A face that hides scars that can never heal.
“When I was in junior high I was sexually abused by my stepfather, I got pregnant, and then I had an abortion.” These words were engrained in the mind of the high schooler Suwa Daisuke. Wasn’t bad already he heard then by chance, when he hid inside a confessionary, but he heard them from the mouth of Aikawa Hinako, a schoolmate who’s just barely 16?
His perception of the world is twisted around and Daisuke will never look at Hinako the same way. This is a burden that both will carry together from now on.
Story Synopsis
Suwa Daisuke is your regular high school guy who dreams to leave the small boring town where he lives and to move to the big city. He also a bit of a playboy and keeps a lookout on all the girl around him. All expect one: Aikawa Hinako, a fragile and shy girl with a extreme horror for men which Daisuke interprets as being an simple act of “sweet virgin”, a thing that he hates. After doing his deliveries for the family’s restaurant, he goes to rest inside a abandoned church that’s supposely haunted (actually, he spread that rumor in the village so he could have a quiet place.) But on that day his rest is disturbed by the presence of Hinako, so he hides in the confessionary trying to avoid her. Hinako confuses the guy inside with a real priest so she starts making her shocking revelation: that when she was in junior high she was sexually abused by her stepfather, got pregnant, and then had an abortion. Even so, she got abused and pregnant again, but had the son, who was delivered to adoption, one year ago.
The secret she carries.
This confession catches Daisuke unguarded and gets branded in his mind. From this point, he makes a resolution to support and protect this girl who suffered so much already. Even if he doesn’t realize, there are also feelings of affection for Hinako rising up inside him.
About The Manga
Bitter Virgin is a Seinen manga serialized in Young Gangan magazine and was created by Kei Kusunoki (she also made Girl Saurus DX and 100 Ways Of A Exorcist.)It’s still ongoing and up to date has 3 published volumes. The manga revolves around Daisuke and Hinako’s relation, her past and other female classmates who have Daisuke as the target of their love.
Reasons To Read This Manga
1. This is the seinen with the most heavy plot I’ve ever read. Stuff like rape, pregnancy, abortion are aborded here and compel us to care even more for Hinako.
2. It’s impressive how they express Daisuke’s feeling and all the emotions that emerge from him along the manga. You get involved on the swirl of thoughts he has about him and Hinako.
3. The mangaka has a great drawing style. The look of the characters is nice , with a bit on emphasis on their eyes and the manga has alot of memorable one page scenes and close-ups, which adds up to the drama of the plot.
Thoughs
This is a good alternative if you don’t like your typical mainstream shonen manga. This isn’t your Bleach or Naruto, noone have special powers or it’s a goddess or can kill people by writing their name on a book; this is about the drama of a girl with a tragic past and the feeling of a guy for her. You just can’t avoid to cheer for them and wishing they will overcome all adversities. When I’ve first heard about this manga and saw the mangaka’s name, I though this would turn out another silly love comedy as she is used to make ( just think about Girl Saurus DX.) But I’m glad she changed , because she’s doing an excellent job with Bitter Virgin. We now have to see how it will develop in the next chapters.
Watching her from afar.
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21 Comments
Looks interesting… anyone in singapore publishing this… dont think so huh… Will look forward to reading it.
This type of manga is alot better then those shounen manga with predictable ending/storyline…
This manga is really good. I’ve read the chapters 1-15 so far but i couldn’t seem to find the other remaining chapters…how many chapters do this manga have?
I don’t think this would be published in Singapore, for the very reasons that people (and the media) had brushed general sentiments against manga: it’s for kids, and ONLY for kids. NO MANLY MANGA FOR YOU, S’PORE!
That aside, Thanks For The Bumpz. I’ll read this one for starters.
do u hav the chinese title?
well it might be worth reading
So far this manga has been impressing me too.
Given the nature of the subject material I was a little worried it wouldn’t be taken seriously (I don’t know why since I haven’t read any of the manga-ka’s other works).
And I do feel that the subject is something that should be treated seriously and not made light of.
But I need not have worried. Its a tough subject to tackle but Hinako’s situation is treated with great sensitivity and not sensationalized in any way.
The characters are very sympathetic (okay well Daisuke doesn’t start of that way!) But its nice to see that underneath that bluster he’s actually a decent guy.
But in a way its pretty sweet when he becomes so unsure of himself around her because he doesn’t want to do anything to hurt her.
If you’re looking for something a bit more adult not just in terms of the plotline but characterization I’d say this is for sure a manga you should read.
I’ve read 15 chapters of this manga… it really hurts when you are reading time to time. and personally i hate kazuki!! what an annoying girl she is, also being psycho is so cliché.
and why people act like that when they are sexually abused? seriously go to the police! learn some defense techniques at least.. put a knife in your bag! boy, being a girl, it really pisses me off!!!
this is a good manga, so read it! the whole story and characters (except kazuki) are really good and touching.
Wow. That’s all I can say. I just read it because of your reccommendation, and it is simply amazing. I was literally crying for Hinako.
@irem As for why people act like that when abused, it’s partly when you’re young and have gotten hurt you tend to think of it as punishment, especially if it comes from someone you percieve as an authority figure. They’ll be so hurt and confused and ashamed (though they have absolutely no reason to be) that they don’t want to tell anyone. This is also partly because they’re afraid they won’t be believed, which is sadly too often the case.
Thanks for the review!
I just finished all the volumes that are out, and enjoyed it quite a bit.
I never really did read manga for the art, so can’t say much about that, but the story has been pretty impressive so far. I like how it doesn’t follow the romance routine, and is more or less unpredictable.
Can’t wait for the rest to come out!
The first 3 volumes are available in Kinokuniya. I found them at the Liang Court branch, retailing for S$12.90 each. Not sure about the one in Takashimaya branch though…not so likely to be in the Bugis branch (as they have fewer Japanese manga)
i love this while story line…
Everything is sooo…. good until that Kazuki shows up! Oh well, I guess thats what makes the story complete…a bad person is always included. Hinako is trully sweet…she only smiles and even feels compassion towards people who treat her badly. I hope there’s more chapters coming out after 15 soon.
omg this book made me cry so many times xD IT ROCKS
(ANIME FAN ALL THE WAY)
I’ve read up to the 18th volume and I think it is an amazing manga.
I got really attached to it and now that I’ve finishedd with the 18th volume, I can’t help but wonder… Is there more volumes to this manga?!
Plz, if you know the answer to my question, plz feel free to contact me at xXxScreamMeALoveSongxXx@yahoo.com
Thank you! ^-^
I’ve read up to Ch 22 so far. What a fabulous read it is. If you think things are heavy now, just wait, they get a lot more so.
This is probably the best manga I’ve read that takes on some pretty deep subject matter and I’m really glad they’ve given most of the characters real warmth and plausibility, though I think Kazuki could do with a bit more depth.
I think we all know what will happen in the end but I dread to think what they will have to suffer to get there…
it really touches the heart.. its a good story that would make people who had a deep dark past to think otherwise, believing that there are still some who would actually care and be kind like that.
all in all it was a great one!!! Hope you keep uploading it till the end. Thankz.
where can i get many picture of this manga?
Hi!! I just finished reading the manga in just one reading and I definitely enjoyed
it alot..
Certainly not the sci-fi or other action mangas that we know but this manga has definitely the feel of life and love. I say life because in the manga, Aikawa was able to value the life of his baby boy eventhough at first she thought that the baby was just a parasite in her womb, eventually it turned out that she longed for him in the end and was even dreaming of what he had looked like.
I am a man and i know the great feeling when you hold a baby in your arms so I definitely feel sorry for the character of Aikawa.
Love because I extremely like the way it ended for Aikawa and Daisuke, they managed to get through all adversities and let their love for each other conquer it all..
Definitely I commend all of the readers to read this because I was also able to think that I was really a lucky person to have my mom give life to me and manage to take care of me till today, you will definitely love your moms more after you read this manga..
I completely finished this manga in 2 days and it was the best manga I’ve read so far. I’m pretty sure that it’s my favorite, and I don’t think that any manga/anime I see after this will feel as good as this one. It’s so amazing that at the very end, I was crying and smiling through my tears.
One of the best manga I’ve ever read. I really felt the emotions that the author wanted to convey in the story. I envy those artist who can create a story line like this one. It is very well written and to the the fact that it is drawn magnificently, targeting the facial expression of each of the characters thus bringing so much life on the characters.
I love this manga so much!
i just finished reading the manga in one sitting and i was engrossed with the story i wasn’t able to sleep, i really touch me because of the difficulties hinako had gone through at an early age… What really impressed me i s daisuke’s determination to help and care for hinako… its a very mature manga romance i would rate it 5 out of 5 star because of the different twists and turns…. but i really hated the couples uncertainty that their love would last… it sucks! you want them to last forever but l;ets face it they are just being realistic… So can i ask all you guys if you are willing to accept a girl/woman for who she is even i f she was raped several times, had an abortion and got pregnant and got the baby adopted.. can you? i think i can if i really love the person
I read the whole entire series last night and this morning. I’ve never read a manga with a story line that really engrosses you into the story. The topics discussed are really from the heart and are very emotional.
The characters are so much more well drawn out than of any other manga I read. I’ve never read any of this author Kusunoki previous works, but I’m impressed. The characters aren’t limited to their role, for example Kazuki, who appears to be a vain, psychotic, extroverted girl bent on Daisuke’s love, but shows there is more to her than being a…well, freaking psycho. Hinako is a character with a lot of trauma, and Kusunoki draws in out well. Daisuke is also a very realistic carachter, but I wouldn’t really call him a ‘ladies man’. Guess I have a different definition of that!
The emotion in the manga is very strong. I almost cried! Especially since there are tragic topics that even the author has gone through, it makes it all the more connecting. The story isn’t too cliche like I thought it would be, since most manga I come across has that “oh everything is gonna be dandy” feel (the message I got in the ending surprised me)
I was getting a bit tired of the shonen mangas I read (I still love them all however) and Bitter Virgin was a breath of fresh, although thick and emotional, air.