Fukumenkei Noise
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Woooooo what a doozy.

This series had its fair share of ups and downs. When it's good, it's reaaaally good, but there were also times in the middle wherein it really took everything from me to keep myself from pushing through and reading this.

When you think about it, there is really nothing much new to the story, I feel like you could read this type of story somewhere else. And the characters really aren't that good to begin with either. In fact, I was annoyed at both Nino and Momo at the start. Come to think of it, if you were to ask me WHY I ... actually got to finish this, I don't think I can give you a definitive answer. Nonetheless, this series did have some good things into it.

My first favorite thing about this is the ART. I love the artwork done here especially during their concert scenes. Honestly, whenever I read them it makes me feel like I'M on their concert as well so that's a plus for me.

One more thing I like about this is the character development of everyone (besides Momo which I will explain later). The character development of them really took long to happen. I guess in a way this is what you can call as a slow burn? Anyway, the development I like the most was Yuzu. Honestly, I feel like Yuzu is a big reason that made me finish reading this. I wanna talk more about it but I really don't wanna spoil a lot to you guys. As for Momo, this might come off as spoiler-ish, but I honestly felt like he wasn't given ENOUGH screen time for me to actually root for him? Like sure he did have some scenes but not as much as Yuzu and the others had.

Anyway, this series isn't necessarily something I'll recommend to anyone because I feel like this series had its own niche. However, if you like a lot of angst and some rock n roll, then maybe this manga is for you.

TL;DR: By the end, you only care about the side characters. If you're reading this for the love story or the development of a main character, you will be EXTREMELY disappointed. Try something else and don't waste your time, I've already made that sacrifice for you.

Summary: Although I love the art and (most of) the characters, I really can't say that this was a good series. The plot was very congruent for the first half of the series, and although a bit cliche at times, it made you invested in the story and to see how the characters were going to grow and change. But ... all of that investment and attachment gets thrown out the window for the second half of the series, as the main characters fall apart, their actions don't make sense, and you end up feeling like you're on a merry-go-round watching the same "who will she choose?!?" trope drag itself out. By the time the end does come around, you become tired and irritated by the main female lead and her partner, and really only stick around to see how the side characters ended up.


Spoilers ahead, you have been warned:

STORY:
The most irritating part of the story is in fact the love triangle. The main female lead spends 80% of her time in the series with a character she will not end up with, and she ends up with male lead instead (second most frustrating part: the male lead has no personality, but even if he did you wouldn't get to see it because he's barely in the story at all, and he has more character development with a female side character. I genuinely thought they would have ended up together because the author kept putting so many scenes of the two of them together).
I have no issue with the main couple being together though, they had been setup to be together from the first chapter, and it was clear the author was going to have them together at the end very early on. And I did enjoy the love triangle at first, because usually in love triangles you see two characters pair off, and the third one usually incites the romance between the other two or helps them overcome obstacles that would have led to the end of their relationship if not for the third's external help. We also usually have an ending where the third character is able to move-on from their love interest and grow as a person, and typically results in them finding a different character to be with that is better for them than the love triangle.
Now mind you, the main male lead is supposed to be Momo, the character the female lead ends up. But since we don't have character development for Momo nor have many chapters with him in it, we have Yuzu who essentially is the male lead, but also will be the third in the love triangle who is singled out.
Yuzu goes through SO MUCH character development, and even reaches the point where he is ready to move on from his doomed love triangle and make his own happiness. And yet despite being on the right track, the author decides to continuously throw him BACK into the life triangle and stunt his character growth for MULTIPLE CHAPTERS, usually because the female lead goes through several moments in the series where she breaks character and acts as if she has feelings for the main male lead (Yuzu), which I don't think anyone was confused about who she was going to end up. It genuinely felt like the story had a set plan of how the characters were going to progress and when it was going to end, and then the author was told "Make 30 more chapters!" And instead of including new content or introducing new characters for our main leads to interact with, the author instead decided to just remove the character growth and continue the "Does she like bachelor #1? Or bachelor #2? I don't know, because I can't give her a consistent personality!" It was *very* frustrating, and by the end I just wanted to know if Yuzu was able to continue his character growth or not.


ART:
As other people have already stated, the art is beautiful, and a large part of my enjoyment from the series came from how beautifully it was drawn. If you're not used to Fukuyama's art style, certain things may seem a little over-exaggerated, but they have an uncanny ability to draw various and conflicting emotions on a character's face that feels honest and real.


CHARACTER:
With the exception of the main female lead and the "main" male lead (Momo), all of the characters were actually wonderful. You get a feeling throughout the manga that the two main leads are kind of separate from all the other characters, and unfortunately that feeling stays until the end, but although [Momo] feels slightly more attached to at least SOME of the characters, the main female lead really only feels connected to 3 characters at best.


ENJOYMENT:
Ugh.


OVERALL:
See summary. It could've been SUCH a good manga, and going from Charming Junkie to this, I'm just so disappointed with the author.

Dropped this series after reading volume 14. I was reading this while it was still ongoing and I absolutely loved it. I actually bought the physical books because of how much I loved it. But after buying vol. 14 and seeing where the story's direction was headed, I completely dropped it.

Spoilers below, and vent/frustration I have with this series ensues:




When I first read this, I was initially wishing for Nino and Momo to be together and happy, even when Yuzu appeared. But then as the series progresses, and you see how supportive and helpful and caring Yuzu is for Nino, and just how much he's ... sacrificed himself for Nino's happiness, I slowly found myself wishing for Yuzu to be happy, and for Nino to also see just how loving and caring Yuzu is of her. I originally thought this whole series was going to be how Nino was going to have a change of heart, that instead of blindly chasing after her childhood first love, she would see just how wonderful and cherishing Yuzu is of her.

And so slowly from then on, I was hoping Nino would see this. The series continues, Yuzu is still cherishing Nino in the most heart-aching way possible and then... Nino.. Nino, Nino... As the series progresses, my dislike for Nino just grows more and more. This PAINS me to say this, because I really really loved her and I'm usually the reader who always supports the main character. But Nino, time and time again, she's just shown to be super selfish and only cares about herself. She messes up CONTINUOUSLY, and never thinks to herself how she is hindering the band. She always has a mental breakdown during important concerts, and all her mental breakdowns have to do with her and her feelings about Momo. She's NEVER thought to herself how she's stomping on not only Yuzu's kindness, but the entire band's. If it's the first time, sure, that's fine. She's new, she's still learning. However, she is CONSTANTLY doing this over and over again. And just, watching Yuzu always putting Nino first, while you have Nino only caring about her own feelings about Momo was just PAINFUL for me to read.

By the end of vol. 14, I knew the direction of the manga was set in stone. Nino could ONLY see Momo (and herself..), and so, I've completely given up on this manga series. Honestly, my disappointment is immeasurable (lol) and I can only hope that Yuzu will find someone waaay better than Nino, someone who will equally cherish him as he cherished Nino. Cuz my god, Yuzu is just such a sweet and lovable character. His loyalty and love towards Nino was just, beyond any dumb words I could ever write. Honestly, this was a HUGE missed opportunity for a beautiful manga (imo), and so thank you Fukumenkei Noise for making me feel so strongly. I'm honestly still super salty about how Yuzu was treated, but I guess.. it can't be helped ;-;

I hope my boy Yuzu, can find his own happiness..
As for Nino, she will remain in my memories as one of the most selfish and unlikeable shoujo main character I've ever had the unfortunate displeasure to read.

I'm giving Yuzu a 10/10 best character, and Nino a 1/10 "wish I never knew about her" character rating. At least the cover of vol. 14 had Yuzu on it, so a fitting ending to this series for me :')