TBF it's not exactly unusual for teenagers to get all, like, deep IRL.

Factual depths of reflection and actual epiphanies tend to... leave something to be desired, but doesn't stop them from being excessively serious about it.

TBF it's not exactly unusual for teenagers to get all, like, deep IRL.

Factual depths of reflection and actual epiphanies tend to... leave something to be desired, but doesn't stop them from being excessively serious about it.

I did not expect the Scooby Gang to end up being exponentially more interesting (or at least have a more coherent arc) than the MCs.

last edited at Mar 30, 2021 10:33PM

I did not expect the Scooby Gang to end up being exponentially more interesting (or at least have a more coherent arc) than the MCs.

Rusty

Full disclosure - I essentially stopped paying attention to the series after the Three Stooges' storyline wrapped up.

27th7 posted:

It was a decent read, the only thing I couldn't quite get over was the precocious teenagers, like, they were getting philosophical every chapter or so, it felt really funny tbh

It's a common trope in manga. Teens get all deep, like they experienced a life's worth of tribulation in a few weeks of high-school and they suddenly aged into their 40s. Then, once the monologue has been said, everyone has an epiphany and moves forward.

Convenient.

Dawson's Creek, the TV show of rural teens talking in paragraphs about movies, love, and life.

So... About a year ago, around chapter 30, I decided to put this manga on hold, because I didn't want my angst to come on monthly doses (and I just have the habit of letting mangas I like to accumulate some chapters before resume reading), then, yesterday, I saw that it was actually complete (for my surprise, since I thought the story at that point was around 60~65% complete), but since a year is a lot and my memory is bad, I decided to start over, now here I'm just to say:

Considering that I decided to read this manga (even though I would usually avoid angst) fully hoping for a happy ending, I'm sufficiently satisfied. However, I'll agree with those who felt like the ending was rushed, it could certainly have used at least 3 or so more chapters and preferably another volume (or two) to further develop Uta and Kaoru's relationship... some may think that such would be boring, and I admit that maybe it would be uneventful, but that doesn't mean it would be boring, just give me some peaceful and comfy [Slice of Life] with some fluffy here and there and I would be set. . . etc, etc, I'll stop with my rambling now.

PS: Does anyone know if that "happy ending" chapter is actually on the volume or if it was just posted on twitter or something afterwards?

Considering that I decided to read this manga (even though I would usually avoid angst) fully hoping for a happy ending, I'm sufficiently satisfied. However, I'll agree with those who felt like the ending was rushed, it could certainly have used at least 3 or so more chapters and preferably another volume (or two) to further develop Uta and Kaoru's relationship.

Sure, maybe with another volume or two the author could have figured out some way to indicate that Kaoru was, you know, the slightest bit sexually attracted to women.

That tiny touch of development might have rounded her character out a little bit.

its funny the criticisms abt Uta didnt move on when she realized it would be a lifelong unrequited love and still stuck in it, which is culture conflict i guess.
In asian culture, “片想いなら見守っていればいい” (if it’s an unrequited love then better just watch over it) is very common for puppy love, its like, even i will be dating the others, but you are the only one on my mind. if you are in a pinch i will give up anything to save you, nothing can prove my love but wasting life for you.
it may seem so sick, but we are so into these horrible romances relating to a japanese aesthetic 侘び寂び (wabi sabi) means to embrace imperfection and impermanence.

PS: Does anyone know if that "happy ending" chapter is actually on the volume or if it was just posted on twitter or something afterwards?

Assuming you didn't look this up yourself by now, short answer: both yes and no.

It wasn't in the magazine serialization, it was an extra with a limited edition of the final volume, but not the standard edition (at least initially, and I don't know about translated editions), and has also been published separately (by the same publisher as the volumes). There is a reasonable basis to consider it official/canon in the broader sense, while not being in the strictest sense part of the main story (ie to clarify what I meant in my earlier comments on not being part of the story, I meant just not part of the main story narrative structure, while still part of the characters story).

The two endings have certainly given me a lot to think on. The entire time I was reading the series, I fully expected the love to remain unrequited, though I hoped that would not be the case. The initial ending we were given was alright, but I couldn’t stand how ambiguous it was. The second ending we received is something I definitely prefer. I am glad they ended up together, but I agree that it kind of came out of nowhere and was very jarring to say the least. To say the ending felt rushed is an understatement, and this is an issue I feel a lot of really good romance manga have (I’m looking at you, Citrus). I wish that we could have expanded on what happened after they began living together, if only for a few chapters. Then again, I wish just about every series I read would go on forever lol.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: I really loved this series and I’m definitely going to come back to it once in a while. I was satisfied with them getting together in the end, but I wish it was much more natural and streamlined. And I wish it could have gone on for longer lol

I had to start over because I can’t recall where I stopped reading (it was when Kaoru had an accident). The ending is good and it turns out her love didn’t remain unrequited forever. Though I think living with the person you have unrequited feelings for is not healthy and the feeling will fade in time when it is too painful to bear. Having the other person choose to be with you in the end is truly a miracle. Now that I am finishing the series I have dropped because it became boring, I could say all ended quite nice except for Citrus.

Picked this up after 2? or so years. I'm so glad they ended up together though LOL because I can only take faux angst. Also Risako is absolutely gay for Kaoru and no one can change my mind.
Nice read, there's still a lot that can be desired in fleshing out their story, and how they are doing living together. But I understand that artists are tied down with publishing logistics and constrictions.

Wew what a manga. Chapter 38 is just a doujin that tries to appease to fan anger after the horrible ending that chapter 37 was.
How can you write such a long story with deep characters and end it like this? Nothing got through in the end.
You could only read chapter 1, then the chapter where uta confesses, then the staircase accident, then the divorce chapter, then 37+38 and the story would be the same.

All the great development in between was for nothing.

I appreciate that opinions can differ, but I don't really UNDERSTAND why so many people didn't see this ending coming. It was hinted at throughout the manga.

The ending itself wasn't the issue, the problem lies in how it was written.

Two timeskips for a total of 6 years in the span of 5 pages, where Uta comes to terms with her feelings being forever unrequited and spends an entire year with no contact with Kaoru, just to mysteriously end up living alone with her in the next timeskip. It doesn't make any sense to skip this much develoment.

And then the second ending is just fanservice for angry fans.

I appreciate that opinions can differ, but I don't really UNDERSTAND why so many people didn't see this ending coming. It was hinted at throughout the manga.

The ending itself wasn't the issue, the problem lies in how it was written.

Two timeskips for a total of 6 years in the span of 5 pages, where Uta comes to terms with her feelings being forever unrequited and spends an entire year with no contact with Kaoru, just to mysteriously end up living alone with her in the next timeskip. It doesn't make any sense to skip this much develoment.

And then the second ending is just fanservice for angry fans.

And, as I’ve said more than once, the series had plenty of chapters where that mission-critical development could have been shown. Instead we got Uta’s wacky friends along with the long, drawn-out process of Kaoru’s dawning recognition that Reiichi really wasn’t that into her romantically, something which readers could see from the very first chapter.

The pacing in this series was just ridiculously bad—plots this inept usually don’t last long enough to flounder around as badly as this one did.

How the hell did Uta didn't move on- You spent your life unrequited and you're still in love with her. Welp at least they ended up with each other but man I don't how you do that-

Wow, just found out about this extra chapter while going through old works I'd read.

I still maintain that tMnR stole my lunch money.

I have nothing more to say.

I have to say that before the last volume this was one of my favorites manga. After the ending and the almost fan-service/Doujinshi epilogue it all came crashing down.
But fuck the ending was still hard to take but its ok I enjoyed the ride although if it weren't for the pandemic i would 've never have gotten into manga let alone into WLW manga.
Still Its hard to fine Yuri that's not entirely man-pleasing/fantasy so... All in alI its was ok. oh what could have been tho.. fuck I'm still processing.

I kinda like this, but kinda totally fucking hAte thiS—

Hmmmmm. Honestly a pretty hollow experience reading this (I would have felt so cheated if I followed this from the start waiting each month for a new chapter). It didn't feel badly paced so it didn't drag... yet it was a whole lot of nothing.

The side characters seem to have attempted to address non-standard archetypes/personalities, which were ripe for exploration and development yet they all fell short on that side of things with interactions and events that really didn't feel realistic in terms of the consequences they brought on the characters. A prime example would be the relationship between Kuro and Miyabi. Having it start with Kuro seeing Miyabi as a convenient maid is ok, in that it provides a great opportunity to address this flaw in Kuro's character. We have Miyabi show more physical affection towards Kuro and them going on a couple dates... and suddenly this flaw in Kuro's character formed from the trauma caused by her father's behaviour is gone. Could have more stuff happened offscreen which could have helped this? Possibly, but I would assume the point is to show pivotal points in their relationship and they were personally not very convincing.

There's weakly building upon characters and there's not addressing them at all. Of course that would be Risako being the ever-present "I'm rationality incarnate and I have no need for feelings or relationships as they drag me down" character. Needless to say, this worldview is flawed in so many ways that it would be pointless to state so. This trope is so common in het stories (usually that typical plain-white-bread dude MC) it's difficult to not sigh heavily each time they say something along the lines of that at the start of a first chapter. However, the thing about this trope is it can lead to some great character development especially in moments where it's challenged directly and shown how flawed it is. Yet... this doesn't really happen with Risako and she gets to continue on her lonely path she has decided upon. Sure, she is definitely far from being the focal point in this series, the author might have wanted her to remain static, yet she played a large enough role and directly led to one of the main conflicts because of this trait I sort of expected something to be done about it (although considering the point in the story that this is mentioned, I don't see a great way of going about it). Overall, one of many missed opportunities to flesh out characters to make them more compelling.

And finally, our main "couple". Kaoru and Uta. Admittedly (and as expected), these characters and the connection between each other were by far the most convincing out of the bunch. Uta being Kaoru's support pillar time and time again (even through her mere presence) and Kaoru's attachment towards her (and her realisation of it) was one of the small snippets of convincing and genuine character building I got from this series. This coupled with Kaoru's loss of her mother and the juxtaposition with her tenuous marriage with Reiichi is all very good. Likewise, Uta's struggle with her situation played out in the first half in a painfully relatable fashion that also felt very grounded. The climax of her expressing her feelings towards Kaoru is also another great moment and it could have led to a path of acceptance of the end this first love (probably better to say crush). But it doesn't go into that direction, which is ok given how Kaoru feels back towards Uta and we have Kaoru express back her affection towards Uta. Great, now we can get to best part where they start to learn more about each other and further their relationship... right? Nope, story ends right at that point and we get what felt like a ham-fisted ending where the author says "Yes, they got together. Look, they had a consensual kiss with each other so that means they are very close to each other. Happy?". This is something I can believe as a development, but a believable development is not enough when it can be shown (sort of goes back to my comments on Kuro and Miyabi's relationship) rather than shoved into you face with no buildup. It just feels very cheap and unsatisfying.

I could go on and make further comments about other problems but that would require to look back for details which I've forgotten and I'm honestly not bothered with trying to go through that again. But the above paragraphs are my main gripes with this series.

If you wanna read something with this sort of unrequited angst plus a bit of an age-gap, try out "Haru and Midori". Sure the roles are reversed (the older woman crushing on the younger) and the crush is misplaced upon the daughter of her original crush but you have the co-habitation vibe going on and the angst behind lost opportunities with solid dialogue and a beautifully airy art that adds to the angsty atmosphere. Really solid short read (15 chapters).

TL DR: Everything besides the two mains is underdeveloped and even for the two mains, given our ending that in itself did not have development towards it either. Did the author run out of steam? No longer had an interest in continuing? Certainly possible scenarios but this is what has been written and given to us. Potential that was mostly unfulfilled for me.

Also Reiichi is either a real dick or a dopey idiot (ironically given his portrayal, this comes off pretty in-character) if he didn't think far enough to realise that the net pain he would inflict upon Kaoru knowing that:
a) He doesn't love Kaoru as a romantic partner and would be unable to give her the affection a romantic partner should provide.
b) He would be causing pain himself by not being able to be with Risako to the point when given the chance, he would immediately jump onto spending time with Risako, while neglecting his wife.
c) He won't be even able to provide an ounce of substantial emotional support that is sort of the bare requirement for not even a lover but a friend (given how he bumbles through points of emotional strife).

Gosh, thinking about it more and more makes me awfully angry, especially considering his intentions. He hears Kaoru's mother's desire to have had Kaoru and himself be together right before she dies. He goes and proposes to Kaoru (while still going out with Risako) out of nowhere at her most down point. A surface level examination might make it seem like he was some sort of saviour to Kaoru, by granting one of her deepest desires at her worst time, but it comes off ridiculously selfish. He basically did it only to relieve himself of the guilt that was indirectly placed upon him by Kaoru's mother, with absolutely no regard of the following consequences (listed above) or rather unknowing of the following consequences considering what a dumbass he is. A guilt that is probably not great to carry, but one that definitely should have been acted upon given how minor all things considered. Rant over.

last edited at Oct 26, 2024 2:22PM

How the hell did Uta didn't move on- You spent your life unrequited and you're still in love with her. Welp at least they ended up with each other but man I don't how you do that-

as someone whos been there, and is currently still there this one felt pretty realistic. to quote the biggest idiot on tv, "If you're looking for the word that means caring for someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, its love! And when you love someone you just, you...you don't stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy. Even then. Especially then. You just- you don't give up because if I could give up... If I could just, you know, take the whole world's advice and- and move on and find someone else, that wouldn't be love."

I really liked the manga, probably one of the most accurate representations of how irritatingly, relentlessly and unconscious these feelings are. The ending felt really weird though, so not really canon in my head and chalk it up to some external pressure on the author to make the series more digestible for common romance readers.

As it stands though up to chapter 37 this was a good read.

As it stands though up to chapter 37 this was a good read.

I liked it better without chapter 38 too, tbh. Even though it was a bit rushed with all those timeskips, I kinda liked the open ending better. Plus, I was one of the people that had interpreted it as a non-romantic ending, so them getting together wasn't really something I wanted to see. Don't get me wrong, I did want them to get together initially, but with how the series ended, it just didn't seem right anymore. It felt as though the author just went and added that one chapter to show the ending they had in mind (or the ending the readers wanted to see, as you said) while skipping everything that should have happened in between.

Up until ch. 36 Kaoru had repeatedly stated that she couldn't reciprocate Uta's feelings. So adding a chapter where she drunkenly confesses her love to her felt like fanfiction more than anything... (And, unless I'm mistaken, ch. 38 was published separately to the magazine serialisation, which makes my fanfic impression even stronger lol)

Don't get me wrong, I did want them to get together initially, but with how the series ended, it just didn't seem right anymore. It felt as though the author just went and added that one chapter to show the ending they had in mind (or the ending the readers wanted to see, as you said) while skipping everything that should have happened in between.

Agreed. I thought this was a classic example of "arrived at the intended answer but failed to show your work" series, among which I would also number OG Citrus and Luminous=Blue.

Citrus and this one were especially egregious examples because both authors had plenty of room to address the very serious obstacles to the happy yuri ending that they had originally set up, but instead they spent tons of time/chapters dithering around with secondary characters and comic-relief pieces and then at the end just handwaved away the basis of their stories' central conflict. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that they simply couldn't come up with a plausible way to solve the problems that they themselves had created.

I really liked and sympathized with Uta as a character--a sensitive kid in a tough emotional situation who did her best to deal with it in a mature way--but it was very hard to ever see Kaoru as a suitable romantic partner for her, not primarily because of the age gap or the family connection, but because Kaoru was so unself-aware and indecisive. (It took Kaoru almost the entire series to face the fact that her husband wasn't all that into her, a point that was obvious to readers--and to other characters in the story-- from the very first chapter.)

i love the side-couples (´ω｀)

@Blastaar This is exactly what I was thinking while reading the last chapter, but couldn't put it in words.

The last 3 pages felt like I was looking at that meme Slaps flex tape into huge leak

The last 3 pages felt like I was looking at that meme Slaps flex tape into huge leak

"To show you the power of Flex Tape, I put this planet back together!"