{Spoilers}
So, as we all know, I'm always on the hunt for my next spicy as heck shoujo manga. And I think we might have a serious contender here folks. Here we have the "love triangle where the guy I usually root for actually ends up with the girl because she actually recognizes the value of the nice guy, but I still feel torn because the other guy ended up pretty nice too because he's from my favorite childhood friend trope oh no I'm so torn and in distress" scenario. We probably all know that feels. But this puts a little twist on the whole love triangle scenario and who she was "meant" to end up with versus who she actually did. Lowkey I got Scum's Wish vibes form the thing with the side girl trying to get with Kyousuke and stuff. But I don't really want to get into that because Scum's Wish really just scarred me to the ends of this earth. Ewh I don't even want to think about it.
Anyways, so the story revolves kind of around the main girl Nina and her discovery of what romance and love really is. There are a few nuances and foreshadowing stuff that happens in the beginning that really didn't make sense until I had finished it all the way through which made it all the more satisfying to read and complete...while I was in bed sick with the flu. (Perhaps because I was in such a delicate state and was slightly nauseated while reading it, this was a really nice read to get my mind off of how badly my body hurt. What can I say? I'm weak when sick.) So she has her childhood friend and neighbor Kyousuke who she's had this fantasy romance with in her head for the longest time. She really thinks she loves him, the operative word here is thinks by the way. And her dream is to get into the same high school he goes to. She kind of gets a taste for what love with Kyousuke would be like when she confesses to him and he almost kisses her, but stops because although her mind seems like she wants it, something deep down inside of her is rejecting it. And so this boy here, instead of waiting patiently for her or whatever or doing anything other than starting more drama, ends up with Asou (the girl who gives me Scum's Wish protag vibes) who furthers the drama to the nth degree. While Nina is busy dealing with her jealousy and abandonment issues and while Kyousuke is trying to convince himself he actually isn't in love with Nina, Nina ends up going out with the sweetest boy on the planet, Miyake. This boy has been watching his classmate Nina fawn over Kyousuke throughout middle school. Literally such a sweet boy and just wanting her to be happy. And he was happy just seeing her be happy until he actually got to hang out with her some more (shoutout to his bomb af wingman friend group) during the fireworks festival and promptly confessed his pure boy feelings to her. And then comes the drama of Nina and Kyousuke both being in different relationships with different people, but still being drawn together like two sides of a pair of magnets. And it's a mess. And you can't help but wonder who Nina's going to end up with and who's going to be hurt.
But then it's revealed that Kyousuke's actually loved Nina all this time. He's loved her for so long, but in loving her he's realized that her love for him, while she thinks it's romantic, is actually more of a siblings love. And that's a big ooof. And it's a really hard pill to swallow. That all this time he's really loved her, and to see her end up with Miyake must've really hurt. And the author does such a good job of weaving all of these interlocking pieces together, especially with all of the nuances that each character brings to the table, that make it not just another cheesy love triangle that you've seen over and over again in shoujo manga that's just there for the sake of being there. Instead you get this intense, albeit maybe improbable, love triangle in which there's tangible misunderstandings and feelings and the transience of feelings with love and what you think is love and what might be jealousy for the loss of a loved one or actually just growing pains as we all grow older. And it's hard seeing how the reality of these situations seen to be at odds with our favorite ships, but all through it, you just can't help but root for your favorites.
This definitely was not a comprehensive review. They turn more into summaries than anything. But it was just really shocking to me to see Nina actually end up with Miyake instead of Kyousuke. Sure Kyousuke was a jerk. Like he didn't need to go out with Asou, though it was likely to move on from Nina, nice try. But he did. And that allowed all of them to grow as individuals. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a smidgen of physical pain when I saw this panel, but I really did. It hit me in just the right way to bring me to the brink of tears, though I did not really cry.
Because Kyousuke let go of his long-time love. He even confessed to her. "I love you" he says. And she replies "I loved you." It hit too hard.
And then here's some Miyake screenshots. Because he's a sweet sweet boy and I'm happy that they ended up together. It was definitely a bittersweet ending, but a great one anyways.
I think if you're like me and you're looking for a shoujo that isn't super clear=cut as your traditional shoujo where the girl goes through some bullying and ends up with the main love interest, no shade if you do because sometimes yeah those hit the spot, but you're looking for something that's a bit more twisted and has some different kinds of plotlines and relationships portrayed I think that this would be a good one to read. It's not the best one that I've read out there, but it's definitely up there. I really appreciate the mangaka for all of their hard work and for giving us a story that I don't think I've seen before. It was definitely a wild ride.
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