Really interesting. I love Akari**, even though she doesn't seem to have any compunction about being an affair partner, lol. I guess she's not the one that made any vows -- she does feel guilty, I guess, and gets the crap end of the stick at the end of the day. She's funny and relatable; the type of person you want as a friend and drinking buddy. I love a pathetically in love male lead a lot, but a pathetically in love female lead? I'm a goner -- I'd excuse a lot, lol (I'm kidding, but barely!!)

The MIL character is SO true-to-life of an old fashioned worldview -- very funny (not in a ha-ha way but in a "wow yeah, people do think like that and would react this way" ) and refreshing. Wataru, the husband, is a sweetheart so far. Ayano is really the only person that irks me. I get she's confused, but so much friendly fire because of it. I wonder if she'll be happy at the end of it. This manga really centers what it means to be WLW in modern society -- expectations of women, acceptability of WLW, people taking WLW and their feelings seriously when it means forsaking traditional marriage and motherhood and all that jazz. I think their reactions all make sense given their personalities and insecurities and desires for the future...it's more realistic for them than a giant blow-out. I am hooked -- can't wait for more.

**The name in the description here, Shuri, is an alternate reading of 朱里, the characters in Akari's name. However, the furigana next to the kanji when Akari introduces herself clearly reads "Aka (朱) ri (里)" in the raw on this manga...I don't know how to update entries here but Akari is the second female MCs name is the bottom line here.

... Last updated on May 12th, 2022, 7:01pm

Shimura Takako doesn't shy away from the complex real dramas of human relationships. Her previous work Wandering Son was a really interesting look into gender and self, and this work brings that same level of honest, interesting storytelling to the dramas of marriage, sexual orientation, and family. I am really drawn to the two main characters Ayano and Shuri and am interested to see how the plot develops.

The side characters also get intermittent chapters focusing on a younger group of school girls trying to understand their relationship, as well as a sister dealing with depression and family expectation. They add a nice reflection of some of the main character's struggles and don't feel like a distraction.The art style is also well done and compliments the story. If you read Japanese the first volume is currently free to read on the amazon jp kindle store, so you can give it a try there.

Keep in mind that a lot of low ratings is because of cheating and is not a reflection of the quality of work.Only two volumes have been out in english,so far its been good and I am looking forward to see how this will proceed.