14-sai no Koi
Love at Fourteen

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14-sai no koi was initially a very cute romance story involving two adolescent teens who genuinely love each other. At first it was very nice to see the two main characters just interact and try to hide their relationship (which they do not need to btw) however as the manga continues, it will start to concern many readers.

Let’s start off with the positives, the characters especially the main cast are great, and the best character is the first LGBTQ person we meet which started off as an obsessive lonely type then evolves as they must conflict with their own feelings and the feelings of the ... one, they love. All around they’re the best written character in the manga and reading their story was very entertaining, and keeps readers invested as their story is second only to the main couple's.

Now let's move on with my qualms about the manga, there are a few other side stories/relationships in this manga, and they involve age gaps that made me personally feel uncomfortable. Many of the relationships involve fourteen-year-olds and adults in their mid twenties that the manga tries to play off as cute but to many will just come off as creepy instead. If it were only a one side love of a 14-year-old having an unreciprocated crush on an adult that would be fine but some of the adults in this manga have romantic feelings for the teens and depending on your sense of morality many will be split on how they feel. Now if we ignore the underlying problems here the side stories present are quite good and can keep a reader invested in how certain character's relationships would turn out, your enjoyability in these stories will be based on your sense of morality and how you can separate fiction from reality. By the way many of these relationships are developed in these chapters all named "intermission" which are chapters that connect to the main story but don’t necessarily progress the main relationship all that much.

All in all, the main relationship will be enjoyable to most readers and the side characters are certainly enjoyable to see come to life on paper however how you view fiction and where you draw the line concerning age gaps in fiction will dictate whether you will enjoy the side relationships. Many readers are going to probably want to skip or skim through the intermission chapters where these types of relationships mostly progress.

Love at 14 looked like the type of manga I would love - I'm a sucker for a young romance where the couple gets to slowly explore the facets of a relationship and grow more comfortable with each other. And you know what, when it does focus on our two main characters, it is something I love. Love at 14 has an excellent start when it is focusing on Kazuki and Kanata. Their relationship is very earnest, realistic, and charming.

However, the weakness of this manga comes in the form of practically every other side couple explored throughout the series. I'm not against exploring other characters, ... rather I often do enjoy it in manga of this type. The issue in Love at 14 is the nature of these couples. Practically every couple besides our main one is between a student character and an adult character, whether that be a teacher or an adult on the bus. Some don't mind these types of relationships in manga and anime, but it is incredibly distracting when the main couple of the series are two young students with such a true romance. It also doesn't help that the teachers acknowledge it is wrong to return such feelings, that they can get in trouble. It doesn't even try to act like it's somewhat ok, rather it parades a message of "Age is just a number", which is something in my values I cannot agree with. It's an improper power dynamic and simply put, pedophilia. Again, these are characters and it is fiction, but it's just not enjoyable for me.

Truly this is a great read for the main couple, who do get the majority of the development. However, as you continue you will explore the others and it is then up to you if you enjoy reading about them. There are a few nice ones, like Kanata's female best friend who has a crush on her, or the 5th grade girl who dates one of their 7th grade male classmates, which isn't too bad. Though in my opinion their interactions are rather weak. The strongest couple besides the main one is the secondary protagonists of Nagai and the music teacher - but again it is a teacher student relationship, so there is some discomfort. Honestly speaking it's rather creepy at times. I truly mean it when I say their interactions would be very cute if between two people of the same age group, but with a grown adult woman and a scrawny 14 year old boy, the nature of the pure-hearted story of two young children meeting their first love gets diluted.

Love at 14 is enjoyable to read, but quickly deteriorates as its side characters become more distracting. The main story is quite heart warming, but the questionable nature of the other romances surrounding them is distracting and even uncomfortable at times.