An incredibly amazing slice of life manga that I feel like anyone can enjoy. The plot is simple but compelling, and I feel like in one way or another, anyone can relate to the feeling of starting out somewhere new. The characters, however, is where this manga shines. They all feel like people you could meet in real life, and the manga never satisfies itself with giving you simple answers. Everytime you think you've figured out how a character is, they either give out a small but revealing detail that changes how you view the character, or simply, the character grows and changes themselves.

While what will draw a lot of people is the main romance (and really, the main romance/main relationship is a delight to read through, and it never feels like you got cheated out of a more romantic interaction because their friendship is given such an important value by the narrative), all of the secondary characters and their own storylines and relationships are equally well written, which also makes it so you never feel bored when the main characters aren't on page. Even the characters we barely see, like Mitsumi's family and friends back at her home, end up having a very clear identity and importance within the manga, and Mitsumi's nostalgia for her home and friends is never really left behind, which I also appreciated, since seeing her best friend in the first chapters, I got a bit sad knowing that as Mitsumi met more people, I'd probably wouldn't see her again. But Fumi is such an essential character! She, along with the rest of her family, represent Mitsumi's roots, and remind her of where she comes from when she feels lost or afraid, giving Mitsumi a more grounded identity, specially at the beginning when we couldn't see the full spec of her character.

Of course, if we talk about Mitsumi, we can't not talk about Shima. Coming into Skip to Loafer, all I knew about it were the amazing character designs and the fact that the main lead looks like a golden retriever, which I was fine by since I liked his design and "golden retriever" characters can be pretty fun, but wow did Shima surprise me. His character goes so much deeper than what it seems, and not even just in the "sad backstory" that you will sometimes see from the male leads in this type of manga. Shima's written so well, and whenever I see him interact with anyone I feel like I just want to get to the bottom of his brain. And all of this without fully negating my first expectation- Shima does feel like a golden retriever sometimes. He's incredibly friendly, and is always helping others around, and even if we do see how sometimes he misses school and whatnot, we get explicitly told that he never does this if it would inconvinience anyone. And despite all of that, or maybe because, we get that his biggest flaw is that he never is fully honest with others. In the words of his own friend, he hides his feelings and puts on an act that exhausts him until he gets tired and begins withdrawing from others. He refuses to properly discuss problems and seems terrified of vulnerability in a way that a lot of times hurts those around him, which I genuinely found fascinating! The manga never really forces you to side one way or the other, and most of the time he gets in a conflict, we get the two sides of the argument and are usually left to decide by ourselves.

Also, personally, I find the trans representation in the character of Nao is lovely too. It's respectful, and feels realistic without ever feeling like a tragedy. Her identity is never really questioned, but they also depict some of the difficulties she's faced both in her day to day life and with her family. Just like everyone in this manga, Nao is such a warm character that feels incredibly human, like someone you'd find at the store or the bus, and as someone who didn't actually know about her going in, I was so pleasently surprise when I saw her. Her relationship with Mitsumi is also one of my favorites in the manga, and I find myself rereading the chapters focused on it almost weekly. It feels so caring and sweet and warm, and it's so wholesome to see how much they both care from one another.

All in all, skip to loafer or skip and loafer or however you've always read it isn't subvertive or radical in the slice of life or shoujo genre, at least not in a loud way. If anything, it feels like a love letter to all their tropes and significance. But despite this sense of nostalgia it brings for all the books in these genres, I can honestly say that skip to loafer makes me feel like nothing I've read before.