I started reading this because the bits of art I'd seen were pretty cute, and the summary piqued my interest. I continued reading because of the cute art and wondering how the main characters would finally get together. Plus, the kids are adorable.

I stopped reading because I got sick of the annoying stereotypes that the main characters fit so neatly. Natsumi is one of those ideal women, or something, because she can't hardly do anything without a man. She squeaks "kyaa!" all the time and looks cute and never has any character to even develop, unlike the way the elder of the two daughters gets to change a little. Natsumi is clearly meant to be a perfect woman, the way no one can surpass her motherly skills or beauty or whatever it is that's getting compared. In fact, she's so perfect that she is unable to hold a job (other than housewife, which is as demanding as a job, except that sort of thing isn't acknowledged in this kind of manga). Even when she and her daughters are on their own and she has no way of supporting them except for the small amount of money left by her ex-husband (which she uses to buy a house), she doesn't work. And she can't stand up for herself, unless it's to protect the kids. There's a long story arc involving her former mother-in-law and what it takes to get the family record back which drove me crazy because it seemed to exist mainly to show how patient and sacrificing and perfect Natsumi is. And it's super irritating that in order to be perfect, Natsumi has to be reliant on a man (also that it doesn't allow her any character growth, which is kind of the whole point of slice of life stories).

So, speaking of the man Natsumi relies upon, Shoutarou is the Everyman character that the reader is supposed to identify with, or something, in contrast with Natsumi's Ideal Woman character. Naturally, Shoutarou suffers just as much with the bad characterisation. He's a timid guy who has been a workaholic and ends up being, apparently, every woman's dream. He is caring and unwilling to look at other women, but he's weak-willed and timid and unwilling to assert himself (that's the Everyman part) - except, of course, he's strong and when a woman is in danger, he's there with muscles bared to save her. Shoutarou doesn't get any character development, either, except to be more of the chivalrous white knight and less of the workaholic as he spends more time with Natsumi. He manages to always have the right answer or to do the exact perfect thing, and when things go wrong, it's because someone has misunderstood. His flaws are superficial and only there as window dressing for the Perfect Everyman.

This story has a lot of potential and the art style is really cute - it's something I would enjoy reading, especially since the plot itself isn't horrible or anything. In fact, the story line about the elder daughter warming up to and finally accepting Shoutarou as her step-dad is really well done. Likewise, the story line about the older kids at school and getting teased for living together wasn't bad, and the arc where the boys have the option of living with their mother seemed pretty good (though the mother herself was another terrible character type - of course the boys won't live with her since she's the one who left Shoutarou and has her own job and married a wealthier man).

But even though there are a few promising things about this manga, the overwhelmingly bad characters in Natsumi and Shoutarou irritate me too much to keep up with it past chapter 50 or so (this is when the Chivalrous White Knight version of Shoutarou and the "Kyaa!" weakling Natsumi got to be too much for me to stand).

Also, and this is much more minor, I want to complain about the inclusion of Christianity in the story. It startled me at first because I don't really expect any Christianity in a manga unless the setting is a Catholic school. Elements of Shinto or Buddhist religions are more normal, since they're so culturally Japanese. But Christianity? It was weird. And then it got uncomfortable, because I felt like the mangaka was preaching Christianity via the story, particularly when he included Bible verses in the dialogue or at the end of the chapter. Since the story lines would have stood up just as well (or not) with or without the Christian bits, they felt gratuitous and even more like they were there for proselytising purposes. I did not like that. I don't want preaching in my manga. Although I continued to read it despite the preaching, it was definitely another reason to stop when the characterisations got to be too much for me.

So, to sum up, it's not a horrible manga or anything, and the art is really quite cute, but it's not for someone who actually cares about how gender roles are portrayed or who is uncomfortable being preached to.

It look like the manga was ment to be until that chapter and was streched out.
After chapter 20 I started to lose some simpaty for the main couple, and the only character that i still like is the 2 little kids...u.u
Well, even saying that i can vouch that this manga is not the worst i read, but there is better ones out there.

... Last updated on March 4th, 2010, 9:20pm

This manga is way out of my usual genre of choice but something drew me too it anyways. My favorate characters are the 2 younger children who are just adorable. However we are at a cross roads with chapter 48. Essentially the main focus of the story has been completed and would of been a fully satifiying end to the manga. However the story contines... I just hope it doesnt degrade into a plotless manga living chapter to chapter. The author has done an awsome job so far, so i have high hopes in future chapters. Just have to wait and see.

I'm surprised no one mentioned the BRADY BUNCH because this manga is a total rip-off of it. It was a very successful late 70's/early 80's sitcom in the USA. I suggest you search for it

This is one of the ones I have to drop everything and go read the second a chapter is released, No earth-shattering drama, just a sweet tale of two half-families knitting together.

The pro of this manga is that it really is funny, in a warm way, better then Yume de Aetara. The story is so-so, I can't really say it were something good, and the story-telling isn't quite amazing as well, but both are pretty much acceptable.

But the one thing I cannot overlook is the image it creates of women, it was the same with Yume. Basically they are either obedient, nice and pretty women like the female protagonist, who can't speak up for herself and does not have much of self-confidence either, or they are chattering housewives, or they are the sexy but incredibly evil type (OK, there are only two of them yet, mother and daughter, but the daughter is the main rival of Natsumi).

So, because story and art have some lacks, and in particular because of the conservative way women and men and there relationships are portrayed (The male protagonist always claws her jaw when kissing) it's a clement 5 points.

It's a good refreshing story. The guy is actually man. Even if he's a square(that's how the manga puts it), he atleast had a wife with kids. So he isn't oblivious to the opposite sex. The guy knows how to treat a woman. It's good read it.

this story is quite good and i think it is better than yume de aetara (another story by the same mangaka) this time the main character has a lot more good points than the main character of yume de aetara hence the part of which the main female character happen faster than it

I liked yume, but like this one so much better. Yume seemed a little episodic with drama seeping in to ruin the main relationship(every other chapter), however, orange roof has been keeping the drama to reasonable levels.

cute, warm, endearing series with some charm

Did the author Just skip 9 months between ch20-21? Its a bit jarring, but an opportunity to introduce worthy complications was worth it.

This manga is in my top 5 favorites, and i look forward to every new scanlation! Highly recommended!