The art is nothing amazing really. Its good enough. The plot is nothing unique either, there is plenty of love triangles out there and a few pretend couple mangas out there as well. What made this manga so good? I believe its the characters, mainly the female lead Ao. She is not a very strong female lead who is vastly superior nor is she a weak female heroine always unsure about her decisions. She is kind-hearted and her character really appealed to me. Chapter 10 was the highlight for me really. Her decsion though sad made total sense and well it just showed how strong she is. She does cry but only in situation where any normal human being would cry. There is no love at first sight here. The love happens slowly as if its creeping up on you, you can notice the signs. Even her love rival is good character. some mangas make out the love rival as some nasty, arrogant, beautiful bitch. Not in this manga. The love rival is also good, and kind hearted and tries to supress her feelings for the sake of her friends. She has her own flaws and her own problems. You cannot hate her and that makes this manga much better. The male lead is also good. He is not your typical uber popular boy with fangirls rushing after him. He is a very cheerful person, also kind hearted and looking out for his friends. This manga is definetly a must read just because of the characters. You cannot hate any of them, and their feelings are potrayed in such a way that that it is understandable. They do not make decisions that make you hate them or decsions that are totally unrealistic. The reader is made to understand why these characters are doing what they are doing lol. Also it is decently paced so you won't find it boring.

... Last updated on April 17th, 2010, 1:59pm

When I started, I just expected so much more. I didn't think that by the end of this manga that I would start disliking the two main leads and feel so passionate about the two supporting characters.

At first, I liked Riku, but as the series progressed, he turned into such an annoying static character for me. The main reason was that he was so indecisive for his feelings between the two girls. This trait continued throughout the whole series. First, Ao made the decision for him. Next, Kiyono made another decision for him. He never decides for himself and that honestly frustrates me.

Ao, on the other hand, just seems stagnant throughout the rest of the series. Her character never really develops after the first three volumes and becomes a little uninteresting. You know she's suffering and that's all you really get to know about her after a while.

No one really liked Kiyono much, but I thought she made sense in a way. She is deeply in love, but she was able to move on. This shows a change in her character and how she matures. Kai undergoes some changes also as you see more of him. Instead of being the cool neutral guy, he falls in love, has desires, gets angry, gets hurt, feels regret, feels pain, and earnestly tries to make the girl he is love with feel the same thing for him.

The supporting characters have so much more development than the main characters that I ended up caring more for them. This could explain why this manga ended on such a sour note for me.

I love it. TOTALLY.
It's incredible! The story plot, the characters, the drawing... *two thumbs up*
No kidding, each character really portrays their feelings very well, the expression that hangs on Riku's and Ao's face breaks my heart every single time. THE FEELINGS, YES. THE FEELINGS, TOWARDS EACH OTHER. It's so heartfelt, so authentic.

ONE OF THE BEST MANGA.

... Last updated on April 30th, 2013, 10:47pm

I really liked this one .
judging from what other people said about how it started to get boring after volume 2. i disagree .
yes it was very cliche , but the fact that the characters were lovable characters, it was so heartbreaking to see that all of them cried. all of them felt hurt in some way. this manga wasn't only about the battles of love, but the battles of friendship too. this is definately, one of my tops. the last chapter especially , made me cry a lot . even with that happy ending , i still can't help but feel sorry for the supporting characters..

I myself was doomed with this manga. I fell in love with the side-ish character Kai, and thus I resigned myself to pain. But anyway, the manga is very touching in some ways and has a lot of morals about how to deal with others and yourself. Personally, I think it could have been shorter and achieved the same effect (though hopefully with a different ending), but if you're a shoujo fan, it's worth a try. If you end up liking Kai, do yourself a favor and judge where your happiness ends and your disappointment begins and stop reading.
The plot is actually not that cliche, and the characters are well-developed. Each character has his/her own struggles (realistic struggles, mind you). They all fight their way through the turmoil and build stronger relationships with each other. I really disliked the coupling, but I read through till the end anyway.

very cute manga...not in a boring way.
the story line seem to be your avenge manga kind, but it's coming along nicely

definitely reading next chapter!

Kare wa Tomodachi comes after this one but I read it first. They are so similar! If anyone wants a second go at a love square super similar to this one then read Kare wa Tomodachi.

Anyway, I am a sucker for angsts, heartbreaks, and hidden feelings, so this one is right up to my alley. Don't go expect something different or groundbreaking, these kinds of manga are for satisfying that itch for a certain kind of romance. And based on that, this manga did a good job of milking out all the angst and feelings of classic love polygon.

Even though this story reminds me of so many others. Lovers revenge?! Replacement girl type story's do get too predictable and it was just that the whole time.. Predictable.. Loved both main characters .. The emotions 100% there. And well thought out.. The hair drawing was annoying to see.


... Last updated on June 23rd, 2014, 7:41pm

Art is very kawaii but not super sharp or edgy. Drama factor is there, and nice, but it definitely could have been resolved much sooner instead of being dragged out into 6 volumes, especially since the end game was shockingly apparent to any seasoned shoujo reader right off the bat. I appreciate love triangles where the underdog has a fair shot, and not simply a role as a third wheel plot device to introduce conflict. Sadly, the secondary characters really got the short end of the stick here, though perhaps given the direction of storytelling, they both had it coming.
You won't regret reading this story as the cute bits in it are entertaining while the drama drags on and on. Some particularly funny one liners keep you amused while you wait for the story to wrap up already.

...where the comedy gets completely turned into drama after the first two volumes. I don't mind love polygons but I couldn't help think while reading that she should stop saying that she was such an idiot and everything. They all end up with a completely different personality to what they began with, maybe because they spent most of their time crying. Just get to the point already, geez. I couldn't sympathise with them at all sorry. T__T