beta
What initially felt like a fresh take on sublimating one's grief over the loss of a loved one, has slowly deteriorated into an endless trope fest of BL cliches and repetitive narrative cul de sacs. Seriously, this will be the third time 2 guys will have to resolve their romantic conflicts by having someone sing a song on stage.
And I get it, one makes allowances for manga stories, but it really is a stretch that 100% of the bishie guys in every band end up being paired off with each other in this series. Sure it is possible that they all were so inclined but the happenstance, presented with little concern, foreshadowing or explanation beyond “lightning strikes” strains believability. And the author wanted this to be a realistic Bl...
(And as an aside, why can't anyone talk like a normal person in this series?)
It's also been 4 volumes and who knows how many years and there has barely been any development, or even romantic interaction, with the main couple since vol.2.
I think it's clear the author has a good understanding of how to generate melodrama, but absolutely no idea what to do with her characters once they are in a relationship. Maybe once the Shizu and Hiragi arc is finished she'll finally be forced back to the main couple seeing as she's now run out of boys to pair up. Maybe we'll finally get back to that. Maybe.
(Or who knows, maybe that one straight photographer will come out as bi and start persuing Ugetsu)