For a story that had (at the beginning-mid part) some relatively mature themes, I'm surprised by how immature it is overall. I'm not sure if the author even knew what s/he was going for, or what he wanted to convey through the story. There's a lot of unnecessary drama, filler characters, and filler chapters.

The thing is, it manages to catch your attention enough to keep reading, even when you're frustrated at what you're reading. Even when you know it's awful, you keep going. HoneyDippedLemons' comment just 5 or so below mine is a very accurate one, and I feel like I wasted my time with this. Though I wouldn't say that the characters are bland and boring, they are so stupid to the point of being unreal. While Yuki's character at the beginning was interesting, smart, and felt real, she ends up as a stupid kid that frustrated me to no end together with Seiji.

All in all, the manga should've ended around chapter 100 or so, maybe a bit more (or less if you remove the fillers), while keeping steady progress with the events in chapter 87, it had a lot of growth potential. For how much attention Yuki's trauma got during the story, it's interesting that it's never shown how she resolved it either other than letting the reader guess with a rushed ending.

Don't bother. The frustration and time consumed are not worth it. Unless you have tons and tons of free time I guess.

Finished reading it and the only reason I read it is cause it's completed is highly viewed and what I got out of it just a huge disappointment of a character who lacked an ability to communicate and make decisive decisions with his relationships it made me bag my head so many times against the wall.

The manga overall is a very good read. It will hold your attention through each chapter wanting to read the next. I did notice many similarities to Kimagure Orange Road which a big plus if you ask me as manga today are mostly eye candy. The manga primarily focuses on romance, drama, love triangles and the pain that comes with each decision. My only gripe is the ending which was very good, but I wish it wasn't rushed and done in 2 chapters only as it is not fitting for a 16 volume manga. However even if it rushed, everything is complete, no loose ends remaining and there is even a time gap for those like me who look forward to such things.

... Last updated on May 21st, 2014, 8:45am

Mhm... subject explains how the series went...
Don't have much else to say...

I only started reading this series because I accidently clicked on a chapter... somewhere between 90-100 and saw something that might have interested me...
haha...

Then came the joy ride...

I read this after a friend recommended it! I'm glad I did. Sure everyone has their opinion of it, but at the end I was smiling and had watery eyes. It was a good read for what the mangaka was trying to do with it. It was more realistic than most mangas, too.

Try it. You might just like it!

As a person who reads both shounen and shoujo, I have to say, if you remove the occasional ''Oonuma has big boobs'' comment, this one is definitely a shoujo. And whats worse, Utsumi is written like a shoujo heroin (seriously half of time I had to remind myself that he's not a girl...). I couldn't relate to any of the main three characters, and it felt like they were just the stereotypical love triangle characters (if you reverse the genders of Utsumi and Kurokawa you basically get every shoujo love triangle ever...). And don't get me wrong I love shoujo, but this is just so forgettable.

I don't understand how can a mangaka create such boring, predictable and bland main characters, while some of her supporting characters are very interesting (seriously why wasn't this story about Eri). The worst thing about this in my opinion are the comments at the end of each chapter that are supposed to make you anticipate the next chapter, but they are so cheesy and stupid that I almost puked every time I saw one of those.

I don't even know why I put myself through 16 volumes of agony with this. Be warned this is one of those things that although you'll know it's awful you won't be able to put it away until you finish it.
I don't recommend this to anyone.

So the beginning started off being a typical shounen romance series: full of misunderstandings. It was annoying, but bearable. Aside from that, it had a pretty decent start. The middle, not so much. Mostly everything but like 20-30 chapters were enjoyable. Everything else just felt so unnecessary. Hell, I felt some of the characters were unnecessary too (ie. big-boobed girl). The climax of the story was mediocre. I personally, however, enjoyed the denouement quite a lot. It somewhat made up for the lackluster middle portion of the story. In the end, I felt attached to the couple. I guess it brought me back to what I was originally expecting from the story: pure romance, true love, yada yada.

Overall rating: Meh.

I can't relate to many reviewers pov that this show swiftly becomes downright moronic after a good premise. I think it just starts pretty light to get progressively more serious and complex (and sometimes yes, soapish and melodramatic), and that, apparently, doesn't please everyone.

For me, what kept the show together was precisely the lead female character bipolar personality, and the uncertainty around her feelings and behaviour (in many respects a darker kind of Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road ?). It was greatly supported by expressive art concept and drawing in critical scenes, by a good pacing of tension buildup and release, and by numerous well-thoughtout situations (eg the photography contest scene). I'm also thankful that the mangaka didn't rely too heavily on quiproquos and misunderstandings to push the story forward, making it feel more realistic than many titles i've read. Instead I find she did a good job at smoothly creating intimacy between the protagonists.

On the other hand, it's a pity she took the easy way out by just bringing down most of the credibility of male "competitors", leaving the MC as the only "default" alternative, reducing the ambient uneasiness and insecurity. There's also this universal shounen/shoujo (damn) feature that the whole universe is strictly limited to the MC's microsphere, without any casual external event whatsoever to pepper things up. But the one thing i could barely stand was the constant – and always counterproductive imo – MC's introspections and the surreal abstract sentimental lectures, to the point i eventually started skipping a lot of text.

Although overall it was too long for me too, with this genre i prefer too long over too short since it gives time to flesh out the characters and their relationships, even at the price of occasional lack of originality, repetition and awkwardness. Perhaps i enjoyed it more than most because i read it within a few sessions once it was complete ; or perhaps, as someone prompted in another review, i'm a masochist (and a moron on top of that) for being swallowed into these whimsical love games, for ending up feeling like "i want to go back to those days" ?

Just finished marathoning the last 22 chapters that have been rotting in my hard drive... It was "meh." For something that went longer than it should have, its two final arcs were really rushed (they were crammed into eight chapters) and ended very conveniently. The only consolation I got was that Oonuma didn't mess with the plot anymore (I hate it whenever she shows up).

I'm going to keep this short since I don't want to think more about GE than is necessary: it is one heck of an emotional investment that will put your nerves and logic to the test - and not in a good way. There are a lot of other clichéd shounen romance titles that are worth your time more.

It's really fantastic piece of work ... but it's funny (and it is laughter through tears), that the ending of "Good Ending" is really bad. Last +-20 chapters (exclude very last chapter) are totally unmanaged, and author is dropping to total mad story spins.
As some people below mentioned, it would have been better, if it was shorter.

But lets look on its brighter parts.
It is the first manga that I read, where characters are not acting like they are totally insane. Where, if one character is in love, and is asked to help another person to get the person she loves, she refuses (character 1 - in love with char. 3 - is asked by char. 2 to help get the char. 3, and char. 1 refuses). There are so many situations, where "real life logic" wins over a "manga logic", and thats really enjoyable. Story spins and feeling changes are quite believable, all characters are very well managed, have good character builds and are acting just like they should - according to personality.

Lead male character for me is one of best so far, because he acts just as I would be acting (most time of first half) 😀

Final: Really enjoyable manga, even if its bit confusing sometimes. Author is playing really well with feelings of reader and keeps shortening and stretching out the distance between main chars, what creates really good tension. Even if last chapters are really badly managed, other parts are incredibly good, and that makes it a really worth-reading manga with heart-grabbing story.

... Last updated on July 16th, 2020, 3:20pm