Sasameki Koto
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!english is not my first language
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So... Love in teenage years itself is such a rollercoaster, but it's way more complicated when you fell in love with someone of the same gender as you.

Sasameki Koto has a personal appeal for me, because I see myself in Sumika. I discovered this work when I was discovering myself as a person who likes another person without caring about gender, and at the same time I was in love with some girl that I knew she would never look at me the same way. So, even with the rushed ending, Sasameki Koto means a lot to me. It ... helped me understand myself as I am: A tall sapphic with an angry face, but with a butter heart. Just like Sumika!

Anyway, I liked the comments about prejudice against queer people (even if it was way too superficial, it's not common to see in a manga). Was just good to read, I know it has its problems, but I can't ignore my personal feelings while I'm writing about this. Sasameki Koto just means a lot to me, Murasame Sumika helped me a lot to accept myself as I am. I'll carry this manga forever in my heart.

This is a very good but very flawed work. It has some high highs, some low lows, and a lot of confusing plots and periods of pacing. To put it simply, I wanted it to be better than it actually is.

Funnily enough, I think the characters are fairly weak in this story as a whole; they should have been more than who they were. Sumika is a strong almost perfect girl that "isn't cute." She is the epitome of a teenage girl, and I think that is a good thing. She knows who she wants to be but can't: a cute girl that fits Ushio's ... partner preference. She struggles between wanting to be close to Ushio as a best friend while wanting to be able to express her love to her. Ushio is that sunshine-smiling girl that overcomes her struggles as a girl who loves girls that never shows what's wrong to others, but there is a tragic struggle that haunts her past. Luckily, Sumika is there to help her through all struggles.. but maybe there's more? These two characters are fickle and wishy-washy, which gets pretty frustrating at times. Every other character is actually pretty simple, though that isn't always a bad thing.

So the story... It's a mixed bag. The beginning is really good and interesting as feelings are discovered and struggled with and against. Conflicts of the heart arise constantly, as one would expect of a teenage drama slice of life. The issue comes as the story continues, the pacing gets strange, and the characters begin to go back and forth. Honestly, the writing starts to work against itself, as it feels more fitting for an anime rather than a manga. Multiple events will be going on at the same time on the same page without distinction, and important events are given through flashbacks and in a very unclear manner. There are many really strong moments that are written well, but I still found myself asking, "So what was that about?" and "Wait, so what's going on between these two characters then?" A part of me wants to pretend that the bad parts aren't there to give it a higher score--one I wish it deserves--but I can't.

6/10 I.. still think this is worth a read. The strong emotional moments still has me recommend this series, but I say be cautious of the weird writing and pacing. Prepare to read some parts more than once to really understand what's happening, and it will help. It's good, but man there is a lot preventing it from reaching the greatness I hoped it would be.

Good things about Sasameki Koto:
Decent art, strong characters. The main two protagonists are both in depth and likeable characters. You really grow to care for them. Also the first 3 side characters are great too.

Bad things about Sasameki Koto (spoilers):
Just as you think there's about to be some actual progress to real romance the author throws some annoying contrived cliche drama at you over and over again until he runs out of options and ends the manga like it should have done 30 chapters ago. Annoying transfer student shows up and gets in the way? Of course! Main character has some past trauma that prevents ... them from being honest? Sure! The wind made them not hear properly? Why not? MORE annoying transfer students? LOVE IT! Ill grandma? Are we done yet?

And that's how what should have been a much briefer but more enjoyable cute rom-com became a dead cat dragged through the mud before being hastily crammed into its finest clothes for the finale.