I hadn't known anthing about this story. But I saw some vintage furoku merchandise for it online and decided to give it a try.
It started off as a typical shoujo novel, I wasn't too impressed but then as I read more
Yeazou and Mai companionship dynamic started to become very endearing. The ending was also very surprising. I found myself actually being shocked with it even in real life. Had a total fangirl moment. (Lol)
But yes, in retrospect with how old this manga is (18 years old) I thought it covered LGBT issues amazingly well with respect and equality. I only wish the manga had been longer!

I think what I found most appealing about the story was the open mindedness of the characters. Mai, tired of being picked on, decided to think of her own happiness a bit more instead of being a victim. She aggressively pursued a relationship with Sen, who made her feel happy, but stayed conscientious of others' feelings as well.

Even when things don't go exactly to her advantage she makes sure things are open and honest for everyone involved. This inspires others to do the same.



As far as Yeazou's sexually goes; if reading works by CLAMP has taught me anything, it's that love can't always be packaged and labeled.

The conclusion may seem a bit rushed, but it kept in pace with the rest of the story. I actually enjoyed how quickly I was getting through the chapters, it was like reading one volume instead of three. I also liked that the end was left open in many ways. This mirrored the story's theme of being open and taking chances in order to find happiness.

Your typical skin-deep silly shoujo, where things honestly are not realistic. The crushes were shallow, the (homogenous) friendships still kind of shallow and the transitioning was oddly rushed. The only relationship that had a tad more depth was the one between Yaezou and Mai - which was shrouded in confusing ambiguity, not to mention the horrible product of said rushing. So in all, what positives can I really say? I guess I laughed a couple of times.

Basically, the mangaka avoided all the possibly controversial questions being raised and relied on vagueness. Still, to me it didn't look like she was trying to pull a "gay guy turned straight to appeal to readers" type of thing, it was more like she wanted to make a complicated/unexpected love triangle but didn't really put the real effort to make it work (not that it really could). Using sexuality as a plot card is pretty much a shoujo nono, unless you know what you're doing and explain everything sensibly - things which do not apply :/

... Last updated on June 7th, 2013, 3:42am

I just finished the series. I began to read it a long while ago but dropped it after a few pages because the plot seemed weird to me.
Yesterday I finally picked it up again because I didn't wanted it to remain unfinished.

My impression on this is like I first thought: really weird. The first story by Maki Yoko I read was Aishiteruze Baby, which was way better than this one. But I don't really want to compare right now.
This might be a spoiler, but I need to say this: What really irritated me was that I couldn't believe that Yaezou was actually homosexual and even turned bisexual in the end...? In the beginning I could't tell wether he tells the truth or is just pranking on Mai. In the end, I couldn't understand his action at all because not even once did he talk properly about his sexuality. I mean...it was just so confusing.

What's more, the story felt rushed. When there are only 3 volumes the author shouldn't have picked so many things to pack into it. It was too much for too little space and especially the homosexuality was explained inadequately.

Moreover, Mai fell in love with Sen too early and too unexpected and too inapprehensible. I felt like: "Huh? Why out of the blue now...?"

All in all rather weird.

... Last updated on September 5th, 2012, 5:09am

Lets start with the positives... The art was good and the story seemed promising. I think it was cruel to take away their love though. And the ending left me sad and confused. sure it had a "happy" ending, but there was something a little (-_-) about it. can't explain it fully. I do agree that it seemed rushed but I guess it was also fitting. Just wished there was more to it.

... Last updated on March 27th, 2012, 8:07pm

A typical romance story set during high school, though... with slightly better than average characterisation, with none of that "mushy mushy" or "melodramatic" approach to life. I kinda liked all the characters involved but I really wished there'd been more to them because at times, there just wasn't enough to really flesh them out. Yes, they were fun to read about as they had their own real strengths and weaknesses, had their own personalities. But sometimes, they felt a little flat since there wasn't too much in terms of interactions, their thoughts and so forth.

Also, I didn't really like the ending

... Last updated on April 2nd, 2010, 11:31am

This was the first of the mangaka's works that i read and i enjoyed this one enough to read her other works. For the most part it was a good introduction to her works. I only read it because I got some Ribon merchandise promoting it. I don't remember the details, much. but in retrospect I don't think the ending was that great for same reasons stated in dreamit's comments.

Hehe, I love Yaezou and Mai's conversations and rivalry. You can tell they have the best kind of relationship, where you know they understand each other so much, that they can fight all the time. I somehow knew who would end up with whom by Volume 3...