometimes he can't, but he learns and he grows physically and emotionally. You learn the reasons behind his behaviors, you see him cope, you cry with him, and suddenly you're reading a chapter and think, "wow, Kamui, you really have changed."

If you read Tokyo Babylon first (which I highly HIGHLY recommend), you will also see alot of Kumi's character reflected in Subaru, who returns in "X" to continue his own story. I think it's this connection between Subaru and Kamui that really started to drive my enjoyment to super proportions. They really play off of each other when it comes to character development. Of course, the remaining cast were, for the most part, just as enjoyable. There were few people who I had any major dislike, and everyone had some form of a backstory. Like I said before.... "real people."

Another point worth mentioning about "X" is there is no set villain. Oh, there are antagonists, and anyone who hurts Subaru is an asshole in my book, buuuut a lot of the designated "bad guys" really aren't. Despite words like "destruction" and "protection" being thrown around, the story is not that black and white. This is, of course, why you really have no idea what's going to happen. Will Kamui prevail? Will humanity survive? Will anyone is this damned universe get to be peaceful and happy again?!!!! You just can't guess... and we may never know because...

THERE'S NO ENDING!

That's right. "X" is unfinished, and if and when it will be completed, only CLAMP knows. I hope and pray they will one day finish it.

Sooo... 9/10 for being unfinished, but still providing one hell of a ride.