Mangaka: Mizuki Shioko
Volume(s): 7 (complete)
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life
Summary: "When her grandmother passes away, high school student Kajitsu Toda suddenly finds two hot stepbrothers and an adorable little stepsister dropped in her lap! Kajitsu and her step-siblings have only one thing in common: they were all abandoned by their parents. Against the odds, they’ve pulled together to form a family without grown-ups. They don’t want charity, they don’t want pity—they just want their dignity! Things are particularly tough for Kajitsu and her step-brother Natsu. As kids, they were as close as any true siblings. Now, reunited for the first time in seven years, they’ve grown as far apart as two people can be. Can they ever become friends again? And can two high school students living together, even as “siblings” ever escape scandal?" So I've read all the volumes of Crossroad.. and I have to say, despite having some really crazy aspects as part of the storyline (such as how Rumiko, being none of their actual mother - and some of them still having actual blood-related family members living - taking them all) and some of the bizarre happenings in this manga.. I definitley really loved it. The characters were fabulous, the artwork was great.. and overall (minus the parts where I was like, "Holy crap.. that's totally bizarre.") the storyline was pretty amazing. Though.. in the beginning.. I was rooting for Natsu and Kajitsu.. but after Akai came in to the picture.. I was secretly rooting for him! He definitely has to be my favorite character.. along with Toma. Everything that came out those two's mouth and everything they did.. totally cracked me up. There were a few lines that Akai had said.. and I happened to have just taken a drink.. and yea.. my computer almost had soda spewed all over it's screen because of how hilarious some of the things they both said. Although.. the one complaint I do have.. is that I didn't think that it had a good enough ending. There was all this build up throughout the manga.. and then the end was just like, bing-bam-boom. I felt as the the ending didn't measure up to the rest of the story. I mean.. there was just all this drama and everything throughout the story.. and the ending.. it was just completely dull. I feel as though the ending should have left a bigger impact.. like the rest of the manga. And that would have worked by showing more closure for each of the characters.. I just felt as though the ending just didn't fit the rest of the manga. Though, maybe I'm the only one that feels that way. Despite that though, I seriously loved the manga.. and it's definitley one I'll probably read a few dozen times.. because like I said, I loved the characters (especially Akai - I think I have a thing for crude, perverted characters.. lmao). This is definitley one that I recommend reading.. so if you haven't checked it out.. you definitely should!
