Manga Match 53 Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai

Ah, recently I've kind of been reflecting on what my college experience has been like so far. This is my second year of college and while I think in some aspects I've really grown into my own and be successful in, whenever I think about how much other people have accomplished, I really haven't accomplished much. They say that comparison is the thief of happiness and that really hits hard. Oof, I have so much to be grateful for, but there's still so much I want to accomplish and so much to do. I might also just be in this state of mind because my workload for this quarter is actually ridiculous. Ahahaha...

Also, as I've read more and more manga over the years, I've started gravitating towards more josei. Don't get me wrong, I still really love my shoujo and all, but something about josei has been really appealing to me lately?

{Spoilers}

Oh jeez, I must've started this manga...maybe 3 years ago? Yeah actually since high school I've been reading this. Haha, so since it's been so long I don't have a super clear memory of everything that's gone on, but I think I stuck with it for so long because it was just really cute.

So basically, there's this girl named Shibata and she's pretty normal. She's your average office worker in Tokyo, moved there from the countryside in order to live a more ~exciting~ city life. She's in her early 30's if I remember correctly and everyone that's younger than her is getting married and she's feeling pressured to find someone. She has this trash younger boyfriend that she literally starves herself for to afford to spoil him with gifts. Obviously that's not healthy and when she realizes that she's been conned, she's left feeling defeated and confused. In the supermarket she runs into her old superior from work Kurosawa, who she calls Shunin. He's now quit the workforce and owns a cute cafe where he makes omurice and other cute dishes. It's one of those "image doesn't fit profession" things haha he looks a bit stern at first. But he's also got a heart of gold. I've also got a sweet spot for those "I was formerly in a gang, but now I've cleaned up and am a good boy" kind of archetypes. Shunin is one of those. And he's such a smol boy. 

The thing that kept me going through this manga was seeing the kinds of challenges that they went through and their kind of awkward love. It was similar to how high school shoujo is awkward because it's their first attempt at love. And in the same way, for these two it's very similar in that they've never experienced requited love. And for both of them, they're not young and in their 20's anymore. It's an interesting look into the kind of world I haven't experienced yet of adulthood and traversing that realm of mature relationships, but also the tender love that they have? Haha I feel so awkward typing that. 

Anyways, this was definitely a bad review. I've been having a hard time vocalizing my opinion whether through written or spoken words. I'm trying to work on it, but sometimes the words just don't come out like you want them to. Don't let this terrible review stop you from reading this amazing manga. It gives you hope for finding love, even if you're just a random person. 

And of course they live happily ever after. 

*cries* after reading this review over again it's definitely missing something, probably my passion because I can't remember the details too well. But, you know, some things just leave an imprint on your heart with memories of how you felt more so than specific memories anyways.