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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
Can college happen soon? I would love to see them all in college.
I’ve mentioned this in my various reviews for both Say “I Love You” and High School Debut in that I’ve been hitting this streak of reading straight high school romance manga that are just about the characters and the romance and that it does feel repetitive at times. The characters are completely different (I don’t think that SILY’s Mei would have much in common with Sawako, or High School Debut’s Haruna is similarly to either one of them) but the general story beats are similar: not-so popular girl finds the attention of the most popular boy in school, they start dating, and the relationship is shown throughout their high school years, with the trappings of the Japanese high school system (sports festival, culture festival, testing, winter and summer breaks, Valentine’s and White Days, etc.) as focal arc points for important dramatic relationship moments and accompanying wacky hijinx until the characters graduate. Of course, you can easily say, “Well don’t read so much of the same thing”—but the thing is, of all of these series that I’ve been reading, the writing and characters are so good, that I want to keep reading more of the same thing.
Of the three main ones that I’m currently entrenched in, Kimi ni Todoke is the series that’s been running dangerously close to filler arc territory. Not that Say ‘I Love You’ or High School Debut didn’t have filler, but those are 10 and 15 volumes respectively, and this is volume 21 of Kimi ni Todoke and they just entered their third year of high school. (I had a moment in the middle of reading this and went “Wait, I thought that they were all third years already.” I don’t know how much of this is the fact that it feels like story should have been there already, or that I’m not clipping through this as fast as other series, as the English translation’s caught up to the manga release and therefore I’ve forgotten details from older volumes.)
And my worry is how much longer can these characters and their relationships remain interesting to the story? While I’ve been frustrated with the stops and starts of Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship (“SHUT UP AND KISS EACH OTHER ALREADY”), I’ve liked that the manga will pull back at times and focus on other characters and their stories as well. And for much as I like these characters beginning to realize what they want to do with their lives—like Sawako realizing that she wants to be a teacher or Ayane’s conflict about her relationship with Kento and what she wants from her future—I’m worried that this is going to hit a stall. I mean, I do like that there’s a lot of this volume that focuses on Ayane and Chizu’s future plans (pretty much because Sawako and Kazehaya are resolved in what they want to do). Ayane’s been one of my favorite characters, because she’s had so much development and depth for her character throughout the course of the series. Chizu’s emotional conflict about Ryu leaving their hometown to play college baseball I didn’t like as much, because that does feel like the plot stalling to add more filler. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chizu and Ryu’s relationship, and Chizu’s conflicting emotions, but it feels like we’ve circled back to the endless “SHUT UP AND SAY THAT YOU LOVE HIM” from earlier in the series.
I did enjoy this volume—Kimi ni Todoke is a series that unfailingly puts a smile on my face with each volume (or as I once put it on Twitter “I NEED MY SMUSHY FLUFFY SAWAKO/KAZEHAYA FEELS”), but I am worried with this many volumes and no current end in sight that this will be dragged out to its inevitably emotional ending that my feelings are going to turn sour towards it. I still really enjoy the series, and I’m looking forward to getting volume 22 whenever it gets released, but I can’t ignore my worries about getting bored with it.
Of the three main ones that I’m currently entrenched in, Kimi ni Todoke is the series that’s been running dangerously close to filler arc territory. Not that Say ‘I Love You’ or High School Debut didn’t have filler, but those are 10 and 15 volumes respectively, and this is volume 21 of Kimi ni Todoke and they just entered their third year of high school. (I had a moment in the middle of reading this and went “Wait, I thought that they were all third years already.” I don’t know how much of this is the fact that it feels like story should have been there already, or that I’m not clipping through this as fast as other series, as the English translation’s caught up to the manga release and therefore I’ve forgotten details from older volumes.)
And my worry is how much longer can these characters and their relationships remain interesting to the story? While I’ve been frustrated with the stops and starts of Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship (“SHUT UP AND KISS EACH OTHER ALREADY”), I’ve liked that the manga will pull back at times and focus on other characters and their stories as well. And for much as I like these characters beginning to realize what they want to do with their lives—like Sawako realizing that she wants to be a teacher or Ayane’s conflict about her relationship with Kento and what she wants from her future—I’m worried that this is going to hit a stall. I mean, I do like that there’s a lot of this volume that focuses on Ayane and Chizu’s future plans (pretty much because Sawako and Kazehaya are resolved in what they want to do). Ayane’s been one of my favorite characters, because she’s had so much development and depth for her character throughout the course of the series. Chizu’s emotional conflict about Ryu leaving their hometown to play college baseball I didn’t like as much, because that does feel like the plot stalling to add more filler. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chizu and Ryu’s relationship, and Chizu’s conflicting emotions, but it feels like we’ve circled back to the endless “SHUT UP AND SAY THAT YOU LOVE HIM” from earlier in the series.
I did enjoy this volume—Kimi ni Todoke is a series that unfailingly puts a smile on my face with each volume (or as I once put it on Twitter “I NEED MY SMUSHY FLUFFY SAWAKO/KAZEHAYA FEELS”), but I am worried with this many volumes and no current end in sight that this will be dragged out to its inevitably emotional ending that my feelings are going to turn sour towards it. I still really enjoy the series, and I’m looking forward to getting volume 22 whenever it gets released, but I can’t ignore my worries about getting bored with it.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really like this series.
I am finding the story slowing down though. I feel like the author is dragging out the university decisions. It's turning a little wishy-washy.
I am finding the story slowing down though. I feel like the author is dragging out the university decisions. It's turning a little wishy-washy.