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May 15, 2024
Such an emotional roller coaster, so worth it.
I usually have issues with stories that are described as "realistic". Sometimes they are so down-to-earth that they don't have any sense of sentimentalism at all… so I was kinda worried. But, oh my god, Our Youth was such an experience. It held so many feelings.
It's a slow burn that will leave your heart aching to the mere acknowledgements of their feelings; it's all so subtle yet so revealing. They're loving each other like they're whisper screaming— it shows, it doesn't tell every time. This story is heavy on longing, on wanting, and aching; so if you
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love these themes, you'll have a RIDE. The colors? The pacing? It's all so intentional just to build up this sense of nostalgia, this "blink and you'll miss it" kind of feeling.
I've just reread this story after a year since I've finished reading it for the first time and gosh, I still felt the lingering sense of bittersweetness and apprehension from the first time, even though I remembered how it was gonna go. This time around I also paid attention to the details and it made the story so beautiful, there's a specific scene that has such a "fever dream" touch to it and it's devastating.
(Oh, one thing I also enjoyed about this story, is that it isn't tactlessly painful; it isn't playing around with your feelings, everything is very much covered to not leave you hanging. So don't be scared haha)
Everything is very clearly purposeful; the author wanted the reader to feel things, don't be shy to it! A must-read, it'll squeeze your heart.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 2, 2024
It's so interesting to see how the story unfolds!
Ikumi and Chihaya's growth — by themselves and together — are admirable, really, they're so charming. Ikumi; who starts pretty clueless and feels so helpless, he slowly changes and gets each time even more certain and most likely to take the first step during a standstill. Chihaya; although his change is not as noticeable, one thing I really enjoyed about him was the way he grew once he actually took notice of his feelings for Ikumi— it was so sweet. In the beginning, although he really did went out of his way to protect Ikumi, his words
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always seemed to fall flat to me. Then, as Ikumi reassures him along the story, as he realizes just how serious he feels about Ikumi, he becomes determined in protecting Ikumi. Not because he feared being in danger or because it was inevitable, but because he feared for Ikumi. And so they meet in the middle.
Really, the way both of them become so genuine about each other and don't let misunderstandings bring them down captivated me very much.
Now… I would have rated it higher had it not been for the brother. Oh my god. He's INSUFFERABLE at the beginning, it felt like his only job was to be a creep and to keep butting in between them. Definitely uncomfortable and I nearly dropped because of him, but the story really reeled me in; which I'm glad it did, and later on even the brother develops into a more interesting character and gets his ass to be Actually Useful for once.
Other than that, I really enjoyed it, although the constant infodump as they survive the misfortunes can get quite overwhelming!! If you're kind of slow like me, I definitely recommend writing down some details to be able to keep up with it haha
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 30, 2024
For this manga… lower your expectations, don't get attached to the relationships formed and get prepared to READ.
Know the "I am… not… **I woke up in the new bugatti** uhm… well…" audio? That was my reading experience, since this manga changed so. abruptly.
My issues with it is the ending— but specifically, everything that went down after Touma's confession. Gosh.. But since there's way too many things that bothered me in volume 7–8, I'll approach what had been keeping my interest up until then.
This manga handles gender issues really well. Once Mami was finally acknowledged and her arc happened, I started finding her so sweet and
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admirable. First, she's mature, and that's because of how people have been treating her her entire life— she had to grow thick skin to endure that, yet she doesn't let that define her. She decides to be feminine even so, to still be friends with whoever she wants even so, to talk back even so! Like, even though her arc was about having to be tough, her personality later on was never a reminder of her past experiences. She was just living her life. I just wish there were more scenes showing her friendship with Touma!
Now, Futaba; despite the fact that she was held back because she had to be a cute character, her thoughts are just of the average teenage girl, and I mean that in the most positive way. I found myself enjoying this manga the most when she and Touma were interacting one on one; he was the only one she had such deep talks about her insecurities and her hating herself. They were upbringing each other every opportunity they could while still saying something that would have the other wondering about later. They really got along well.
And then… we get to the shitshow. Masumi appeared the most when she had to talk and face the fact that she likes her best friend, Futaba, but actually; to be broad, the fact that she likes girls. Look, I had to read the spoilers to keep reading this manga and not downright drop it one volume before the ending, therefore it didn't surprise me as much when I saw it unfold, but I was still flabbergasted. My brother in Christ. How can you create a character whose relationships with people of the opposite gender never work out and then have the same character talk so much about being different, liking a person of the same gender as them— only to wed this character off to a person of the opposite gender? Sure she could have been bisexual all along, but it was never brought up before the final chapter— I mean, one time she even goes as far as questioning Taichi how it felt to like someone of the opposite gender. So.
Now, afterwards Touma's confession, the chapters are just rambling after rambling (some even homophobic— which was. Definitely weird. Nearly dropped because of it, actually). I felt like just skimming over their conversations since it was almost like the author had to voice every little thing— no matter how small and absurd it was— never before did I miss so much the whole "show, don't tell". I enjoyed reading the manga at the beginning because it was mostly the characters interacting with each other in ways that had you silently questioning just what exactly were they thinking of, and then, when you least expected it, a profound talk would happen that would leave either a question up in the air or a line that would have /me/ thinking about it. So it was a waste to suddenly drop all the lines of thoughts in one go and never give a chance for the reader to breathe.
The ending. Though. Once I accepted the fact that it was actually so damn rushed, it was really comedic. I actually got a good laugh out of it. Gosh. The whole manga Taichi and Futaba are so invested in getting to know each other and keeping a friendship only for. Only for their breakup to happen offscreen in-between a timeskip. Only for it not have a decent reason or even one at all. Only for them to not speak in five years. Only for Taichi not even go to Futaba's wedding. Only for Taichi end up marrying Touma— and you may argue that, indeed, there were some scenes that seemed as if Taichi had some sort of interest in Touma, but it was all so, so, so sublime— it could pass for mere shyness (I mean, Taichi just barely got the hint that Touma wanted to spend some time with him on the day of the festival LMAOO I felt so sorry for Touma, Taichi was just after his GF). Meanwhile, his feelings for Futaba were never in doubt.
The ending was really so absurd and I feel as if the author was aware of that, some lines on the last chapter really sounded like rubbing salt into the wound (like, did you see what Taichi had to say about himself after seeing the movie poster.. that's CRAZY)— again, I laughed a lot. It's so unfortunate, I really could have seen myself enjoying the twist if only it was about "having been there all along" and not "well, changes are abrupt and offscreen, you see".
So. Yeah. Actually The craziest fumble. The LGBTQ+ aspect of this manga was all so good in theory but not so in practice, as seen on the last two volumes…
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 12, 2023
It was actually an interesting ride!
This BL is incredible if you're the kind of person who enjoys good dialogues and overanalyzing characters rather than sex scenes that happens every two chapters for no reason. I was stunned once I noticed that every mature scene was actually plot-relevant and not unnecessary to the point it is merely for shock value LOL
The dialogues, I kid you not, are genuinely really good. There's ton of poetic scenes, I was amazed at how their love-hate relationship developed, the way that they see each other changing, ugh!!
Although, the protagonist in this is pretty much a morally grey character and, after
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all, this story still revolves around a complicated relationship and specially a dark environment— so it's not for everyone! Look out for content warnings, *please*.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 29, 2023
If you're looking for a story that doesn't delve into any of the conflicts it presents, then you're in the right place.
Kim Hye-sung is a “fierceful” omega; and by that, I mean, he's really just a tsundere. So, he's actually aware of the problematic situations he gets himself in and even calls someone out when they victim-blame him because of a misfortune. This happens a few times: he verbally recognizes how messed up something is and then he gets "ignored"; the conversation soon diverting into something safe that puts the blame in him. And It Is Never Brought Up Again.
At first, I thought this certain
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trait of him was actually gonna be developed along and within other characters, but no; since the problematic actions others do to him are never actually addressed, there's no redemptions arcs.
Up until now, I feel like you could, somehow, still end up liking this. Who knows, each to their own. But then, Park Dojin happens. And he's the most bland romantic interest to ever happen. He literally doesn't have a personality. There's not much you can say about him other than that.
In the beginning, I felt like there could actually happen an interesting “enemies” to lovers kind of narrative — given Park Dojin's newfound interest in Kim Hye-sung and the latter's refusal —, but… to put it simply: Park Dojin's feelings morphing into love are actually so abrupt it just feels like a switch was pulled. It's impossible to find out what got Park Dojin into loving Kim Hye-sung, and even he himself says that he doesn't know why he loves him (lmao). There is not a single romantic scene between them that feels like they have chemistry together. There's not even romantic scenes. //(Worst part is, the side couple have the exact same dynamic going on and it's torturous.)
In fact, the only time I felt like they could actually have a deeper relationship… ended up in them having sex. All of a sudden. Abruptly breaking the "understanding" atmosphere it had going on. Which is also a common trope in this story: conflict happens, they fuck, it's solved. God forbid actually communicating to each other how they feel without one of the characters playing it off as a joke or the blame being put into others. There's no consequences, lol.
So, even if you felt like you could enjoy this story despite its inability in handling conflicts, you'll definitely have a hard time liking the protagonists and their relationships. Bland is the word that summarizes it for me. Nothing and no one is really likeable, I nearly dropped it a lot earlier because of how annoying one of the characters was, and their insufferable personality is never really acknowledged. But well, if you like smut scenes, go ahead, there's plenty of that.
My expectations were low for this one, and I was still disappointed. If you stop reading in chapter 15 or 50 it's not gonna make that much of a difference, since the first few chapters already let you know how the story's gonna go.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 16, 2023
I'm speechless. And I also cried six times (and counting) throughout this manhwa. I definitely needed the wake-up calls.
The author handles each theme with seriousness. There were times I apprehensively thought: “oh, this is a sensitive topic. Will it be accurately discussed…?” and, oh god.
I was left amazed each time. I bookmarked so many chapters that ended up having so much meaning for me, I could see myself in all the characters and everything they went through. The author knew what they were doing, and kept in mind that they were dealing with real life experiences.
I *loved* some characters. Felt unsure about others. …
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Had an on-and-off relationship with some… (cough, cough, Eunyung). Regardless how I felt about them or their personalities, never once did I feel like they were shallow. Their stories are so well-written, developed, and CONCLUDED that they never feel like "lost causes", but rather, what they are: humans with flaws and motives. They aren't inherently bad. They're just kids, dealing with their (most of the times, sh*tty—) parents and learning how to do better each day.
(At last, as a woman, I cried so hard throughout Marie Kim's story. God, you'll just feel and UNDERSTAND it when you read it.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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