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To be honest, my reason for reading this manga was for the childhood friends aspect. I'm a sucker for good childhood friends manga and if you're like me, chances are you've had your eyes on this one too. Well, the main focus of it is certainly the relationship between our two main characters who are, YES, in fact childhood friends. But what else does this manga offer us?

The story starts off fairly simply, with our male protagonist, Tarou, finding out his childhood friend, Umi, has 100 days left to live after confessing to her for the 4th time. If you're someone who likes to get ... right into it, they do become a couple right away so no waiting for that to happen. The first part of the manga focuses solely on how Tarou figures out how to increase Umi's lifespan. This part shows us how he manages to stop clinging onto Umi and receive help from others. There were a few chapters in the beginning where he didn't want others to butt in his relationship with Umi. I admit, I was expecting him to become one of those characters who's always feeling sorry for themselves and preaching "I WANT TO HELP HER! STOP BOTHERING ME!!". But ultimately, he manages to overcome that thanks to certain people. That said, the one who helps him the most is of course Umi herself. She's a cheerful girl with a big heart and I thought that's all she would be. But hey, the author managed to add some depth to her, albeit not much, but it's enough. We get to see the story from both of the main characters' point of view and that was something I appreciated rather than just 1 of them telling the story. You might be wondering if there are enough sweet moments, but don't worry there are plenty. I absolutely loved seeing Umi and Tarou together!

One thing I wasn't expecting though, was the second half of the manga. It went a direction which I didn't quite anticipate. I'm not saying it's bad, just it slightly derailed from the original premise and appeared out of nowhere. It felt like something the author put in to extend the story. But I enjoyed it nonetheless as it did explain a few things which I was wondering about in the previous chapters. (You get to see Tarou being jealous of himself!!) The ending was a bit rushed and there were quite a few loose ends and sub-plots which were never properly explained, though I didn't feel unsatisfied and it is still a happy ending.

The supporting cast don't get much attention here. The only side character I paid attention to was Fujii Minori. Great character who unfortunately was left out when she didn't contribute to the story. She's got one of those don't-give-a-crap tough girl personalities which I really like. Wished she was featured more prominently but I came for childhood friends so I don't really mind.

The art is simple and doesn't really go into much detail. Nothing eye-catching but I'm not here for the art. It's pleasant to look at and doesn't detract me from the story so that's all I need.

I'd suggest taking your time while reading this so that you can appreciate it while you can still can. I managed to finish it within a day but I wished I had taken it a bit more slowly. God, I love childhood friends.

This manga is absolute whack. I think what it does best is the comedy. There are a lot of ecchi comedy manga out there but this was one of the best I've read. The jokes and situations here are actually funny and keep you interested. Seriously, rarely have I laughed out loud when reading comedy manga. There isn't really much of a story as far as the synopsis goes, that's exactly what you're going to get. There is of course some progression in the characters' relationships that feels just about right.

The characters here are actually well done for an ecchi comedy manga. Shunsuke, our MC, ... is as normal as an MC can get but he doesn't have some unlikable trait that you might despise unlike most MCs in nowadays in these types of manga. He's also good at wrestling! I really like the dynamic between him and Yuria. He obviously really cares for her but can't approach her because of, well reasons you'll have to read to find out. Yuria is the star of the show here. She tries her hardest everyday to approach Shunsuke and get him to make love to her. Well, she is a love doll. Their hilarious shenanigans are what I enjoyed the most while reading. Alongside these two are other love dolls and their respective partners who also frequently end up in absurd situations. All of which are fun to read!

One thing you must know is that each situation either of the cast ends up in adhere to some specific fetishes (mostly ecchi ones of course) commonly known in the anime community. Some might not be to your taste, as I too had a few chapters which didn't really appeal to me. Rest assured, there will most probably be a situation that can satiate your fantasies. The variety is refreshing and over-the-top in a good way. The jokes or so on point!!!

However, as with a lot of older manga, the ending did feel rushed. There was almost no feel of closure at all. The final few chapters felt like the middle of an arc more than an outro. The author tried I suppose. I'm the ultimate critic when it comes to bad endings but I've seen worse manga endings that have really pissed me off. The rest of the manga makes up for it but for some people it might feel out of place.

I'm the worst person to ask about art because I almost never pick up manga based on its art. I will say the art is not outstanding though. Still, I got a lot of enjoyment from reading this! This manga seriously needs more love. Yuria is definitely best love doll.

Hopefully this review convinces you to pick this up!

I was quite confused as to what this movie was trying to convey. Only towards the end did I realize that there actually was a message for the viewer and even then I'm still not too sure what it is. I'll go through some of my thoughts below.

The movie starts off slow, like really slow. It was difficult for me to get into the mood the movie was trying to set because everything was just too subtle. I could just barely feel the tone of it but it wasn't enough to rope me in immediately. That wasn't the only problem though as the movie literally ... carries on with this way of presenting things almost throughout its entirety. I was hoping for at least a small explanation on all the "deep" stuff going on but was left with nothing. By the end, I felt like I had watched a series of clips rather than a full movie. The story itself is mediocre at best. I feel that it was trying to give a more realistic portrayal but it wasn't executed well enough. As a result, the viewer feels confused and is left racking their brains trying to make sense of each scene. Of course everyone is different and perhaps this is just due to my way of comprehending events.

The art is something I could praise this movie for. Though the style looks a little old, I'd say it's charming and the colors are very nicely done. There are scenes which really showcase the quality of animation especially the background scenes where they show the scenery and all that. The lighting was well done too in my opinion. Another thing I want to mention are the character designs. Perhaps it's because I'm not too used to watching films of this style, but I was surprised when they mentioned the characters were 13 at one point because they looked older to me. I had trouble keeping up with the flow of events because I couldn't tell when a scene was a flashback or a time skip. They did make the adult versions look much older though so I suppose that's fine.

Music and sound was fitting for the film but nothing really stood out to me. Not something I would single out from this film. For the characters, I couldn't really relate to any of them because as I said, the movie was trying to make things a little too deep for my liking. None of the characters' personalities really stood out but I guess that's to be expected given the tone of the movie. Most of them weren't really given much context either and I feel that if they weren't there, it wouldn't drastically change the situation. I understand that it's just a movie but I think the characters could've been done better to some extent.

My enjoyment of this film would only be due to the stunning scenery and a couple of scenes where I actually felt some emotion. The movie's only weaknesses would be it's intro which failed to grab my attention and also the way too subtle way of its presentation. I literally found myself needing to concentrate really hard on the film just to stay in the mood and pay attention to the story. Overall 6/10, a film with nice animation but with a direction that is too hard to follow and get immersed in. Definitely wouldn't recommend this to people who are new or just getting into anime but old timers will probably find it much more appealing depending on their taste. I would suggest not watching it unless you've been around for a while and can truly appreciate the Japanese culture and the anime medium.