Feb 15, 2020
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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
