It is possible to not like any of the characters? YES!
Some of hentai stories have deeper plot.
But if you like stupid female characters and "horny all the time" man go read it.

ok so the main character is a bastard. he develops though, so dont judge him so early. The homosexual scene wasnt really THAT bad i mean the didnt really show them doin it just implied. the rest of it is really good.

I loved this manga i mean there is sports, romance, sex, kinda like Suzuka if u just judge from the genres. although, the story is different.

The story isnt the best, but it does go well with everything else. I especially liked the development of the main character.

TRY THIS NOW

... Last updated on March 30th, 2009, 6:48pm

Well, I didn't really like the main character. I kept reading right until they showed the homosexual scene of the other runner and the coach. Right after that i just stopped..... i can't stand that they showed them doing something..... AGHH

so many good scores.
The guy is a bastard. He sleeps around and supposedly loves one girl that he put little effort in getting in contact with. The effort he put was rather stupid.

The girl is a chaste virgin ect, while he gets to sleep around like a douche.

Why would you care about this guy? oh yeah, kind doctor that's smart and waits for freaking years, doesn't get squat at the end. Seriously, the concepts this thing utilizes are archaic. His behaviour is pretty disgusting, and he gets nothing but rewards for it.

I was actually a really good manga. There is no resemblance between suzuka and this series. That argument is incomprehensible. The only thing the same is that both guys do track. However, one is a wimping loser with low self esteem, while the other one is an egotistical lad whose pride can pierce through the heavens (but he can back it up). I liked the main characters here, the boy and the girl. You can't really hate them.

If you are looking for a not-so-heavy-not-so-light drama, with some romance, real sports (with added politics) and a little bit of slice of life themed manga, then just give this one a read. After reading, you will feel a lot better after sitting or lying down for a few hours straight. It was definitely worth it.

At first i realy hated it because of the main character , but after a few breaks i took , i realy enjoyed it. It is one of the best manga i read so far because it is realy emocianal ;)

To be honest, the Description is barely related to what really happens in the manga. It's not really about the group of young boys and it is more about one character and his running career.
Reading the description, I though it would be a nostaglic look back on childhood; dreams, love, friends (just like 20th Century Boys), however it turned out that most of the manga would be actually be about a young boy and his running career.

Although disappointed the manga didn't deliver what I wanted, it was still quite good. It's pretty exciting and all, with some pretty touching moments.

Fairly readable and exciting, but don't expect too much.

You have your average story and art, then you throw in a few interesting characters and you are set. There were some plot twists as well, but the characters is what makes this manga interesting. If you dislike them I don't think you will get anything out of the series.

Pretty good comming to age tale, mixed with romance and sports. Like some other people have said, this one shares many traits with Suzuka. In a good way that is, it's not nearly as drawn out, the pacing is a lot better and so on. The characters are well done as well, and quite likable too.

There are imo 3 distinct plots in this one. First one is about 4 childhood friends and their comming to age, second part is a romance, and the third part focuses on sport. With some mixing of all theese 3 genres of course.

Plot is strong, characterisation is strong, the story is nice, the romance is nicely done too, the coming of age elements and drama elements is sweet poignant and touching at times. The pacing is great as I mentioned, if you're looking for some romance that is endlessly drawn out over 25 volumes, look elsewhere. This one is short and to the point, and still manages to capture feelings. Good stuff!


Whats not so great is the crappy, awful, rushed ending though. Even though I have no problems with this ending in 5 volumes, and I really feel the story should come to and end around the time where it did. They could easily have done it in another, and above all, better way.

However, the ending sucked, big time. What a fu#king cop out! Really, it seems they rushed the last 2-3 chapters just to get it over and done with. They were just plain weak and bad. And it really really pisses me off, to see such an ending to an othervise great manga.

Whit all that said, it's still a great read, it will keep you hooked from the start to the end.

... Last updated on March 16th, 2008, 7:14pm

Art is definitely one to my liking (there are really few of this type, i mean 100% ), plus a heavily twisted plot (thats not bad!), plus great chars... So, its worth 10. IMHO.
(Really dont like spoiling thing in reviews, so its kinda dumb...)