I finally finished it. There wasn't as many chapters when I first read it and I am so glad I got back into reading manga/etc. (Ty Skip Beat). Worth the wait and re-read.

I remember that when this manga first came out, I was fifteen. I LOVED it. Now Im not sure why. Not only that, but Im embarrased to say I did. I clearly remember being annoyed by her jealeusly towards his boyfriend friend in the final volumes of the manga.

Alright, I'm six chapters in, which is why I think it's unfair for me to rate the series, so I won't. But based on what I've seen, regardless of whether the ML redeems himself or not, I can't tolerate his obnoxious and frankly speaking misogynistic actions anymore. The FL is a total doormat, and she thinks she's in love with the ML after meeting him for what, three months, with all of their interactions consisting of him sexually harassing her? And it's so cringy to see how she fails at everything and needs the ML to magically come in to save the day because she's a damsel-in-distress who can't do anything by herself and exists to show us how awesome and cool the ML is -- not. Both are annoying, and the only merit of reading this manga for a precious 30 minutes is internally debating over which of the two gets on my nerves more. Who will win between the Mary Sue and the sexist jerk? Based on the others' reviews, I'm also glad that I made the decision to drop it so soon. Probably won't be reading it again. *pats myself on the back*

To the point that it gets irritating. I like the main characters but, Tsubaki sometimes gets in a toxic cycle of assuming and jumping to conclusions. Its annoying sometimes. I think she's selfish and insecure, too much insecurity for someone like Kyouta. I wish Tsubaki was a stronger character, then it would have been perfect.

The drama was too predictable throughout the story. For example, I knew what was coming next.

I thought the art was pretty and unique.

The weak and insecure female character was why I scored it lower.

One of the better romance classics of our time. There is some drama, but it’s not the over the top insane repetitious type of drama that plagues most titles today. The story is cute and sweet, but all the problems that do appear are caused by her and she is very high maintenance. She will probably bother many of you, but I was able to tolerate her Regardless, it’s a very good read. Not many like it’s still coming out.

Seriously, how can people find a story of a guy bullying and harassing a girl romantic? Forcing a kiss just because? Even if there's going to be character development, the first few chapters are crucial. This is not a healthy start of any relationship especially because of the harrassment.

If I read this when I was younger I probably would've enjoyed this.

I don’t think I have words to describe how much I hate this manga. So let’s break this down:
- FMC is weak, stupid, oblivious. Her only defining feature is her being stubborn as hell, and even that isn’t so great. She’s essentially an aging piece of cardboard that won’t go away. A total Mary Sue.
- MMC is detestable. Seriously, gals, stay away. He’s downright abusive toward the FMC, rude, obnoxious, toxic, horrible, and just all around a terrible love interest. He’s this extreme version of the weird trope that shoujo sometimes falls into, like the “innocent girl changes bad guy” except not really in this case. He’s still an a-hole, even after he’s supposedly “changed”.
- Poor attempts at a backstory, and even worse attempts at character development. Jesus, the mangaka tried to round out Kyouta’s character by “explaining” away his abusive tendencies based on his past history. Yikes.
- The plot was way too stretched out for such a weak premise. It’s basically about the pains of getting into a relationship and maintaining a relationship, but twist, there’s a bunch of unnecessary drama at every end.
- Plot development was even poorer. Some things went unexplained, and other parts were unnecessarily long.
- Also the romantic development, I guess, was okay. If you count throwing in random romantic scenes with a thousand cliches on its back “okay”, then it was okay. But the overall relationship basically is “Be jealous” (one reviewer vehemently pointed out) and “Sacrifice everything for your love interest, including your livelihood, health, future, family, etc," (the reviewer also pointed out this).
- I don’t expect much of this manga, but wow is it unrealistic. It falls into cliches, then pandering cliches at the end. I hate everything about this thing.
- I’ll give the art some credit. It was nice, sometimes.
- Also, I flipped through the, like, three smut scenes in it, because ew.

TL;DR: The entire point/message was overshadowed by the glamorization of an abusive relationship. Horrible characters, horrible development, multiple cliches, annoying drama, but decent art. Hate this, DO NOT READ, especially if you’re younger. Therefore, 1/10.

(Edit: I've read some of the earlier reviews for the manga, where happy fans were protesting the lower ratings. Okay, well, criticism isn't just "you're just looking for something to hate", criticism is a genuine dislike for certain aspects. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, whether it be a negative or positive one. Also, Tsubaki was not meant to be written as a weak character. She clearly was supposed to have a character growth, from an originally insecure girl to a confident, happy hairstylist, but that didn't happen. She stayed the same Mary Sue that somehow still miscommunicates everything. I don't think I can emphasize enough that younger readers should never read this. This is, to put mildly, an overrated monstrosity that glorifies and accepts all sorts of assault. Do not read this, please.)

... Last updated on March 24th, 2019, 12:42pm

I'm giving this a 9 instead of 9.5 because of Tsubaki. She gets so frustrating at times, most of their problems are due to her insecurities.
Well, Kyouta was an ass in the beginning but when he changed, he was more or less consistent with his actions (like choosing Tsubaki over an opportunity to meet the professor).

Love the character developments! The female lead, Tsubaki was a pushover who let everyone walk over her basically. Kyouta was a selfish playboy. It was nice to see them go through many trials of love that wasn't totally unrealistic and out of nowhere. I really related to Tsubaki's worries about choosing what you want to do and getting in a good university. The relationship problems for the most part, were very real. Nice seeing them grow not only as a couple, but also as adults. My favorite and the most memorable scene/quote ever from this is I think it's one of the best shoujos that has overall great plot, character development, and art. Maybe you won't like it/think it's too cheesy/etc. but you can't really go totally wrong with this one, it's a classic. The artist captures the teenagers in love perfectly. Lots of cliches? Yes. Great kiss scenes? Yes.

... Last updated on August 21st, 2015, 9:54pm

As a veteran manga reader, I know what to expect and when to read shoujo stories. So I expect and can't complain about the clichés. Thankfully the characters commitment to each other, especially the male lead, made it better than expected.