My first advice is to only read this after "Kare no Tokubetsu na Kare" has been completely scanlated, which, at the moment I'm reviewing this, it hasn't. So I started reading this and it was frustrating because the chapter that introduces us to "Kare to Kare no Ijiware na Kyori" hasn't come out yet on "Kare no Tokubetsu na Kare", even though this series was pretty easy to understand on its own, even without that little part.
The first thing I noticed about this manga was the difficulty to choose between favorite characters among the VIP class, because they are all great! Masa is not really my type of character, though his personality is mostly what makes an amazing story. His appearance is not really to my taste and he is kind of...square, not enticing. At the same time, he is a little cruel and cold, while being unbearably kind at the same time, which is a great combination for a seme! He also gets better as the story passes and he manages to get hotter, especially when his hair is down.
However, Shige is now my favorite character from the VIP class. Though he already appears on "Kare no Tokubetsu na Kare", it was as a funny character, which is not my thing. However, in "Kare to Kare no Ijiware na Kyori", he is com.ple.te.ly tsundere. He is the kind of character that will tease the person they love so bad it will put them in a difficult position, only to break down in tears when they can't take it anymore. He's also really sensitive and cries quite a lot, but not in a whinny uke kind of way, but in a cute one.
The only thing I thought could have been better was the pace of this manga. There are basically three chapters about the main couple and they are not even in order. The rest is a repeat chapter from "Kare no Tokubetsu na Kare" about Louis and Yuuichi, and some extras.. While the extra about Seo-san is interesting because it gives us more insight on him, it's not enough to be a different and original one-shot on its own.
And then there is an extra about Suruga and Hiraoka, which is wonderful, except since "Kare no Tokubetsu na Kare" isn't complete yet, it's kind of a spoiler, too, because those two are NOT together yet so far.
As for the main couple, the first chapter of this series already contains most of its story, so it has that "Junjou Romantica" vibe where both characters are clearly already in love with each other, but the series still goes on without a purpose. It even has that "Junjou Romantica" theme of "being the other character's unrequited love's replacement", but it doesn't explore it as well as JR - even though it stops before dragging on forever like everything from Nakamura-sensei. Furthermore, I feel like those extra stories wasted valuable space, because Shige and Masa didn't get to the point where they admitted their feelings for each other - and the author says at the end of the manga that that's the most we will get from Louis and Yuichi's story, too. It's a little disappointing to get this incomplete feeling from two out of the three couples in the VIP class.
Oh! But the artwork, as I am now understanding is expected from this mangaka, is amazing.
Finally, I will still give this a high rating because I got a feeling from this manga I rarely ever get, so its one of the good ones to me even with all its flaws.
(-19)
