Anyway, I love you 02

どうせ、恋してしまうんだ。 [Dōse, Koishite Shimaunda.] #2

by Haruka Mitsui

Mizuhos Alltag steht Kopf, als Kizuki ihr plötzlich Avancen macht. Dabei war er doch unter ihren Sandkastenfreunden das Nesthäkchen und bloß wie ein kleiner Bruder für sie …! Obendrein macht der von ihr angehimmelte Saito-senpai ihr eine unerwartete Liebeserklärung?!Auch Musterschüler Shin scheint sich sehr für Mizuhos Gefühle zu interessieren. Das Herz klopft immer schneller …

Genres: Manga, Romance, Contemporary, Shojo, Young Adult, Love, German Literature

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2022

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively, I have no reason for giving this a four instead of a three, because apart from the Covid angle it's really very cookie cutter. How lucky for me that taste gets to be subjective.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

With two confessions in rapid succession, Mizuho can’t quite take it and ends up with a fever. During her recovery she has a heart-to-heart with Shin, but where does that leave Saito and Kizuki? Elsewhere, boys will fight like boys, but nobody seems to grasp the concept of ‘super-spreader event’.

Can a shojo manga succeed when its heroine is a bit of a space case? Yes, yes it can. Mizuho’s springtime of her youth might have arrived but she’s clearly not done the course readings, as evidenced by her post-collapse bout of consumption and incredible lack of confidence.

Which leaves her at the mercy of the boys and, dammit, they’re all interesting and, mercifully, not all interested in her. There’s a lot more fleshing out this volume, but in good ways - these five are such a great friend group that it’s a good time watching them just goof on one another. It’s believably affectionate.

Shin comes to the fore, turns out his studious nature comes from a very believable place of wanting to help, but much as he tries - and the beach scene between Shin and Mizuho is absolutely lovely - he is clearly just as quickly sent to the aft, despite his efforts (you can try and convince me all day long, book, but I have your number).

We’ve also got the vicious tease, Shuugo, who turns out to be hiding in a whole other genre, and the pretty boy with a delinquent past that actually kind of works because it makes a realistic point about friends not always sticking together for their entire school lives. All of it is just enough to make hanging out with everybody feel right.

Saito-senpai might as well not show up either, but he and Kizuki certainly decide to fling their testosterone at one another during the closing moments of the volume, in a very ‘boys’ sort of way. I don’t think the overall mystery is much of anything here, Mizuho might not get herself but her cardiac system gives her away every time, but it’s still a nice addition to have the future involved.

And between all the emotional writhing and tortured feels, there’s also a lot of fun being had. The beach scene is great, the fireworks are a nice touch, and the aquarium “date” is one of the better ones I’ve seen just because of who asks who and why.

On the downside, Mizuho needs to be a smidgen less of a doormat and the boys need to walk over her less. Kizuki is still being a smidge too pushy, but Shin almost gets in on the act too. She’s still fun when she’s conscious, guys!

The fireworks scene is… well-meaning and I don’t fault the sentiment at all, but it’s also very schmaltzy in a way that I don’t normally go for. Its heart is really in the right place, but manga emoting about COVID doesn’t quite work. It might also be how incredibly unmasked everybody is in these very crowded scenes…

4 stars - caveats aside, or even taken into consideration, I think this story is interesting for its setting, but even moreso for its really good characterization. A very enjoyable cast to spend time with and a great read.

[Cigdem ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i know mangas ruin my goodreads challenge but i cant help myself 🤭🫣

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhh it’s got to be the only dark hair guy that she ends up with right????

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her guy friends got more depth in this volume but our MFC is very dull. I know nothing really about her other than she draws manga. And she has 3 guys after her? Wow just wow. Lucky her. The art is pretty but kind of hard to tell all the characters apart sometimes. I liked this authors other series best as of right now.

[Lissa Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[♡Kayla♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5*

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Love all the guy friends and the slow fleshing out of characters and story

[beatrice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyway, I’m falling in love with you ♡ 3 ✮

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I felt cautiously optimistic about volume one, volume two convinced me to invest my time into reading this series. Volume one heavily focuses on Kizuki, one of the four childhood friends who is the most overt in his crush on Mizuho. The star of volume two though is Shin, the reserved honors student of the group. I’m already so biased toward Shin now, and many of the scenes involving him had me kicking my feet.

The pacing in this volume was a little better, but plot threads are dropped in without much context and are being peppered in to be picked up later. Snippets of plot lines about the other two characters, Shuugo and Airu, are introduced in this volume, and I’m curious to learn more about both of these characters, especially Shuugo. The group dynamic between the four boys is fun, and I like all of them as characters.

I’m still not very convinced by the swim captain, who Mizuho had confessed to in volume one with absolutely terrible timing. So the competition between Kizuki and the captain felt a little out of place. The budding romance between Kizuki and Mizuho also feels a bit forced, but realistic too. Mizuho understandably doesn’t know how to feel, between the seeming rejection and confession from her crush to the overbearing attentions of Kizuki, who she previously only viewed as being like a little brother.

Mizuho's fear of change and uncertainty about love is illustrated well, I could relate to her in a way. As a young girl that’s still figuring herself out, it’s easy to get swept up and to just pick the first guy that gives you attention. Springtime of youth, indeed. A solid second volume overall, and I’m not fully invested in seeing where the story goes from here.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoping they manage to stay close friends…we can see in the future she’s still hanging out with Shin, but it doesn’t seem like they’re a couple…hmm. It’s flipping between past and future (2020 and 2030) with teasers of what their future selves are doing.

I don’t really see the point of Saito-sempai confessing now. It’s weird that he changed his mind and wants to give it a try now.

I’m really glad I was past my school years during covid. I can only imagine the disappointments of missing out on so many experiences that are truly once in a lifetime.

[Yasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it! Now we know that two of Mizuho's friends are in love with her, but what about the other 2? I have a suspicion that at least one of the other two has a crush on somebody else, who seems to be either older or already in a relationship or both. So maybe that plot will be explored sometime soon?

I am absolutely team Kizuki!! Saito can stay away and not confuse Mizuho more, as she seems to start to realise that she might have feelings for Kizuki too!

[Tib · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the time between volume 1 releasing and volume 2 releasing, I absolutely forgot what was going on in the story. I'm not absolutely loving it, so I'm probably going to drop the priority of reading this series for now. I have too many other series to keep track of and I can actually remember what's going on between volumes of those, so that might just be my sign to put this down for now.

[Dani Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhĥhh!!! I bought both Vol 1 & 2 this morning and now I'm currently rushing back to the store to get the rest of the volumes!!!! 😭💯

Such a great story of youth, young love and figuring out how to be honest. Love it and hopefully you will too!

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like they’re in middle school rather than high school .
Kinda cliche to have 2-3 love interests (so far)—update after reading chapter 10– dude I fucking KNEW there’d be more

And the ending was dumb, don’t tell me it’s still a love triangle after 10 years

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

4.5 stars
I enjoy this story but the continual debate of who might care more is simultaneously intriguing and annoying and I just hope it tips over into more concrete story and intrigue.

[Kelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reverse harem manga are so funny because the premise will be something like—“oh, your mom died tragically? here’s 4 male models to tell you how pretty you don’t know you are & to fight for your attention in increasingly ridiculous ways”.

[Karina Catellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhh esse volume me fez amar o Shin <3
Gosto de todos eles e só sei sofrer porque claramente a Mizuho do futuro está solteira, Airu nos EUA, Shin tentando se declarar Y.Y
Minha teoria é que ela e o Kizuki namoraram e o Kizuki morreu, veremos...

[scarlettraces · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kaitlynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters are all so adorable, and I love them so much. This is a romance story but it's also about not letting things (in this case the virus) make you lose heart.

[BeckyisBookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, they reeled me in...

4 sexy aloof doctors out of 5 puppy dog swimmers

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Tai · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I'm reading a love triangle or multiple love triangles 😅 I'm seems that the four mcs are in love with Mizuho. It's kind of weird, but it's a cozy manga so just let it be 😅🤣

[Paola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the past and future thing!

[Marissa Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like these series but I don't think I'm going to continue it. It's pretty mid tier for me.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute. I’m not sure how I feel about the dual timeline happening. I usually don’t like dual timelines, but it’s not super prominent so far.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOW KISS 😠

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rate 3.5