Skip and Loafer really has a special place in my heart. The most wholesome of all wholesome series. I love just how Misaki peels the character's layers to let us show what's inside. Yuzu's arc is really one of its kind. And lol, the scene with Sousuke dumb-struck staring at Mitsumi, thinking that she's asking for blessing from the gods about her love life, not knowing she's mostly praying for the development of their friendship—and just how fast do the gods work? I'll be damned!! Mitsumi just sorta confessed!
Earlier volumes have touched on it, but this time we go into depth about Yuzuki and her problems. To other girls, they might seem like good problems to have, but to Yuzu, they're anything but. It's not her fault she's conventionally pretty, and she certainly didn't ask to be treated like nothing more than a beautiful exterior. In some ways, her issues are similar to Shima's - people only see what they want to. But unlike Shima, Yuzuki's not willing to just be the person they want her to be, and people's assumptions and expectations hurt. When she ends up in a different class from all of her friends, it feels like she's fallen right down back into the chasm she climbed out of.
What I love about this series is the way it respects its characters. No one's perfect, but they don't have to be; it's what makes them human. Giving Yuzuki the focus not only develops her as a character, it also puts the others in a different perspective - and it makes Shima's reaction to Mitsumi at the end of the volume stand out even more. Few books, manga or otherwise, are so warm and respectful of their characters' lives and experiences. This series is head and shoulders above so many other titles.
Second year starts, but our gang is only incrementally wiser, if any. But said second year is going to bring new friends, open old wounds, and maybe change the world. At least if Mitsumi has anything to say about it, or maybe somebody near her.
Short review:pages 165-174, automatic five stars.
Long review:
Skip & Loafer can occasionally be a heavy read, just because of how much it gets right when it comes to the emotional damage you can accrue during high school. It may not be my experience right on the page, but it always feels like a pastiche of people I used to know.
Having formed such a strong cast, here comes the infamous class change to throw it all into turmoil. And, unlike many stories that might throw a softball at this, we get a massive upheaval in where everybody is spending their time and how they’re handling it. It’s set to explore the fragility of friendship and how easy it is to just drift apart.
Then the fallout comes and, oof, if somebody gets put through the wringer this time around, it’s poor Yuzu, who winds up reliving her worst nightmare a second time around, but now with extra hormones dolloped on top.
While seeing her suffer isn’t great, as a narrative conceit it’s absolutely brilliant. It addresses the fact that trauma or negative experiences don’t just get solved and turn into nothing, they can come back in an instant and Yuzu finds herself dealing with everything that caused her to change schools last time (that one guy deserves a massive smack for his attitude).
Watching her friends, especially her unexpected best friend, both notice something is up and go out of their way to try and fix things and look out for her, is heartwarming. And there’s a nice reminder that this doesn’t take the problem away, but it can make it tolerable at least.
Mitsumi is struggling with her general enthusiasm brushing up against her tendency to awkwardly over think and over estimate her skills. The student council’s advice service goes roughly as well as you’d expect and I love her frequent fantasy sequences that show both her hopes and insecurities, depending on the moment (they’re especially prevalent in this section).
Shima is off in a different class, surrounded by other girls (the poor guy can’t catch a break and he clearly hates his popularity but isn’t going to say anything), which helps emphasize my earlier point about how even a little distance can separate friends quickly if they don’t work at it.
But this is Mitsumi, of course she’s going to work at it! Seeing the cast we’ve met as they stick together mixed with the addition of some interesting newcomers (is that a rival in the making?) is a heck of a juggling act, but there’s a quiet confidence to this series that it happily exudes as it weaves all of this together into one smartly done tapestry.
Some of our characters get more time than others, but that’s what we have subsequent volumes for. There is an elegance to this awkwardness that makes it so enjoyable from start to finish, even when the tears are flowing or it’s at its most cringe.
And, yes, those last pages. Which not only make for a very earned cheering moment, but also feature a hilariously well done sight gag to wrap everything up in a good laugh until the next volume shows up.
5 stars - this might be the best manga about the high school experience I have ever read and it feels like it’s always tackling weighty stuff, but not to the point of wallowing in misery. Perfectly balanced, perfectly done.
Siempre disfruto demasiado de estos mangas. Es como volver a un lugar seguro.
Sigo disfrutando de las aventuras de Mitsumi como el primer día, esta vez como estudiante de segundo de bachillerato.
Si buscas un cozy manga, en el que n0 haya grandes dramas, pero que aún así se exploren los principales problemas que suelen surgir a esa edad y se explore una amistad sana, esta colección es para ti.
Hard repeat of having to change studios every year in school of architecture and missing all of your friends (bonus points if you have moved abroad / moved from a small town). I loved the focus of this volume and spending a little more time with Yuzu. The moments between her and Mako are so touching.
it's the second year and omg guys... we get SO MUCH!!!!!! (spoilers ahead)
the second year of school starts with rocking situation as the group is now separated in other classes. for yuzu, this brings back people old habits they have towards attractive people (a thing way more prevalent in japan than elsewhere) and her realities, how she feels invalidated for having concerns as the 'pretty one' in the school: being harassed by men or other ppl's boyfriends and it comes back on her, being lied to, fake-nice people, being used for other peoples' purposes for exemple, our girl got set-up on a date when it was supposed to be a group thing. and thank god our girlboss has set IMMEDIATELY that boundary and called him out on the spot and i love yuzu (standards in friendship matter) for this but you see this old pattern used to hurt our girl who learned to not talk about her issues bcs she doesn't know, apparently, 'real issues' and her venting gets her miscontrued and she learned to not vent to have her character protected. makoto also has that bias and realizes the hurt this bias on the lowkey actually affects her friendship with murashige. she decides to work on it and first goes to her place to actually apologizes and ask her to talk to her whehn she's hurt and it made me tear uppppppppppppppppp. i love my girls and it was just rlly sad to them to thru experiences like that :(( though i love how they came out of that. they are so genuine, lovely and they are safe spaces for each other, i love girls supporting girls. out of that, there was rlly some opening up from egashira's part to makoto and they were opening to each other aabout their insecurities on beauty and popularity and mika's junior high bullying. i love growth so much, they are my babies.
and im sorry to change the tune lie 180 but omg... so much progress between shima and mitsumi, they are literally the cutest ever. there's a little bit of flirting like omg we're blushingggg. there's the shrine of love scene yerrrpppp okay i was so giddy liek shima going "wait... does mitsumi have a crush on someone?" and his face AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. this manga series gives me life like i can't breathe but this is also everything to me. mitsumi gets a bit insecure/jealous about other girls around shima. this anguish kinda builds up until fumi, da bestie, encourages her to tell her feelings to shima. she goes like "that's what i love about you..." and he's shocked and she's just like that was cowardly a bit lol. she blushes when he turns around. he's nervous omg "you... do...?" anyway FIRST MOVEEEEEEE and i thought it was gonna be it but then, shima goes like on god this is my chance and he adds: "okaaay, then. you want to try going out?" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA EVERYBODY STAY CALM OMG I CANT BREATHEEE ITS ACTUALLY HAPPENINGGG omg normally i would read novel in between but yall i need to read vol 9 NEOWWWW
lowkey i think it happenedd pretty fast and sudden like i so didnt think this one was the one shima was gonna ask her out but im so happy either
ohh yea also mitsumi is potentially being approached by ujiie who is such an 'ackshually' guy. i can't wait to read the next one.
it was really interesting to see yuzu’s background, as the reader, it’s easier to understand why she is the way that she is and i’m glad she met real friends. it did make me sad that yuzu was in a different class than her friends but to have them still be there for her and know something was wrong is exactly what true friendship is. i also did not expect that ending and i wonder how mitsumi and shima’s relationship will unfold
Que maravilla de tomo!!! De principio a fin 🥺 me encanta cómo poco a poco conocemos a historia de todos los personajes. Aun qué en este los protagonistas me ganan por completo 💜
This is probably my favourite volume of the series so far. I find the slice-of-life aspect of this story so perfect for exploring each character in a nuanced and complex way, and this volume gave us some very interesting character development. My unrealistic hope with this series is that it goes on for a very long time, and that we get to follow these characters through uni and young adulthood!!