Sometimes the most simplistic stories can have the biggest impacts on our hearts. "Suki" would be a fantastic example of this. The love presented in this short manga is at such a level of pure beauty that one can't help but fall captive to it. Story: Meet Hinata Asahi: perhaps (and at no exaggeration) the world's happiest girl. She is, by quote from her friends, an "absent-minded savant". She excels in academics and sports at her High School all while managing to be extremely naive. Hinata's life takes a spectacular turn when an attractive, older man moves in next door to her. Hinata (who likesto be called "Hina) is thrilled when it turns out that the man next door is a substitute sensei for her class at school. When Hina develops a crush on her new sensei, her friends try to convince her that not everyone is as caring as they seem.

Art/Characters:
CLAMP, CLAMP, CLAMP, CLAMP. Can I say much more? The art in Suki is part of what makes it so simple and unadulterated. The beautifully developed Hina not only delivers the goods in pure, innocent, absent-minded moe-ness. But also makes it impossible not for someone who picks up and reads a few pages of this manga to fall in love with her.

Enjoyment/Overall:
If you are going to read this story expecting for it to be about the struggles of large age differences in dating, and a lot of ecchi teacherXstudent...you might as well forget it. Suki is NOT about age difference. It is first and foremost about trust in the most unlikely circumstances. And hey- I'm not especially thrilled about the idea of a 16-year old and a 32-year old dating in real life, but CLAMP made it work. The age difference thing didn't even cross my mind. I never thought to myself, "it'll never work because he's too mature for her". The story was pure and simple. Period.
I definitely recommend this one.