3,75/5 "I'm serious about you. I really like you. This isn't a joke to me. So even though you don't like me back at least understand that" Dos capítulos full of Marimattsun que me han hecho chillar muchísimo aaaaa esa confesión no puccc
The spit hits the fan when Tsutsui is forced to take an active role in a basketball tournament and Matsunaga is being driven to distraction by her presence. And as the Christmas holiday approaches, Natsuki really, really leans into his attempts to woo Anna.
This is one of the stronger volumes of this mostly fun little series, starting off with a great little confection in the form of a date between Yukiko and Tsuyoshi, which is just them being super cute together. They once again have all the best moments in this volume by virtue of being the most well-adjusted couple.
What also works, somewhat shockingly, is the ongoing storyline between Matsunaga and Tsutsui, which has been a bone of contention since the manga started. It thankfully turns Tsutsui’s volume down a notch and that makes her entirely less of a harpy than usual.
And Matsunaga is in the throes of love, the poor bum, and the story takes pains to make it clear that not only is this different than his passing fancies, but it shows just why Matsunaga has any interest in Tsutsui to begin with. Plus a free princess carry for your troubles.
It doesn’t really solve the core problem of it feeling like erasing Tsutsui’s love of Anna, even if that itself appears to be a byproduct of some issues with her brother (which feels like a somewhat extreme reaction, but what do I know?), but if you can let that part go, it’s not as bad as I figured it would be. I still find the story’s approach to sexuality really wonky.
Anyway, even Matsunaga finding out where Tsutsui lives is at least him being self-aware of how borderline he’s being, but it’s at least framed as an attempt to definitively clear the air when she and Anna accidentally bump into him when a girl is being far too friendly for her own good, in a one-sided way. The conversation he has with Tsutsui’s brother, where he really lets his guard down for once, is easily the best moment he’s had in all six volumes.
Topping that moment off is Anna flat-out telling Matsunaga to back off if he’s not being serious, which was a really strong moment for her. I’m not going to pretend this spun gold from straw, but it at least managed some shiny tin or something.
Elsewhere, the boys end up goofing off with two classmates who would be perfect together if they could stop thinking about sports for a hot minute, a fun little side journey that does the ‘hanging out’ thing the series is so good at plus some good moments for these new characters.
The last big story is the Christmas arc, where Natsuki and Anna get to spend some time together, but Natsuki manages to start getting sick and when he gets the order of these things wrong and then also forgets to say the stuff first, well, that’s a fun cliffhanger to go out on.
3.5 stars - not quite the redemptive arc that the two worst characters needed, but very close, with caveats. I can’t deny that this ensemble is a lot of fun when it gets the ratios right and this has been the most in balance they’ve felt yet.
This is probably the closest to "normal" highschool boys as these quirky boys can get, and that allowed for the story to make some realistic progress. Overall, this series has been inconsistent, and an aside by the mangaka here really explains why. I appreciate that and wish we could learn stuff like that more easily, (maybe from the publisher? On or near the copyright page?) so that we, the readers, can go in understanding the inevitable wonkiness that comes with an expansion of an expansion of a one-shot. It's hard to walk back some character points or switch them completely in a project life this and that knowledge definitely helps clarify a few things. Anyway, that's vague, so to stay in vague...good volume. (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞
C’est vraiment trop mignon ce tome ! Matsu qui se rend compte qu’il est amoureux de Mari alors qu’elle le supporte pas, c’était marrant de le voir se questionner sur ses sentiments sans trop savoir si c’était du sérieux pour lui ou pas alors qu’il préfère s’amuser.
J’avais oublié que le premier baiser d’Anna et de Natsu se passait comme ça, c’est tellement cliché le coup du baiser alors qu’un des personnages à la fièvre 😂 Mais dans le contexte et vu l’inexpérience des personnages ça passe plutôt bien !
J’ai passé un bon moment de lecture en tout cas
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
How much I like this series is directly proportional to how much screen time the Mattsun/Tsutsui romance takes up, and seeing as how that’s about half this volume, it was a not-great volume for me. Siiiiiiigh.
Loved this volume! Natsuki might be sick and somehow thought he had confessed to Anna, Matsunaga totally confessed to Mari, and I think she might start to like him. Tsuyuponne and Yukirin are the cutest! Their scenes are always so sweet and they like each other so much!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
hehehehehe my ship is thriving kind of. this was actually such a good volume. we had sports day, friendship moments, and christmas again!! i cant believe its been a year.
Questo manga è sempre più carino. O forse mi è piaciuto tanto perché in questo volume la storia si concentra sul mio personaggio preferito, Matsun. La vicenda è molto corale e leggera, da tipica commedia scolastica, ma l'autrice è davvero brava a farci percepire emozioni e pensieri dei personaggi, a mostrarci le evoluzioni dei sentimenti soltanto con il disegno. E non so se sia una mia fase di regressione all'adolescenza, o se ormai mi sono affezionata ai protagonisti, ma le ultime pagine mi hanno davvero fatto venire il batticuore.
Ho perso qualche volume di questa serie è quindi non so bene cosa sia successo fino al numero 6; però c'è da dire che gli episodi sono per la maggior parte auto conclusivi e quindi non è assolutamente necessario seguire la storia in ordine cronologico, là si può comunque apprezzare. Il divertimento c'è ed è tanto, e in questo volume c'è tanto amore soprattutto per Matsun (che capisce molto sul suo rapporto con Mari) e naturalmente per Nacchan che continua a provare a rivelare i suoi sentimenti ad Anna. Una serie allegra e divertente che consiglio!