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I don't write many reviews, but Nijiiro Days definitely deserved it, so here goes:

Nijiiro Days is a lighthearted story about the everyday lives, (and romances), of 4 friends. Its premise makes it seem like your typical romance slice of life series, but there are many contributors which make Nijiiro Days stand out far above the rest.

Story: 10
The story of Nijiiro Days is quite simple, its about a boy who falls in love with a girl, and with the help of his friends, tries to get closer to her. Pretty straightforward. But the way the author elevates this basic premise, is what truly gets you invested. ... Avoiding spoilers; the author manages to convey many smaller scale stories under the ongoing main story, without overcomplicating things. It gives many its characters their own story, not just completely focusing on the "main couple". There definitely are subplots that drift away from the main driving story, but that never becomes an issue. Because the thing is, at its best, Nijiiro Days is really a story about friendship and growing older, the romance aspects are just a beautiful garnish on top. Transitioning through tough moments and big life choices, with the help of the family you’ve formed on the path towards adulthood. All the individual stories are all connected, and they all intertwine with each other to create this beautiful picture. In the end, that's what differences Nijiiro Days from the countless other romance high school dramas. And in a very good way as well.

Art: 10
For the art to be done well is something that is very necessary in a manga, which heavily relies on the visuals to support the story. For art in a manga to be good, the artist has a very difficult job of not only translating the words into drawings, but having to portray the feelings of the characters as well. Its very important to be able to see emotion, as many times it helps us readers connect with the story on a deeper level. And I gotta say, the artist here did a truly wonderful job at doing that. Every time a character spoke, I could not only read the words, but the images as well. I could tell what a character was feeling, whether they were hiding it on the inside or not.

Character: 10
I can say with utmost certainty, that the thing I enjoyed most about Nijiiro Days was its characters. The story presents us with a very diverse selection of characters, each representing quite common character "tropes", (maybe minus the sadist). This allows for all sorts of interactions, keeping you invested in even the little things. The chemistry between all these different characters is portrayed exceptionally well by the author, and the characters simply interacting as a group create some of the most enjoyable moments in the series. Another thing is the Character Development. In most slice of life stories, there is little to no character development, as these realistic stories lack those "major events", which are often used to trigger development in a fictional character. Without spoiling anything, Nijiiro Days manages to give us character development which is both natural and realistic, and quite often, relatable. Usually with a large cast, it is difficult to connect with multiple characters, as they tend not to get fleshed out individually. But here I found myself relating to almost all the characters multiple times; making me to not only invest in the story, but in these characters, allowing the story elements to hit harder. Nijiiro Days did a truly phenomenal job at portraying its characters.

Enjoyment: 10
You can probably tell from everything I've said up to now, that I truly enjoyed this. No need to further say anything in this department.

Overall: 10
In the end, Nijiiro Days was truly a game changer in the romance-drama genre for me, and I hope to see similar takes on other stories in the future. I 100% recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance or even just friendship stories!

Holy... Now this- this is what a good story looks like.

(There will be spoilers. You have been warned.)

Story: 10
The whole concept of a boy with a tragic past being brought back into the light by a girl isn't new, but he way it was used is amazing. Taking classical music and making one heck of a story around it. The way the story flows, it did not feel rushed, or dragged out. The pacing is perfect. Each reveal was fully felt, and I empathized with the characters. The comedy is well separated from the serious moments, as should be, and the scene atomosphere matches the ... visuals. Everything is like a buildup to that final performance on the stage by Kousei. And it was heartbreaking to see what all the build had been preparing us for. The ending was utterly heartbreaking, and I let out an ocean's worth of tears. The way they handled the ending is very impressive.

The Letter Scene:
I'm gonna give this scene its entire own section because, man, was it beautiful. Showing us Kaori's perspective of everything was so heartwarming, but also painful. It gave the conclusion to both of their feelings; the typical "confession" scene of a romcom. But it was presented in a different way, considering the route the story had taken. But even through all the sadness, it was also incredibly beautiful. Words cannot describe the emotions that you feel in that scene, along with Kousei. The moment when Kaori turns around and says "I love you", through all the tears, you can't hold yourself back from letting loose a smile. A pure smile full of joy.

Art: 10
The art was dazzling. Every scene, especially the ones taking place during sunset, or one's with cherry blossoms, they all felt real. And the way that the piano playing was animated. Wow. Absolutely stunning. It might as well have been real. The way the art was portrayed helps you connect more with the characters, and their emotions as well. The art was beautiful.

Sound: 10
Perhaps the sound is this anime's greatest legacy. Every single OST brings out intense emotions within you, it connects you directly to the characters. Music is vague, and left up to our own ideas. While a general mood can be conveyed through sound, the specific interpretation is left up to the listener's interpretation, making it easy to combine with video to direct feelings at moments. The synergy this creates is both powerful in the moment and even more powerful long after, when listening to the same music evokes similar feelings about a show long since finished. The way this show utilized CLASSICAL MUSIC, and used that to bring out emotion, that was truly spectacular. The last piece performed; Chopin's Ballade in g-minor; even tho its simply a classical piece, without lyrics or such, it now brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Music connects with you, and not just for the time being. It leaves a seed in you, a seed that blooms every time that you hear that piece, reconnecting you to the original emotions you felt during the scene. This anime's use of sound cannot be compared to any other.

Character: 10
The characters in this anime are fully fledged out. Having 22 episodes allows for each character to get enough development necessary to make the plot work, plus some more. Kousei is definitely the most developed, with him starting at the lowest he's been, living a monotone life, unable to hear the music, unable to accept his mother's death; unable to move on. Then when Kaori is introduced, she slowly changes him, first indirectly, just from him seeing her, then directly, by making him play the piano once more. This gradual build allows for Kousei to be a true dynamic character with colour. Kaori starts off leading us to believe she's just the typical overexcited heroine character, but throws that in our face when her motives start to be uncovered. Her reasons for doing things, her beliefs and philosophies, these make her who she is, and the true Kaori, you can't dislike her. Her personality and behavior also bounces off the other characters well. And the letter scene develops her so much more, even tho its after she's gone. Tsubaki is the typical childhood tsundere friend, not knowing how she feels about Kousei, but she gets plenty of development, and is independently her own person, not just fully reliant on Kousei to be a good character. Watari is one that doesn't get much development, but that's fine, because he's just Kousei's comedic guy best friend. He doesn't play a huge role in the story. He does drop some good lines later on though. These 4 so far are considered "the main characters." A big thing that makes these 4 main characters so likeable is their interaction, their chemistry. The all work together so very well, in and out of the plotline, and the weird love (triangle(?)) shape doesn't affect their interaction much either. Now time for some side characters. Kousei's rivals, Emi and Takeshi, are suprisingly well written for being side characters, and only for a few episodes each. Their motivations and goals are clear right from the start, and they're very relatable and realistic. We've all felt like we were in the shadow of someone else before. And the others, like Kousei's teacher, Seto. She felt responsible Kousei's pain which is an emotion we've all felt before: guilt. And her being their helped connect us, the viewers, to Kousei. Now Kousei's mom plays somewhat an antagonist role, at his in Kousei's mentality. She's the reason that cannot stand up and move on. She starts off seeming to be an unlikeable person, with the way she treats Kousei, but later on, finding out her true feelings, and Kousei's acceptance of them, was heartwarming. The anime did great in representing her visually as well, starting with the darkened view, without visible eyes, then later revealing her face along with her true love for Kousei. The characters in this show just add a whole new set of flavouring and colour to the already amazing anime.

Enjoyment: 10
It was very enjoyable. So much fulfilment, and the ending is bittersweet and satisfying. The comedy is on point, and well separated from the serious moments. It also somehow managed to make me feel sad and joyful at the same time near the end, two polar opposite emotions. As long as you're okay with crying, its very enjoyable.

Overall: 10
I can safely say, that this is all my all time favourite anime, and will probably forever keep that spot. To be honest, it may not be for everyone. It covers some dark themes, such as parental neglect, and also has subtle underlying themes of depression. But its a great watch, and I recommend it to everyone.

Side-Note:
There's a lot of symbolism in this anime, and I mean A LOT. (The multiple DIFFERENT cats, the ocean, etc.) If you look into it, it may add more to your current thoughts on the show. Just putting that out there.

The spin-off feels better than the parent story, and that's already saying something.
I have to give this a high score.
(possible spoilers? nothing too big tho.)

Story: 9
The story is very well written. It has its heart-warming moments, and the pace does not ever once feel rushed or dragged out. The premise may sound very simple, just the typical guy somehow gets acquainted to admirable girl, but the reasons behind their motivations that make this story stand out. Especially with the main push not being on their romance or drama, but the common goal between them, of their goals and dreams of writing the novel and ... the anime. It gives the story flavour that other typical romcoms tend to lack. A big difference between this and the parent story is that this is not a harem. Some people may prefer that while other don't, but that's up to personal taste in the end.

Art: 10
Beyond phenomenal. The art is what exactly what you'd expect from a good drama. It looks good. The funny bits are funny, the emotional bits are emotional, and the normal bits aren't stale. The art bring the story to life.

Character: 9
The characters here are all especially well designed. They aren't really based off of your typical character tropes, tho they do have traits that are reminiscent of the generic tropes. They each have their own separate motives and goals, but they all link together. Their chemistry works really well, with their conversations often bouncing off of each other very well. They're also quite relatable internally characters (except like the fame). They each also have their own quirks which make them more enjoyable.

Enjoyment: 9
I enjoyed this a lot while reading. I liked the original story, both light novel and anime, but in all honestly I prefer this spin-off. It all just felt really genuine. Definitely would recommend to any romcom lover.

Overall: 9
Loved it. It looks like a basic spinoff, but after reading it, it just left a different mark than even the original story. Deserves more recognition.

It was a very enjoyable read, so I'd recommend it to anyone!

*mild not-plot related spoilers*

I've updated this review now that I've finished the series. The ending will be touched in its own section at the end.

Story: 6
I think it was at its best when it was basically a slice of life story, with just a stronger focus on romance than most. The interactions between characters were well handled, the plot wasn't overly complicated(minus the incest), and while following obvious cliches, it wasn't all that bad. I actually quite enjoyed how the story chose to continue further after high school, which is where most romance stories tend to end. The story was good while the characters were ... still undergoing development arcs, which unfortunately stopped later on. But the main problems began when the drama began overdramaticized, far more than the standard level of exaggeration all dramas will inevitably have. When dramatic portions are pushed beyond what they should be, the reader feels a weight that is completely different from an emotional weight felt a story, its just this uncomfortable feeling. It really feels similar to reading NTR. And in hindsight, a lot of things that happen within the story are just solved by Natsuo just 'being a cool guy'. When these very heavy issues are solved by a solution much too simple, there's just no balance. And no matter how different the arcs were, if the solution is the same, the story arc will feel very repetitive. Later the manga does take a step back from that sense, but by then many people may have put down the book. I do still thank the manga for a good first half though. For my thoughts on the ending, they're at the very end of this review.

Art: 10
The art is beautiful. No further comment.

Character: 7
I feel like this is where this manga did more decently, albeit not throughout the whole series. It spent a lot of time earlier on fully fledging out its characters; giving them a lot of depth. The story was at its best when that was still ongoing. A few of them are also quite realistic and relatable, which allows for a fair bit of investment from the reader. And over the many arcs that take place in the story, they get even more character development, forming very dynamic characters. The characters also have great chemistry together, and are especially great when together with the rest of the cast. But due to the problems the plot keeps bringing back, all characters introduced later on feel wasted, even though they started off with lots of potential. Characters also suffer from inconsistency, where Rui and Hina tend to kinda switch personalities with each other (not literally), with was probably intentional to express certain aspects of their character, but really didn't translate well, and came off as inconsistent writing.

Enjoyment: 7
As I mentioned earlier, the story too often reminds me of NTR, but other than that, I don't think this story is AS bad as many people say. There are bad scenes, but there's also good scenes sprinkled throughout; some tearjerkers included. I often say that a story does not have to be well written to be enjoyable, but that wasn't the case here. Due to the problems I personally had with the story later on, it unfortunately does have to weigh down a bit of enjoyment. But the fact does not change that this was one of the manga that had me the most invested. EVER. And that keeps enjoyment at a 7.

Overall: 8
In the end, I think this started off a quite well written drama. The story was pretty intriguing, and contains many arcs that pull the reader in. The art is amazing. The characters are very well developed and relatable. But it tried to do too much. It became a bit overbearing. I would maybe recommend this to most drama/romance readers, as long as you're not too picky. Would give it a 4, but the art, along with the first half of the story brings it up to a 5.

*ending spoilers*

Ending: 3
The ending needs its own section. Chapter 276, in of itself, is a decent 'finale chapter', so we'll toss that aside for now. What I want to really touch up on is the pregnancy. I feel that was added by Sasuga as like a last minute plot twist element. It was used as a plot device to bring Natsuo and Rui back together, but then she chose to go the Hina route, subverting expectations. That was... dumb. Really dumb. It just complicated things so much more than necessary. The whole concept on domekano's relatonship is already so complex, with the incest and love triangles, and even the freaking coma. Adding a child to the mix was not necessary. That really ruined the otherwise somewhat acceptable ending. I will say though, the reveal that Domekano is written by Natsuo was a nice touch (that most of us probably saw coming).

Ok that's the end of the review, but just wanna remind people to not send hatemail/death threats to the mangaka. No need to do that.