Back to SteveExplorer's Profile SteveExplorer's Profile

The very first thing I feel the need to tell you is that this manga is utterly devastating. It most certainly will leave you feeling empty, sad or overwhelmed so read it at your own discretion.

With that out of the way, let me start explaining why you SHOULD read this. Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata is a manga written and illustrated by Yuama. It tells the story of Hoshikawa Shizuku, a girl who has abandoned her future and how she comes across a girl as bright as the sun to light her path. It presents itself in a particularly enthralling way. Both of the characters are ... shrouded in mystery, yet the end result of their relationship is already revealed at the start. Rather than following a traditional storyline of introducing the obstacles after the characters, it instead raises all of the questions beforehand and leaves the job of answering them to the story along the way. Because of this, the story may feel lethargic at the beginning but don't leave just yet. It only gets better and better as it goes on. By letting us learn about the characters little by little, Yuama slowly lets us form a strong emotional connection with them. Dialogue and the interactions between the characters are written to be as effective as possible at connecting with our souls. Everything that happens in this story are things we experience in our own lives. It’s naturally less difficult for us to feel empathy for things we can relate to. Of course, achieving all this is far easier said than done. Yuama has done a magnificent job creating this manga and it clearly shows that she cares about it as much as we do, if not even more. With the way she develops the story, the conclusion still leaves you completely devastated even if you know fully well what is going to happen.

Given the nature of the manga, it has an extremely sharp sense of time. The title of the manga itself strictly sets summer as the time limit of the story and the unfolding events constantly remind the readers that it is coming to an end. Due to this, there's no room left for dilly-dallying and it gets straight to the point. What meaning Shizuku and Kaori obtain through being by each other's side is wholeheartedly explored with no distractions. Even though their relationship wouldn't last, the present is more important to them than the foreseeable future. Maybe the main takeaway here is that the significance of something doesn't lie in how long it stays for and instead what you found for yourself by embracing it.

I think not enough people bring the art up and I will not stand for it. It may be true that it's eclipsed by the compelling story but Yuama is undoubtedly an amazing artist. I almost feel spoiled by how good her art is. Great art can and will elevate a manga in ways words can’t. It’s hard to accurately describe it since it’s highly subjective but I think my favorite part of her art is how she draws facial expressions. Rage, sadness, distress, confusion, acceptance, joy and loneliness. You can feel it all right through the screen. Her way of structuring the panels does a great service conveying those raw emotions. I also find the character design of Shizuku to be a very memorable one. I'm sure many people other than myself will find themselves relating to her.

In the end, we are all treading along with our own words and feelings. By doing so, we continue to share our ideas and thoughts however worthless they might be. Maybe not every story is worth telling. However, the story of these two girls was one absolutely worth being told. You should definitely read this manga and think about its meaning for yourself. And if you have, please do read the story from start to finish one more time to catch anything you may have missed. I promise it'll be worth it.

Alas, I end this review by quoting Asaka Kaori.
“Every good story has an ending! It would be a shame otherwise!”

Ah yes, another one of those "forbidden" Yuri love stories but except wait! This one is really good! Welcome to the royal castle of the sheep kingdom! We have our totally adorable sheep princess and her cool wolf butler. We read the story of how they first encounter one another and how their feelings grow for each other despite their social standings. Aside from the main two characters, we also have the side characters each with a story of their own to share. I really liked how the author has handled them because not only they have a reasonable amount of screen time, they also ... make that time completely worth it. It's an excellent series that's beautifully illustrated. Nothing but praises for the artwork the author has done for the series. The characters are very pretty and I absolutely love their clothing designs. The animalistic traits really add on to the expressiveness of the characters too.

What I especially like about this manga is that unlike other romance manga with an aristocratic setting, it doesn't establish an environment that's overly strict which adheres to the royal customs to death. It's refreshing because the manga which do that tend to fall into the cliche where the couple bs their way out of it. Actual rubbish. In here, we are assured it is fine for them to be together and that is how it should be.

My only slightly negative comment would be how the dialogues are a little bit awkward sometimes but this is mostly just a nitpick as I still recommend reading this to anyone looking for high quality Yuri manga.

So, why does this review say Mixed Feelings despite a high score of 8? Well I will explain that at a later point.

For starters, I will praise the premise because this is a fresh experience. As the name suggests, the protagonist is able to see other people's love in a form of arrow that come in many different shapes. That's some real interesting ability! The story, despite being short, uses its weapon very well and takes the reader on a colorful and emotional ride. After reuniting with her childhood best friend and making a new friend, our heroine now must deal with their arrows being ... pointed towards her.

As for the art, it's gorgeous. The characters are very expressive and cute, and the background was given the appropriate amount of detail. The aforementioned arrows are fully colored which is truly a delight.

Now I will explain why it's Mixed Feelings. What could've been an incredible manga fell victim to incompetent writing and an unsatisfying conclusion. The author managed to undo all of the build-up for a disappointing ending that felt rushed. If it weren't for this, I would have happily given this manga a score of 10. I still recommend this to avid Yuri readers but do please keep this in mind.

Words hurt more than actions. What you may have told a person 5 years ago could still be deeply affecting them. Our main character confessed to another girl, who rejected her under the notion that girls going out with each other is gross and abnormal. Due to this, Satsuki has lost all her courage and constantly denies her sexuality, going as far as forbidding herself from touching other girls. A life full of such insecurity is frankly quite harrowing for me to imagine. I was happy from the bottom of my heart when she finally accepted herself. The characters are great, each of them have ... their purpose and contributes to the story. Satsuki's friend is especially awesome. Main couple had a good development.

The art is the only weak point. Background details are mediocre, even non-existent at times. More importantly, how the characters were drawn wasn't very appealing for me. But it can be mostly forgiven because it is a very pleasant read. All in all, definitely recommend reading this. Despite being short, it manages to tell an intricate and wonderful story.

Great manga. Though, it does not start off strong. I even thought "this mangaka can't draw faces" at first. However, everything only steadily improves as it progresses. The art is absolutely stunning towards the end, and the story concluded fairly well. There's sweetness enough for lifetime in this manga.

If I did have to note one thing, there is almost too many characters in this manga. I even lost track of who was who at one point. This could've potentially been a disaster but I think the author just barely managed to avoid that.

Looking for a simple, fun manga that will make you feel good ... with no hurry to reach its conclusion? Give this a try.