May 18, 2007As a veteran manga consumer, I found "La Esperanca" to be a little confusing to read. Re-reading areas was a must at times, and after reading it through, I still am left wondering about some of the scenes. Strong soap-opera feel, with the main characters "Georges" in a passive and pining haze, and "Robert" (resident angst filled bad boy) bitter and so harsh that I could not connect at all to the character. No tension between the characters (think of "Only The Ring Finger Knows" as an example of delicious tension development). Background/secondary characters are also a bit confusing, and poorly introduced at times...often I was left to try to figure out who characters were and why they had such a chip on their shoulder...perhaps this was a weakness caused by the translation into english, which may be a bit wobbly. Would I read further into the series? If I knew someone that owned a copy, or found it at a library-there are too many fantastic manga out there to invest in instead.
