Quite honestly, I would consider this one of the best series on here. It's actually my favorite, as of now. The characters feel indescribably real. Their emotions, their impact, and the display of such is all really, really well done.

I don't have much to say, this series is amazing and I always find myself looking for new chapters for this series first and foremost before anything else.

Great series. Great characterization and an engaging plot. Even if characters often take on stereotypical personalities, they're treated with a degree of respect that gives them a satisfying depth.

The atmosphere is really well done. Even if, individually, the ghosts or otherworldly creatures aren't creepy, the context and way in which they're applied never fails to at least put me on edge. It's this eldritch form of horror that has a real soft spot in my heart.

I'm really fond of this series. Just binged the light novel source, too.

The little I have to say here is just apparent of how good this series is.

I don't know what to think of this story anymore. Personally, I liked it better in the earlier chapters. As this story progresses, Adachi seems to lose more and more agency. It's all "Shimmura" this, "Shimmura" that. As much as I understand that this IS a romance story, I feel that Adachi's character has suffered greatly from this approach.

Normally, in comparable plotlines, the protagonist contextualizes their feelings and their romantic interest through the lense of their preexisting motivations and experiences. And this was the case in earlier chapters - Adachi was much more introspective back then.

The core of the issue then, is that there's a fundamental lack of characterization in these later chapters. Everything Adachi thinks and is shown to do is so heavily centered around Shimmura that Adachi themselves has become hollow in nature. Who even IS Adachi outside Shimmura? I don't even fucking know anymore. It's all like a shitty version of the co-dependence trope without the "co" part. I have the impression that to some people this might be a realistic interpretation of their crushes as a dumbass, moody teenager, but from a narrative perspective I feel that this is a serious decline in quality compared to its more humble beginnings.

And this latest arc just ices the cake. Adachi has what could only be described as the Gayest God Damn Panic Attack I Have Ever Yet Seen. As ludicrous as this moment is, the newer characterization of Adachi being a hopeless-blubbering-homosexual makes this moment quite understandable. And then, of course, Shimmura has to act as insensitively as possible to this breakdown. Is Adachi being stupidly unreasonable? Yes. But it would take not even half a braincell to register, at least by tone, that someone isn't exactly in the best state of mind for rationality.

Curses! The self-absorbedness strikes yet again!

Ever since Adachi has lost their agency outside Shimmura, I've been really on-off with following this series. It's a shame.

@AnonymousInput: Good post. I appreciate a long, well-explained review of the story. But you keep saying "Evie" for Elsa, which kind of makes a mess of your arguments.

Yvonne and Evie are the same person. "Evie" is Yvonne's nick. The pink-haired darling angel who is Yvonne's one and only love interest (whether she admits it or not) is named Elsa.

OOPS. Thanks, I am notorious for being bad at names!

It's fixed now.

Yknow I really like this series. The way they capture emotion is rather top-notch. Other series often have a forced or over-the-top feel to them.

Strangely, this series feels rather down-to-earth in a way. I don't know how to describe it exactly, but it has to do with the well-done visual portrayal of emotions and the lack of pervasive drama or angst from scene to scene.

Which leads me to my next point:

The drama is really getting to be troublesome to me. Simply because of how it's entirely driven by Yvonne's ineptitude.

Surely, there is SOME way to communicate to Elsa about ANY of this. Yvonne, could, perhaps make a fitting analogy utilizing the idea of curses or some other substitution in order to tip-toe around the true reality of it. You cannot tell me that in a FANTASY world, full of MAGIC, that it would be entirely unbelievable. I doubt the rules of magic to be so strict that some unknown or bizarre quality or permutation of it is completely unthinkable. NOR would I think that Elsa - poor, love-struck Elsa - would be incapable of believing her even if it were so inconceivable. Barring all such critique along those lines, at the very LEAST, Yvonne should at least be able to give breadcrumbs or clues as to her lack of will or want in the matter. Worse comes to shove, they could, although morally dubious, blame it on an 'ailment of the mind' or something similar.

Instead, Elsa, with her love-addled brain, has come to the foolish conclusion that this is some form of 'nice bullying' that Yvonne undertakes for literally no reason whatsoever (Remember: Elsa still thinks her obvious infatuation isn't getting through to Yvonne properly. Which means in her mind, this isn't intentionally romantic and/or kinky). Furthermore, since Yvonne's reputation has been utterly obliterated due to her banishment, this, analyzed by any rational mind, cannot be explained by the classic I-bully-to-uphold-my-reputation trope.

Clearly, of course, Elsa isn't in her rational state of mind. Worse still, Yvonne hasn't done anything to correct or at the very least deny this conclusion of bullying without a cause or 'I bully you to show I care'.

Unsurprisingly, the main conflict is driven by a lack of proper communication. Typical.

And, under normal fluff or light drama circumstances, this wouldn't really matter.

.. Except the system has asked her to let Elsa commit suicide or even PUSH HER OFF THE DAMN BUILDING and has now spurred Yvonne into wounding Elsa.

The full extent to which and the circumstances that surround it we are not privy to.. for... I dunno, dramatic tension? Regardless, the implication is clear.

Elsa thinks this injury should be filed under the rest of Yvonne's 'bullying'.

What. W h a t. What the fuck?

Yvonne's response?: "Ooooohh I'm a horrible person Elsa! Etc etc." - sounding uncannily like stereotypical overblown negative self-image rhetoric. The kind most associated with people who have some sort of unsubstantiated insecurity with themselves. Which is clearly not the case here, since the Yvonne is NOT handling this well and has plenty of evidence for them to draw upon.

This takes the bite out of Yvonne's plead to Elsa for me. If I were trying to get someone to avoid me, or even just show caution, I would at least try to employ SOME kind of reasoning for it that didn't sound like it were simply some extension of a spiraling negative thought-pattern I was stuck in. Then again, maybe I'm just a weirdo in that way. And, certainly, Yvonne's mental state at that time didn't help.

Regardless, much more attention should've been put on how horrifyingly ok Elsa seemed to be with the possibility of this being a recurring event. Like, NO. That's NOT ok. And you should never think that your well-being is disposable and is ok being at the mercy of somebody's whims? Love-interest or not?

In that way, at least, I felt like the transition from the angst back into the wholesome was rather jarring and unnatural. There was no real change made, which should have been necessary for this to be put behind them. They both kinda just.. defaulted back to their original dispositions by the end of chapter 34.

Quite disappointing since it makes the conflict here feel pointless - like it served no real purpose other than solidifying the threat of the system and affirming it was still active.

I still really like this series, but this drama is really tiring for me. I should be used to this sort of thing by now, given how stereotypical the drive behind the conflict being miscommunication is. But, for the same reasons I like this story - the capture of emotion and down-to-earth vibes -, my aggravation has been made anew.

last edited at Jun 23, 2022 4:31PM