Boy Meets Maria
it's a shame the author passed away so young. based on this debut work, it was clear they were very talented. i was so surprised to learn a 23-yo (or younger) conceived this touching story.
Our Not So Lonely Planet Travel Guide
they are such perfect complements to each other. asahi grounds mitsuki who in turn soothes him with his love and adoration. the kind, knowledgable, and sensitive tsundere x emotive, affectionate ball of sunshine. giving this work any less than 5 or even 4 stars is a crime bc the sheer heartwarming-ness this story emanates is so palpable it makes you optimistic about the good nature of people and envious of an adorable wholesome relationship even if you arent looking for one.
Kimi wa Natsu no Naka
lovely. just lovely. it so cute how they started a friendship over a shared interest in something mundane like film, and then developed this relationship into something profound and special and sweet. the story focuses on their relationship and developments, with the film interest as padding and high school as a backdrop to convey the feelings of youth, and with the way the story is told via the atmospheric angles and paneling, the natural banter, all of it together really embodies the theme of "summer youth romance". it's so down-to-earth and simple but also quite romantic. the days passed and time marched on after the summer, but mc was still stuck on his relationship with ml, and couldn't move on. it should have ended, but he couldnt forget the beautiful and fun memories and the longing. truly reminiscent of "summer".
Koisuru Psycho no Shirayuki-kun
first chapter was good, but quality went downhill. it falls short of three important aspects: haruki's character. his character in the first chapter was good and relatable, but then after that he gradually just becomes a victimized tool for the revenge porn. the pacing is awful; the revenge was speedrunned and it wasn't cathartic at all cuz the ml dealt with them very easily. given how horrible they were to their victims like haruki, it would be better to explore in depth their characters and the psychological aspects (such as reona). that last was the shock value. it's simply not gory, or disturbing much. this goes hand in hand with pacing. the individual plot points were good, but i felt the author didn't have enough time to develop them, so we got a shallow piece of work like this.
Here and There and Us