Hakoiri Drops

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I might be a bit biased in my review, as this was the first "manga only" manga that I've ever read, but I'll do my best to be fair.

Hakoiri Drops is a very wholesome, practically diabetes-inducing four koma, that maintains what's expected of such a format, while bringing out the good qualities of it to extremes. The comedy is light-hearted and mostly innocent, though there are several more mature jokes thrown in just to shake this up a bit. It does it's job as a comedy very well, forcing quite a few laughs out of me, so I laud it for that.

What I found most ... astounding about Hakoiri Drops was the destruction of typical expectations. While I might have been new to manga, I was not new to romcoms, and so I fully expected the main characters to meander about without making any real progression for 100 chapters. What I got was something far more satisfying. While it did take over half the manga for Kasugai to acknowledge his feelings, and another ten or so for Shizuku, one can clearly see the seeds of their relationship grow in a normative, realistic manner. It wasn't any harem show where, out of nowhere, dozens of women begin longing to bear our dear MC's children.

What really blew me out of the water was the SIDE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Something that I rarely, rarely see. I'm not sure if you can call Moe and Ainoki side characters, but their character arcs were by far the most profound of any outside of Shizuku and Kasugai. In fact, I would argue that their progression is even more pronounced (simply because of the evolution of their friendship and how quickly *spoilers*). As another reviewer (the only other, pretty sure) put it, the status quo is not something you'll see for long in this manga.

Hakoiri Drops is VERY character driven. The ending is somewhat "eh, that's it?", but there is a very good reason for it, so I can't blame the mangaka.

There are several flaws, but most of them are genre flaws. I won't go over them in too much detail, but there were moments when the plot fell short or when the drama seemed contrived.

All in all, as the biased man that I am, I rank it as my favorite manga of all time, merited or unmerited, and strongly suggest that you read it.

Hakoiri Drops is one of those underrated mangas that everyone should read. It is about a girl, Shizuku Nishimori, who has been sheltered all her life, going to high school, with a boy, Kasugai Yoichi, who has basically been assigned to show her the outside world, with a bit of romance thrown in.

Art: 9/10

Well it's 4koma, so art is much harder to judge. However, I like their character designs very much, especially Shizuku, and brings out their personalities.

Characters: 10/10 The interactions between the main 4 or great, as it shows them growing over 3 years in high school. The development of the romance is very ... natural, without feeling like it’s forced (unlike, say, Komi for example). Shizuku’s backstory is very nice, and it shows that she wasn’t just sheltered on a whim, and helps explain what she’s like.

Story: 10/10 The story is great, and really is a great example of slice of life. The ending was bittersweet, as we watch as the main characters leave the high school where they made many memories and move on with their lives. Even the more standard slice of life tropes are well-written, and are comedic, and serve to move the story forward.

Enjoyability 10/10: I really loved reading this manga. The ending and the last volume cover really help make me feel sad as the manga ended, and really gives me nostalgic vibes. I enjoyed the comedy bits, and I wish the manga had more story (although, it is a complete story in itself and doesn’t need anymore, to be honest.)

Overall: 10/10 Hakoiri Drops is a must-read for anyone, but especially for Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu and Komi readers. It is a great manga, and it’s a shame that this never became an anime. I will recommend this manga with a crazy zeal, and for good reason.

Story: 7/10
The story is a somewhat generic high school romance. Not cliché nor is it too beholden to dumb rom-com tropes. Almost no contrived drama. The romance actually grows in a natural manner and grows throughout the manga. All the usual story beats for a high-school romance manga: shrine visit, fireworks, culture festival, beach, camping, school trip, etc.

Art: 6/10
Decent but very simple. Cute when it intends to be (which is most of the time) but it can do others, like good reaction faces. Characters have good, distinct designs. 4koma so the art is kind of small. There are some coloured in, non-4koma chapters ... too. Artist does draw them in different outfits often too. Backgrounds are hit or miss, sometimes they're simple but good and other times they're blank grey voids

Characters: 8/10
Great main characters and great side characters. The interactions between the characters are great, they're the main draw to the manga after all. Kasugai is a little bland but the others have well-defined personalities. Character development actually happens!

Overall: 8/10
Nice wholesome romance, loved the characters and the romance felt like it came natural. I was definitely rooting for them. There is some drama at the end but it feels like it comes out of nowhere

Good
• Ainoki is a lovable gremlin
• Shizuku is a lovable cinnamon roll
• Cute, seeing the sheltered Shizuku open up is heart-warming as is the romance
• Side story for the support characters, they actually grow, no status quo here
• No fan service
• They actually wear different outfits

Bad
• The drama at the end feels contrived, there didn't really feel like there was enough build up to why Shizuku would feel like that. There was some hints but not enough to justify the end In my opinion
• Love triangle, even if it's obvious who's going to win. The love rival has basically no history with Youichi, we have no idea why
• Violent female character cliché, surprisingly not a tsundere but violence still isn't endearing. The story lampshades this though but being self-aware doesn't make it better
• A very small part of the manga (literally a few panels in one chapter) but it perpetuates the harmful myth that people bully the people they like. This is bullshit, if you liked someone that much you wouldn't bully them!
• I still don't know what the name means or what it has to do with the manga

Extra Subjective
• The epilogue was never finished due to the mangaka's health, though (in my opinion) it doesn't hurt the ending at all
• Humour can be a quite crude at times
• A very uncomfortable chapter where Shizuku's friends push her to get a swimsuit that's more revealing than she is comfortable with