Well, I finally read it properly.
The ending of the main relationship was really strange, and feels cut entirely too short. Chapter 9 gives us the lead-in to botched confession drama, and then chapter 10 neatly - like oh my gosh this is Yuri
how is this so neatly done! - ties it up with a more proper confession, accepted silently. That same confession is even postulated upon by other characters! The sequence is so sweet, too. I was really happy...until I reached chapter 13, and the whole thing basically gets run back again. Like I understand the insatiable desire for will-they-won't-they action, but this sequence was just so weirdly strung together. I'm left imagining alternate scenarios where Ohsawa gets to establish and play with those post-chapter 10 dynamics for another volume before jumping into the concert arc, which clearly had more build-up than we saw pay off.
More importantly...Yuri Hime seriously robbed us of the opportunity to see them in these friggin fabulous shirts? And Hibiki in a suit! That's unforgivable...
All that said, add me to the list of people shouting, "It's really good!", even if I'm left unsatisfied. Serializations often seem to be better ending too soon rather than too late, but Ohsawa's writing in this was so top-notch, it barely felt like a serial at all. The callback to the dad ~7 chapters later was like, woah. That was so long ago! Yet the conflict felt natural and really re-framed others parts of the story in a new light. Surely she would've treated us to more surprises like that as time went on. I loved everything about Chika and Sakiko's relationship too, there were some neat tropes in there.
Oh and the art?? Is super good?? Not only are all these characters super well-drawn, but they totally destroy manga syndrome. I love the clash in each couple's design - Chika's angular face and harsh eyebrows with Sakiko's soft, openness were really impressive to me particularly. When Chika gets swept up in Sakiko's beauty it's like, yeah. Of course she does, because Sakiko is drawn to be beautiful in a way no other character is.
Wanderer posted:
One thing I'm kinda sad about is that we really didn't get any reveal or conclusion about Ema's life or lover huh. She was nice and a good support character but I feel like we never really got to explore her as a person compared to the other members of the cast.
Oh yeah and second this! There were some really cute moments with her, would've been awesome to see her evolve and become less mysterious.
last edited at Apr 7, 2021 10:22PM