Suzuka

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"There's no way I could like this manga, right? I mean c'mon...It's from the mid 2000s, and the reviews seem to be mixed!"

I said this to myself on an uneventful Wednesday evening. 4 days later, on a Saturday, I've finished the entire emotional journey Suzuka had to offer. I'm a big fan of Seo's works - I actually got introduced to Kimi no Iru Machi first before anything else, but I just love his art and the emotional plot twists/story-telling he incorporates, so I thought I'd give Suzuka a try after much debate. Needless to say, throughout its ups and downs, I don't regret reading ... this piece at all! I definitely recommend it, but read my full breakdown below first:

Story - 7:
For me, the story was alright. It was strong enough to pull me into binge reading multiple chapters at a time with cliffhangers waiting at the end of each one. At times, the plot felt like it stagnated, while at other times, certain unprecedented (and perhaps odd) shifts in the story dynamics and focus put me off. For example, for the majority of the beginning and middle, Yamato (our male MC) chases after Suzuka and bounces his focus between his crush and track and field. However, I didn't think enough progress was implemented for most of the plot at a timely manner, and instead of faster character development (I'll get to that soon), we introduced love rivals and other love boundaries to cause drama instead.

Additionally, the love rivalries felt slightly inconsistent, with not as much value to the plot (besides the obvious first one) as I initially thought. But then, other somewhat improper tropes were introduced as well, such as long distance, parents approval of relationships, etc...I'll stop there before spoilers are revealed.

For the ending - it was noticeably rushed, but not to the point where it was unenjoyable - the ending is satisfying as could be considering what our characters went through. I wished it wasn't as rushed and there were properly executed closures for some of the other characters, but at least we get the main ending we needed.

Overall, despite the inconsistencies or odd patterns of drama vs. slice of life vs. happy arcs, which caused the plot to progress non-linearly, I can't deny that at the chapter level, the details were spectacular and the cliffhangers were great, if not critical.

Art - 9:
If there's anything I loved from the top of my mind about Seo's works, it's his art style. He makes the characters look gorgeous and perfectly befitting that of certain emotions to fit whatever dramatic commotion is taking place. This speaks volumes for a 2004-2007 manga - I would've never guessed his art was invented this long ago already.

Characters - 7:
Man oh man, here it comes - Asahina Suzuka and Akitsuki Yamato are one polarizing pair of MCs, that's for sure. They both have clear flaws in their characters which frustrate the readers, but both go through visible development as well, which makes up for it. Still, I'd like to warn incoming readers on a few points.

Asahina Suzuka may take some time to grow on you - she's unfairly cold to Yamato for the majority of the manga. I'd give her some patience to really understand her character more, but I wish Seo went in to flesh out more of her character and why she acted the way she did toward Yamato for the first half of the story. I want to understand more on why she made the decisions she did or acted the way she did.

Meanwhile, Yamato, despite being likeable for some, was also frustrating at times. His head-scratching decisions and a faithful prioritization of love for Suzuka above all else in life may frustrate you. However, you'll grow to like and appreciate his growth near the end :)

As for the rest of the cast, it all depends on the character. The love rivals (as well as other supporting characters), each have their own unique stories and arcs, but the closure for some of them near the end of the manga felt rushed or executed in a way in which it was forced.

Enjoyment/Overall - 8:

This is a recommended read, but I do advise to brace yourself - you're in for a wild dynamic ride of frustration and satisfaction. I'd say the satisfaction tops out at the end! The drama isn't as heart-hitting as other shounen romance/dramas I've read, but definitely still there enough to pull you in.

I was not realy going to write a review because i am not really good at this and my grammer is not the greatest, but this manga left me with kind of a strange feeling afterwards so here it is. I tried my best hope you find it helpful.

Short version.

The good:
- The art is nice
- The girls are al really wel drawn and cute
- The emotional moments really hit you and pay off.
- I really enjoyed the later part of the series and the ending.

... The Bad:
- The characters can be really annoying and do stupid stuff.
- The reason for conflict gets repetive after a while.
- The first half of the series is slow and pissed me of at times.

The summary and longer version wil be down below.

The story
When i first started reading this manga i got pissed off at the way characters where acting and treating the main character. I honestly felt bad for him. The jokes felt forced and cliché. This is a manga from 2007 so maybe it was the norm back then, but now they don ’t really hold up.
Later on in the story it gets much better.
The story felt like it did not have many ideas because the reason for conflict always felt the same. If you are not bothered by such a thing then there is no problem.
I did not enjoy this manga in the beginning the main character/girl was a b*tch, but the emotional moments where really nice and that is what kept me going in the end. I gues i have weird tastes sometimes.
But all of that is gone by the later half of the story. I got really sucked in and invested in the characters.

The art
There is not much to say about the art other than it is nice. It has plenty fanservice moments if you are in to that kind of thing.
The character design is easy to look at and aside from 2 characters it was easy to distinguish them from each other.

Enjoyment
In the beginning i did not enjoy this manga at all. But later on that changed, I really started enjoying this manga and kept on reading. And before i knew it it was over.
There is a sequel to this manga, but honestly i don’t know if i wanna read it.
Right now i’m talking pretty highly of this manga, but the only reason for that is because i liked the ending so much. If i take the early parts into account for my scoring it is not that great honestly.
So to summarize. A manga that takes some time to get into but is worth it in the end. If you don’t have patience i recomend you stay away from this manga as far as possible.
But if you don’t mind then go ahead and enjoy, just be warned.

TLDR: SKIP THIS ONE // WORST FEMALE MC EVER 4/10

Yamamoto moves to Tokyo with his aunt and ends up living with a bunch of women including the female MC which inspires him to try track and field. He then finds out that he’s good at track and field and partakes in competitions and whatnot. The sports/slice of life part is great and all but what pisses me off is the love interest being bipolar every few chapters. SUZUKA IS THE WORST LOVE INTEREST/FEMALE MC EVER! So much so that I had to write a review to warn you

Yamamoto is a perfectly fine flawed MC but ... is constantly being blamed for everything and is basically being emotionally abused by Suzuka wondering what he did wrong. This manga is just constant bickering between the couple for no apparent reason other than “drama”. Manga like “Lovely Complex” simply does it better in every way.