Story 9/10: I think that the story is the weakest part of this manga although that is of course compared to the other great aspects of this manga. Our protagonist is Yuu Koito, who is a freshmen in highschool. She likes to read Shoujo novels and wants to experience a bright and sparkly love like it is written in the novels too. Unfortunately she has never fallen love and also thinks that she just can't fall in love with anyone. Because of various circumstances she joins the student council in highschool, in which she meets her second-year senpai, Touko Nanami. Yuu learns that Touko can't fall in love with anyone either and contradictory Touko falls in love with you at the exact same moment. That's the beginning of the story summed up. Will Yuu fall in love with Touko aswell? What kind of relationship will they have? What problems are on their way there? These and more questions are all the story is about. And while this is indeed a good narrative for a Shoujo-Ai manga, it is only the "engine" to get the "stars" of the show running, the characters:
Character 10/10: The TSY of Yagakimi is what makes it great: Touko, Side Characters and Yuu. Touko Nanami is one of our main leads and is introduced as the shallow person, who is perfect, can do everything yare yare yare. But as the manga goes on, we get to see much more sides of her. I will cover the rest of her character in the spoiler section below. The side characters amaze me the most. We have a strong cast of important side characters and most of them evolve as the story progresses. Of course there are exceptions to this statement (yes, I am looking at you Doujima and Maki). Each and every one of them is believable as they take their parts in the story. Yuu is our main lead and most of the story is written in her personal perspective. The whole concept of love, living and the meaning of her life changes throughout the manga as she leaves her past behind and starts to change.
SPOILER SECTION:
Touko's character development is impressive and amazes me. Touko thinks that she's empty, a hollow shell and hence copies her sister, who everyone looked up to and depended on. So she became the pinnacle of girls, Nanami-senpai. Throughout the manga however, she starts to learn more about her sister from various people and learns, that her sister wasn't like she thought at all and that Touko is very different from her. In the climax of the novel, the student council play, which is covering a similar situation, she realizes, after being told by Yuu and Sayaka, her best friend, that trying to be like their sister is wrong, that she is not empty at all. This change isn't as sudden as I make it out to be, don't worry. It's her character development in a nutshell. Yuu on the other hand has two phases. In her first phase, she is loved by Touko and doesn't think that she loves her back and still thrives for that sparkly feeling that Touko feels. One third in in the manga, Yuu is granted her wish and she falls in love with Touko in one memorable scene.
After that, she searches for a opportunity to tell Touko her feelings, but Touko, realizing that, blocks her off by saying: "Don't fall in love with me. How could I love someone, who loves something that I hate?".
The characters, their interactions and their relationships with each other take up most of the plot of the manga. And because these characters are so well crafted, it is profoundly beautiful to read this manga.
SPOILER END
I could go on and spoiler some more, but I want to leave something to read for you guys, so I'll end this section here:
Art 10/10: The art of this manga is simply amazing. I don't know that much about drawing techniques, as I'm a terrible artist myself, but in my opinion, the art of this manga is top-notch. Every character is very detailed, and by using different perspectives, the story really feels alive, somehow. It's very clean looking which gives a realistic feel and suits the story perfectly. I can't say much more about the art, other than that I love it.
Enjoyment 10/10: I won't rate this seriously, because as you can guess, I love this manga. I started to read it because I wanted to see how the anime plays out and I wasn't disappointed to say the least. But in the end, you need to at least have no problems with Shoujo-Ai and Shoujo in general. This manga is a Shoujo manga after all.
So yeah, as you can guess this review is all my opinion, and I hope that reading this at least made you a little interested in reading this manga. See ya later!
