Title: The One I Love Volume(s): 1 Creator(s): CLAMP Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: Tokyopop MSRP: $9.99 Genre(s): Drama/Romance Rated: Teen (13+)

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents will not have to worry about kids reading this book, as there is no language, no violence, no sex, nothing to be concerned about at all. Why this book got a Teen rating is beyond anything I can comprehend. Only read this book if you have a VERY open mind to unique books! I think it's a safe bet that men won't care much for this book while women will most likely be able to relate to this book extremely well in many cases (there’s something here for everyone).

What is love? How do you describe feelings you have towards another person? One of the biggest mysteries of our lifetimes are the deep, passionate, and intimate feelings people have for one another. It appears that whenever someone falls in love with another person, they will either be able to describe the feelings they have for that other person perfectly and without hesitation, or they will be at a loss for words at what they are feeling but know they are feeling something. Yes, love is a very complicated emotion indeed. Yet despite the fact that no one can exactly pinpoint what love is exactly, those who have fallen in love can tell you that love is one of the greatest things you can experience in the world. And when it comes to romance manga, no one makes them better then CLAMP.
"The One I Love" is a very different sort of manga you're likely to read from CLAMP, but it is a fascinating compilation of short stories about love, each story being about 5 to 7 pages long. At first, this may not sound very interesting since very little can actually be done with 7 pages worth of manga, but CLAMP has figured out a way to make this work. First, we get the 7-page story (most of which are very good), and then we get a little essay written by one of the CLAMP members (which one they don't say) in which the CLAMP member writes about what inspired the story, their personal experience, and how they feel about the topic we've just read about. If this sounds like a weird manga to read, then you'd be right, as this is an awfully strange way to go about doing things, and with the way the format is set up, this book is more opinion than story. In fact, this book is so much more opinion than story that at times this feels like a CLAMP members’ diary, one that they actually suckered the fans into paying for.

So what is this book really, then? It's a bunch of various opinions on love by CLAMP, put together in one book with a few pages of comic here and there to make it feel like we're buying a manga. It feels like a con at first; however, I must admit that the stories in the book (short as they are) are very entertaining to read. And the opinions...well, those are pretty decent too. And Tokyopop included all of the color pages in this book, which definitely is cool in my book (and this one might I add). However, "The One I Love" ultimately ends up as more of an experiment than an actual book you could read and enjoy. Oh sure, it's a good experiment, and the book is never boring, but the end result leaves a lot to be desired in the long run. The stories, as cute as they are, don't exactly leave a strong or lasting impression on you, mainly because they are so short that they end up ending just as they are getting interesting. I wouldn't mind reading more about all of the relationships in this book, but unfortunately for us, all of these characters were created for the sole purpose of providing a reference for people after the essay is read, and then to be disposed of shortly afterwards. This book also clocks in at around 120 pages, which makes the book in general a short read too. Despite the fact that the book is short, though, it’s best to read it in small portions, otherwise the book starts to drag and the stories start to become a little tedious.

However, to some credit, I'm not sure whether or not this book was REALLY made to be entertaining! I say this because a good 40% of the time I was reading this, I felt like the book was doing more lecturing than it was entertaining. The artwork is good. Granted, CLAMP has made some pretty big messes for manga, yet the one thing you can always count on is excellent artwork, so mentioning the artwork at this point seems like such a mild compliment by now. Right now, I'm torn about what to grade "The One I Love." I was mildly entertained by the series while I was reading it, but the book has no reread value whatsoever. Not only that, but second-guessing who would find this book worthwhile would be rather pointless, as the content in the book is just too strange at times. After I got done with the whole book, I kind of liked what I read, but rereading it has provoked a different emotion in me. If you are interested in this book, then you might want to check it out from a library, but I can't really recommend a purchase for it. Of course, this book is short enough that you could probably end up reading this book while you are waiting in line at your book store to pay for something else, so there are some advantages to the small page count. The grade at the bottom of this page is probably lower than what the book deserves, but somehow I can't bear to give it a higher grade.

When I first read the book, it was interesting, then it was dull, then it felt cheap, and the book just dragged me down each additional time I read it, until the whole book just ended up seeming more like a joke than anything. In fact, if you want to get the most out of this book, I recommend that you read it once and then never look at it again. At the moment, this is the best single book release that CLAMP has written so far, but that's not saying too much considering this is going head-to-head with series like "Miyuki-Chan In Wonderland." However, I'm going to give this series just enough credit that people know that this is not a bad book by any means. However, I can only fully recommend reading this once, and then moving on to something else, because the way I see it, if I'm paying $10 for a manga, I want a story, not an opinion. And much like some people don't reread too many online editorials they come across, I don't reread too many opinions a second time. That and a lack of any real story or character development means that I'm going to give this a reluctant poor grade. However, your opinion may differ; this just wasn't my cup of tea.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -