Reviews

When putting Citrus as one of the manga I had read on my manga list, I had wondered why I had dropped it in the manner that I did all those months ago. Looking at the reviews posted by users under Citrus reminded me why. Citrus is an unfortunately bland story that repeats itself constantly over the course of it's relatively short serialization. Many of the small conflicts revolve around a new character, or situation, being introduced that gets in the way of the two main character's relationship, only to return to the status quo after the problem has been resolved, rendering any quarrels that might have happened between our leads, Yuzu and Mei, significantly pointless considering that they don't build as much as you'd think they would from these conflicts. In terms of the writing of the characters themselves, there's not too much to say. Nothing about both Yuzu and Mei particularly stands out as unique to their character, borrowing traits that I've seen in multiple characters through manga and anime (such as the upbeat Gal character, and the serious student council president type ) that have all been somewhat done to death at this point.

Citrus' art doesn't particularly stand out as unique either. Everything from proportions, to setting, to paneling, and page layout are nothing short of standard to what you would expect from manga as a basic medium. For manga to stand the test of time, I feel as if the mangaka needs to take a more non traditional and experimental route in order to strengthen their art and truly develop its voice. Citrus lacks it's own artistic voice, and therefore is left being nothing more than standard.

My main point of contempt with Citrus is how completely forgettable all of the events within its story are. As I wrote this, I had gone back to the manga in question so I could list which chapter I had dropped it in. As I looked for it, the majority of it seemed unfamiliar to me, only to come across a spread that had reminded me that I actually had read past it at some point in time. This coincidently reflects Citrus as a manga. Its ultimately uneventful as a story, and though it doesn't do anything horrible that completely ruins it for me, it is nothing more than completely average.

With all that said, I would be lying if I said I didn't somewhat enjoy reading Citrus to a certain degree. I remember the feeling a handful of panels gave me with the two leads that felt pretty heartwarming. But, then again, it simply wasn't enough for me to actually remember those individual panels, only the feeling.