From: usenet-2008@planetcobalt.net   
      
   Title:        Beauty is the Beast   
   Author:       Matsumoto Tomo   
   Publisher:    VIZ Media   
   Volumes:      5 (complete)   
   Demographic:  shôjo   
      
   Covertext:   
   "When bubbly eleventh-grader Eimi Yamashita finds out that her parents   
   are relocating for work, she decides to strike out on her own and move   
   into a dormitory for girls. Little does Eimi suspect the exciting   
   romantic adventures that await her there!   
   Eimi's fellow residents are a little bit crazy, but a whole lot of fun.   
   They've got a secret mission planned for Eimi's new resident initiation   
   ... and it has something to do with sneaking into the boys dormitory   
   across the street and returning with a special keepsake! Can Eimi pull   
   it off without getting caught by one of the handsomest (and cruelest)   
   boys in the dorm?"   
      
   The boys are pretty stereotypical. You have the broody, dangerous   
   bishônen (Wanibuchi) and his laid-back bishônen sideki^Wroommate (Inui).   
   The girls seem far less stereotypical to me. Perhaps because all of them   
   behave somewhat eccentric and ecchi (more than the boys). Eimi reminds   
   me much of Morinaga Ai's characters (namely Suzuki Hana from "My   
   Heavenly Hockey Club" and Hokuno Homare from "Maniattemasu!"). Her   
   roommate Misao has a thing for aesthetic bodies. And their next-door   
   neighbor Suzu is the spitting image of Hasekura Rei from "Maria Watches   
   Over Us" with an infatuation for cute lingerie.   
      
   After reading the first volume I'm not really sure what to make of the   
   story. I think the best word to describe everyone's actions is   
   "haphazard". For example: Eimi loses in Jan-Ken-Pon and has to go get   
   Snacks from the Convini. On her way she runs into Wanibuchi and an old   
   friend of his, and on a whim they decide to go to a summer festival.   
      
   It's kinda interesting to read, although not really outstanding, but   
   right now I have no idea whatsoever where the story is going.   
      
   cu   
   59cobalt   
   --   
   "My surname is Li and my personal name is Kao, and there is a slight   
   flaw in my character."   
   --Li Kao (Barry Hughart: Bridge of Birds)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)