Okay, I’ve been a fan of Kai Sasuga for a while now. Now, I know a lot of fans did get into the manga/anime for purely a ‘meme-sake’ reason or for the more degenerate cause of actually liking the idea of step sister incestual relationships. But what you end up getting is something that is a whole lot more than what you would have expected. I’ll go on record saying that this manga deals with more subject matter than your average romance anime.

Chapter one: Despite the ending / Giving credit
There are a lot of things that Kai Sasuga doesn’t get enough credit for. World building is a buzzword that's thrown around quite a bit in reviews on the internet, but it's something that she’s able to do in a more direct way. By explaining acting, cooking, writing, racism, and especially romance; makes the setting feel as real as the characters. Hina, for example, having to find a new career path as a young adult is probably one of the most relatable struggles anyone has gone through in a manga. From overestimating your own abilities to possibly setting yourself up for less than what you're worth is a constant in situations like these. These simple nuggets of what is essentially real life lore, introduced into the manga slowly, before rapidly, vamping the plot in serious ways; really shows how powerful her unique writing style can be. The reason I specifically bring this up is due to the golden standard for romance manga in the first place. I encourage you to read through mangas like Rent-a-girlfriend or My Dress Up darling and compare them with the likes of Domestic Girlfriend to really grasp what I'm trying to say here. This is a genre that doesn’t rely on overall plot and rarely is there more than one plot point that overlaps with the protagonist’s goals. Most people who consume this genre like the typical tropes and cliches when it comes to anime like this. Usually, its teenagers go about their day with the common squabble with some sort of tsundere. Despite this, Kai Sasuga made an enormous leap by constantly subverting our expectations with a rather intense writing style. She deserves every accolade that came her way, despite what may be the most domestic girlfriend ending possible.

One last thing: This is rather arbitrary and more so on the side of a theory, but I would argue that Kai Sasuga made the plot of a incestual love triangle the main plot point of the manga because it simply makes things interesting. I mean, look at the rest of the manga and the ups and downs it has. I don’t think she has some sort of brother kink that she's hiding from us. (And if she did, i wouldn't exactly call it “hiding”)

Chapter Two: Hina & Rui.
As a reader who becomes invested in two seemingly loveable and down to earth characters, it's hard to say either character is better than the other. I will commonly joke about the semantics of who is ‘best girl’ and I find that 60% of the time, domestic girlfriend fans will look at me weird after I say it's Hina. The biggest problem I had with Rui was simply a matter of taste. She wasn't poorly written or depicted and I’ll explain why. There is a moment in the Anime where Rui gets very jealous. She doesn’t really have a reason to be jealous besides insecurity, which in the context, makes sense for plot. She feels challenged by another and genuinely believes that Natsuo would cheat on her during their relationship. This is a very real emotion and very common in young people who haven't dated much. What ended up happening was a lot of poor choices that affected Natsuo in a very negative way. Again, this is all about plot and improving upon the character’s dynamics. I don’t think Rui is eternally damned in hell for feeling insecure and she does end up reconciling these emotions in a more mature way. I guess Hina not only being older, having to constantly swallow her guilt felt more noble. She constantly swallowed her guilt of the situation. If not this, she repressed her emotions for Natsuo either because he was a student, her brother, or her very sister also loved him. Hina was the kind of person to want others to be happy before her, despite it causing her pain. This does circle back Sasuga’s writing and how good it actually is. She fills readers in on Hina’s emotions, only to show drawn smiling and very happy. This is a drawing, yet we, as the audience, are convinced that the smile is fake and she is struggling internally. Both are vastly exceptional characters with very differing personalities.

Chapter Three: Ending in a Coma.
I’ll be completely honest, I thought hina fucking died when I saw that panel of her in a pile of her own blood. It was another one of those classic domestic girlfriend panels where you turn the page and generally think to yourself. “where the actual fuck is this going?” There is a common analogy that teachers will share with young writers and authors:

An author writes a Murder mystery and releases a chapter every week. The Author story boarded the entire book and planned the butler to be the murderer all along. As he releases chapters, fans start sending in letters giving as many guesses as who the killer may be. Rearing closer and closer to the end of the book, more of the letter ends up guessing correctly. The author, frustrated, decides to make a last minute decision to make the murderer the maid for the pure fact of subverting expectations. When the last chapter is released, fans become very upset. The author is confused. “Why want something you expected?” Truth be told, fans of the book wanted as much. They read to finally get the pay off they wanted and you, the author, even hinted as such. Now, Kai Sasuga circumvents this multiple times by being able to make certain outcomes believable. Instead of hinting at one outcome, she will hint at two or Three.
Example: Does he Date Rui, Does he date Hina, does his parents find out
I feel that the ending of the manga is the one time where she does not do this. I guess you could say the entire manga does show both Rui and Hina have sentimental moments, making both rather possible choices. Though, I would argue that having a child with someone is like putting the nail in the coffin. The ending really is a tough one for me. On one hand it's extremely Kai Sasuga, I mean, If you were to get an ending like that, then it would definitely be with Domestic Girlfriend. On the other, It feels extremely jarring to have spent time so dramatically and completely change settings. At the end of the day, the last thing you want as a writer is to have decisive fans, me being one of them. So with that said, I will admit the writing could have been better in some regard. Again, I wouldn’t argue It had anything to do with who Natsuo chose to be with, but rather how he came to his conclusion. I haven’t had that much whiplash since 02 became a fucking space ship.

Chapter four: Natsuo.
A lot of people really dislike Natsuo at times while I personally find him incredibly human. He has his flaws of course, but at times, I can't help but to feel sympathetic towards a man in his situation. He is incredibly hard working, determined, kind, caring, and willing to help people whom he is close with despite the past they might have. He sees everyone as who they can be and generally puts in effort to make them think so. Again, the golden standard these days are overly shy virgins that don’t know how to talk to women. The manga literally starts with him slaying pussy.

Chapter five: Togen sensei.
Look at you, now you are sad.

In conclusion: I feel as though the manga in general has some gut wrenching moments that makes us as a fan base cry and laugh in positive ways. I will ALWAYS defend this manga as it really isn’t what the mainstream audience thinks it is. It's a very dramatic take on what love can be for someone and the lengths they are willing to go for it.

Also, i prefer older women.