Story:
First of all, this manga is not the typical brainless shoujo. I've always liked romance in mangas however its kinda hard to find one that appeals to me because I hate the overdone alpha-male saving damsel in distress/ nerdy / shy girl. I like nice guys, and nice girls and a realistic relationship that both parties are on equal footing and work hard together. Believe it or not, yeah those are hard to find.
This story is about how cool, beautiful and reserved girl falls for a adorable, short, and innocent guy. They fall in love and become a couple pretty quickly in the first few chapters and the rest of the manga is all about their relationship's progress and hardships.
While there are some pretty serious problems that were faced by the couple (realistic ones though... not the typical ones in dramas), the manga shows the couple going about it in a very mature manner. Both parties work hard to fix their problems together. There's very little angst here and none of those noble idiocy that is sooo common in mangas. They consider each other's feelings and work it out. And there's always a sense of optimism but also a sense of reality of what needs to be done to make it work.
Art:
There's none of those overly drawn eyes with the big eyelashes that are typical of shoujo. The realistic tone of this manga is reflected how the manga was drawn in such an ordinary way. There are no elaborate drawings whatsoever. This manga would never become an artistic show piece. However I like it because it doesn't distract from the story. Dialogue is also pretty well done in the sense that it doesn't get confusing who is speaking and who is speaking first.
Character:
This manga is told from the girl's perspective. Haruna is the daughter of a politician who got caught in a corruption scandal. She then moves into a normal high school from the prestigious one she used to attend. The high school is very rowdy especially compared to her old and thus she calls it a school full of monkeys. She has a very cool personality but she's not depressive... merely reserved. Which I totally love. I'm tired of super lively and cheery girls or super shy girls that blush a lot or really really sad girls. However reserved she is, she is completely assertive. She says her feelings outright (yay!) and she doesn't hide it. That trait is so weirdly uncommon in shoujo characters. Because she's so different from the guy, she has a tendency to do things that may inadvertently hurt the guy. She is sensitive to that though and actually does something to correct it although the guy is usually understanding and, more often than not, just brushes aside her apologies.
She falls in love with Machiru, who is short for a guy and is of the same height as Haruna. Now HE has the bright cheery personality that shoujo heroines are typically like. It is still quite refreshing though because its the guy this time. He gets teased a lot because of his monkey and gives an impression of being a baby monkey. He's a really innocent guy that is unexpectedly mature. He might have a cheery personality but that's not because he is ignorant. He's a happy guy because he always thinks about happy things. However, he's not the typical insensitive and clueless shounen hero either. He's sensitive to Haruna's feelings and is always watching out for her. Haruna has a tendency of keeping her problems to herself but he always senses her mood and bluntly asks her about it and helps her out. He's also really assertive like Haruna and speaks out about what he wants and thinks. He also actually does HELPFUL things to help Haruna out with her problems.
The manga focuses only on the couple. Side characters are only there to tease the couple and provide comic relief. Only Atsu, the guy's best friend who also falls in love with the girl is ever developed. I never liked Atsu even though he isn't really painted as a bad guy in the manga. The fact that he never agonizes about pursuing his friend's girl is kinda unforgivable for me. He should at least feel bad about it. Plus, he might be friends with Macharu, but he NEVER does anything for Macharu. He teases him, he torments him, laughs at him and has been generally buddy-buddy with him since middle school. But he doesn't even respect Macharu and openly tries to steal Haruna. Macharu is too much of a good guy to stop being friends with him but Macharu is not stupid to his intentions either.
Enjoyment:
This manga seemed to be tailored to my taste. There's plenty of romance and heart-pounding moments. There's just enough conflict to make it worthwhile. There's just enough humor to balance the conflict and make it enjoyable. The characters are thoughtful and actually nice.
Overall:
I love this manga. It's nearly perfect. Yeah I would have wanted that they wait until getting married before doing it but I know that, sadly, that doesn't happen often lately in this day and age. Happily, they only did it once in 3 years so its still pretty chaste. However, I love the sincerity of these two. It has 31 chapters but I would have loved more. There still would have been a lot of material for university life and married life.
