Reviews - Seaside Stranger Vol. 1: Umibe No Étranger

367 reviews for:

Seaside Stranger Vol. 1: Umibe No Étranger

Kanna Kii

3.69 AVERAGE

surferpercy's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective fast-paced

lynnpire's review against another edition

4.0

reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

anna__b's review

2.25

emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

the art was really beautiful and atmospheric (i especially love the scenery and the way the artist draws cats), but unfortunately everything else about this fell flat for me. i didn’t connect that much with any of the characters and all the development felt very surface level. the main couple hardly get to know each other at all and there are about two scenes of them together before they start declaring that they’ve fallen for each other - their relationship feels like it’s based on proximity and nothing more.

the sex scene(s?) was also very awkward to read, and the characters’ conversations around sex throughout the volume made me uncomfortable as the love interest was pushing for it way harder than the protagonist, who seemed to just be doing it to make the love interest not be upset with him. while everything was technically consensual, it didn’t seem super healthy. but once again, this was not really developed beyond the surface level.

the main characters both have interesting backstories, and there are also a few side characters that were really intriguing, but it seems like there’s just too much going on at once and the author never dives deep enough into any of these story threads to develop them fully, leaving us with characters that feel half baked. i really wish the author had taken their time to explore and develop all of this more before getting the main couple together, since there is the potential here for so much more emotional depth and a richer story, but ultimately it falls short.

i do feel like this has some potential to get better, and maybe the characters and relationships become more well rounded in the sequel volumes, but for me as a first volume this was ultimately disappointing and i’m not sure if it will be worth it to continue.