Finally fleshing out Ichi’s character, Yoi becoming bolder, THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT, the Tone and Kuwa ship that’s about to sail now!! How can I keep calm? Please tell me how!
Tome 8 de la saga, toujours aussi mignon. Un shojo qui shojo quoi ! Je mets seulement 3 étoiles car bien qu'agréable à lire, je trouve qu'après 8 tomes, la complexité des personnages et de leur relation reste encore trop superficielle et prévisible... mais peut être ai-je juste passé l'âge d'apprécier les shojos lycée ! Ayant été habituée à Io Sakisaka je suis un peu exigeante, mais je pense aussi que c'est peut etre trop léger comme type de lecture pour moi à l'heure actuelle. Néanmoins, c'est agréable à lire. Je ne sais pas si j'achèterai la suite.
'i wish i had the power to make up for what you have lost and to restore what has been worn away, at least a little bit. even if our current daily life and the days we take for granted disappear in the future, may you always be next to me, and may i always be with you in my future.'
Except for this next moment where I belabour the point, I won’t belabour the point that this story doesn’t land with me all that much and I think it’s kind of middling.
That all being said, this particular volume is inarguably the best one yet and, to be honest, a pretty dang good time. Notably, it doesn’t have any appearances by Ohji, the rival who is a way better character than actual male lead, Kohaku.
Instead, we get the fallout from Kohaku’s very public declaration of love and him basically stoking the fire immediately afterwards. Yoi having to deal with three sets of fan groups, one of which wants the two of them together because they look like a pair from BL story, is terribly amusing.
This leads to a lot of dating and, while I wish Yoi was a little more present in her own story, the two of them have more chemistry now that they’re together than they ever did during the preceding volumes of courtship.
Most of Yoi’s time is spent being in awe of Kohaku and wondering how she can support him. I keep feeling like there’s a character imbalance here that is the sort of thing that would annoy the biscuits out of me and probably has already.
Even the revelation of Kohaku’s incredibly stressful home life and the expectations on him doesn’t really gin up much interest from me. This is likely due to my apathy over his character, but it’s also the sort of thing we’ve seen before.
The real meat of this one for me, however, is the delightfully awkward Nobara, Yoi’s otaku friend who has developed a crush on Koharu’s friend, Shun. Even if the otaku finds love concept is hardly new, having it be a female and putting it in the hands of Mika Yamamori makes it feel fresher.
Nobara’s shyness and sudden semi-confidence is a hoot, even if Shun seems… a little boring this volume. I loved the way Nobara’s home life is depicted - you can see the how and why of her development into a withdrawn girl who thinks she deserves nothing. It’s the best characterization in the whole series and done with both economy and aplomb.
I’d read a whole book about Nobara, frankly, so her continued tribulations will absolutely bring me back for the next time out. I’m also marginally more okay with Yoi and Kohaku too, so I won’t be upset to see them date a little more as we go. That’s good enough.
3.5 stars - side characters trump main characters, but the mains get less underwhelming. Not perfect, but lots of change for the better all over this volume.
After the official announcement of the Yoi/Koharu couple, this volume goes a little empty and, to fill in the mundane everyday life of our high school students, develops classic subplots with Nobara and Shun on one side and Koharu's relationship with his parents on the other. Shojo romance 101.
Yamamori's drawing is as beautiful as ever though and remains a strong motivation to read the series.
Amo questo manga sempre di più 💛💛💛 Per chi non lo sapesse gira la voce che sarà adattato in un animeeeee!!!! Non sono pronta a vedere Kohaku animato 🫠
Pensare che Yoi e Kohaku si erano messi tanto per provarci e ora piano piano stanno instaurando un rapporto sempre più solido e sincero. Che bello che stia filando tutto liscio, niente malintesi o allontanamenti (spero di non aver parlato troppo in fretta ahah)!
Finalmente si scopre qualcos’altro sulla situazione familiare di Kohaku. Onestamente mi aspettavo tutto questo, era abbastanza scontato, ma sono convinta ci sia dell’altro. L’autrice è stata bravissima a trasmettere le emozioni di Kohaku, assurdo come sia riuscita a disegnare benissimo lui che sorride in maniera forzata.
E poi che dire? Ma che bella è la seconda coppia?! Non so quando “salperà” questa ship ma spero presto!!! Il pov da parte di lei mi è piaciuto particolarmente perché rappresenta benissimo le insicurezze che abbiamo provato tutte almeno una volta nella vita. Lei comunque è dolcissima e amo il suo lato più vivace, mi ci rivedo molto! Lui invece…mamma mia troppo figo, la Yamamori è riuscita a creare un personaggio che può benissimo contendersela con il mio amato Kohaku! E il fatto che sia un po’ tonto me lo fa piacere ancora di più!
Koharu is cementing himself as one of my fave manga leads!
Really great volume with some character development, side character relationships, and some backstory.
Recap: they’re publicallydating after Koharu kisses Yoi on stage in front of the school. Tone has some developments with Kuwa. We learn he’s super oblivious. Yoi meets Koharu’s uncle and realizes she doesn’t know Koharu that well. She goes with him to his parents house and learns the kind of childhood and relationships he has with his parents. Ends with her hugging him to comfort him.
Kind of a middling volume, but I liked it. I’m well used to the characters emoting constantly all over the place and the author does a good job of capturing the intensity of their feelings.
My favorite part was Nobara, Yoi’s friend, stepping into the limelight with a story about her crush on Kohaku’s friend Shun. Nobara feels like she could be an appealingly awkward character, so I hope she gets more time in the next volume.
We also get a bigger glimpse of Kohaku’s difficult family dynamics. They’re about what you would expect. I expect more on this front going forward as well.