Story: When I first started reading this it was because of a nice review someone else had written that convinced me to try it. Going into the first chapter I didn't expect things to get as serioius as they did, I was expecting a standard love story but what I got was an epic tsunami of a story starting out with Mari, a quiet girl who spent all her time by herself suddenly being dragged into a social life by a popular and straightforward girl named Akko who was curious about Mari and wanted to be friends with her. Over time they become the best of friends until Mari starts developing special feelings for Akko. The rest of the story i don't want to spoil for you but i will tell you the reader goes through agony along with the girls in the story watching them discover their feeling for each other, not being able to tell each other, and not being able to have a normal relationship. Don't get the impression that this is some depressing story though, their is a lot of humor along with happy moments. From a guys perspective I will say it was interesting to see what goes on in the girls minds throughout the story and really shows that everybody has more to them than what you see. The only thing I didn't like about the story was sometimes getting to the conclusion felt dragged out by other characters and miscommunication which just made it seem too unreal.
Art: The art here was great, I loved both character designs for Akko and Mari, it had a really good flow throughout the chapters and really helped show the characters emotions like using tears at the right time and different types of blushing to show embarrassment or love. Within a few seconds of starting to read moving from picture to picture you actually see the scenes playing out in your mind. The art also shows changes in the characters appearance over time (like Mari growing her hair back out in the end). This was the only thing I didn't rate a 10 (I gave it a 9) because when they drew Akko on the colored covers and scenes it seemed like they would switch between blonde-ish and light brown, which I know is trivial but it caused a lot of confusion in how I pictured her which ate at me the whole time.
Characters: The characters in this story go so well together, when I was reading they seemed so close to being real that the only thing keeping them from hopping out of the story was that thin page. The emotions they convey the whole time just felt so real, the pain, the joy, the love was just so easy for the reader to feel, that is if you let it. All the supporting characters were good too since they all had their differences to set them apart but when talking about Mari and Akko they just seem to break the mold on what standard characters are since they actually seem like there could be people out there like them.
Enjoyment: I guess I don't have to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this at this point but I will say it was so interesting I came straight home and read this until I had to go to sleep, I completed it in 3 days. During class I usually am good at keeping focused but I couldn't stop wondering what would happen next all day and couldn't wait to rush home and read.
Overall: This manga is really more than the sum of it's parts, it takes all areas and uses them in a way that works so well together. The problems of their relationship not being conventional and their worries about that are real difficulties people face, although it will get better for them based on what I've seen from my generation. All in all if you consider yourself mature enough to handle realistic emotions from two girls who are attracted to each other than I urge you to check this out because you won't regret it (be aware it does get a little "mature" in the end *nosebleed*...you've been warned)
