PLOT (5/10—average…and that’s being generous)
The story is relatively simple. Country girl Suzume moves to the city for the first time to live with her uncle, thus leaving everything she was comfortable with behind. She gets hopelessly lost in the city, only to be rescued by Shishio, her uncle’s friend and her soon-to-be homeroom teacher. Around the same time Suzume meets Mamura, a shy boy in her class who has a fear of getting too close to girls. Predictably, Suzume falls for the super young and handsome Shishio, while Mamura eventually falls for Suzume, thus leading to the formation of you classic love triangle. The story then gradually unfolds to resolve the love triangle issue and decide which boy Suzume should end up with. Nothing new, riddled with overdone clichés, yet presented in a refreshing enough manner so that the plot continues to draw you in. Average.
However, the plot DOES have some glaring problems. I cover them in my overall enjoyment of the show because I don’t want to give spoilers.
THE ART (10/10—drop dead gorgeous)
This manga is one of the few which I’ve come across with such lovely artwork. It’s simple yet elegant. The characters can have plain features while still looking captivating. Over time, the art actually continues to improve (not that I had many complaints to begin with). All in all, if your looking for a manga that is beautifully drawn, it’s hard to beat this one.
THE CHARACTERS (6.5/10—fine but needs improvement)
Let me just take the time to say that Suzume is one of the most refreshing main leads I’ve come across in a very, VERY long time (Trust me, I've read more shojo manga + romances than I can count). Her character is by far the best in this manga (7/10) while the others, although beautifully drawn, are only slightly above average (6/10). Now, why do I say this?
Suzume is refreshing because unlike the vast majority of shojo heroines, she isn’t a cry baby. In fact, she rarely cries, so when she does, it is very impactful on the readers. Another plus point is she uses her brain and tries to solve problems with logic…something which sadly can’t be said for the vast majority of female heroines. She isn’t over-the-top-pretty. In fact, she’s just average and is called plain on multiple occasions. Her personality is also kind of quirky. She loves to eat, run around, stare at stars, slaps people when they need it, and so on. In a nutshell, she’s an average girl like you or me, making her easy to relate to. However, she still isn’t great enough to be over-the-top-memorable and some of her actions ARE questionable. For example, how she claimed to be in love with Shishio and very quickly followed up being dumped by beginning to date Mamura. Either she didn’t love Shishio as much as she had claimed or she was using Mamura as an escape for her feelings towards Shishio. Both are not very appealing scenarios. Also, there is no real reason for the characters to fall in love. It just kinda...happens?
Next up, the other characters in the show primarily consist of Suzume’s school friends, her uncle, Mamura, Shishio and Shishio’s ex-girlfriend Tsubomi.
Suzume’s friends are interesting but they never really get developed as characters, with the exception of Yuyuka. It’s almost like they are just there for the sake of showing Suzume is not a loner. Mamura’s fear of girls touching him isn’t explained AT ALL until the very last chapter, though he is very cute and overall likable. Shishio felt nicely developed but his actions in the manga and his overall maturity as a “responsible adult” sometimes felt questionable. It would have been better if he truly sorted out his feelings for Suzume before rushing into a hasty break up. As for his ex-girlfriend and Suzume’s uncle, they played major roles in plot (or drama) progression, but there isn’t really too much to say regarding them. They were honestly just average and not in the story enough to be more likable characters.
OVERALL ENJOYMENT (3/10—devastation, mostly at the ending + the bonus chapter to be released in January)
I am going to discuss problems with the plot so BE WARNED. CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS.
When I first started reading this manga, despite the simplistic plot and overused clichés, I was immensely enjoying myself, to the point where I thought this manga might become one of my all-time favorite romances. I was so hyped to see them (suzume x shishio) kiss even once. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse when Shishio broke up with Suzume because of her uncle’s strong negatively towards their relationship (understandable enough). Following this incident, Suzume begins to date Mamura. I was upset about her dating someone else (even though I honestly don’t dislike Mamura) but kept reading because I expected Suzume and Shishio to eventually sort out their true feelings and get back together.
They don’t.
In fact, half way through the series, it began to felt like the author had completely switched to Mamura and Shishio was just out of the picture. Despite this, I still held onto the small hope that maybe the original couple I had subscribed myself to would miraculously return (the reason this manga caught my attention and I began reading it was because I wanted a good teacher-student romance). In fact, the ending of the second last chapter gave me insurmountable hope that they would reunite. I didn’t know at the time it WAS the second last chapter, and so, I was tricked into believed that Suzume and Shishio would get back together and then continue to slowly date + fall in love. (They hadn’t even kissed ONCE for crying out loud)
My hopes were crushed upon reading the final chapter.
Firstly, I’d like to point out that the ending of the manga felt abrupt. I honestly didn’t expect it to wrap up so quickly and was shocked to find out the final chapter had been translated. Secondly, there was far too much that felt unresolved. Shishio never gets to tell Suzume that the reason he lied about not liking her and broke up was because of her uncle’s pressure. Shishio simply apologizes for his past mistakes and confesses he truly loves her (it is shown Suzume is the first person that Shishio loved enough to chase after). Suzume rejects him, saying she already moved on even though she ditched Mamura and came dashing to Shishio’s side when she thought he was injured. The manga ends with Suzume returning to Mamura, she says she loves him, and it ends with suzume and Mamura kissing FOR THE FIRST TIME. No dating or challenges to face as a couple afterwards. No relationship progression beyond holding hands the entire manga with either candidate. ONE kiss after 12 volumes with the dude that wasn’t even the original focus of the manga.
As a member of the minority who was praying for Suzume and Shishio to get back together, it felt like the author had taken my own hopeful feelings and rewarding me for reading 12 volumes of her manga by slapped me in the face with them. The things is, I was already expecting Mamura to win so I was mentally preparing myself for the ending for several months now, but the feeling of having your OTP just completely shot down without even proper closure (Suzume never discovers her uncle’s meddling + she never kisses shishio even ONCE)…I have never in my entire life felt so disappointed, rejected, or shocked, nor did I expect the author to end things this way. To add salt to my wounds, I found the following announcement of a bonus chapter…
"In January a little extra chapter is going to come out in which it explains Sense’s [Shishio's] and Tsubomi’s relationship and how they GOT BACK TOGETHER. I heard some blogs reported that it will also involve Yuyuka. There is also a memorial book up for sale for HNR!”
Shishio learning from his break up with Tsubomi and moving forward was a MAJOR plot point (there was an entire arc dedicated to this) and it was also Shishio’s SINGLE moment of character development. And now I learn after being rejected by Suzume he gets back together with Tsubomi…
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!
It’s like the entire plot of the manga was just completely rendered USELESS and shishio’s entire character development had been reversed. What was the bloody point?!
The ONLY thing which prevented me from giving my enjoyment rating a zero or 1/10 is the fact that I was IN LOVE with this series when I first picked it up. Honestly, the plot is a bloody mess so I wanted to give it a 2-3/10 as well but I tried to not hate the main series for the final piece of mind-fuckery delivered by the bonus chapter.
SUMMARY OF REVIEW
Plot: 5/10 (very, VERY generous)
Art: 10/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Enjoyment: 3/10
FINAL RATING: 6/10
PROS:
-The art is drop dead gorgeous
-Suzume is a very likable lead who is NOT generic or a cry baby.
-Good, steady progression until roughly half way through the series
CONS:
-Original pairing is tossed aside in a way that makes suzume x Shishio shippers feel worthless and underwhelmed.
-Half way through the manga the main pairing completely changes to suzume x Mamura
-Ending feels abrupt and not fully resolved
-Characters could be more fleshed out (especially Suzume’s friends)
-Bonus chapter renders the plot and Shishio’s character development completely useless.
RECOMMENDATION (yes/no): Yes, for those who don’t care too much about pairings and those who like “light” amounts of romance [BUT just know that there are better romances out there]. NOT recommended for people not into romance, for those who like “heavy” romance which progresses beyond just holding hands, for those specifically searching for a student x teacher romance, or for those with a tendency to get attached to first male interest introduced into a romance.
Similar manga (student x teacher) to fill the void: Sensei Kunshu is worth a shot :)
