NOTE: I think I should say this here since I got few messages on my review summary. It was meant to be a bad joke. I kind of expected to get some messages about it. But I should have probably wrote this before. If it offended you I am very sorry... but the fact that it was meant to be a joke doesnt change thus Im not planning on changing it... I honestly believe that it is a big part of this manga so Im gonna keep it this way. If you dont like it you can leave. Noone (I hope) is forcing you to read it :). To those who read it anyways I appreciate it <3.
Intro

This is the first time I am ever writing a manga review. I wrote few anime reviews before... so I kind of have a general idea of how I want to approach this but still... manga is something else and it feels different compared to anime. Because of that I kind of have respect but I also feel excited to write one manga review. I will divide the review into two parts... first will cover my opinion and general information onto what I believe this manga has to offer (part without any major spoilers). The second part is where I will try to dive in more in detail of the plot and characters (including spoilers). Lets see how it goes :D.

NO MAJOR SPOILER PART

When I first started reading the manga felt like any average romcom with a big plot twist which made this manga unique already. As the manga went on it became clear to me that we will follow life of Natsuo, Rui and Hina with some supporting characters who help these 3 grow and challenge them. Overall I think the manga takes time with the characters... but it also doesnt shy away from making some things more hectic and I think I can say chaotic. If you enjoy romcoms with twisted situation between the characters... I can definitely recommend this to you to try it at the very least.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Plot

Now that I dont need to hold back. The first thing I would like to say that the plot to me felt bit all over the place... this doesnt mean I didnt like it but it did one thing... sometimes I was bored and the whole thing could feel for a while like a chaos without much sense. On the other hand most of the times this was worth the wait... as it helped build up the "hype" and the "turning points" for the plot and the characters. At first I wasnt sure if I would enjoy following life and growing up of Natsuo... but I have to say now that because of so many supporting and side characters... it always felt fresh and slightly different to me. I dont think everyone liked this... but I really enjoyed it. With that said the ending and the last few eps felt little bit rushed and it also felt repetitive. Overall Im satisfied with how it went since I was teamhina :D. But I believe it could have been better. I dont know how... but I feel like it could :D.

Natsuo Fuuji

For me Natsuo Fujis character mainly gave off the vibe of a really passionate and emotional character. It seemed to me that when there was something he enjoyed doing or was precious to him... he did whatever it took to make the thing work or the person happy. This also had the other side of the coin... because he felt everything so deeply. He was also able to be sad and almost depressed. At the start when Hina left him it was very hard for him to bare it. But as the manga went on, he was able to handle these situations way better. I loved how Natsuo was able to think through and overthink what he likes and doesnt like about Rui and Hina. To close it out I think it was a lot of fun to follow and see Natsuo grow and change.

Rui Tachibana

Rui Tachibana at first gave off the cold vibe and energy. I didn’t like her at first but I was happy to see her around Natsuo... because I was interested to see how he would deal with someone like Rui. As the plot progressed Rui Tachibana was to my surprise able to change the viewpoint on things and challenge her own beliefs. What I also must point out is that her dedication to cooking as a carrer was lot of fun to follow. I think that would be the thing I enjoyed the most about her character. Another thing I enjoyed following was how she was constantly in a battle with herself in what she should do regarding her relationship with Natsuo. She at the middle and late stages of the manga always tried to make the best decisions with the least resistance... this sometimes worked well... but mostly it just created unnecessary conflict between her and Natsuo.

Hina Tachibana

Now my most favorite character from the whole manga. Hina Tachibana was for me personally the main character of this manga. I really liked how she was conflicted with herself through the whole plot. Her past is something I believe had a lot of impact on her decision making in the early stages of manga. The way she was dealing with uneasy circumstances for her and Natsuos complicated relationship keeps me thinking even now :D. One thing I really love and hate about her character is the dedication and absolute refusal to do something for herself. She sure tried multiple times... but at the end of the day when some major events for the plot happened. It felt like she always chose Natsuo over herself. Which was nice but also pathetic in my opinion.

Supporting characters

I didn’t want to talk about every single character thus I chose the ones I personally maybe liked or have something to say about + the ones I think had some impact on the main characters.

Momo Kashiwabara

For me Momo was at first a character I had no idea on what I think about her. I felt like that the only two things we knew was the school rumor and that she was quite cute. What I liked though was the way she approached Natsuo... it was very different compared to other character so for me it felt like a whole new energy added to the manga :D. At the end of the school days, I loved her dedication towards Natsuo; I didn’t like the way she tried to get him but that’s honestly so fitting for her character... so at the end of the day. I’m really glad that the author kept her outgoing seductive nature till the end.

Alex J. Matsukawa

Alex was another character who challenged Natsuo in the school days regarding romance. Natsuo knew how Alex felt about Rui... he made it clear. What I think was interesting here was the timing when it started to heat up... Alex eventually got tired of waiting around and decided to push himself, Rui and undecided/confused Natsuo to their limits. I think they all have learned something. Big up from me that Alex was even after all that mess still friends with Natsuo. What a chad.

Miyabi Serizawa

Now we move towards college or how I like to call it, the second main pillar and part of the whole manga. Miyabi at first started out as some sort of a villain who was against Natsuo. He came to a new environment... new people... new thing for him; I am talking about scriptwriting here. It was a lot of things so Natsuo was being tested. Miyabi Serizawa came in aswell as someone new. She at the start just seemed very unapproachable at least towards Natsuo. This was in my opinion very nicely supported by her past experience... so after that I felt like I understand why Serizawa was behaving in a certain way. As their issue got solved... Natsuo proved to Miyabi that he is serious like her and the whole relationship started to turn to a completely new heights and direction. For me it was very funny to follow Serizawas struggles to impress Natsuo and maybe let him know how she feels. I really liked how they mixed up the Nene Kuzuoka as she is I would say opposite of Serizawa. It challenged her to think on what she wants to improve about herself and also how she wants to approach this whole thing. To close this Serizawa rant... I think she at the end of the day one of the best characters... the overall mood and vibe she gave off seemed to me that it would be fun to hang out or spend time with her.

Kengo Tanabe

Kengo Tanabe, I believe can’t be forgotten in this "impact on Natsuo" list :D. Even though he wasn’t exactly aiming at Natsuo. The whole injury and time after that... it was clear that it had an impact on Natsuo. Thats something I have to say here. I think author did a really good job of showing us how it changed the whole environment in the Natsuos family and mainly how it changed Natsuos point of view and approach to everything.

Shigemitsu togensensei

Lastly, I want to cover Togensensei here. I think he was the one who really helped him grow as not only a writer... but also as a person. Natsuo in my opinion saw him as some unreachable person because of his writing success. But at the later stages of manga, he has seen that he had his own flaws. What I liked is that despite knowing this he didnt give up one bit, helped and made last few months of Shigemitsus life worthwhile.

Conclusion

To conclude this crazy ride of what started as high schooler liking his teacher and stepsister... to later following their life’s. It was very fun. I really enjoyed how Natsuo, Rui and Hina each portrayed different pathway and life experience, struggles, happiness, and sadness. I honestly believe the end was a bit rushed... maybe I wished to see more after the incident Hina had... nevertheless I enjoyed this manga lot, and it will be in my <3 for a long time :D.

Alriiightyyy. I thank you very much for reading till the end. If you have some thoughts on your mind, feel free to share. I would love to read maybe some stuff I didn’t say here and you liked/disliked. Maybe what you can agree on or disagree and why :D. Thanks again and I hope you will have a nice rest of your day <3.

P.S
TeamHina forever