I admit, Higashimura has been one of my favorite mangakas after Princess Jellyfish (which is the BOMB!). She always is able to make me laugh in her romantic comedies, which is honestly pretty rare whenever I read shoujo/josei. Which makes it even more disappointing to me that Tokyo Tarareba Girls turned out to be awesome with a very short ending.
Let's be clear here: This is a great manga. The characters are loveable and entertaining, and it's a character-focused manga (like most are, but this one especially) that works on changing and transforming and understanding emotion. Rinko may not be my favorite characters ever, but she is understandable and down-to-earth and honestly hilarious. Her drunk self drives the majority of the comedy relief and the pot itself. And her friends, Kaori and Koyuki! Their relationship is great, and I'm honestly so glad that Higashimura was able to once again deliver on the "tight friendship bond" front. The characters, their relationship, and the underlying humor in their reactions to everything are the driving points of this beautiful manga.
Plus the emotion captured!
There's this one scene with Kaori, where she finally breaks up with her boyfriend, and I think that was so well executed! I still remember it. Oh, and the ending balloon scene! That was so sweet.
And the way that Rinko struggled through hardships and harsh realities really hit me hard. It's painfully realistic, but not dark at the same time. Higashimura captured the feeling of emptiness when being replaced and an endless, unpredictable future. I honestly came close to crying two times when reading Rinko's inner thoughts and her insecurities through animated versions of food. I adored that this was definitely josei, as it addressed work hardships, emotional hardships, and pains of aging. The manga's main messages and observations about life and society's expectations were beautiful.
However, on that note, it makes me so sad to say that I'm not a fan of the male lead, Key. To be fair, I've never been into the "cool guy" lead, especially not when they're blunt and rude.
But this guy, in particular, is an a-hat. Though, yes, he's honest, it's honest to a fault. Like, he's unnecessarily rude, and it bothered me quite a bit that Rinko was still somewhat interested in him. Plus he's manipulative!
But Higashimura did flesh out his character and give a quick analysis of why he is the way he is at the end by teasing flashbacks and then explaining his backstory straight-up. I understood his emotions and intentions, but the way he still continued to address Rinko was bothersome.
! Also, the author seems to imply at the end that Key would never be able to get over his first love? I don't know if she's trying to go for a "he shows her he loves her instead of telling her", but I really wanted him to say "I love you" back to Rinko during at least one of the TWO times that she told him near the end.
Also, I couldn't understand some of the motivations for the characters, which means that the character development was a little choppy. I really approved of Kaori's and Key's character development, but the other characters sort of felt flat.
Rinko had like three major boyfriends, and she went through a relationship so fast every time. Like, one guy she wanted to marry after the first date, another she moved in with after a week or so, and then the last she said, "I love you" after a "revelation". Why, Rinko? Why? Though I get the author was trying to go for a more "she's opening her eyes now" point, it still did bother me how fast she moved. Also, why did Ryo just straight up forgive Kaori for the cheating she did in their previous relationship? What was the author trying to pull with that? Was she trying to show how different he was after she did, like he became a cheating a-hole because the girl he was deeply in love with cheated on him for richer dude? He sort of became a worse version of the Past Kaori, and I couldn't get behind why. I am very glad, actually, that Kaori was able to break up with him (that was one of the best monologues of the entire manga).
The romantic development was actually really great between the three main relationships. However, I do have some complaints about how slow and complicated Key's and Rinko's was for a really long time. The author, like many, pulled the "relationship only happens at the end" move, and I don't know, I just don't think it fit the transformation atmosphere of the manga.
Finally, the ending. Dear God. That was a very brief, short ending with some romantic parts, but otherwise it felt too short. It carried the ending message, which was essentially "Love is selfless and about supporting others rather than yourself". That, to me, felt a little dangerous,
because Key seemed like he only really loved Rinko since she felt like his first love? What?
And the ending barely answered any of the questions that I had running through my head!
! Like, how did Koyuki deal with her boyfriend, who was married? She seemed to imply at one point that she would finally "open her eyes" or something, but nothing happened? What? Why? Also, how does Key really feel about Rinko? Does he actually like her for her, or does he only like her because she somewhat resembles the atmosphere of his first love, whom he loved for like his entire life?
TL;DR: Overall, I really, really liked the energy, humor, emotions, relationships, and monologues. The three female friends maintained a sweet, beautiful relationship, even though a fight, and they were truly hilarious. However, there was some sluggish development for the characters, the romantic development for the relationships was sweet, but the main one was very slow, and some of the characters were frustrating and annoying to a point. But, I think one of the best points of the manga is Higashimura's ability to capture the ups and downs of reality, exploring what it's like to be a struggling adult wading through work, love, and friendship. Therefore, 7/10.
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