pluckaduck's manga / #unrequited love(13)

the stories were intersting, tho not necessarily enjoyable. the mangaka just created short stories out of various unconventional ideas and tropes that elicit angst... and yall just call it "brilliant, realistic, etc"? yall, it doesnt equate to story execution. the downside of short stories is that there's not enough space to flesh out the charas and give nuance to make readers actually feel, and this story encapsulates that; while it's psychological, i don't understand the motivations of the old men-- why not just confess and stop draggin people into your mess? and the ending-- are the three in a poly relationship or smth? the dark-haired old man's confession of love feels very abrupt. and random

the artstyle made it hard to get thru at first, but it's delivers raw and intense scenes so well. both of the main characters are so so flawed but it's also hard to hate them. at first, i enjoyed their dynamic, which was bitter toxic woman x woman who seems forgiving and would do anything for her beloved. but it turned out it wasnt like that at all. i mean the black-haired woman is incredibly cold, rude, bitter, stubborn, and selfish, but the woman with unrequited love left her gf of 10 years and threw away her future just to have sex with her. she's so thoughtless, tactless, and stupid, and when shes unable to burden the weight of being a runaway murderer, she lashes out hard. she lived a generally happy life, so she was unable to cope, and admitted herself she didnt have black-haired's strong will.

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".