Despite making one hell of a first impression, that five star review still stands, I find that this has definitely settled down a little bit after its initial showstopper introduction. It’s still very, very good, just with some caveats.
Let me say - if you are not feeling nit picky and are crazy about these two, this will be just fine and you’ll be in heaven. As somebody who goes through a slew of manga, however, I do feel the need to point out a couple things.
On the plus side, I love the way this deals with Mitsuki’s social anxiety. It depicts the awkward feeling of being the centre of attention and how hard that can be, even if the people in question mean well. The early panel of all those eyes is really solid.
Aya and Mitsuki get closer after Mitsuki manages to get injured, but this leads to Mitsuki questioning her relationship with Aya, which happens a lot this volume. It was pretty funny to see Mitsuki get jealous of herself and make a big deal of it though.
Much of this set of chapters revolves around maintaining a relationship, any sort of relationship, in the face of change. Mitsuki begins to come out of her shell more, sometimes intentionally and sometimes less so, but this sees a marked rise in her popularity that leaves a lot of emotional damage in its wake.
Aya is forced to acknowledge that Mitsuki isn’t her secret amazing friend any more and struggles with that, while Mitsuki’s anxiety causes her even more trouble at school and keeps her from being honest.
Not that there’s any shortage of that - for a story that is going to get really gay, these two are still trying to find what exactly they are to one another. There’s a lot of trying to sort themselves and one another out and, while progress is slow, it does feel believably real.
Doubt is a hell of a drug, certainly, and it casts a long shadow over these two. They also can’t seem to imagine how much of a difference they make to one another too. Ah, young love.
These two aren’t entirely ready to accept their love for one another and that’s certainly part of the problem. Plus the worry about what the other person is thinking. It’s not the most realistic yuri ever, but it absolutely feels more grounded than many of them.
That said, the scheme that shows up to being these two back together after Mitsuki’s newfound popularity drives a massive wedge between them does feel a bit silly. It befits the series’ love of Western music, quietly expanding to encompass film, but it feels out of place.
That also being said, I am more than ready for the last scene of this volume to pay off next time and it darn well better. I’ll allow some silly (and a brutally on the nose directional metaphor) if it finally leads to something special.
My biggest knock on this is that I don’t think it necessarily works fantastically as a collection. It doesn’t really adapt itself beyond collating what was online and that makes it feel a bit odd when read as a collection.
Still, it’s enjoyable stuff. Upon reflection I think I really liked this volume, soapy bits included (the adults get a moment and it does feel a smidgen forced), probably more than I initially thought.
4.5 stars - I think it still has enough structural weaknesses that keep it from a full 5 stars, mind. Nothing to worry about if you’re already into this, however, and don’t even think twice.