Little did Nao Kogure realize back in middle school that when she left an umbrella and a box of bandages in the rain for injured delinquent Taiga Onise that she would meet him again in high school. Nao wants nothing to do with the gruff and frightening Taiga, but he suddenly presents her with a huge bouquet of flowers and asks her to date him—with marriage in mind! Is Taiga really so scary, or is he a sweetheart in disguise?
Although Nao Kogure was once afraid of the delinquent Taiga Onise, she was soon touched by his kind soul. Nao and Taiga stopped dating when Nao became confused by her feelings for the two different men in her life. Now that they’re just friends, Nao begins to realize who she truly has romantic feelings for.
Yes yes yes! Still super adorable with lots of cute illustrations and heartwarming moments. This volume made me laugh out loud a few times too! I recognise myself in Nao (especially when she’s awkward and embarrassed which happens to be about 90% of the time) Can’t wait to see what surprises are in store in the third volume - the ending of this volume left me with a few questions. Hmmmm...
Another fantastic volume! My heart felt like it was going to explode with happiness from all the cuteness overload!
While Misaki can bring the occasional dirty mouth, this series continues to be very wholesome. It was shocking to see a young man declare he wants to save his first kiss for his wedding day! :o Onise definitely continues to surprise me just as much as he does Kogure because he has a heart of gold and it is absolutely beautiful to read about on page.
Kogure continues to be a very lovable main character that I easily saw my younger self in. She is so precious! I really admire how she is brave and able to speak her mind even if she feels embarrassed sometimes.
While I LOVED this volume, I did NOT love the final chapter. It wasn't bad, but after all the hardwork Kogure puts into working through her feelings and then voicing those said feelings, I was really bummed that our couple's page time together sort of vanished. :/
I'm a little nervous for volume three because of a new development that seems to be happening at the end, but I am definitely reading it as soon as I can! This couple is the sweetest and need more of them!
Kogure and Onise are such a cute and cool couple. I really like them. So, I was very happy that Kogure got her feelings together and confessed to Onise in this volume. We all know he already felt that way about her, but it took her a little longer to come to reciprocate.
But, things seem a little strained towards the end of the volume, since Onise seems to spend all his time with his new male pal, instead of with Kogure.
"I know in my heart...I'll do what I can to give her...the same happiness she gives me..."
Nao isn't exactly your typical shojo heroine. Sure, she follows the same formula for most, but she actually confesses her feelings the moment she realizes them. She doesn't angst over them like a lot do. It helps that Onise already likes her but I'm glad she didn't try to make Sou out as a love interest. And that kiss was adorbs ^^
Friendship is the main theme of this volume. Nao and Onise decide making friends is important to them. But when we are introduced to Ayaha Futami, things get complicated. Were this any other shojo, Futami would be the love interest and Onise the second lead that would never be chosen.
Futami and Onise become close friends and at first Futami seems like a good guy. He talks back to his group of friends who were talking badly about Onise and tries to see who he is under the rumors. But at the end, the paneling makes it seem like he has other motives...
Despite the wonderful start to Onise and Nao's relationship as a couple, it seems that Futami might be another love interest. From what we've read of Nao so far, I don't think she'll let Futami get his way or sway her. If anything, I think this will be a lesson for the couple on how to deal with jealousy.
My only complaint is how much Sou dwells on the past regarding Nao. I'm unsure how he feels about her. It seems like he's genuinely happy for Onise and her, but there are times where it seems like he might have feelings for her. And now we have Futami strutting around. Please no love square.
Well, it's shojo. And a pretty realistic one at that.
*I own all the manga I read/review and don't support scans.
Cute art, cute cover, but still some elements that I'm not a fan of...
She’s finally realized that her feelings for her uncle aren’t romantic feelings, that it’s not a crush, he’s like a parent to her. Finally. Otherwise, I think the ML is cute to the FL, but I foresee a love triangle approaching, so because of that and content, I’m going to mark this series as DNF.
ML kisses FL when she’s asleep (he apologizes and says it was inappropriate); FL is told to imagine kissing ML and her uncle to test what she really feels for both of them (but freaks out and can’t do it); FL falls on top on ML and it’s awkward (plus some skin is shown); FL lifts up ML’s shirt when he’s hurt and he gets very blushy about it; FL is teased by a friend for thinking dirty thoughts and having “sex on the brain” (she wasn’t though); A picture showing a bit of FL’s cleavage; A mention of it sounding like a guy only wants a girl as his girlfriend so him can be physically intimate with her (corse slang is used); A mention of being kicked in the butt; A mention of an evil devil; A couple mentions of rumors of the ML torturing animals;
I loved how we got to know more about everyone's feelings in this volume. The art is just so cute, I can't get enough of this. I'm enjoying it thoroughly, like savouring every bit of a delicious sweet.
Cuteness overload! Just when I'm despairing of not finding anything positive to say about the books I've read recently, this goes to the top of the pile and I can't help but smile. Sweet and innocent, this series has consistently made me happy since I've started reading it. I can't wait to grab the next volume!
If you're a fan of high school romance manga (you know, the Shoujo stuff), then this series is definitely worth a look. Maybe it's not the most original premise, and the storylines are pretty simple...but they're sweet. And relaxing. And just what a person needs when they've been having a bad day and need something that will make them smile again.
This is the sweetest thing I have ever read! 😄 All of the little additional side-story illustrations are adorable too! I love everything about this manga! 💕
I am loving the direction the story is taking! I'm on board with the series. One of my least favorite tropes showed up at the end of this volume though...
On the one hand, I really like that our main couple has gotten together and that Nao was brave enough to tell Taiga how she really feels about him. They’re also just super sweet, if a little awkward, hehe. Yashiro is also a really interesting character I hope we get to see more from as I really like hers and Nao’s friendship.
On the other hand, the last chapter was disappointing and the reason the rating went down from Volume 1. While I like that Taiga is making more friends, I feel it’s out of character for him to not hang out with his first friends and girlfriend as much anymore because of said new friends—if I were his friend, I’d question whether these people were good for him or not. Also, I don’t like our new character, Futami. There’s nothing outright wrong with him—except that I kind of feel like he’s mocking Taiga some and his overall attitude and manner towards Nao has me feeling leery—but I can tell he’s going to be some kind of love rival and I’ve found I find that trope as irritating as a love triangle.
So…I don’t know how I’m going to feel about this series going forward. I’ll keep reading for now, but I guess we’ll see.
Content
Language: ass
Violence: a guy is beaten off page; bruises on a guy’s torso
Sexual: a girl has a crush on her uncle; a couple near kisses in a thought; a guy lightly kisses a girl while she’s sleeping; a girl lifts a guy’s shirt to check his injuries (is played as cute not sexual); some suggestive comments along with a mention of “sex on the brain”
Other: a girl accidentally falls on top of a guy she likes; past grief over dead parents
super cute manga! i love how comedic the characters are (especially misaki and yashiro haha). if you’re looking for something light hearted and heartwarming, “honey so sweet” will be a great fit!
Read: June 19th to June 30,2019. Nao and Onise's relationship is one the sweetest relationship I've read in a romance series in a while. I adore them both. I will type a review for this series once I re-read the first two volumes.
Onise's words at the end of the previous volume cause Nao to wonder whether her feelings for Sou really are romantic. As she puzzles through the concept of romantic feelings and how to recognize them, Onise suddenly brings things to a head. He The volume ends with the introduction of a new character, Ayaha Futami, a classmate of Onise's who takes an interest in him.
I still think the entire "Nao has a crush on her uncle, who has been raising her since she was six" thing was weird and off-putting. And while I appreciated the way she started questioning how to recognize whether her feelings are romantic or not, I thought she figured things out awfully fast considering she'd spent years interpreting her love for her own uncle as romantic love.
I also didn't like the way Nao's epiphany happened.
Meguro included some moments showcasing Nao and Onise's budding friendships with Yashiro and Misaki, although they always referenced Nao and Onise's romance. The moments were cute, but I found myself thinking about the friendship storyline early on in Kimi ni Todoke that explicitly focused on Sawako, Chizuru, and Ayane, with no reference to Sawako's budding romance with Kazehaya. Yashiro supported Nao while she wondered what to do about Onise, and Misaki supported Onise as he decided to pursue Nao more actively. I thought the relationship between Onise and Misaki was slightly better done. It felt like they had a firmer foundation, in large part because Volume 1 had already done some of the work of breaking down Misaki's defenses on-page. Yashiro was a bit friendlier in this volume, but it came more out of the blue than Misaki's transformation.
Once Nao and Onise officially became a couple, I tended to like Meguro's efforts at "sweet" moments more. Onise turns out to be the sort of guy who moves both fast and slow, originally asking Na out "with marriage in mind," but worrying that by holding hands they're moving too fast. And Sou doing the "dad" thing, telling Onise that he'd better appreciate the cookies Nao put so much time into, was nice. I kind of hope Sou gets a romantic storyline at some point (with an adult! You have no idea how much I hate that I have to specify these things).
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I hope Futami is the good guy he appears to be and that Onise figures out a way to hang out with this new friend of his without making Nao feel like she's constantly being left out. But I worry that Meguro actually plans to make Futami a secret villain. I suppose I'll find out.
I'm still iffy about this series. Although the art style is cute and there are lots of cute moments, there are lots of aspects that I'm not wild about. I'm hoping the next volume is better.
Extras:
Author sidebars and a few extra AU (alternate universe) comics in which Meguro depicts Sou as a teacher and all of the series' other characters as small children.
It's been a minute since I've really been able to sit down and devour a story. And even longer since I've read the first volume of this series. But my copy came to me when I needed it most. First off, five stars for all the tropes the series is breaking:
1.Kogure defines her love for Onise, telling him point blank, he's the only one for her, putting an end to an awkward love triangle that nearly put me off reading the series (she had to come to terms with parental vs. romantic love for her guardian-a bit dicey for that part and also their closeness in age). And let's be honest, in your typical YA fare, this would've become a primary plot. 2.Onise apologizes for foisting romantic ideas/actions onto Kogure before she's ready or even conscious (Ex: while helping Onise study, Kogure falls asleep on the table. Onise kisses her while she's asleep and upon her waking up, he apologizes profusely). 3.These two lovebirds aren't isolated! They encourage each other to break out of their shells and make new friends, even if that means forgoing lunch together. We love a build up rather than a tear down. *Caveat to #3, the manga is filled with one on one convos between Onise and his new friends as well as Kogure and hers. The author also subtly shows hobbies/character traits (Ex: Onise is mistaken as a bully when he was really rescuing a turtle and later we see he's actually taken said turtle in as a pet, shows rather than tells his caregiving nature and respect for animals. And his new friends asking him to cook for them shows his culinary aptitude rather than straight up saying "Onise loves to cook". On the flip side, their study sessions shows off Kogure's brainy side and her reaching out to form bonds beyond Onise and Sou show a person who's willing to improve her life).
My favorite bits of the whole volume:
1.Kogure turning Onise's initial request back to him: asking him to "please date me with marriage in mind", handing him her homemade ice box cookies in place of the flowers he gave her. 2.After saying "yes" to Kogure's query, Onise dons a suit and heads to Sou, ensuring him that despite his age, he'll do whatever it takes to give Kogure the same happiness she's given him.
Honey So Sweet, indeed!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The comparison of the HSS being like cotton candy is very true. Its story is light and airy but a sweet treat. Its nowhere near bad but its not anything earthshattering. But neither is it trying. It's just an enjoyable read. I really enjoy how this volumes gives a deeper glimpse and a better feel for Taiga's love. Its so gentle and compassionate and the gentle giant/delinquent plays into this dealio he's got going on. Just like the first volume the setpieces for scenes are nice and unique which is enjoyable. Meguro also seems to be giving a real lefort to not forget or sideline the side cast which is nice. The MCs also seem to start getting some growth outside of their romance with each other which is nice. The ending really drew me in. I'm alright with a love triangle. Most uniquely it looks like vol 3 is gonna tackle how new romances can be difficult as you deal with others knowing more about this person you're interested in than you. That want to learn more about a new flame and the emotions and reactions it can cause a neat thing to handle about love. If it keeps on the nice setpieces, exploration of love, and side cast it'll become a 4/5 in no time.
Really like how the friendships and relationships (romantic and platonic) developed in this volume! I wanted to see more of the girls and guys becoming closer friends (and with each other as well), and we got to see some of that~
What I like the most about this volume is that Taiga and Nao-chan are honest with each other and say what they want to say. [Spoilers] Nao's confession scene was in aw ay perfect, especially for her and Taiga-kun; it was also raining when Nao-chan first saw Taiga and when Taiga started to fall for Nao-chan's kindness. They're both so shy after and it's just so cute ^///^ Towards the end, we got introduced a new character, and when he suddenly became more interested in Taiga, I just have a feeling that he's likely going to bring trouble... And from the last scene of the volume, it seems like my prediction may come true starting from the next few chapters... [Spoilers over]
By the way, I usually don't think too much about volume covers, but I have to say, the covers for this series are just so pretty and adorable~ ^^