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Feb 14, 2025
One would think that “Ohana “Holoholo is a heartwarming story about two people working out their differences and rekindling their relationship while raising a child. About a blended family of people who come from different paths of life. Well, it isn't. “Ohana Holoholo” is a story about mutual toxic dependency, being unable to set boundaries, not trusting each other, keeping secrets from each other and ultimately, being unable to change.
It's honestly quite weird as the characters quite often realize that themselves. They would often mention their flaws, how the situation makes them feel terrible, but it never goes further than a mention in their mind
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palace. The characters take note of everything wrong with each other and their lives, but never make an active effort to be better people.
A lot of those awful situations are sugarcoated by either the scenes with (admittedly very cute) Yuuta or the series trying to play with symmetry that everybody has their flaws, shifting blame and a lot of vague angst for loneliness. Out of the entire cast there isn't a single reasonable person, who's willing to break the toxic loop and are extremely inconsiderate of each other or themselves. A lot of it feels like it’s constantly going in circles of “will they won’t they”, introducing new potential partners for the characters, but the way the story is consturcted, there isn’t really any suspense whether the two leads will end up together.
Maya is trapped by her ex, never allowing herself to do anything else other than serving Yuuta and Michiru, because she has a terrible savior syndrome and desperately clings to the idea that she can fix Michiru and has to take care of her. Michiru on the other hand is the polar opposite, someone who doesn't have the slightest care in the world for anybody, even her own child, but herself. She constantly avoids any sort of responsibility, treats Yuuta as a hot potato to be passed around and never cares for the feelings of those around her, as long as it doesn't benefit her directly. In addition to being horribly jealous and possessive, as she craves attention and validation. The two create an awful combination that's quite dreadful to watch. And then you add Nico to the mix, a character that's clearly in a very bad mental space, but never really seeking help, which boils down to him having emotional outburst at others - mainly Yuuta, as he places him at the center of his world and being with Yuuta is the only source of happiness for him. He's unable to process the loss of his lover, which in itself is not a bad thing, but it's frustrating that the series is so hellbent on never providing him with any sort of help. I imagine they can't send him to therapy, because then there would be no story, but pushing this character to the absolute limit of how depressed he can get and how Yuuta is the only thing keeping him going.
The common theme is toxic dependency, as mentioned in the opening paragraph. Maya put herself in this situation where she knows she needs to take care of Michiru and Yuuta, because Michiru would be unable to care for her son. So no matter how terrible Michiru gets, Maya knows she can't ever leave. She perpetually turns down every opportunity she has, as long as it that would mean dedicating less time to taking care of Michiru, even when she thinks she’s committing to something else, she’s still back at square one st the end of the day. The worse Michiru gets, it actually it's all the more reason to think she wouldn't be able to manage on her own. Even despite that, she's also dealing with abandonment issues, wanting to cling to Michiru by any means necessary . From Michiru's side the dependency is that she has this freedom to absolve herself from any household responsibilities and doesn't have to care for her son, because whenever she's alone with Yuuta, she always fails to properly care for him and needs someone to hold her hand in the process. She also heavily depends on others for validation in most things she does, as well as dhe needs to be taken care of by others in pretty much every chapter. While Nico's dependency comes from putting his entire life's purpose in this 5 year old boy, an immense amount of pressure on such a young child. And you can imagine where it goes, by the way I frame this with the whole "his only reason for living". Yuuta, the innocent child, is at the very center all of those adults' unhealthy attachments to him and each other.
All of this would've been fine, if it was a manga about letting go, if all of that had a purpose in representing how we need to cut toxic people from our lives, how this doomed relationship is not worth saving, trying to be a better person despite all of one's shortcomings. But the manga isn't about that. The weirdest thing is that the story is entirely aware of the characters' flaws and they are brought up quite often, but it never really serves as a teaching moment and it mostly just goes in circles around. At the end of the day, everything is forgiven, so the characters never really change. It’s one of the unfortunate examples of toxic relationships trying to pass as endearing. Which is a shame, since the manga’s core message of “A healthy and loving home is more important than a socially acceptable one” is still mostly intact. It’s just that its characters really aren’t the ones to tell this story, as they are mostly at odds with the message.
don't really think the series ever made a point about queerness one way or the other in cases of Michiru and Maya. The only way it affected them is through the relationship between Hiyori and Yuuta. I never felt like them being two women in a heteronormative world was ever the obstacle for them to overcome. It was always kept entirely personal, as the thing holding them back was their shared trauma and history, which mostly related to them hurting each other, rather than them being queer. And while I can see the point about their other love interests being men offering them a chance at an "easier life", that notion was never really brought up. The stability mostly came in the form of the love rivals being more reliable, a fresh start and also looking out for them, rather than the issue of societal expectation. I felt like the conversation was only "This guy is reliable and he had never hurt me the same way my girlfriend which I'm unable to move on from did" rather than "He is a man and that would make my life easier".
I can however see how Nico's character was intended that way, as his entire arc focused on the feeling of inferiority and his reason for leaving Keiichi was that he felt unable to provide for him that sense belonging in society. They broke up stricly because of that despite their feelings for each other. I think that was a lot more purposeful and felt a lot more intentional. Maybe it was just me, it did feel like Nico was making it pretty obvious about how he was feeling and it wasn't until the very end that the characters finally noticed it. The way it was written felt like they were just choosing to overlook it, which didn't really jive with the idea that they all were looking out for each other, because they cared about each other.
Recovery isn't linear and sometimes you still make the same mistakes. Sometimes you go one step forward and two steps back. I think that is very real and tough thing to get through, as working out one's trauma and other kinds of built up negative behaviors. I think the series was almost there with being on the right page, only really lacking the acknowledgment of it. Whenever the characters made that metaphorical circle of slipping back into their bad behavior, it didn't feel like the acknowledged that they are trying to break out of it, like they are making an effort to be better, but coming back around out of habit. I only really felt like they were coming to the same conclusions they did the first time, in the same exact way, as if it were the first time again, lacking that final nail in the coffin that allowed the characters to have any hindsight on their actions. It was almost there, but not quite.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 12, 2025
Futari Escape has a very simple premise - it pursues all those thoughts of "What if I could take everything slow and just escape from the responsibilities of everyday life?".
However, despite this very grounded premise, it doesn't take itself too seriously and light hearted in all sorts of ways. Furthermore, It isn't really about truly appreciating the mundane, rather the idealized version of it, from a position of someone with seemingly infinite money. I don't think it needed to be overly serious and grounded, as it wasn't really it's goal, it does feel like the characters already lead a serene life. Other than being told
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that "things are hectic", it never really feels like it. Because of that, it's really somewhat difficult to really see one's self in the shoes of the characters.
The characters themselves are also very shallow and since they aren't really too grounded in reality, they are also hyperbolized versions of a workaholic and the "unemployed friend". They're chemistry is unfortuntetly a bit lacking and I had a hard time to really see much value in the advice offered by the characters, since it was only applied to the situation of the main character being unable to think about anything else other than work at all times, but also having the money to do whatever they want whenever they want. It's fundementally thought provoking, but it feels like it never really goes to far, due to the nature of the manga being so light hearted at its core, that it doesn't really want to dwell on its own thought pieces too long.
I personally think that a series about appreciating the mundane and simpler lifestyle is only as compelling as the lens character and what they do. (Hence the Ghibli movies are so effective at it). I don't really dislike them, but there's not much I can like about them either. I think in other contexts they would've worked better, but I feel like a series like this needed a stronger cast to really elevate its message. Mostly in the second half, there are some chapters that got extremely close to being perfect, where the characters take a step back and the reader gets to see more ways in which they compliment each other, as a couple. I just wish every chapter was like that. The humor is also a bit lacking, as most of it just consists of the characters just drinking lots of alcohol (and some chapters focus on weight on body image for some cheap comedic effect).
One thing I can say I really appreciated were the little travelouges at the end of each chapter! It really added a degree ot appreciation of the things which were the subject matter of any given chapter. I wish the series itself took more time to really take in the sights and details of it, as it seems like the pace didn't allow this manga about taking things slow, to take things slow itself. It offers a lot of great ideas for your own little ways to escape from the everyday monotony.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 8, 2025
"Love My Life" is definetly a lot different than I expected from it at first glance. This manga very much about how gay people view other gay people. It feels like the characters often bring up what it means to be "a proper gay/lesbian" and would resent each other on that basis. It's honestly quite suprising how many of the characters lacked compassion for each other and were quite easily put off by other gay people, when they got to know their journeys.
The manga is from the year 2000, so the lens it portrays might be. a little old, I do think it is pretty
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interesting in it's take on those relationship people have with queerness and how they view others in their own group.
What I think didn't quite age as well, is the lack of acknowledgment and perspective on bisexuality. The system the manga operates on is very binary, you're either gay or straight, nothing in between. Hence the fact the main character's, Ichiko's, parents were gay people who married each other is a thing people frown upon so much by their community.
And yes, not mentioning bisexual people doesn't mean they don't exist and we can say that the characters in the story are just gay and not bi and that isn't erasure on its own, but I wish the concept of bisexuality was at least brought up as something that exists. (There was a passing mention of a character called Nana, but it was only for one page and the words "bisexual" werent really used, just that she was "free")
One other thing that I feel is somewhat neglected is the social pressure and actual accounts of it. The characters, like the mentioned above parents, marry each other, so they can have a child. Ichiko herself pretends to date one of her male gay friends in college. However, we're only ever told that they do it, "because it is easier". While making this jab at heteronormative society, I feel the series failed to say anything meaningful. They do it, because "it's easier" and "it's what society wants", but never really takes an extra step to delve into how society percieves them and why it's easier. We're only ever told that the DO do it, but not really truly WHY.
The manga is tagged as Erotica, but I feel like there really wasn't nearly as much as I would've expected by the pressence of the tag. There definetly is a sort of fixation on who the characters make love to and whether or not that's "pure and proper". Sex is also very much treated as the ultimate remedy for problems, so whenever anything goes ary, intercourse is usually the anwser. It also brings me to the fact, that the main characters don't really have a proper chemistry. To be perfectly honest, most if not every character, is mostly just a prop that the story is told through. They aren't really complex, nor very interesting, they just exist to fulfill their purpose in the story.
That's not to say, that the manga doesnt have its merits. Some of its views on individuality, the nature of breakups, difficult relationships with one's family, the time apart and cheating on each other are pretty universal. Quite well portayed too. I liked the focus on the importance of communication, despite it being difficult. The ending is also genuinely really sweet andties a neat bow on the story. Every part of this manga was made in earnestness, it's just that some managed to come out better than the others.
I think the manga is worth a read, as to see how queer stories looked 25 years ago and understand how far we've come in such a short time like a quarter century. (For example, the same sex couple living together is not considered a possibility in this manga). I don't think there's anything wrong with it or that it is bad, but when I treat it more so as a piece of queer history than just a story I want to find something meaningful in and I enjoy it just that little bit more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 26, 2024
"She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat" is a manga I feel a lot of queer women were waiting for. A realistic and grounded, but immensely hopeful outlook at the issues of women in modern day society.
Unlike a lot of other manga you can find under the GL label, this is a manga that's not afraid to be for and about women front and center. While a lot of the GL stories would often feature characters being extremely awkward, only dealing in implications, not being able to voice their feelings and/or very steamy kissing scenes, "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves
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to Eat" is unafraid to break the mold and be nonconformist.
This manga is unapologetically feminist and pro queer. While other GL manga might be afraid to talk about the role of women in society, as well as the oppression they face, this manga is full of the characters calling out the injustices in the world. The queer dictionary is also not taboo in this manga, the characters are able to say "I'm a lesbian" or "I'm asexual" and be proud of it. "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat" isn't another cookie cutter awkward romance that doesn't have anything to say and is fated to fade into the background. This work is not afraid to voice its message loud and clear. It's worth mentioning that the profits from the manga's merch are donated to an organization fighting for equal marriage rights for queer folk in Japan. To me, it shows a clear dedication for a cause and not just reaping the benefits.
"She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat" wants to bring up the importance of mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, dealing with eating disorders and the importance of found family over blood family. It's honestly very refreshing to look at this manga and see a realistic depiction of society and not just a sugar coated version that only aims to be cutesy. This is a manga dead set on tearing right into the conservative society of Japan and calling it out for all its worst elements, even if it could alienate members of its audience.
The characters are all people who have their very realistic and well portrayed issues, such as cutting your toxic family out of your life without looking back, dealing with an eating disorder, renting a place together as a queer couple, finding out about your sexuality or being afraid to be who you are, because of what the world around you is. Every single issue is approach maturely and the characters aim to deal with it in a healthy way. The manga is beautifully honest about how the world is built for hetero men and women are only seen for what they can provide to a man. Even if Nomoto and Kasuga struggle navigating that world, they are always willing to go against the flow and to do it together.
The manga takes its romance very seriously and realistically as well. Kasuga and Nomoto take their time to realize how they are feeling for each other in a very organic and well thought out way, and when they eventually get to the point when they realize they are into each other, they willing to be open with each other. It even goes a step further and when there's any misunderstanding, they clear it up right away. This is again, such a refreshing look at romance, that isn't just all fluff and the characters continously ssaying "I think I love her, but I can't possibly tell her. She is the most important person in my life but not explicitly romantically". "She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat" doesnt shy away from being honest and making its characters communicate and I think it deserves praise for that. Nomoto and Kasuga are allowed to be in love, they are allowed to be happy together and they are allowed to be healthy and good for each other.
It goes without saying, but especially if you love cooking, eating and food in general, this is also worth picking up. The art of the food is absolutely lovely and the attention to detail when it comes to how the characters prepare each dish is outstanding. The same way this manga objects to the patriarchal society of Japan, it also embraces the wonderful Japanese cuisine and culture around food. The only thing you need to be wary of is a lot of close ups at Kasuga's face as she's eating with teeth more detailed than you'd normally see in manga, I imagine it can be a bit offputting for some people.
Whenever I read those chapters I can definetly say that I feel seen. The most important part of this entire message is how there's always light at the end of the dark tunnel. You need to speak about injustice, if you want the world to be better. And there are always people that are gonna be by your side. The manga offers, as I mentioned, an extremely hopeful outlook into the future, that thing can and will be better. I cannot wait to read the next volume and I recommend this to everyone. In the meantime I might go and watch the TV Drama.
This manga is truly a gorgeously realistic tale of two women falling in love in the 21st century. It's one of those pieces of media that scream "never kill yourself".
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 12, 2024
It's not easy to be the first negative review for a series with such overwhelmingly positive reception, but I do believe I have a good reason to write this review.
First, let me say that the artwork at display is exceptional and is definetly a big part of why this series has become so popular. I can't deny that the series does look amazing. It's really unique and definetly stands out in the crowd of other GL manga.
However, I can't really recommend this manga in terms of the story. Every chapter is only 4 pages long which already makes it more difficult at telling complex stories,
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but I don't believe that to be the manga's biggest weakness. The pace of this manga is both extremely fast in smaller scale and extremely slow in the bigger scale at the same time. A lot of the chapters feel episodic and there isn't really a lot of arcs that would span multiple chapters. Because of this, every chapter is a little tidbit of the main characters' life. That is quite a good concept, but to get the point of the chapter across in just four pages, they have to rush a lot. Because of that, a lot of the chapters are over in a blink of an eye and the reader is left wondering what even happend in this chapter.
The dialogue can feel entirely disconnected and often becomes just a word salad that's vaguely related to any given subject. The series itself is also something one could consider a "slow burn". Because of that, and how rambly and fast the chapters are, this is a manga in which nothing ever happens and the little that is happening is often entirely incomprehensive. I honestly can't tell you much about the characters other that they are there. Their personalities are fairly standard in terms of what their archetypes are.
I can't deny that it has some cute moments and the general theme, of both characters growing closer together through their shared love of music is nice, it takes unbearably long to get off the ground. As the title implies, the main love interest, Aya, mistakes the protagonist, Koga, for a guy, and while the audience knows that Koga isn't a guy, it takes an extremely long time, for the women to be open with each other and for that misunderstanding to clear up. It's hard to call this a GL romance if it takes a good few dozen of chapters for the characters to even realize they are both women. In fairness, it's hard to call it romance at all, as they just enjoy each other's pressence but keep all the feelings bottled up and won't talk about being into each other, don't expect more than your standard GL "implied feelings" and "being extremely important for each other but never explicitly romantically".
I'm sure someone could come and say how realistic it is for people not to talk about their emotions because they are awkward, but in the year 2024, I'd love to finally see a series that isn't all about extremely awkward characters that are unable to voice their emotions as that's been plagueing the GL genre for years now. Koga and Aya are not blatantly toxic people, so that's at least a plus over a lot of the other GL series that would either be about unbalanced power dynamics, obssessions and jealousy, or just blatant abuse (the bar is on the floor!).
Ultimately I think this series has good vibes, but because of it's extremely slow pace, incomprehensive dialogue and tropey characters, I can't really recommend this to anybody who likes good romance stories. The GL community is somewhat infamous for hyping up everything that is born in this genre, because of how scarce good yuri is, but we do need to step up our standards in terms of the writing. If you do like cute pictures that you can turn off your brain to, you might enjoy it and I don't mean it in a derogatory way, just be sure you approach this series with the right mindset.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 9, 2024
I wanted to like it but I just couldn't. I love slow romance and slice of life, so that's definetly not a problem for me. I feel like the series falls into a lot of tropes and doesn't do anything intersting with them. The way a few elements at the beginning make you go “okay, these characters have room to grow, so lets see how it evovles”, but when they don't do so is a bit frustrating. I feel that ultimately the main characters have a bit of an anti-dynamic, as they are sometimes horrible to each other in very subtle ways. One seems
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to be very openly into the other, who whether or purpose or not acts entirely oblivious. Shimamura I still don't quite understand what her character is, and the series doesn't want to explore that in any meaningful way. She sure thinks about stuff a lot, but that never really takes shape in her actions. I know her actions are supposed to be artificial, but there's no real distincton between how she acts towards Adachi. It ultimately feels like she doesn't actually care about her. The characters often say one thing (or rather think) and do a different thing. Ultimately nothing happens between them, so I have the feeling that it was going nowhere.
Especially since a lot of times the structure of the episodes is repeated and each time the effect is the same, that despite the fact that the characters talk about how much they mean to each other, there is a certain feeling that the status quo resets every night and ultimately this “change” of theirs is purely arbitrary, because nothing actively changes between episode 1 and 12, because they continue their relationship looks largely the same, and they continue to be unsure if they even like each other and distant which after the whole series is a bit of a slap in the face to the viewer. Especially since the insight into their personalities is so limited that it feels totally illogical at times how they behave relative to what we are shown they are thinking. I do enjoy the ideas the show wants to convey, because two girls coming out of their shells is lovely, but the way this show handles it doesnt really make it satisfying, because they ultimately dont want to open up to each other and talk about things.
Their flaws as humans are never addressed with each other. Adachi is morbidly jealous of everything, while Shimamura simply isolates herself emotionally from everyone and sends Adachi mixed signals the entire time. And well, of course they refuse to communicate. While at first its cute because Adachi's a bit awkward, as the series goes on, it really makes you dislike the two leads. Adachi being so horribly jealous she gives Shimamura the silent treatment for days because she talks to any other girl is definetly not a healthy way to approach their relationship, so I wish she at least acknowledged that she's doing something wrong rather than going "I guess Shimamura doesnt really care about me, because she talked to someone else for a few seconds." And the worst part is that she is somehow right! When we get to see Shimamura's POV, she often talks about how distant she is to everything and everyone and that maybe her relationship with Adachi is not gonna last. She has no desire ever fighting for Adachi and despite them being best friends, she doesnt treat her any different from people she seemigly doesnt care about. With how much she talks about being distant and not creating actual connections, it feels like wasted potential for her to never bring it up with Adachi or not to explore how she actually feels under that mask of being cheery. The series never wants to address who Shimamura is, who she wants to be and especially what she wants of Adachi. If they are supposed to be different than all the other artificial friendships Shimamura had in the past, doesnt seem to put the effort towards it, often making Adachi feel bad on purpose (like with questioning her on why she enjoys physical intimacy with her, despite knowing it makes her doubt herself)
The ending itself is also extremely unsatisfying. I feel like the series sets up like 5 mini-plots and none of them get resovled in any meanngful way. Adachi never kisses Shimamura as she wanted. Adachi never learns of Tarumi. Nagafuji and Hiro just stop appearing at a certain point (only to get a small cameo in the final ep). Somehow Nagafuji and Hiro had better chemistry than the two leads, but they just got tossed in the bin. Yashiro doesn't ultimately achieve anything (I dont want her origins explained, but just do something with her). The series just ends and it ultimately feels entirely pointless, as their relationship didnt grow in any significant way, so what was the story they were telling?
The technical side of things deserves praise. The music, voicework as well as the animation are lovely and make the experience a lot more bearable. The concepts of two very different people coming out of their shells through their mutual connection and ultimately love is a lovely subject, but this series doesn't do it any justice. The leads are infuriating at times and while their cute moments are definetly cute, them being terrible for each other makes it sour and prevents me from enjoying the series. If you seek a very similar story done right, I highly recommend the movie Doukyusei. It's pretty much the exact same in terms of premise, but universally better in every single aspect of the storytelling.
(Also. who decided to put a scene of a pedophile staring at kids at a pool? What purpose did it serve? That's the only male character in the show btw. So unnesecary and bizarre, please don't do it again.)
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 9, 2024
Uzumaki is definetly an interesting experience. I can't say I fell in love with it, but I can definetly see its merits.
It definetly feels like Junji Ito thought to himself one day "Spirals are kinda wacky", threw a lot of random ideas at the wall and drew them. Hence this manga was created.
I actually think the story, or rather the characters are this manga's biggest weakness. Kirie is just not a protagonist who's worth following. I understand how her actions arent always meant to be logical, because she's used to all this wack crap at this point, but its hard to really feel
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for her, since she's a bit of a cardboard cutout. Shuichi is the only reasonable character and at a certain point you start to question why everybody is doing what they are doing. He constantly mentions leaving the town, but never actually tries to do anything about it. And well, of course he can't because there would be no story then, but it's somewhat arbitraty that he doesn't even attempt it, since he did mention it.
There isn't a lot I can really say about the manga, maybe except that the ending, so the last 5 or so chapters feel a bit disconnected from everything else and feel like a bit of a different story. But it is at least a good pay off for Shuichi and Kirie.
Some chapters hit better than others. I honestly think the first three are probably the peak and it doesnt really get any better, mostly because it directly impacts the characters and the stakes still arent entirely blown out of proportion. That's the moment the manga succeds the most an being horror, because a lot of it is still the fear of the unknown. Once you get to know the mechanics of the manga, which are super simple, (Spiral bad, Kirie's always in danger, character of the chapter dies by the end), the tension is kinda gone. Especially since you're never really rooting for Kirie, you're just along for the ride to see the wacky stuff happening around her.
That being said I still believe its worth experiencing for the art alone and just the very fun concepts Uzumaki toys with. You might not get entirely invested in it, but the art more than makes up for it
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 11, 2024
Nagatoro-san is a manga that's been going for quite a while now and it's one of very polar opposite story directions.
Some people will say that is just gross and entirely about hummiliation of the main character for the sadistic enjoyment of the titular Nagatoro and others will say it's about two teenagers slowly, but surely falling for each other.
I think there is truth in both statements as the manga portrayes both of those polar opposite angles to their relationship.
The first half is heavily skewed towards the comedy angle with Nagatoro being the bully to Senpai. Whether or not you find that endearing is
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up to you, I can definetly see people being put off by this and writing it off as gross. It's definetly a deal breaker for many readers. Intentionally or not, it serves as an introduction to Nagatoro's and Senpai's flaws as people, more heavily emphasizing Nagatoro. She's a mean bully unable to show affection, because she's emotionally insecure. Senpai, while not a bad guy, is very timid and unable to stand up for himself, despite being older, so he's easy pickings for her. I don't want to victimblame, because she is definetly the one in the wrong, I just want to draw attention that he also has a place to grow from. The first half can feel directionless and only ever focusing on the gag comedy. The character growth is very miniscule and slow. About 80 chapters of that can be a bit jarring, but I still found it mildly enjoyable to go back to every now and again.
However, around chapter 80, the narrative is entirely flipped on its head. When Senpai gets the proper name introduction as Naoto Hachiouji, and decided to switch from glaesses to contant lenses. At that point, the story becomes a lot more character drvien and focuses on the two a lot more as people. New characters get introduced who serve a strong narrative purpose and the previously introduced friends of Nagatoro which didn't have much to do before are also put to good use. The series at that point focuses a lot more on the characters finally really growing closer together as people and sharing a lot more sincere moments. To fans of romance, this is definetly great and I think a lot of people would enjoy it.Those moments definetly weren't entirely absent in the first half, but in the second they do take center stage and the series definetly dialed down Nagatoro's mean levels and attempts to redeem her a little bit with multiple moments where she shows she truly cares for Hachiouji.
The question then remains, whether or not it's actually worth to read up to chapter 80 or so for the cute romance to actually start? That's for you to anwser. For me the anwser was "yes", but for you it might be different. It can be a little jarring to read many chapters based around the same ideas until it fully kicks into high gear, to watch a character actively be a bully and never really get her commupance for that. It definetly takes a lot of time investment to fully appreciate how the series has grown and see those characters evolve (which I think is nessecary to watch them at their lowest points in the first half). Seeing the story evolve and become a lot more character driven has kept me going back to it and I do believe the direction of many of its latest arcs is truly stellar for what it once was. One thing that I think is also worth mentioning that the art is absolutely wonderful and definetly a high point for the series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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