Story 7/10
In all honesty, when I first started reading I was sure I was going to grade this lower, but as the story progressed, it had some redeeming factors. I am going to spilt this part into positive and negative aspects.
Positive: the manga deals with a sensitive topic which provides a bit of a plot twist, or at the very least, departs from usual Shoujo main topic which is generally romance and love triangles. Yes, there is both romance and love triangle, which brings me to another thing I liked from the manga. The love triangle formed here 1) doesn't feel forced or thrown at us at all (it actually made sense why Nao would come to like Mayo) and 2) never actually developed into a triangle because Mayo was stern on her feelings for Aoba and clear and honest with Nao all the time. So, this is an example of a love triangle that doesn't make you cringe or be nauseated (of course, no love triangles is always preferred, but...when you are reading Shoujo you know what you are getting yourself into).
Negative:
-Never clearly explained the source and strength of Mayo's feelings towards Aoba. She was already in love with him when the manga started and there was no background provided to explain her strong interest in him. And the truth is, I never really got to see what she saw or liked in him.
-I know this is fiction, however, I do like fiction to be realistic when it can. The nature of Aoba's issues would not be as "easy" to solve as it was in the manga. I mean, that type of thing would require months (if not years of therapy) to overcome. And, of course, you would need a professional therapist/psychologist to deal with this kind of issue, not a 14-15 years old who just started working at a listening house, despite what a good listener or good natured person she is. I am going to point out though that I have heard Japanese are not big on mental health or talking about their emotions, so the fact that the author even though about a listening house is a positive thing I should have included above.
-The ending: the last few chapters felt rushed and really like issues were thrown in there for no reason. For ex: Mayo's moving? and then, to make it worse, we then get a 1 year fast forward, which gives no clue whether Aoba and Mayo were even in contact for that period of time, and then all of a sudden, they are married? It felt like the author was maybe pressured into wrapping up the story?
Art 7/10
So, this is a tricky section for this manga. The drawings were absolutely beautiful and clean and well done. It has an adequate balance between normal people and chibi looking people, with the chibi characters used at the right time. However, to me personally, the characters were drawn in a way that made them look a bit childish, specially Mayo, and that took away from me being able to be invested in the story. Whenever Mayo said or did something mature I kept thinking "girl, you look 12...way too young to be talking/acting this way".
Characters 6/10
It is very easy to like all characters in this manga, even the supporting characters.
However, the dynamic, specially between the 2 main characters is a bit off and that's why I can't grade this higher.
I am going to take this out of the way first and say Nao is by far my favorite character and I (which actually pretty rarely happens with me) would have preferred Mayo went with him and ditched Aoba right away (in most mangas I have read I tend to prefer the first love interest of the main character). Hell, I would have liked to see Mayo end up with Ryousuke or Tsuyoshi, better than with Aoba. I will explain why while talking about the characters.
-Aoba: I don't dislike him, but I can't say I like him either. Boy, I know we all have problems and childhood traumas and what not, but his hot and cold behavior would have had me jumping out the window in a minute. I mean, what he went through with his mother would obviously have the repercussions it did on him on anybody really, but at the end of the day, he could have been more resilient instead of playing the victim role to his circumstances. Like...good job in recognizing you have a problem, now, what are you going to do about it? In all honesty, everybody else did more about it than he did.
-Mayo: If I say she was such a nice person that I almost didn't like her, would it make sense? Mayo has a pure heart, a good intentioned person, a natural caregiver, completely selfless and caring. She was able to put other's needs first, even on top of hers, which, when done too much (like in Mayo's case) is not a good thing. I did not like to see how she felt bad or was crying but then wiped her tears and showed a smile or pretended to be fine. Its ok to do that once in a while, we all do, but there has to be a boundary because then you are just not being honest with the others and not validating your emotions (ironic in this case because she validated everybody else but herself).
-Nao: The only thing I didn't like about Nao was him "using himself" to help Aoba realize/act on his feelings for Mayo, specially because he had genuine feelings for her. I get he is a good friend, but putting yourself in such a situation to "help", is not healthy. I mean, I do think he was going for Mayo for real, and actually appreciated he decided and even told Aoba he would act on his feelings for Mayo after confirming Aoba "was not into her", but still...don't neglect or sacrifice your own feelings so carelessly to "help" someone else. I very much enjoyed his goofiness, how direct and upfront about his feelings he was. I think Nao is a very refreshing character and girl, WHY? why on earth would you reject a very kind guy, who is offering you security and something steady and stable? specially when he is good looking and Mayo obviously liked him enough to be able to develop some feelings for him if she had let go of Aoba.
Enjoyment 5/10
So, it took very long for me to finish reading such a short manga and the truth is, I had to kind of force myself to continue reading. It is a shame, because the story had potential. I think it might be a combination of previously discussed things that made the story not realistic or mature enough to deal with the depth of the central topic (Aoba's trauma).
