Cafe Snowbelle: Manga Match 54 House of the Sun

I think in this year alone I've cried in front of people I don't really know that well more times than I have in the other years of my life combined. I'm not really sure if this was a conscious thing on my part or if it was just a subconscious thing that I've kept bottled up inside, but I guess I'm just an emotional person? I would say a lot of the time I experience a lot of joy, worry, anxiety and things along those lines, but it really struck me about how much sadness I keep inside? Or maybe I'm just a crybaby that can't deal with my emotions. It's really hard to tell in these sorts of situations. It makes me wonder if I have the crying capacity of a shoujo manga protagonist. I mean, they do cry a lot.

{Spoilers}

You know, I should really be doing homework and other things that are productive and stuff...but I just feel so emotionally drained from trying not to cry and then crying and all of that fun stuff that I actually just ended up binging the last 10 chapters of this manga. Am I really proud of that fact? Not really. Did it happen regardless? Uh, yeah.

So this manga focuses around a girl named Mao that had a rough home life growing up in the sense that her parents never openly showed her love and when they eventually split, she was left kind of neglected or at least held at a distance from her dad and completely out of contact with her mom. And so the only solace she ever felt was in the neighboring Nakamura family household. It was a super happy family of a dad, mom, two sons, and a daughter. They had all of the things that a happy and healthy home has, and Mao found refuge there. However, when an accident occurred and the Nakamura kids were left without parents, the merry band split up and they all grew up. Now Hiro, the eldest Nakamura son is grown up and a working businessman, Mao and Daiki, the second Nakamura son, are in high school, and Hina, the Nakamura daughter, was distant. This story follows Hiro as he tries to actualize his dream of bringing his brother and sister back into their childhood home which he has protected all of these years. Due to certain situations due to Mao's dad remarrying, Mao ends up living with Hiro in a strange sort of co-habitation. From this blossoms this really cute romance from being childhood friends to lovers that I just can't really get over. There's a bit of drama thrown in there over Mao's online cell novel and some standard love triangle stuff with Mao, Daiki, and Hiro, which is pretty calmly and maturely resolved.

In general, this manga isn't full of super passionate twists and turns. It's a gentle sort of love story of a girl finding her place in a family and it's got this nurturing vibe about it. It's very calming to read and it gave me a sense of solace as Mao navigates and witnesses the growth of human relationships.

Overall I'd say that it's worth the read. It's the perfect length for what goes into it and it's not overly traumatic with what has happened. All of the characters are rational in their decisions so there's no reason to get upset over some of the things they do because all of it is pretty reasonable. I don't know, there was just something really charming about the whole thing. Maybe it was the concept of all of them finding a home inside of that house and all living together. Maybe it was all of the domestic vibes I got from it. Or how normal it all was? It was just sweet.

Also Oda and Chi-chan's little side romance was super cute as well (huhu and that extra chapter where Radical san also found love, it was overall good vibes and a happily ever after for everyone)