The Cinematic Quality of 'My Girlfriend's Child'

[@Money_D_Luffy]

I appreciate how you format these essays and how educational they are. It's almost like I signed up for a shoujo course at uni. This seems like a really thoughtful series that has a lot of heart. Great job!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Thank you!! I try to be both entertaining and informative while being as beginner friendly as possible lately 🙏 I'm glad it's coming off as intended!

[@m.di.c.]

I always think Kimi ni Todoke manga is extremely cinematic, the anime for it certainly took on almost every panel as a shot. It worked really well, too.

[@ahdvai2098]

We had visual language classes in school as part of the arts curriculum, my teacher would absolutely adore this breakdown! Interesting to see how a story I'd put in the "not for me" category manages to stay engaging and captivating via artistic merit. You nailed it!

[@pixelchix_]

not me crying with that small fragment from about time🤧

[@jettfuelfitness]

I genuinely can’t wait to read this manga I’m so glad you’re bringing attention to it. I’m so glad I know about it because you’ve mentioned it.

[@mellysandshrew]

"Cinematic" was a word that kept popping ino my head the entire time I was reading the first volume, it's absolutely a series that rewards the reader for slowing down, savoring and sitting in each panel. You go at the pace the manga sets for the reader, a reader can't just speed through the pages and get the same experience, it's really lovely and impactful. Thank you for the break down! I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series as it comes out, and hopefully having such an interesting video will get some more eyes on it in the west.

[@AtrociousJake]

I love how this was a great explanation of cinematography & not just a manga recommendation video... but also a great recommendation video! Another great video.

[@RevRainsUtopia]

Oh man this makes me want to reread Scott Mclouds understanding comics, cause it’s always wonderful to study how different manga artists portray their ideas, gonna have to check this one out since it sounds good

[@AlbinoBlackHole]

There was an unintentionally funny part of the manga where the brother is driving her and is like "You're pregnant, aren't you? That's bound to happen when you have sex." Immediately I got flashbacks to the sex ed teacher from Mean Girls. "Don't have sex, because you WILL get pregnant. And die." Otherwise, it was a great manga.

[@flavorgod]

That is what sex is for. That's why yo do it when your are married.

[@analauracortesaraya8581]

i was hoping if you could give shoujo recommendations like this, my girlfriends child reminded me how much i liked these mangas and didn’t know how to describe the vibe they gave, but now that i know i wish i knew more titles!! your video was amazing !!

[@maxaroni39]

I really enjoyed watching this! I think your experience as a photographer comes in handy for this specific video topic, and it's really neat how you incorporate film techniques into your own videos! And of course, it's awesome that you're getting more eyes on "My Girlfriend's Child," it's such a beautiful manga 💖

[@Juan-me9cx]

Good morning, afternoon or night, Colleen, I found this manga yesterday while looking for Citrus, yakusa lover and others, I just finished volume 1, I was expecting drama, but what I got was a realistic tale with punch after punch of reality, I believe this manga does such a good job of showing juvenile thoughts, actions and aftermath , I can not describe how empty that finale page made me feel and is with in my believe that if you close a book and said book didn’t make you feel anything, it didn’t do its job. There’s some panels that shows you the emptiness of the characters, the omg wtf do i do. Feelings that one way or the other I felt while being 15 or so many years ago, I know this is an old video, but thanks for the work you put for the Shōjo manga community!!!!

[@brimmedhathoe4392]

Oh, look! another banger video that'll live in my head rent-free again!

[@TheMissGratzy]

This is one of those that I want to read, but don't want to read at the same time. I had to put down Perfect World for similar reasons and still haven't finished reading the series, though I did complete the purchase of the series to eventually read. Perfect World got too personal and too emotional, and it looks like My Girlfriend's Child will be the same. It may be a long while before I've got the emotional perseverance to read this shojo, but will definitely pick it up. I love slice-of-life, especially when it's a touching drama, but damn it can be rough to navigate sometimes when something you hope and plan for doesn't pan out. Beautiful and thoughtful video essay, the care you put forth in this video really shines.

[@mangasaltaria]

Such a brilliant comparison! 👏👏👏 fantastic job with the examples from the series throughout as well ❤ Love that you included the panel of Sachi’s eyes changing once she sees the positive result. It’s such a moving point in the story.

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

thank you so much!!

[@Nikita_Akashya]

I am not an art person or a cinema person. Your essays are really great and informative, but it overflows my brain capacity which causes me to barely comprehend what you are telling me. It might just be the complicated words. I am a baby and I don't understand big words. But I do like reading Light Novels. Light Novels are basically movies, just inside your brain. I never really studied movie history or stuff like that. Big movie words confuse me. But the one thing that is better about visual media, is the fact that you can actually see which character is talking at the moment. This is the one problem, when you have big scenes in novels where you don't know who is saying what. Your video was really nice.

[@suzelsmanga]

This was definitely one of your best videos so far, I really enjoy the close look at paneling, perspective etc in storytelling! Keep up the good work 😊

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Thank you so much!! I was definitely feeling proud when making it.

[@sayaka19fan]

I really appreciated this analysis of panelling and pacing. Even if I wouldn't end up reading that manga, I felt a purpose and enjoyment in watching this video.

[@tansjord]

Another Masterclass video essay under Colleen’s belt 🤩

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

thank youuu 😭

[@aaronhill841]

Haven't watched the vid because I'm worried about spoilers but seeing you post it made me buy vol 1 and THANK YOU SO MUCH OMG! It's so good thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[@lu6754]

I adore colleen's analysis videos!

[@WateryStar]

You've sold me on this series ^^ Another great video

[@epppyyy]

I wanted to read this for so long! Cant wait to start this.

[@hound8801]

great job explaining the meaning of the shojo sparkle in this context!!!! amazing video:)

[@InPinkHeavenz]

your video essays are really my cup of tea and im so happy that this style of video essays and your channel focuses mainly on shoujo mangas. i hope one day i can hear you talk about akagami no shirayukihime for more than 5-10 minutes ;v; i'm not good with words, making it hard for me to verbalize my thoughts about the things i love and enjoy, that's why i'm so grateful to your beloved chihayafuru video as well as you worded out the feelings i have for it as well!

[@katarinaclaes96]

I can't wait to read this Manga it looks very interesting thanks so much for sharing this video with us. 😁

[@zazenbo]

ayo let’s goooooo time to buy a new book

[@val875]

Another great video from Colleen. I love seeing a deep dive review/analyzation of a manga instead of making a short video touching on brief points. I can’t wait se see which one you do next.

[@victoriahemingway8311]

This was such a great video. Took me so long to watch since I was waiting on reading volume 1! Wow, I absolutely love your breakdown. It really makes me think even more while reading and helps me understand the media and appreciate it that much more. You put all of these indescribable thoughts into words so well!

[@ghalyaalmaadheed7609]

thank you for the manga recommendation

[@bobfisher1992]

Really great. Opens me to craft and intent beneath the choices of the author. Thanks. I will be thinking about this while reading other manga and or shojo

[@AliyahCelestinez]

A shoujo manga I think is a cinematic masterpiece which is also similar to this one is Bambi to Dhole :)

[@gabo_93]

Great video. Almost no one talks about this stuff on youtube.

[@roseconleey103]

as if i wasn't already excited enough to read this one!! another banger thank you

[@danamytereads5304]

You put into words what I can't! I felt similarly about Perfect World!

[@MissSun23]

thanks you for the recommandation, i'll make sure to check My Girlfriend's child myself. you definitely sold it well. I love it.

[@amostra95]

favourite shoujo atm: Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi

[@projectmessiah]

This seems pretty darn good. I might give it a try but my backlogs pretty big rn.

[@Kitty-nq6dc]

Great video! 💙

[@MissSun23]

very good video! i learnt a lot.

[@charlotteritchie9969]

beautiful necklace!

[@60508]

Awesome vid, though I wouldn't be able to read the manga due to the cat stuff. There's just something about pets that makes me T_T for days after. Sad about the low view count, the algorithm is unkind, I didn't actually get this recommended when it went live I only came because it occured to me I'd seen the community post but not the vid itself. le sigh

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

Well I'm still glad you came back to watch it and that my community posts at least tip people off!! (The cat's fine allegedly so you should be okay to read, the worst is what I showed)

[@60508]

@@ColleensMangaRecs Ah if that's the case I'll give it a read! Thanks again.

[@Blah64]

I, and my Gamer friends, use 'Cinematic' as an insult. Because movies are generally at 24fps. Which is not great for gaming.

[@ঐন্দিলাশাসমল]

Hey collens did you hear? A condition called love is getting an anime adaptation. You talk about it so much

[@Beccasawrus]

But...but is the cat okay?

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

guess you'll have to read to find out!! lol

[@FalkaRiannon]

I pretty much come from the antifilmbro criticism of calling everything "cinematic". Calling anything but a movie cinematic always feels patronizing to me. "Oh this is so good that it could be a movie" like it's some kind of mark of quality to have a movie made of some other piece of art. Every artform has its own markers of quality and just applying one artforms markers to another and going "Uh this piece of art is like this other piece of art therefore it must be good." really does a disservice to any artform imo. Especially the term "cinematic" just feels so weird once you consider how many terrible movies are out there that all technically are "cinematic". I guess it mainly frustrates me that film gets held up as a pinacle of art when there are so many other amazing artforms that just don't get as much attention because they require more from the observer than just "go sit and look at the pretty moving pictures". Yes there are movies out there that require you to pay attention but most of those usually aren't mentioned when it comes to the term "cinematic". (Also please don't take this as me saying movies aren't art. They are. But so are paintings, radio plays, books, tv-shows, ttrpgs, wrestling matches, theater, music, board games and so much more out there. I just dislike putting movies on some kind of pedestal.)

[@alejandroojedatrueba8954]

imo its a mistake to talk about the comic medium through film theory lenses instead of comic theory. Throughout the video it feels as if you are robbing the manga out context by showing the panels separated from the pages. I think theres an interesting discussion to be had in "cinematic comics" but i dont think the arguments presented here were sharp enough. Maybe looking more into the subjects at hand rather than only making it about how u feel about it would make the arguments more compelling. Cheers!

[@ColleensMangaRecs]

While you don't have to like this video, I think it's also disingenuous to say this fell flat on the basis that I just used another form of analysis/theory to look at a manga. Like I said modern manga is very much inspired by film and it would not be wrong to look at something through that lens especially when it made me feel the way it did. Feelings can make valid and compelling arguments too.