This sure was one hell of an emotional roller coaster, for me. What started out as a light-hearted comedy, at some point, managed to turn into some kind of mostly-serious romantic drama. And in it's mostly-serious moments, it always manages to pull some kind of heart-wrenching stunt that leaves you caring so much more about the characters, in between tears of varying emotions covering almost everything, save anger (don't remember ever feeling angry while reading this).
That being said, the male lead is a fairly weak character. Though the narrative and perspective often give you the chance to understand what he's learning throughout, it never feels like he really grows much, and certainly doesn't really grow any more endearing to the reader.
And Choko's situation does feel kind of like a cheap storytelling device. But even as I sat, thinking to myself, "Why such a big deal over something so simple?", I found myself overwhelmed with sympathy for her character's complete lack of working knowledge of the world. Her sweet innocence is really the foundation of this whole title.
The ending was sudden, but it was also really, really cute and happy and warm. I closed the final volume with a sappy, satisfied smile on my face.
Despite any shortcomings, this is still a strong title. It cleverly uses Choko's situation to attack some fairly serious developments in a creative way. It may not give you a new, unique perspective on any of the topics covered, but it sure hammers home on exploring the basics of human affection, friendship, love, family, death, commitment, perseverence, etc... And I defend my 10 rating with this: I couldn't put it down - it turned my heart into some kind of mushy rainbow of emotions with each and every chapter. Very much definitely well worth my time.
Also, there's plenty of pantsu, and nipples. Oh my!
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