I'll start by saying that I felt completely deceived by the description of this manga: "Subaru has always lived her life behind the back of her two perfect, overprotective, big brothers. Everything starts to change when she meets Yoshida Arata, a strange, funny, troublemaker guy, different from everyone she knows." It all seems very adorable and promising until...
A love triangle with her brother!? Where did that come from?
Sibling love (from adopted brothers) is not a theme that shocks or bothers me (we have a thousand anime and manga with younger sisters that are great successes), but in this case I really didn't expect the story to go in that direction.
The beginning of the manga is wonderful. We see the development of the female protagonist and how she gradually falls in love with the troublemaker Arata, a cool guy who is extremely captivating. Their romance unfolds in an adorable and smooth way, where little by little, Subaru, who never had the space to truly like someone, starts to realize her feelings and allows Arata (who desperately just wants to be loved by someone who genuinely likes him for who he is) to get closer to her. This leads to very cute scenes that make you fall in love with them and root for the couple.
The relationship between the siblings is initially portrayed as something innocent and it's even fun to see the brother, Wataru, displaying occasional brotherly jealousy towards the protagonist. Their interactions with Arata are also enjoyable at first. However, out of nowhere (for me, at least. Should I have read the signs? LOL)... Wataru kisses his little sister while she's sleeping (thunder).
This triggers an extremely uncomfortable plotline for the manga, where everyone can't stop talking to Arata (who is now Subaru's boyfriend) about how they thought Subaru was going to marry her own brother (rly, WTF). This is extremely uncomfortable for him and honestly, it was uncomfortable for me as a reader too. It's quite odd how everyone in the city is so casually aware that Wataru is adopted and has feelings for his sister. Well, from that point on it's just a downward spiral that keeps getting worse and becomes painful to read.
I noticed that many people dropped this manga halfway through and I truly understand why. The fact that Subaru starts to have doubts and begins to develop romantic feelings for Wataru bothered me the most. It's extremely difficult to imagine how someone could be torn between their own adopted brother and a NICE BOYFRIEND WHO IS A GREAT PERSON.
I rated this manga with two stars and decided to leave this review so other readers don't fall into the same trap I did. The art of the manga is beautiful, the characters are cute, the story starts well, but the plot... (groans in pain)