I read this manga about a year ago, but I'm only making a review now because this is going to be a live-action soon, and a lot of people might consider reading the manga first before watching the live action (which maybe due to fukushi sota's looks wink wink haha). If anyone planning to read the manga is reading this, let me just warn you about what you're about to delve into.
The girl is going after someone who already has a girlfriend. And yes, she is fully aware that he has one. HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND. Am I the only one who finds that wrong?! I mean I get that it happens -- sometimes some people fall for someone already taken, but when that happens, you DON'T pursue your feelings. Yes, at one point she did say she was giving up on him, but did she really, now? Poor girlfriend even considered the heroine as a friend. What's even worse is I can't see anything wrong with the relationship between the lead guy and his girlfriend enough for him to switch feelings towards the heroine (considering he's supposed to be a real gentleman ugh). It's pretty obvious the girlfriend needed the guy more than the heroine(which basically spells out that he left her when she needed him most). I didn't like the heroine at all. She's overly optimistic to the point that it's just plain stupidity. Contrary to what others say, I find her really selfish. Selfish, not naive. If she really really liked the guy, she would have wanted him to be happy even if he ends up with another girl. I mean come on, woman! I get that she can't control her feelings, but to confess her feelings for a guy who currently has a girlfriend is very inconsiderate. Of course a sudden confession would confuse the guy. She just planted the seed of the doubt in the guy's head. And if this was her plan all along, then bravo; guess she's not so stupid afterall.
And so, I think the story is realistic and unrealistic at the same time. It's realistic since breaking up with your partner because you started to like someone else does happen in real life. Liking someone you can't be with is realistic. Being left out in a relationship is realistic. What's unrealistic is how the story tells the readers that what happened is okay, that it's the right thing. The lead guy is still portrayed as the nice, perfect, gentleman even when he leaves his girlfriend for the heroine(why he liked her enough to do that will always remain a mystery to me). Good guys don't do that. Jerks do that. To give the story a bit of praise, it did start out differently than other shoujo mangas. I mean, the lead guy breaking up with someone he promised to love? Rare. Plus the manga has two characters worth mentioning -- Andou and the ex-girlfriend. What they felt, that's real love right there. They let the person they love go because their happiness is their loved one's happiness. That's how it should be.
After the two main characters became a thing, the manga lost its uniqueness and followed the pattern of every cliche shoujo manga. It's all lovey-dovey blahblah. We all know how it plays out.
I think it would have been better if our heroine never got the guy. For once, let the pain be real. Let it be the story of how she actually got over her first love. Hers doesn't really count because no matter what, she still had him in the end. But that's just my two cents, think what you want.
So maybe I did take the story too seriously. But I just wanted to make a point. Nevermind that the latter part was just like any other cliche shoujo manga. That's actually the okay part. The art was okay too, i guess. It's just the story that really bothered me. What I wanted to read was a story with real romance, main characters with true heartwarming feelings; that's not what I got. But if you're okay with ruined relationships, messed up concept of true love, real people with actual feelings who actually care a lot getting pushed to the sidelines, then go ahead and read the manga. Maybe if you don't think about it too much, you can actually enjoy the manga. Maybe. Maybe I'm the only one who was bothered by it. Afterall, it's just a manga. But if you read it and feels the same way I did, don't say I didn't warn you.
(-9)
