To be honest, I am not completely sure. Did I just fall for the "soap opera syndrome", which sticked me to following every of Nonomiya's footsteps because she's so likeable and human, or is it because the manga is actually so good?
First of all, a great approach on the sports side. I guess that many readers will agree when I say that ski jumping isn't what we're reading this manga for, but still Okamoto staged it in a great way. I was very sceptical in the beginning... "Sports in a manga? And then, of all things, ski jumping?"
However, he perfectly introduced me as a total ski jumping ignorant into this highly developed sports and perfectly embedded all necessary explanations into the story. And, exceeding that, captured the speed, heigths and thrill of ski jumping much better than any TV broadcast ever could! If he shows an overview over the ramp from the jumper's starting gate, I almost get the same vertigo I would have when actually sitting in such a place...
Still, as mentioned, ski jumping just remained the minor part of the manga to me. Nonomiya is such a likeable protagonist with such a great story that it totally caught me right away. Starting already with the optical designs - despite all doubts about the sports, I was certain to start reading the manga when I only saw the cover of Nonomiya and her skis in front of the jumping hill.
The story absolutely thrilled me, and injected great moments of fun and akwardness at certain points to losen it up, rarely a manga made me laughing as much as this one. And yet containing so much elements...
The latest chapters really turned the story almost upside down to an unpredicted dark side. Though I agree that it is good to include such for a time, I'm not so sure about the staging. Perhaps Okamoto left the previous paths a little too much and dropped a little on the usually so good staging.