Sorry. Not sorry. I don't feel like accepting it willingly so I won't. For me, it completely fails as a great shoujo manga.
Hirunaka no Ryuusei started out as something refreshing. A series that echoed similarities to Ao Haru Ride but also had its own charm and standing that differed from it. The problem was that it fell to the pits and never made it back up again. Understand that it has nothing to do with who was endgame (okay, no, it does, but only because the whole point of this comment is about about Mika-sensei's lack of writing skills which lead to the ending, which is the endgame). Character development is almost nonexistent (unless you kind of count Shishio). Heck, the main character, where character growth is THE most important, does not grow. No character reached the height of their possible growth and that's just how it ends.
I initially stopped my reading when it became angsty. Turns out, it never stopped being angsty. And not the well written kind either. I will not finish this. I refuse to until I can bring myself to comprehend what just happened in the end (which will be never as I can't come to terms with it). I and a bunch of other fans had high hopes. Too bad the execution was painfully poor all the way through because the premise was extremely promising. Such wasted potential. Even till the end, nothing but dust. It could have been amazing but it fell to be less than mediocre. Mika-sensei, if you planned it like that in the first place, you should have made it more believable. Rushed. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.
I'll quote miwacarroll from tumblr. (If you haven't read her post about the last chapter, you should.)
! "The Man Who Got Two Beers." -miwacarroll@tumblr
That is the ending of Shishio. That's it. Shishio deserved better. The one who was able to grow and realize himself is the one to get the shorter end of the stick. In fact, he didn't even get the stick. He was deprived of his rightful, deserved ending. And the thing about Mamura been the true daytime shooting star is complete crap. What nonsense. Mika-sensei, since you were so persistent on a love triangle, then make it believable. Don't throw a couple together because you want it that way. I didn't feel that they were in love. But it won't matter because Shizume till the end. In my mind, it did happen. Idon'tcarelalalala. Chunchun.
Make your plot twist, that's fine. However, don't go stringing your readers and your characters like beads around one direction (and it feels so natural too in that direction) and then right exactly before you top off the story, you go smacking everyone in the other direction and you force us to accept it or leave it. Well I, for one, am leaving it. The endgame was planned already so, you should have made it natural. How careless of you to make
"The Man Who Got Two Beers" Shishio
to get all the crap simply because you were biased over another character. If so, you shouldn't have made him such a big part of HnR because you tossed him away like a used napkin. Honestly, you as a creator of them and their world, you should have been more mindful of how you developed the story, their story. Utterly disappointing.
For those who could bring themselves to last through the muck that was Vampire Knight, just to get to the end, you'll find yourself feeling a similar feeling that spawned as you read VK as you read the end of HnR. This feeling is the offspring of the feelings you felt reading VK. Be warned. Satisfaction *not * guaranteed.
@shoutoshiro. I'm guessing you liked my comment so much that you decided to rehash it in yours. I'll take that as an implied compliment. /wink
edit; I'll pose a question. For those of you who enjoyed it, good for you. to each his own.
But, did you really like it or did you just like the fact that it ended with the second male lead, the so-called "underdog"?
edit;; Have you read the extra about Shishio? This is where the ultimate flaw in her writing is uncovered even more, where her fail at developing her characters is so blatantly obvious. How laughable.
Six years pass and Shishio is still broken over it. Wow Mika-sensei, you don't even give him any backbone of healing or moving on. He's stuck in a pit and he's never gotten out of it. Six years. I wonder how much you care about his story as he seems to keep on getting all the terrible things in life. He's fallen and you push him down. Every time he tries to get back up, you push him again. And that girl...that girl, is that a potential love interest? Hahaha. It's so funny, she seems like another Suzume, those dead-ish eyes that show a Suzume-like indifference, her thoughts that echo Suzume-like interest, her expressions, just like a second Suzume. Since he couldn't win the O.G. You throw him a pity party and give him the second best. A person similar to Suzume. Even better!
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