Ranked #7633

Tokyo Marble Chocolate (Manga)

I like josei more than shoujo, but there doesn't exist a lot of (good) josei, so when I find it I like to share :). This is a story of two characters, written from their pov and share one thing in common- wrong timing for confessing their love. It is good balance that the stories r presented from the pov of a girl and a boy. Thus giving readers an insight into both gender's psyche, the insecurities they feel, their unrequited love, their cowardice and finally how they r moving on (or trying to) instead of staying in one place.
Story 8- First story is from the girl's prespective, Chizuru, who's been in an unrequited love for her childhood friend (Kazuom Tomojii). We see Chizuru and Kazuomi spending/passing together bc he's waiting for his gf. Chizuru knows that he doesn't love her and if she confesses to him she'd just destory their freindship, but she can't stop herself from confessing at the end of the day. Her story (love) ends with her looking from the tokyo tower (which is significant at the end) thinking surely somewhere her someone special exists and she wants to meets him.
The second story is from Yuudai's pov, who is best friends with Tsujii and Hiro (with whom both r in love with). Because Yuudai is scared to confess to Hiro, confesses to her later but Tsujii had confessed to her earlier, so she goes out with him. Yuudai hasn't been able to get over his cowardice ever since and have a steady relationship. Hiro says that if Yuudai had confessed earlier then she would've gone out with him instead and at a class reuniion, after talking to Hiro and Tsujii he's able to get over his cowardice/love.
One other thing that the both stories have in common is that the persons the main characters loved, thank them and say they were happy to be confessed by them. Confirming that if they'd confessed at the right time then maybe they'd have had a happier ending.
The stories r not much for plot, as much as being more of a slice of life and look at unrequited love. Their stories move forward, the characters develop, mature and try to find their special someone somewhere again. But this time they know to be more honest and have moe confidence.
Art 8- I don't know much about manga art terminology or art in general, so I'll say it in simple words. Art is plain, fine lines used and typical josei art used in romance genres. It grows on you after a couple of pages, I liked it very much and found it better than bishie drawn (i.e. Hapi Mari).
Character 9- In just two chapters (one for each ), surprisingly both characters develop very nicely and at a realistic pace. I liked that Chizuru and Yuudai still carried the heartache from their first love, but their heartaches have been given a proper ending so they know they can still be happy and have someone special for them somewhere. I love these types of characters, who're realistic and learn to move one, instead of wallowing in self pity of unrequited love. In some josei romance, I hate it the most when the girl still has the same sort of mentality as a shoujo girl. It's josei for a reason, with older females aimed at older women. This manga, for me, illustrates the perfect type of character portrayal of older women.
Enjoyment 8- I enjoyed it very much that I have read it two times in two days. After finishing it, I found myself still thinking about the characters and the story. It stays in your head (at least in mine) for a while, which isn't a bad thing.
Overall 8- I wish it were longer, maybe one more chapter. But other than that it's a perfect manga with a great story and characters.
I would like to recommend it anyone who's looking for a good romance and drama manga. It'll probably take you 20mins to finish the two chps and they wouldn't be 20 mins wasted. I wish there would exist more works like this one.
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