These volumes can be very dense reads, but dang do I ever love them. The story has neatly split into three separate couples, or at least potential ones, and each of them is a lot of fun to spend time with. That’s a rare feat.
My absolute fave is still the hopelessly shy Nishi and Suzuki and Tani’s friend, Yamada, who make such an adorable couple that they could lead this manga and I wouldn’t even mind.
Between Nishi continuing to push outside her comfort zone, Yamada’s ongoing acceptance of her exactly as she is, and Nishi’s friend being all too happy to play wingman, this is so much greatness in one package.
Their tale sprawls all across this volume, culminating in a really sweet date that inadvertently ends up intersecting with Suzuki and Tani while they’re also having a little moment of their own.
The silly ways that Tani and Suzuki manage to work even though they don’t have a lot in common is still another part of the three-pronged approach that makes this so good. They’re good for one another, yes, but they aren’t out to change one another and that’s really key.
Tani’s still the quiet one, but he’s slowly coming out of his shell and it’s very sweet seeing them keep landing blows on one another. This definitely catches the mood of a particular type of young love.
And then there’s the super-self-conscious Taira, whose glow-up didn’t really lead him to the high school life he envisioned. Except he and the jaded Azuma have such a good time together and Azuma is practically blossoming through her interactions with him.
It’s not the madcap antics of Tsuredere Children, but between the art style and the sharp writing this manages to capture the usual manga high school experience while making it feel fresh and unique. I’ve seen Nara’s deer dozens of times by now, but this still has something new to do with them.
There aren’t really high dramatics, but there don’t need to be. Every time this switches to a different perspective or couple it stays strong and keeps on going. It’s many things, but always interesting.
4.5 stars - I mean, it’s not doing anything special, per se, but what it does it does so well that it’s hard to resist. Wonderful stuff.