OOOOOOOOOOO I am HEATED!!!!! I will write two reviews one without spoilers and one with. I will separate them.
NO SPOILERS:
If you want a manga with solid character growth and development, a good set of plots to follow, and overall a story that makes sense? Look somewhere else. You won't find any of that here. While the subject of polygamy is taboo pretty much everywhere i feel like to approach it any other way than how this manga did would have done that institution much more justice.
-Koharu is the main character. She is headstrong, speaks her mind, and overall young at heart. She
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is the PERFECT vessel to show growth and development as a character but she was stifled in plots centered around jealousy that she wasn't able to shine for herself. She was always putting herself second to others and when that fact was addressed in the story it was made to seem like everyone was doing her a favor by treating her like a PERSON and then going back to ignoring her.
- Yuzu was an all around stellar character. At first i thought that she would be used for sex appeal and fan service alone but she had an interesting background that could have made for some really interesting plot points. She was smart, mature, capable, and just all around interesting. We dove into her background twice. The first to talk about how she was a pillar in her household AND THE SECOND WAS TO TALK ABOUT HER HORRIBLE ON AGAIN OFF AGAIN RELATIONSHIP WITH HER EMOTIONALLY REPRESSED BOY TOY. I was devastated at how cast aside she was. I kept hoping that the writers would circle back and give her character the story time that she deserved but they never did. So disappointed with how they treated her.
- Modako. If you want to see what a spiteful, self centered, bitch who SORLEY needs therapy is like, look no further than this hateful character. I don't understand how one of the wives in a story about a polygamous marriage could be cast as such an emotionally depraved villain but I guess the writer needed someone to be negative and why not put her close to home. She was even referred to in the story as 'the mother in law' by Yuzu IN HER OWN MARRIAGE. This character was so insanely jealous that I could not empathize with her at all. She bellittled poor Koharu when she was thrust into a 4 way marriage showing 0 sympathy for her adjustment or he well being. I was so sad to see such a character written.
- Ryuunosuke. What can i say about this character. He is a child. He is a child in the body of an adult. That is probably being disrespectful to children because i've met 8 year olds with more emotional maturity than this chauvinistic piece of WORK. At first what i thought was a mysterious, potentially interesting husband was soon revealed to be an emotionally stunted, self centered, pervert who had no ability to bend at all in what he desired. He saw the emotional destress he put ALL of these women through, and he put all of them in some form of a distressful situation at one point or another, and he didn't really care. He has no desire to make life easier for them at all. I thought this might have been changing about 3/4ths way through the series but somehow he managed to snap right back into old habits towards the end of the series and i couldn't have been more upset about it. I really wanted to like this character but now i just hate him. We also never got any character background. He was left as empty as a box of matches at the end of winter and we were just supposed to be okay with that???
The one positive thing i can say for this series is that the artwork is quite beautiful. while you'll be reading some atrocious writing you will be somewhat alright because the drawing is just so well done. And then you're going to finish the series and think to yourself 'i can't believe i wasted my time on crap like this'
Spoilers:
I was willing to overlook how quickly Koharu's emotions flipped in regards to the hare-kon because i for some stupid reason thought that there would be some development in her character to go along with it. Then Modako left the marriage i thought things were taking a turn for the better. She was a toxic force of nature that caused all the problems that all the characters faced at that point. It After the 3 year time skip everything went downhill FAST. After poor Yuzu had her baby was more of a side character than anything Another sad byproduct of the time skip was the character devolution that seemed to occur in both Koharu and Ryuunosuke. Where i thought Koharu was going to be stable and secure in herself and her place in the marriage seemed to melt into a puddle faster than a snow cone on the fourth of July. Ryuunosuke who I thought was becoming a more emotionally mature and attentive lover became aloof again and decided to have a full on affair with Modako, who at this point in time of the story had been gone for a considerable amount of time. When Koharu wanted to confront Ryuunosuke or even try to find out what was going on she was faced with judgement for being jealous from both Ryuunosuke AND Yuzu. I was so disappointed to see the story fall back into the pattern of gaslighting poor Koharu for feeling emotions that were perfectly valid. After it is revealed that Modako was working as Ryuunosuke's manager, it is also revealed that he has been pursuing her and TRYING to get her to come back to the relationship which would have been fine if she hadn't left FOR NO REASON AT ALL. Then when Modak expressed EXPLICITLY that if she was to ever be with Ryuunosuke again she'd want to be his ONLY wife and he would have to divorce the other two full on KNOWING that he had a child with Yuzu. She wanted to cause this damage in the relationship knowing what it would do only for her selfish gain. Koharu and Yuzu were alright with the affair and even Ryuunosuke wanting to bring her back into the marriage with the three of them but then Modako medled in everyones affairs going out of her was to text Koharu where her and Ryuunosuke would be going on a date and then threatened her with a knife (Which by the way, went COMPLETELY ignored. like no-one cared about this fact AT ALL) and while Modako was trying to get a paternity test done on Yuzu's child without anyone's consent she then crumbles. Her villainous ways are thwarted because she came into contact with Yuzu's son and Koharu was there to pick up the pieces. I was so furious with how this story line was going that when it was shared that Koharu was going to file for a divorce (another thing that just come out of nowhere) i was actually relieved. I was happy to see her freed from this emotionally manipulative, and draining marriage. She went through with the divorce, It seemed like Modako would be marrying Ryuunosuke again and the marriage would be perfect. I wanted to see Koharu grown and life for herself. AND THEN THE STUPID WRITED DECIDED IN ONE CHAPTER TO MAKE HER PREGNANT AND SEND HER BACK TO HER SLIMEBALL OF A HUSBAND??? I was furious. I absolutely despised the ending and i can not see myself ever changing that opinion. So disappointed.
Mar 25, 2021
OOOOOOOOOOO I am HEATED!!!!! I will write two reviews one without spoilers and one with. I will separate them.
NO SPOILERS: If you want a manga with solid character growth and development, a good set of plots to follow, and overall a story that makes sense? Look somewhere else. You won't find any of that here. While the subject of polygamy is taboo pretty much everywhere i feel like to approach it any other way than how this manga did would have done that institution much more justice. -Koharu is the main character. She is headstrong, speaks her mind, and overall young at heart. She ... |
