Now hang on, I understand why other ppl didn't rate this manga so highly. But I think it's actually a very good study of infidelity and what sorts of people engage in it and why. I mean it's realistic. Of course it's an upsetting theme but I think it's done really well here without some of the extra unrealistic drama that sometimes accompanies cheating in shoujo mangas. This is just... heartbreaking in a quiet way but I really like the ending, I think it was just right and I liked how all the characters had grown and matured by the end. It actually managed to leave me with a feeling of hope instead of despair. People grow and can leave their sorrowful pasts behind. That's what's wonderful about life - you keep on living, and then things get better. Even if you've been through hell before... You can always grow out of it, and life does get better, and you do find happiness. I like that side of the story. (Note that this is not really a spoiler because I'm not giving away HOW the heroine finds happiness lol. Or with whom.)
This is how life sometimes is. Ain't perfect but it is what it is. I like the fact that this is a josei "romance" manga that actually chose to confront such a realistic and serious topic without trying to dress it up or glamorize it or smuttify it or make excuses for it. Just a plain, believable and therefore sympathetic story about a young woman and a bad experience she had with romance, which might become just another memory - neither good nor bad - for her in the future. This is how life is! I've been through something similar to her, so I really do think this manga is realistic in its depiction of human folly without trying to demonize anyone.
I recommend this to readers who are looking for a change from the candy-sweet, sugar-coated, unrealistically perfect shoujo romances. Nobody (or hardly anybody) has a perfect life in which they have one true love that is also their first love and that lasts forever. Most people ride the merry-go-round a couple of times before finding "the one". This manga is a depiction of one of those rides on the merry-go-round of self-delusion, betrayal and hope that a young woman goes through in normal modern life. Many women will have an experience like this in their pasts. That's what makes this manga realistic and that's why I like it. 🙂
Edit: Wanted to respond to the observations of some of the other reviewers below claiming that the mangaka may be losing her touch. I disagree. I think she's maturing because she's able to draw more realistic and less "perfect" relationships. Another reviewer said the mangaka must be broken-hearted, well maybe. Certainly this kind of maturity comes with experience. I like sweet love stories but I think it's good to have a bitter coffee now and then to freshen a mature palate. And "Cappuccino" is that kind of story - bitter and it wakes you up to the realities of modern romance, not the foggy dreams of pubescent girls. True love is still possible - even very probable - but chances are that you'll encounter "false love" many times or at least once or twice before finding your true love that you can stay with for life. Just saying. I think the mangaka has matured and improved to be able to write such a realistic story. That said I can understand some readers' disappointment because the summary is totally misleading. o_0; Like I said before I don't think this really counts as a love story, I mean it has love in it but it's more than two people getting together, this is a LIFE story. I wouldn't market it as a love story because that builds up readers' expectations in a way that this manga can't deliver on. Lol. It's just another kind of life story, not a love story. I don't think the summary should call it that.
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