Mar 7, 2023
It feels a little ridiculous to write a serious review of such an unserious book, but let's give this a shot. I've read the first 2 LNs, and no one should read more. In fact, no one should read even 1. The ideal for this series is 0.
Plot & Pacing
It is incredible how little the story progresses after 2 volumes. The first 2 novels cover only the first month or so of the couple's relationship. Are there interesting diversions, you ask? Do they solve mysteries together, or are they training to become the pirate king? Do they have to fight aliens from outer space and
...
so the story is action-packed? No. How does the author waste over 500 pages? I'm honestly not sure, even after reading it. There seems to have been only 100 pages or so worth of content, somehow spread over 2 volumes. The experience has left me confused.
Characters
The first 2 novels cover the first month or so of a high school couple's dating journey. I want to emphasize "first month" and "high school" again because it's important to remember this in light of what the author writes.
First, every single adult, including random strangers and both sets of parents, immediately suggest that these two high school students should get married and have kids. Repeatedly. Again, they're high school students who have been dating between 1 and 3 weeks. It's exceptionally uncomfortable.
Second, the main characters oscillate between struggling with basic intimacy such as holding hands for the first time (totally normal for a high school couple after a week) and casually telling each other that they would make excellent parents (definitely not something you tell someone you just started dating, even if you're older, but especially if you're in high school).
As another review mentioned, every teen character is a walking cliche. The main boy, the main girl, the main girl's friends. The main two characters are surprisingly shallow after two books. What are their interests, other than each other? What are their goals and dreams for the future? Are they going to university after high school? These questions remain unanswered after 400+ pages and an almost myopic focus on the main two leads.
Author
It's hard to immerse yourself in a book when the book is written from the perspective of a high school boy, while the author is so clearly not. There are a variety of points in the book where you stop and think "a modern teen (or young adult) would never think this".
Nowhere is this more evident than the beginning of the aquarium date chapter. The main character is afraid his girlfriend will get hit on if he doesn't meet her at the aquarium. Our main character spends pages and pages wondering about the safety of his girlfriend walking from her house to their meeting spot. Are there large roving bands of Japanese men who will hit on unaccompanied high school girls unless they're accompanied by average protagonists (in front of major attractions no less)? No normal person worries about this. This is some kind of deranged middle aged overprotectiveness which makes our teen protagonist sound more like a middle aged pervert than a character we might want to relate to.
The author writes in the afterword that they recently turned 40, and that your forties “are the years of fuwaku”, which means “not to be bound by stereotypes.” If that's the case, I'm sorry to report the author is off to a poor start.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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