Like I really don't like to post negatively and certainly am not trying to dunk on the author, but... the more I think about it the more I'm just kinda appalled, in a bad way.
Let's take a step back on all this: first liz is a teenager AND an idol, she is completely in a different world and has totally illogical and selfish reactions.
[SNIP]
What you've described, very reasonably, is a rise-and-fall redemption arc. That may be what the author is going for, and is attempting to execute.
But one key to the artistic/narrative success of such an arc is that the audience needs to be invested enough in the character despite their flaws and missteps to want to see that redemption happen. (With the same artist here also as writer, the series Kimi Koi Limit is full of very imperfect characters, but that story basically works in the terms it establishes.)
If, on the other hand, the audience would prefer to see your tragic character hit by bus rather than redeemed, your story has gone badly astray along the way
This is, basically, the problem I've had from the start. Liz is not only unlikeable, she doesn't even feel like she's putting in that much effort to be redeemable. And Maki herself is so woefully passive that rather than cheering for her happiness, I'm instead screaming internally at the pages for her to do... something.
Maki almost did something, only for Liz herself to intervene, and instead of going after the girl that literally just came out of her shell in front of her for a brief moment, says "nah," and in the next scene is going on like that didn't happen, and then gets rewarded for it (oh I can have this relationship in public?).
And that's after all the crap she already put Maki through... are we supposed to cheer for them?
Maki, meanwhile, just feels like a complete doormat at this point. Passive is one thing but... wow. She's cheated on you twice, and that's after she physically assaulted you before for giving her a gift, wtf.
And to that point:
What have Maki done to deserve this?
Well, for once, she's way too passive. That doesn't mean she deserves this, but it does explain why she keeps getting shat on.
The whole series went south when Liz slapped Maki in the face for giving her a birthday present, and Maki proceeded to apologize.
Granted, an interesting series could have been written around such twisted and perverse characters. But this has not been that series.
I won't be surprised if when they inevitably do reconcile (because clearly they will), Liz slaps her again and berates her for "letting her cheat" or something equally silly. To which.... Maki apologizes.
