Pretty fluffy and innocent a manga this is for a story about adults, if I do say so myself. I do like the characters a lot and how sincerely 'honest' they are, but it does admittedly get a bit frustrating after a while when they're not progressing anymore and are just running in circles. The last one-shot, though, did leave me confused a bit about trivia details. Nonetheless I guess this was an okay read, above average even.

THEY ARE SO DENSE! how can anyone possibly be so dense. alright, i shouldn't be talking, because i know i was just as dense at least a couple of times in my life. some of us are really blinded to the obvious when it concerns ourselves, no matter how observant we might be otherwise. so i forgive these two.

i really liked the development here. not much happens other than that these two characters get closer to each other, fall more and more in love, and get also more convinced that the other is in love with somebody else; slice of life remains one of my favourite themes. the female teacher was a nice addition (i always like positive portrayals of women in BL). i wouldn't at all mind following this couple for several volumes, because i am sure it'd be interesting to watch.

tenzen's art has taken on a style of its own, something it hadn't done yet in SMC e youkoso, which was published 2 years earlier. i am not enamoured with this style mainly due to the heavy lines outlining the faces and mouths, which gets even more pronounced later on. but i do like it in general; it's light but not wispy or unsure.

as to the bell: in itself it had no meaning; but ono had it attached to the key, which meant a lot to him. i think the mangaka used it so kijima wouldn't get to see the key at that point in time (because that would totally give away whom ono is in love with).

the oneshot "summer rain" is impressive; it almost had me snuffling a bit when i realised what was coming.

I bought this one because I have read other stuff by this mangaka and liked it. I was not disappointed. The artwork is good, and has a simple appeal. The story is sweet and flows nicely. The characters are likeable and you just want to see them together. They can both be rather dense at times when it comes to feelings. They love each other, but they are both afraid of rejection, and that the other loves someone else. There are points where you just want to slap them. The female teacher is a nice addition, as she just has to put her 2-cents worth into the situation. The second story,Summer Rain, was very short, but very well done. It had nice emotional impact, and a theme not seem as often - an affair with a married man. It had one of those bitter-sweet endings and leave you feeling both happy and sad. I definitely recommend this manga as a good read.

The story weaving and ability to connect and feel for the characters is much better than Seven or Unsophisticated and Rude. I recommend this one if you're looking for a sweet, soft, tender story about what love means. There is a great little bit of tension she gets going with their inability to confess, yet their otherwise close relationship. Both of them end up thinking the other one is pining for an unrequited love. It is a very happy, light story. The last chapter does sort of 'abridge' their resolution, though.
If you like wispy and light-lined art, you'll be attracted to her style as well.

Summer Rain, a one shot at the end, was poignant. It was a pivotal moment that both the main characters had been building too, and both their questionings and assumptions came to a realization (illustrated powerfully) that surprised them. It seemed like a fabulous introduction to another whole story, but it was still satisfying where it ended because it was only presented as 'moment.'

... Last updated on September 7th, 2009, 9:59am

It's really cute and romantic. Since it's really soft, and not the kind of manga when they're doing it in the first chapter at the first available place, it's really nice to read. It's rather slow-paced and just... heart warming at times (chapter 2 comes to mind) though I agree with the other review, they're idiots! ♥. I loved Tsuda-sama (I just had to say it, her chat with Kijima-sensei in chapter 5 was absolutely priceless).

... Last updated on August 24th, 2008, 8:18pm

I liked this series! It was very cute. The art is not my style so much in that I'm not really into girly men, but as a yaoi reader I'm more than used to such things. I know people think 6 is a low score (but think, people!! 5 is supposed to be "average!") but it just means I liked it, but felt it had some isses. I probably would have given it an 8 but there were two reasons I didn't.

1. I didn't really care for the last chapter particularly as it really seemed to just start a whole new story arc and then not follow through; the book would have really been stronger without it. (Not to mention that thing with the bell in the last chapter was never explained... did the mangaka forget?)
2. THEY ARE BOTH SO DUMB. I liked both characters and thought they were very cute, so my heart was warmed whenever they had those blushy moments, but by the end of the main story I wanted to smack them both for missing the painfully obvious.

This is a fantastic manga. I love the drawings and the story and the character development are fantastic. The only problem was that the story ended too soon! We need another volume to really complete things. So much time was devoted to developing the characters that there was not enough time left to develop the relationship after the characters finally got together. At the end of the story I was left needing to know move. This is why I gave this an 8 instead of a 10.

A very sweet shounen ai with a lot of unrequited love, but not that angsty.