Sasameki Koto
Whispered Words

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Well, that was a mistake.

In exploring all genres of anime/manga, I had decided to explore the various yuri/shoujo-ai titles available to read and watch. Apart from watching the anime version of Sakura Trick, this would be my first encounter with the genre. If anything, I should have built up to this. I should have watched all the cheap, fan-service-laden trash that accounts for most yuri titles. But no, I had to right to the top of the mountain.

It's not perfect. The art varies, swaying between blank-faced background characters and... the Big Emotional Scenes, which are so well done, I can only guess how many times ... Takashi Ikeda drew them, erased them and and re-drew them.

Onto the characters. The secondary characters, as with the art quality, vary in terms of depth and development. But the main characters... here we go.

The two leads of the series are so well constructed, I'd not be exaggerating in saying they're almost like family to me. The story involving them quite honestly has me re-evaluating pretty much every romance anime/manga i've ever come across, and none of them come close to this one. The ending of this series makes tears come to my eyes just by looking at its last few pages.

As I said at the start, I could have watched or read other genre titles before this, like Valkyrie Drive... actually, I didnt make a mistake after all.

In short, disappointing. What could've been a short and emotionally moving GL ended up a tired, worn out, and confusing wreck.

Misunderstandings, rivals, doubt, and the inability to speak ones mind are real parts of love. Unfortunately, Sasameki Koto loops through these clichés with absolutely no respect for the reader's time. Past chapter 15 character and plot progression slow to a crawl, making it genuinely difficult to remember anything changing other than circumstance or the misunderstanding of the week for 31 chapters and heartbreaking moments eventually blend into a general sense of frustration. The author in his afterword's frequently jokes, "the story will finally reach it's ... climax! Probably... Maybe..." which shows a befuddling amount of self awareness.

This disappointing midsection could be somewhat looked over if it weren't for the absolute mess of an ending. The author jumps between scenes at a frenzied pace, leaving no time whatsoever to properly flesh out what should be incredibly moving moments. The climax of the story comes out of nowhere in the form of a flashback with little if any buildup. It's a shame that the last 15 or so chapters frequently left me wondering if I'd skipped a chapter or if my reading comprehension had simply gotten up and left. Upon a reread there are simply too many threads, too many scenes being split between chapters to really feel confident in what's going on.

If you can handle a never-ending sequence of melodrama, this manga is for you. More than half of this manga's contents could've been erased from the mangaka's hard drive and the story would've been all the better for it. A shame when taking into consideration how strong the opening volumes were.

Good things about Sasameki Koto:
Decent art, strong characters. The main two protagonists are both in depth and likeable characters. You really grow to care for them. Also the first 3 side characters are great too.

Bad things about Sasameki Koto (spoilers):
Just as you think there's about to be some actual progress to real romance the author throws some annoying contrived cliche drama at you over and over again until he runs out of options and ends the manga like it should have done 30 chapters ago. Annoying transfer student shows up and gets in the way? Of course! Main character has some past trauma that prevents ... them from being honest? Sure! The wind made them not hear properly? Why not? MORE annoying transfer students? LOVE IT! Ill grandma? Are we done yet?

And that's how what should have been a much briefer but more enjoyable cute rom-com became a dead cat dragged through the mud before being hastily crammed into its finest clothes for the finale.