Natsu no Zenjitsu

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Natsu no Zenjitsu shows the difficulties of maintaining a relationship that is founded upon raw passion. Sex is usually not enough to keep two people together long term. Chemistry and common interests are. This is what people miss when they criticize the ending for being terrible because so and so event happens that contradicts the reader's desire, not realism.

Tetsuo is a character that many may find difficult to tolerate. He is an insecure curmudgeon that shows little apparent care for anything aside of his fickle career ambitions. but this is true of many isolated young men who are too prideful to share their concerns with others ... and lack the social skills to express themselves fluently. Tetsuo is in the midst of a bizarre period of adult life, not yet mature enough to know what he wants for himself and not yet wise enough to understand what opportunities lie in front of him. He needs a muse and a support system in order to break through his self imposed barriers. He finds that and more in the older vixen Akira.

Akira stops at nothing to support Tetsuo's endeavors as an artist, even at the sacrifice of her own selfhood. She molds her own ambitions around that of a younger man full of the potential that she no longer carries as an older woman. Together they make for a very sexy couple, but perhaps not one that is destined to last forever when their chemistry is only truly evident within the confines of a bedroom. In social spaces, they are very awkward together and struggle to hold a conversation.

Hanami does not fawn over Tetsuo. She does not sacrifice for the sake of Tetsuo. She doesn't have a stable career nor is she even obviously attracted to him. Why is Tetsuo so enamored with her? Why is this a love triangle when one partner is so clearly more invested than another? These are questions that the reader will probably ask themselves to the point of frustration. Being of similar age, not being easily accessible to him (allows him to keep her in the realm of fantasy, which can help with his art), and someone that he genuinely falls for on his own volition are some valid reasons for his attraction.

There is a lot controversy over the ending of this manga. It is basically the only reason the score is a 7.7 rather than in the mid 8 range. I will not reveal what that controversy is for the sake of spoilers, but do know that the conclusion is heavily foreshadowed and does make sense based on the characters personalities and struggles up to that point. Sometimes we as readers are quick to criticize an outcome that is not desired, even if it suits the narrative perfectly.

Appropriate for a manga concerning art, the artwork is some of the best I've ever laid eyes on. Every single detail of a character's mannerisms and expressions are well drawn to the point where words aren't required to understand this story. The visuals trend towards realism more so than cartoonish fantasy, helping to accentuate the intense passion between Akira and Tetsuo during sex scenes. Do make note of the seinen tag - this is an explicit adult romance in every sense of the word. There's lots of banging, appropriately so in order to properly convey the extent of a mature adult romance. Proceed with caution.

This is from the author of Koi Kaze, a slightly problematic story of a twenty seven man who is sexually attracted to his fifteen year old sister. They have sex at one point. There is no controversy in Natsu No Zenjitsu of that magnitude, but there is a lot of tension that permeates between the lead characters as an age gap that causes some internal conflict.

Natsu No Zenjitsu is somewhat of a hidden gem in the manga community that deserves a far bigger audience than it actually has. I'd encourage more people to give this a try and follow the journey of an artist coming to grips with who he is and what he really wants out of life through his romantic relationships.

Spoilers for begunning of story present!!!!

I did like it at first because the story was progressing, the characters were likable and the romance was there. I still like Akira's character because she puts up with all of Tetsuo's shit, but she should abandon ship like I did. My reason for dropping it is that it didn't go anywhere from the first chaptets. I can't seem to find the driving force behind this story besides that the main character is whiny and has problems. He seems to be good at drawing, as mentioned by several characters in the story, but he has zero confidence and seemingly ... little motivation to draw. For someone who left his home to pursue art, this is weak. He doesn't want to accept help from anyone and gets overly aggressive about his independence when Akira tries to help him. Even though I am also near graduation and trying to find my path in life, I can't relate to this guy at all because he just has these made up problems.

Next, the sex scenes go from story driving elements to reminders that he is still "in love" with Akira. Initially the sex marks the beginning of their relationship and confirms that they like each other. Over time however, the sex scenes only pop up as either fan service or a reminder that Tetsuo and Akira are still in a relationship, because Tetsuo doesn't seem to do much else with Akira besides fuck her and leave to spend the rest of the chapter brooding.

Lastly, this phantom love triangle. Tetsuo sees some random chick at random points during the story and is apparently also head over heels for her. However, nothing is explicitly stated, and so nothing happens, at least in the first 12 chapters. I'm not a huge fan of triangles, but I understand they happen to progress the romance through the character making a choice. What I hate more than triangles is this bullshit, where the 2nd chick just randomly comes in for a few panels, and the author just reminds you that she might be brought in for a triangle later.

For me, this was enough to drop this manga a third of the way through.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

You might be wondering why I gave Natsu no Zenjitsu a 2. It is because I loved it, binged the whole thing in an hour only to read the last chapter and flipping off my laptop in anger. Yes, the ending totally kills it.

I don't know if you guys like tragic stuff and what not, but I hate them. Our brilliant stupid MC Tetsuo is a genius artist. He is shy of girls, until he meets Akira. Akira is the beautiful, slightly older and caring woman, and they fall in love. But do they really?

Akira loves her, but Tetsuo is kind of ... oblivious and is secretly in love with his best friends's gf. How low can a man get more than that. So he dumps Akira, gets nothing and the manga ends. Such a beautiful ending, I wanted to have a few words with the mangaka after reading it.

There are good parts about the manga, yes. The art is great. It's bold and catchy. The character development is really good and the enjoyment is top notch until the last chapter. I swear, if it ended on a positive note, I'd have given Natsu no Zenjitsu a 10. It was just so good. But you can't have everything in life, and not everything which starts well ends well, so...