bee's manga / #shoujo(29)

ok, as both a main lead advocate and a shoujo manga connoisseur, i have to admit that hiromitsu wholeheartedly deserved to get the girl in the end and not rita. there definitely wasn’t enough character development for both rita and hatori. i would’ve been completely content if the author decided not to make rita end game, even though i adore and sympathize for him too. it’s just that what rita and hatori had can’t compare to what hiromitsu and hatori had to the readers. we never really actually get to witness the basis of the childhood friends to lovers. it’s all told and not shown. but romance aside, the reason why i do love this manga and choose to reread is because hatori is annoying. i mean that in a good way. in shoujo manga, readers usually cheer on for the docile, demure MC and everything is easy even if there is drama and hardships. for hatori, she really is a failed heroine. she’s annoying and whiney—but her character is valid too. that’s why i stick with her each read.

this manga will always have a special place in my heart. i was the same age as the characters when i first started reading. back then, the chapters would slowly release because they had to be digitized and translated. i never was able to read the ending until now at 21 years old. this is probably my third time rereading too, and i’ll always love kou for futaba. touma? i’ll have him for myself :P i know there are a lot of mixed feelings about kou, but i think readers have to understand this kid had severe depression and trauma. you can clearly see his character development as he starts to heal and become a decisive person. but from the very beginning, he had futaba in mind. so i don’t label him as your typical asshole type of main lead. i would definitely suggest rereading and looking more into their dynamic to see why he deserves futaba in the end.