Mimi's manga / #slice of life(117)

Update: .... I just realized something. Kiyoshi is just Romano from Hetalia. Like, his whole ass character is 100% Romano and idk how I feel about this. Honestly, though, I didn't think I would like this by the end. The start didn't hook me, I didn't care much for Santa and Rintarou, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bored at first. I don't know what happened but, like... I love them. I love them together, I love Rintarou's family, I love the normality of life thay this story gives compared to most bl manga, the dialogue felt like things people actually would say and wasn't filled with all those repeated phrases I keep seeing and grown tired of, and I love Touya. Santa and Touya are definitely my favorites in both stories, I feel for them having to deal with Rintarou and Kiyoshi but I also love how much they love them because... Even though I said I like Rintarou, it's more of a 50/50 thing and Kiyoshi is worst but I still kinda like him. Just less than Rintarou. I am sad that ymz didn't give us the wedding or a little more revolving around Santa's family. I was very interested in his relationship with his family but we didn't get much on that. Only enough to know the basics but I was really hoping that they would add more to that. At least a wedding photo at the end would've made me cry.

I'll come back and add more to this but... Akiyo and Jessica ️️ Update 5/26: Ok, ANYWAY! Another book I finished, forgot about, and yet I still very much loved this. Basically, while a lot of how I felt in Hige to Suzu to Shabondama kinda carries over, I ended up liking this a lot more than the previous book. I think it's because, while I didn't like Kiyoshi himself and was able to stomach Rintarou more, Rintarou was much more annoying than Kiyoshi but in a different annoying way. I rank him under Rintarou but I respect him more than Rintarou. But rest assured, I hate them both. Most importantly though, his and Touya's relationship just hit me different than prev's and that might be because Santa's and Rintarou's story wasn't realized as hard as theirs was. It's hard to put into words but I think what I'm trying to say is: Touya's and Kiyoshi's story as a couple felt more fleshed out but I was left wanting more of them as individuals whereas Santa's and Rintarou's story left me wanting more of them as a couple and individuals.

I didn't hate it but I got board with this one and had to force myself to finish reading it. Didn't really like any of the characters, not in a way where they pissed me off but in a way where they're all forgettable. Ok, maybe Kippei got on my nerve a bit with the way he acted sometimes. Kinda forceful when the guy straight up didn't want to get into a relationship but who cares I guess. He was just pushy but the pushy got a bit disrespectful sometimes.

This was alright but I'm disappointed it was sad enough for me. By the end I kept thinking there should've been more to them as a couple or we've could've gone into their family situations a little bit more. That would've made this a better of a read for me. I also think that last chapter should've been about his mother visiting instead. This whole story has been about rekindling relationships and, by the end, him and his mother have made some progress on talking to each other again. I don't know, I didn't hate it but there was a lot of repetition in the conflict and they had very little time for rest at the end.

No, but, like... Why was I bored but at the same time came out of this book wanting an official physical English translation? The story was just ok and the characters were just ok, but it like there were a lot of "just for the plot" moments that didn't feel natural to me. Mainly just the reasoning for them meeting again. It felt forced when he told him he's a photographer and invited him to his exhibition. That could've been done better, something along the lines of them meeting again after he left the hospital and then he invited him. I also didn't feel any cemetery between them and everything revolving around them being together gave off this "because it's a romance story" kind of feel. Like, it felt like I was reading cardboard. And yet... I want to own this book. I like the way chapters 6 and 7 went. I thought it was really cute so hopefully we'll see an English translation so I can buy it twice.

I'm so 50/50 leaning on "let down" with this one. I want to come back and update this with a few more thoughts, though.

Update: 5 volumes down and I have... SO MANY words. I thought vol 6 was already out but it's actually May. I honestly want to wait for that before I start ranting even more. I do know that I'm definitely getting these digitally. I don't think I like this series enough to let them take up space. Currently, 1 vol in and I'm a little bit let down by the tone the story has set. There are a lot of dialog tropes I hate and really tired of seeing showing up a little too much. There's also the weird mixer thing that happened? They're high schoolers meeting up with middle schoolers... I think they're basically grades apart so they're all around the same age? Fine, I guess. I'm not completely hating it, I just know that I'm going to see every stupid annoying bl trope under the sun and that might kill me by vol 3. Speaking of, I'm a little scared getting to vol 3, let alone 7 because I feel this is a 1 vol story that I can see going for 2 vols at the most. I'm already kind of bored with the storytelling so I'm questioning what's going on to get it up to 7 vols and if I have the patience for it.

Can't even go 20 pages without the "we're guys" or "if I were a girl" dialogue tropes. I can't catch a break, huh... I finished this a good while ago and forgot to update this so I kinda don't remember a lot other than being let down by how wholesome and fluffy I thought this would be. It has its moments, I like the art, but I feel like it only met my expectations about people living together and slowly growing as friends and a couple halfway.