Sofie’s Reviews > The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, Vol. 2 > Status Update

i'm genuinely floored at how this entire situation has played out, and it's hands down the BEST depiction of the whole romeo and juliet "stay away from my bestie cause i'm protecting her" trope i've ever seen. everyone came out of it looking like the incredible people that they are, there was growth and understanding and love on all sides, it didn't feel like a pointless obstacle for the relationship. 10/10 no notes

well i cried when i watched this episode in the anime and i'm crying now reading the chapter!!!!!! subaru and kaoruko are so fucking sweet, and it's just so heartwarming to see them be so vulnerable and honest and loving and to watch subaru REALIZE that kaoruko feels just as indebted to her as she does to kaoruko. subaru is definitely one of my favorite characters, and i'm excited to see her grow even more confident

okay i was so wrong BUT now that i'm thinking about it, 3 older brothers really does fit better than him being an only child or having younger siblings. i assumed that since he's so level headed and kind, he'd fit more as an older sibling, but it's sweet to think of his older brothers mentoring him and giving him the advice that he now gives to others. also him being a surprisingly scary fighter tracks with that too

i'm such a sucker for character profiles in any manga, but i feel like the ones for these characters have potentially been the MOST accurate i've ever seen. because of COURSE saku has two sisters, kaoruko has a younger brother, rintaro has an older brother, and shohei has two siblings. it all just fits SO perfectly. i'm guessing rn that ayato is either an only child or has a younger sibling (maybe even two)

OUCH shohei, ayato, and saku's expressions when rintaro says that he doesn't want to tell them what's going on with kaoruko??? saku especially looks so HURT. you can tell that they wanna be there for him so badly but he just won't let them in, and this has been going on probably since they met him. i wonder if rintaro is just in his head about what hoshina said, or if he just still has walls up in general (prob both)

this trope can be so annoying and forced but the way they've gone about it here is INCREDIBLE. hoshina is SO vulnerable and honest about knowing that rintaro is a good person and that what she's doing is probably not right, but you can feel her desperation so palpably. she genuinely doesn't know how else to protect her friend, and when rintaro refuses, she's clearly sad but totally accepts it. so mature and nuanced