Miageru to Kimi wa
Looking Up You

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This series stands in a weird spot with me because too be frank, it's not super good, but I would 100% percent suggest that you read it. It's not that the series is just atrociously written in a way that reading through it is worth such a good laugh or any other ways that a subpar manga would be suggested, but more the fact that this series embodies the essence of a "feel good series", and The art is incredibly fluffy and warm, the story itself is simple and easy to get into and coupled with its great shoujo style art gives you a fuzzy ... feeling the entire way through.

The story follows the main characters Chikako Takamine and Yuuki Shibuki, two people who are polar opposites to each other. Chikako is a tall, beautiful, athletic and handsome girl , a standout player of the guitar, with a warm, calm and inviting personality, and good grades who's beloved by everybody she meets. Yuuki is a short and rambunctious boy with a more feminine appearance and a constant flow of childlike enthusiasm, although this can manage to get him in trouble and doesn't keep him very grounded in the here and now. It keeps to a pattern of simple back and forth of presenting an issue of one or both characters self perception and how the experiences and support of both together helps them overcome that negative self perception and accept themselves more fully. The entire way through it's a bundle of positive affirmations about unapologetically being who you truly are as they face their final year of high school and imminent adulthood together.

We start off meeting Yuuki after he was turned down almost viciously by the girl he had a crush on, due to the qualities about him I previously stated. Heartbroken, he sees a disguised Chikako at a playground where she's entrancing a crowd with her guitar skills, playing a song secretly meant to lift his spirits, which works but she disappears after only offering him a supportive pat on the head. They later find themselves meeting again at school, which begins a strong friendship and later romantic relationship.

What really hurts this series for me is its use of characters. Outside of Chikako and Yuuki, nobody is really there. There's two supporting characters that are the best friends of both main characters and stand out from all the other supporting characters, but they still are a part of the collective that doesn't get a proper share of screen time. This neglecting of their development ended up with them feeling fairly empty whenever they were a part of the story, which lead to me mostly forgetting they existed as soon as they were no longer in panel, and portions of the series have some fairly ambiguous dialogue, especially the ending which unfortunately do take away from the experience.

However, both Yuuki and Chikako both are well established. They get tons of time and attention both apart and together that grows their individual characters, but also makes their relationship very strong and real, grabbing my investment and leaving an impact on me even through the issues of the series and the months it's been since I originally read it. Watching these two grow and help each other learn to accept the totality of their identities and their passions was nothing short of a treat.

This was a relatively short read, 33 chapters isn't necessarily very long especially since the writing didn't demand a lot of investment overall and I ended up binging it in the span of one day. It jumps from each "arc" decently quickly but because there's only two characters that needed establishing throughout the story everything except for the end felt well tied up and conclusive as it moved between each part. It's unfortunate that the series was so short because it's clear the author had such a fantastic understanding of the relationship of the characters but didn't get the chance to present everything that could've been presented to properly end it.

In summary, read this story. Read it if you're feeling down or just want an adorable, sweet, relaxed story to wile away the hours to. Read it in spite of its flaws. Trust me, it's worth the time spent.

Looking up to you 8/10-(First Half) 6/10-(Second half) (don't ask me how 33 chapters can be split evenly in two.)

First off, I'm going to split the review between the first and second half as I would like to tackle them as two separate entities. (Except the category of art as it doesn't change at all between the two halves.)

First Half- Story 8/10
Nothing groundbreaking it's your average romance manga plot with the super cool girl and the earnest boy.
Honestly despite how cliche the plot is, it's still very enjoyable and some emotions sparked off my flinty ... heart in their confession.

Second Half - Story 6/10
The plot just kind of nose dives shortly after the two get together, with plot threads being established with no proper payoff.
The main heroine Takamine-san has a mysterious past that I believed was supposed to be tackled or at least dealt with in some satisfying way but fizzles out after a single chapter.
The ending was quite disappointing as well with another "Open-ended" one, which infuriates me to no end.
Overall I think the author had intended this saga to go on for longer as they spent quite a few chapters not doing much if at all to progress either the plot or the characters.

Art 9/10
It's solitary A+ throughout its whole runtime.

Characters- 8/10
The two main leads are incredibly charming and are very enjoyable to read so not much to complain on that front. The side characters I also enjoyed but also understand that they're also pretty flat, with their characters arcs being cut short due to the clumsy handling of the plot's second half.

Enjoyment-9/10 (First half) 7/10 (Second half)
It's first 15-16 chapters were really enjoyable, and I had a blast watching the two leads get together but the same cannot be said for the second half. I was going in with the expectation of fluffy times with some emotional moments to be met halfway on both fronts. It felt far less entertaining as I could feel the author flail before my very eyes with all the very poorly tied up threads and ending.

Overall- 8/10 (First Half) 6/10 (Second half)
I would recommend reading up to the confession then dropping it entirely, the ending won't give you any closure anyways so you're not gonna miss out on anything anyways.

There doesn't seem to be any reviews for this manga as of this time of writing, so I guess I'll give my 2 cents.


Short Review: A nice read with a cool concept, but how it handles its characters can break immersion for some, and for those who like more definite endings may leave feeling a little unsatisfied.


Full review: Miageru to Kimi wa is a story that had great potential, but was ultimately butchered due to its length. For a romance on the more serious side, most of its characters are set up with interesting and believable flaws and doubts, but we never really get anything ... past that initial development. As an emotional piece, the story feels rushed and unearned, and from a narrative standpoint, it's unrefined at best.

Let's take how they treat our protagonist Yuuki for example. We quickly learn that he is very self-conscious about his appearance, and that point actually becomes a major catalyst for driving the narrative. However, unlike most other stories, there is no buildup to his moment of vulnerability. In more traditional tales, they have it so that we get some form of introduction to the character (their likes, dislikes, hobbies), and depending on the tone and genre, the main conflict of the story, internal or otherwise.

In a more structured narrative, we would've seen some establishment of Yuuki's personality, perhaps with the first few chapters showing that he is a regular high school boy, just with a more feminine appearance. Maybe it could show him getting teased for it from his friends, or show how people treat him differently for how he looks. And from those interactions, we can come to understand how exactly Yuuki feels about it, through his reactions or even an internal monologue. Following in tone with the story, let's say he feels generally negative about his appearance, but despite that Yuuki musters up the courage to ask out a girl he feels comfortable with, only to be shot down by due to the very thing he is insecure about.

However, here, we are immediately thrust into Yuuki's rejection, with little to no context leading up to that moment. This results in making the aftermath feel less impactful, relying solely on our ability to empathize with the feeling of rejection to carry the emotional weight of the scene. This is not to say that it's easy to see or experience rejection without feeling something, but the story constantly repeats this same mistake, making every moment that is supposed to evoke some sort of emotion feel cheapened and unearned.

Not only does the lack of development affect the general tone of the story, it also leaves us without a definitive closure, especially with the minor characters. For a story about learning to accept yourself, it makes sense to have all your relevant character have something they are insecure about, and thankfully this story does just that. However aside from the main pair, no one really gets a solid conclusion to their arc, if at all, and even then most people were unsatisfied with how their story ended.

Now despite all these flaws, it was still a pretty enjoyable read. The basic concept of slowing learning to come to terms with your flaws is already pretty heart-warming, and thankfully the story manages to get that point across. The quality of the art is nice and consistent, and the mangaka also does an excellent job of pacing, directing our attention to the moments they really want us to absorb.

Ultimately, I believe that Miageru to Kimi wa had the right elements it needed to be a really great story, however it wasn't given the time it needed, or deserved to flesh out the characters. Seeing how it is only 33 chapters long, the story was probably more ambitious than what it could handle, but nevertheless, check it out, only if you're ok with what basically amounts to a story that could have been better.