Story: 9
The story is a good one. It feels like the author poured his heart out in it, and there are many good moments in it.
Art: 8
Some characters have some really great scenes art-wise. The author's really good at expressing emotions through expressions and gestures, and a lot of scenes have that to thank for the power behind them.
Character: 6
If this manga was just about the girls, this would be an 8. Realistic and flawed people, they made it seem like the potential for a great romance was high. The mc is a 4. He goes through a lot of stuff that many people can sympathize with, but fails to be likable because none of it ever changes him. Everyone likes the underdog because he keeps getting back up, but after the 5th or 6th time getting knocked down by the same thing and learning nothing from it, it starts to get old.
Enjoyment: 1
If I had known how this manga would end beforehand, I would not have read it. The only reason I made it to the end was the expectation that things would turn out differently. The story is good, most of the characters are good, there are a bunch of good scenes, and I still regret the time I spent reading it.
/spoiler
The problem with the open-ended, hopeful, new chance ending is that the mc spends the entire manga blowing new chances. His position at the end is the same one he has been in countless times throughout the manga, one he still has never learned from, and one the reader has no reason to believe he will learn from this time.
/spoiler
His only redeeming feature is he understands this better than anybody and loathes himself probably even more than the reader does.
Overall: 6
Bluntly speaking, I hated this manga. But I won't deny that it was a good one. The lessons in it are applicable to real life if taken with a spoonful of common sense, and the characters are human enough to be painful to watch at times. While it wasn't my cup of tea, I probably won't forget it anytime soon.
