Simply Amazing

[evoria]

This manga is one of my absolute favorites. When I was younger it was one of the first few manga's that I had read and I had only bought the volumes up to about the 11th volume. So I had forgot about its darker side and always loved its comedy and insightfulness. But when I finally got to finish the whole series, it amazed me on a completely new level. Not just because I loved the characters and the story,but because Tsuda Masami made me feel so in tune with the characters that I felt the pain and the loneliness along with them. My heart actually tenses with anxiety even when I know what is to happen next. Its so real to me, and so colourful, or vibrant I should say.

So, really what I mean to convey is that this is worth reading. It had so much more meaning than a typical shoujo manga and yet is full of comedy and lightheartedness too. The character growth is phenomenal. And its just beautiful all around. Sigh, I would loved to meet this manga-ka so much. She's awesome.

<3

[Sayurimiyu]

i only started this manga yesterday and i've been reading it non-stop until now, which i've just finished it. its totally AWESOME!!!! this is one of the few mangas which totally blow me away and would make me think about it over and over again non-stop. i would totally recomend this manga to my friends. now if you could excuse me, i need to get some sleep for reading this manga for so long.

[evoria]

I know right! Flabbergasting isn't it! We need more shoujo manga like this! Give us a some depth!

[NeverLetMeGo]

This manga is one of my absolute favorites. When I was younger it was one of the first few manga's that I had read and I had only bought the volumes up to about the 11th volume. So I had forgot about its darker side and always loved its comedy and insightfulness. But when I finally got to finish the whole series, it amazed me on a completely new level. Not just because I loved the characters and the story,but because Tsuda Masami made me feel so in tune with the characters that I felt the pain and the loneliness along with them. My heart actually tenses with anxiety even when I know what is to happen next. Its so real to me, and so colourful, or vibrant I should say.

So, really what I mean to convey is that this is worth reading. It had so much more meaning than a typical shoujo manga and yet is full of comedy and lightheartedness too. The character growth is phenomenal. And its just beautiful all around. Sigh, I would loved to meet this manga-ka so much. She's awesome.

<3

I agree with you. This manga is on a whole new level. And, the reason why I love this manga so much is that is goes beyond, I like him, he likes me, he's hot, yada yada. These characters all have their own emotional journeys and backgrounds that make them unique, and just plain different. This manga also goes into dark emotions, that the main male character goes through, I loved it. It was a whole different twist, and I loved it. It added a whole new level of how realistic it was. The characters are all given their time, and it's not all spend on the main couple. I love this manga, and like you stated the growth of each character is phenomenal, and their problems in their lifes make them, what few mangakas can do. The problems make them-human.

[Tomo_ko]

You guys are right, this was so deep. I especially liked that the mangaka didn't just leave her focus on the female main character. I loved to be able to see how he was feeling and how he saw things. The character development was awesome. Simply put this manga was great!

[janica046]

I agree, just finished it today and it was a wonderful work! The character development was so beautiful and not at all shallow and simple like how other shoujos play them out. It felt as though one could relate to the things in the manga, the characters and their emotions. It was nine years of Masami-sensei's life that made this amazing piece!

[jhez.xii]

I agree the author really is amazing.
It's amazing how she bring the emotion and the feelings of every character to life.
simply sensational. I also like how she put the extra stories about the side characters
so the manga won't seem to dragging as the story gets heavy and dark.
I read it twice now still can't get over it.

[yuushigure]

So true. Masami-sensei is very resourceful, I love how she made intriguing small references to classic things like Carmina Burana and Michael Ende's Momo.

The character development is amazing, especially in the last 2 volumes of the manga. I love Arima Reiji and Soji, from mere background characters they develop into 2 characters that catch my attention that I grow to love the most.

Quite strangely though, I do find Yukino's development lacking. She just opened up to a 'wider world' and that's that. I'm most disappointed when she didn't notice Soichiro's drowning in the darkness of his heart. How is it possible that Asaba understood Soichiro better!? The arc when Soichiro spiraled down the wrong path (and how he ALWAYS turned to Asaba alone in his hard times) just screamed BL! to me. Well that's extraordinary, considering that I'm not into BL mangas.

[Cobalt Blue]

That was a good time I was having while reading the manga. Strangely though, I feel like few latest chapters were only served as filler. The main story has ended long time ago when Soichiiro found Yukinon as his hope. The continuation of how Reiji met Soichiiro and later stories are not necessary - but I am still glad we can find out what happened to the minor characters.

Now that I remember it again, Yukinon said the root of Soichiiro' conflicted and twisted feelings is because he needs to love. Well, ..I am not sure how to put this. The first thing we would think about the topic of depression and anger is basically "people act that way because people don't receive love" - but the author proposes the idea that it's all happened oppositely. Soichiiro always felt burdened because "he needs to love" instead of "he needs love/to be loved" - or in other words, humans need to express their positive emotions. Most of the times, we understand that suppressing negative emotions will do nothing good because it's 'negative' after all. We demand explanation why we feel awful so not expressing our negative emotions will drag us down since we can only question stuffs but never receive answer in exchange.

But who would expect that suppressing positive emotions such as love and affection might lead us to as twisted as those who live up no-good life - or probably even lead us to worse character? It's like proposing that "helping people by loving them is actually our needs". We don't do other people a favor. We do ourselves a favor. But you know what? We often think that caring for others is adding a problem in our lives thus we choose to be ignorant instead - while it's actually not true.

All in all, thanks, Kare Kano, for that awesome good read.

[evoria]

@ Cobaltblue, love the love analysis. I seriously think that being unable to love others is huge, being able to care certainly makes me feel more connected and attached, I can't imagine how it would be like living without anyone to love. No attachments. I think I might not care about living either. But about the last bit with Arima's father, I loved it. I thought it was a good idea to introduce the father and solve some more mysteries of the past. I will always remember the line about how people are products of their parents and how they grew up, and yet those parents are again products of theirs. A spiral that is impossible to really cure, but important in the story, the generational theme is central to Arima's character. Knowing his father wasn't really a terrible person was important too. Everyone has their circumstances to consider, some dark secret hidden in most pasts, and it really made me think about my conceptions of everyone.

@yuushigure, I know, wish Yukino caught Arima's downward spiral earlier, but I think it was also a necessary plot device. Yukino is not perfect, and just because she opened her eyes to the world around her doesn't mean she's still not selfish. She was focusing on her own happiness, and just didn't see that Arima felt isolated.