Tatoe Todokanu Ito da toshitemo
If I Could Reach You

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This manga is amazing. When I read it, I get the impression that tMnR mind-melded with me when I read Citrus, saw all of the things I disliked about it and set out to write a sister (or rather step-sister, in both cases) story that made everything right again. Even if you're not a part of this mind-meld along with us, Tatoe Todokanu Ito da toshitemo depicts a much different, more serious and more realistic take on the "girl falls in love with her step-sister" premise that is captivating to read.

Our cast of characters this time around consists of Uta, an ordinary high ... school girl, and Kaoru, her childhood friend who she was always close with. She marries Uta's brother, Reiichi, and on their wedding day, Uta comes to realize that her feelings for her all those years were feelings of love. The three of them live together as a family, and the story is dependent on the family dynamic from chapter one. Uta and Kaoru's dynamic is so sweet and heart-shaking that it actually made me cry. Multiple times. Uta apparently has a dark past and doesn't feel loved or accepted by her family, not only having left her main family but considering herself a freeloader at Kaoru/Reiichi's place and being always worried that she is just getting in the way, but nevertheless, her love for Kaoru is deep and unconditional. Kaoru is an angel, to the point where honestly, I have trouble thinking of anyone else in any series who I've just ~felt~ for as much as her. You can just feel her desire to make Uta feel loved and welcome, to ease the pain from her past.

The series hits hard and the atmosphere of it is generally dark. The bulk of it so far has been about Uta's angst as she struggles to sort through her feelings, and plenty of other not-so-bright stuff has already happened even though it's currently only on the 11th chapter (and it seems to be gearing up for a medium-length run if I had to guess? I hope it ends up being longer, though). The series does venture off for a little bit into the relationship of Uta's friend, but that isn't even out of place really, since Uta was staying at her place at the time and we see how it ties back into Uta and Kaoru's situation later.

The art style here doesn't stand out too much, but it serves its purpose very well and has sort of a soft, delicate feel to it, particularly the way the characters are drawn. I'm not the best at describing this, or judging artwork in general really, but either way I like it.

Final verdict -- This series needs more attention. I don't have any clue who the mangaka, tMnR is and as far as I'm aware it's her only serialized series at the time of this review, but she has entirely captured my heart with just this one series. This series is on pace for a 10 rating, and I don't fear it'll slow down or lose its spirit (which is what I'm usually the most wary of with series that start off well like this), though expect this review to be edited if it does so. I have went back to reread it even though it is still in progress and it is as good the second time as it was the first time. She knows what she's doing with this story and I want more.

I read 22 chapters all in one go, and I've got to say that this story flows very well and does a great job at conveying emotions to the reader. Although they have nothing to do with each other, I was reminded of "Kimi no Iru Machi". At times when reading sad parts, I would feel my heart drop and I could feel the sadness coming through the pages to me. Series' that can somehow transmit the feels to you are awesome. And, even though I have pretty much nothing in common with the protagonist, the storytelling is done in a way where I feel ... like I understand some of her struggles.

There aren't a whole lot of chapters out yet, but I think this is going to be another series that's going to make you want to cry and eat a tub of ice cream. If you too enjoy doing this, then I would recommend that you give "This Love That Won't Reach" a read.

This story is a prequel to a manga I wish existed. Spoilers ahead.

This manga has a constant sense of weight that is hard to describe. In most stories like this, something heavy might happen to set the scene and you get the entire story of them falling in love.

This time around, the entire story is around overcoming some heavy shit, and at the end you get your relationship kinda put out there at the end. So like a reverse take.

I can't say I like this method much since cute lovey dovey romance is my preferred, but it does do well in setting up these characters ... for what could have been that story of them actually falling in love.

We get that love still, but no build up for it on one side since this whole story is coming to terms with a bunch of other heavy feelings about being in a relationship that just isn't meant to be, and dealing with feelings of damn near hopelessness that your love will never work out. It's pretty well done I think, but it's basically 35 chapters of pain with not many breaks in that pain and then some nice stuff at the end. That probably contributes to the heavy feeling I got for most of time.

I'm happy where we ended, but overall i'm just damn conflicted on how we got there.

Overall, I think this is still a pretty solid manga, and i'd like to try and go through it again without the extra worrying where it'll end up.

For now i'll leave this at a 7 and maybe come back in some time to give this another shake and see where it lands.

[No spoilers]
A story about a couple living together with a teenage girl and the growing feelings between the females. The story focuses on the emotions and growth of the two. Especially the younger one is nothing like a static character as she grows significantly throughout the story and repeatedly surprises both other characters and the reader with her maturity. All main characters share the premise of their feelings having no place in their lives and suppressing them, but in different ways for each of them. I find all of them believable and interesting, though the male lead is portrayed a bit weaker than I would ... have liked.

What to expect:
- A relatively realistic triangle intertwined by different interpretations of feelings of love between a grown couple and a teenage girl.
- Character growth and detailed portrayals of conflicting emotions
- Well written character interactions
- Good pacing (opinions may differ, but I really liked it)
- Some fluff, some angst and believable drama inducing a nice journey of emotions in both the characters and the reader.
- an overall satisfying but rushed ending (this is where I subtracted a point). The story had potential to be double as long in my opinion. I hope for complementary material in the future.

What not to expect:
- One-dimensional or "cute" (a.k.a. naïve) characters (well, one particular side character was a bit disappointing, but it did not disturb the flow too much)
- Yuri
- cozy comedy (has a little of it, but clearly focuses on other themes)
- random lazy-writing plot twists (a drama without a car crash and without randomly evil aunts, yay!)
- A quick read (The story is relatively long and should be even longer, settle for a nice slow one)

Bottom line:
I absolutely loved this one and compulsively checked for scanlation updates daily just because of this manga. I liked it for the relatively realistic and serious tone, the believable drama, the portrayal of complex emotions and thoughts, good pacing, and well written character interactions. I name this my favorite manga, despite the minor drawbacks I mentioned above.
I am now eager to reread the story as soon as I can spare a day.

Additional note: This manga is VERY similar to Ani no Yome to Kurashite Imasu, if you like one then you will like the other, too.

There's a lot that could have gone wrong with a premise about a high school girl in love with her adult step sister but I'm pleased to say that this manga is actually quite good and does not engage in anything unpleasant regarding the adult-child relationship.

This is a story about an unrequited love that cannot be realized and how the main character, Uta, deals with it. Will she move on? Will she cherish her feelings even though they hurt her? As the title suggests, the crux of the story is whether Uta's feelings will ever be understood by her step sister and if so, ... what that would mean.

We also follow the object of Uta's affection, Kaoru, as she deals with a marriage to Uta's brother that is starting to show cracks. I quite liked Kaoru. Maybe it was just because she was cute and affectionate but I also liked how the story showed the loneliness she often felt.

A lot of people thought the ending was rushed. Personally I didn't have a problem with it because the epilogue ended things satisfactorily, but I do wish the author had either done a time skip much earlier in the story or written more chapters to wrap things up. While I suppose it wouldn't fit the themes the author was exploring, I would really have liked to read an entire manga about what happens after the story ended.

The side characters, Uta's friends, are also pretty decent and get a little bit of character development of their own.

All in all I would recommend this as a yuri manga that is a little outside the norm since it's not really a will-they-won't they scenario as is the case for many romance stories.

I will start with addressing the elephant in the room, the rushed ending. I don't know why this was done, but I disliked it, I guess everyone did. This story deserved a better, proper ending; but I guess we will not get it. That's what stopped it from becoming a great romance/Yuri manga. Thar being said, I still want you to read this manga. And allow me to explain why.

Lets focus on the good part, the drama in this story is top tier. You really feel for the characters and get invested on the story. There is a lot of angst and sadness, all stemming ... from our protagonist Uta falling in love with her brother's wife (who is happily married). But the tension, the angst and Uta's attempts of reconciling with her love that she understands will not be answered are all told in a grounded manner. The pacing of the story is really good too. Throughout the story, Uta tries to come to terms with her unrequited love for Kaoru (her sister-in-law), Kaoru deals with her trauma and abandonment issues and Uta, Kaoru and Uta's brother all live under the same roof constantly being bounded by the shackles made from kindness. Uta's heartbreak is made even more visible through the side characters and the story leads towards it's untimely end.

This story might seem to be raising flags (forbidden love, age gap, ntr(!)) I can say without spoiling that the story has nothing that feels out of place. Uta readily understands just how bad her position sounds like and the age gap is pretty acceptable. In terms of Yuri with good drama, this is top shelf and if the author could just flesh out that ending, I would not hesitate a second to call this the best Yuri drama I have read (and I have read my fair share). Not even as Yuri, just a romantic drama this is really good.

Starts inter but then around chapter 10 when it seems like things are going to get REALLY interesting, the story cops out and drags its feet until essentially the very end of the manga. Especially because the side ship is so bland and the story lives doing that thing romance manga will do where it goes through every possible way to keep characters from actually talking I ended up barely even skimming and more just flipping through to the parts it seemed like something would be interesting until it was over. The endings not even that good, if anything it should’ve been the half way ... point to leave room for something to happen. Complete waste of time

Tatoe Todokanu Ito da to Shite mo had an interest idea: what about an impossible love?
Well, this good premise fell into an endless boring writing, only comparable to the poor art. Yeas, the art on the colored pages looks... good, really good to be honest, but on regular bases, coming to the black and white, well, sometimes I want to drop just because of de lazy in the design as a whole.
The characters are some kind of one-dimensional at all. Excepting the love affair of her, no one change much passing the 37 chapters!
Protagonist best friend Kuroe is one of the WORST characters I'd ever ... read, alongside Miyabi and their Stockholm Syndrome. The dynamic with this two character are awful!
If you have nothing else to read, thats ok to give this manga a chance, but I cannot recommend.
ps: the ""true"" final is on the epilogue. Thats give some redeem to the series, but continue to be a little boring and inconsistent.