Kumiko & Shingo SeriesI have only read Chinese scanlations (I'm still studying but that's the best i could do for now so some of this may be wrong) so other than the main character's names, I can't really put the names of the other characters as I only know their chinese names. If necessary, I'll just put their names in Kanji.
It has a surprisingly original take on this kind romance. It shows the development of the relationship between a young boy and his 7-years older girlfriend over the years. The manga starts when Shingo and Kumiko are 10 and 17 respectively, not long after they met. They fell for each other after Shingo saved Kumiko from a wild dog. The manga shows what they grow through from when Shingo is in Grade school to early college.
Their relationship is quite interesting. In the beginning,everyday, Kumiko would show up outside Shingo's grade school and walk home with him at his embarrassment. It actually looked more like a older sister-younger brother relationship. But then, again, given how young Shingo is at the beginning, there's not much they could do together as a couple other than hug and hold hands. However, their mutual feelings for each other is quite apparent to everyone in the manga from the beginning. Kumiko calls him her "little prince". Shingo is less willing to express his feelings but does so at times when they're both having problems.
Unlike Dear Mine and the few other mangas that have taken on the whole young kid/teenager romance thing, this manga doesn't try to make it less weird by having Shingo become the mature intelligent kid like Fuuma in Dear Mine. On the contrary, Shingo is a hot tempered brat in the early chapters of the manga when he is still in grade school. He easily snaps at people. He gets embarrassed about his relationship with Kumiko too, and gets easily jealous of other guys showing interest in her.
Kumiko herself, is not that much mature than him. She‘s the stereotypical shoujo protagonist---clingly, clumsy and a crybaby. A lot of times, Shingo acts more like the adult in the relationship despite being clueless about what to say to her. There are times, however, where she scolds Shingo like a little brother which irritates him. Their relationship is quite interesting and amusing.
Their differences in maturity do end up being a problem for them especially when Shingo was still little.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
She once scolds him for trying to get his smart friend to let him copy his school work. He laughs it up by telling her not to be surprised as he's sure she's probably done stuff like that at his age which she denies. They end up having a big fight for a while, but they eventually reconcile
As the years pass, they do start acting more like a couple.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
Their first kiss is when Shingo is in middle school and Kumiko is in college. At this point, he is taller than her. The last page of the last issue which takes place 5 years after the ending, shows that they are married with twins
It's also interesting to see the role their friends and family play in their relationship as it grows through the years.
The parents of both characters are surprisingly okay with it. Shingo's parents, who themselves have a big age difference, love Kumiko. His mom would sometimes tease Shingo by having Kumiko do "mother-daugther in law" stuff with her. Kumiko's younger brother is completely against their relationship.
Kumiko's best friend,麻生 initially opposes it and tries to set her up with another friend.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
Shingo punches him in the nuts.
She later decides to accept it and support her. 西崎, The guy she tried to set Kumiko up with becomes interested in 麻生, but she never really seems to return it.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
After college, she agrees to move in with him as roomates though.
There's also 五郎, Shingo's cousin who's in his 20s. She initially gets a crush on him and Shingo becomes insanely jealous but, with his help, only realizes that she was interested in him only because he is what Shingo would look like when he gets older. From then on, 五郎 becomes something like her relationship counselor, helping her with her relationship with his cousin.
Most of Shingo's friends like Kumiko but often tease him about her.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
One of his best friends would ask him questions about how far he has already gotten with her, seeing as she was already a grown up, which results in him getting his hit with a chair.
Another friend of his is a rich boy genius type who's almost like Fuuma in Dear Mine except more friendly. He initially seems to be interested in Kumiko, which of course, she doesn't return, but still pisses off Shingo. Being the more mature one who could understand adult relationships more,
Spoiler (highlight to view)
especially after seeing his parents divorce
, he ends up giving Shingo advice about Kumiko just like the former's cousins with her.
There's also of course, their other love interests. Both of them have suitors they're own age, most noteably, a classmate of Shingo who has been in love with him for years. She remains bitter throughout the manga about him rejecting her confession in the beginning of the manga.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
She criticizes his relationship with Kumiko which results in him calling her a pig.
ALthough, she does some pretty bad stuff, you eventually feel sorry for her. [
spoiler]She gets over him and starts to return the interest of either the rich friend or Shingo's other best friend, although in the final time skip, she appears to remain single[/spoiler]
PersonalIy, I'd call it the most realistic take on an unrealistic romance, considering how old they are at the beginning. I really enjoyed this manga and would recommend it. Unfortunately, there's no english translation. I'm not sure if we can post links to raws though.
was a good tho long series, i like how 
(Yong Shik 30, Tae Hee 37)
