Holy hell, that was a rollercoaster. I just had to share a few thoughts to decompress and debrief after all of that. Needless to say, this is going to be spoiler-laden. Sasuga is a very gifted, if not a bit uneven, storyteller and the whole thing captivated me more than I expected.

Characters and Characterizations

This is the real meat of the series and where it surpassed my expectations greatly. Nearly all the characters in the manga come to life with the dialogue and backgrounds written. I found myself strongly attached to certain people (and not just members of the primary love triangle) and found my alliances shifting as I found out more backstory and saw them react to their motivations. There are a few places where the story stumbles badly with characters, and I'll get to that; but, overall the characters are the greatest asset in the book.

Natsuo

I found Natsuo to be extremely believable, likable, and interesting. He grew as the story went on, reacting poorly to setbacks in the beginning and learning coping mechanisms as challenges met him later on. Sasuga has said that she sees him as a bit of an "ideal man," due to his kindness and drive. I don't know that I completely agree that's how he came across. Natsuo definitely has a savior complex and it drives most of the problems in the series that aren't taboo-related. A lot of his troubles are of his own making by wanting to "fix" everyone's issues. This was extremely realistic as a character flaw and is portrayed well. I can't tell you how many times I slapped my forehead when Natsuo went off to help another friend, putting his own interests in real jeopardy, whether they wanted him or not.

Hina

Hina had unexpected depths that didn't arise early in the story. She seemed like a flirtatious person with a drinking problem, primarily driven by her id. Her acceptance of Natsuo's confession really put this immaturity on display.

As we find out more about her and see more of her actions later in the story, we realize that she's a deeply caring individual who hides lack of fulfillment behind a smile or a glass. The stronger her feelings grew for Natsuo, the more adult and selfless she became. In the beginning of the books, I found Hina annoying. By the end, I found her to be the most endearing character.

Hina's acceptance of Natsuo's confession is the lowest point of her character, and that's actually pretty telling. Considering how strongly she felt, it isn't surprising that she'd eventually give in to him. Even before that, she attempts to educate him about the risks by walking with him into the ocean and comparing their love to a potential double suicide. She finally grew weak enough to succumb to her feelings and date him.

The minute that this threatens him, she gives up her job to protect him. Doing so disheartens her such that she ends up giving up on her dream of teaching, which is increadibly sad even given the happy ending. Hina's motivations seem to be, in order, 1) Natsuo's future, 2) Natsuo's happiness, and finally 3) her own feelings about Natsuo as a distant third. From the point of her giving up her job forward, every Hina scene is about giving up something of herself to protect or help lift up Natsuo or Rui. This, obviously, isn't healthy overall; but, she finds herself in a catch-22 since her strongest personal desire will never be met.

Rui

My favorite character, I found her to be the one with the most growth while still being deeply flawed in the end. I think the character was probably designed to be Hina's foil / opposite from the ground up- she was isolated when Hina was very social, she had no access or knowledge of her id, when Hina was driven by it. The way she was presented evolved beyond the trope. When I look at early Rui, from her and Natsuo's initial "exchange of experiences" to her lack of knowledge on how to make friends, I can't help but think she'd be diagnosed as neuro-atypical (possibly with mild Asperger syndrome). She doesn't socialize well naturally. She instead has to practice and build a translation layer between motivations she doesn't understand and herself.

Seeing her grow to love Natsuo, I found myself very attached to her. I don't tend to take part in waifu wars; but, there was a point in the story where I was bracing for the dissapointment that Natsuo might not end up with her. However, as we got to know her, it became painfully clear that despite all the growing she did from her early days as a friendless transfer student, she was not able to handle Natsuo and her relationship in a mature way.

Her constant jealousy and secrecy (though that seemed to be a family trait) began to rub off on Natsuo near the middle of their relationship. Also, many of her surprising turns, while often appearing selfless on the surface, were actually selfishly motivated. Her breaking up with Natsuo can be read as selfless (and I think the character initially believes it is), as she wants to "be able to support him fully." However, she does so making certain that he has enough doubt in his mind about her that he can't truly move on, freeing her to pursue her career while leaving him a bit on a string (take, for example, her insistence on wearing the necklace or her questioning Natsuo before he left whether breaking up meant that their time meant nothing). Taken with the full scope in play- her estrangement in America, Natsuo's failure to write (she never inquired enough to even know)- and these actions feel less like innocent gestures and more like manipulation.

Then there's the whole engagement breakoff thing. I don't think the author intended this; but, that, too, felt a bit selfishly motivated. While Rui appears to be doing it in order to honor Hina, she admits to herself that she feels she can't compete with Hina. It's important to note that this isn't something that's even necessarily true, from Natsuo's perspective. It's her giving in to her own insecurities once she knew how deeply her sister loved him. I found that motivation, given that he loved her and was planning a future around her, extremely self-centered. Despite all her growing, Rui let her own insecurities hurt Natsuo and deprive him of a companion. Given that Hina's condition was expected to never improve, this was basically a life sentence. I found myself angry with her at that point, even as Natsuo readily agreed because he, like Hina, would give up anything for the people he loves.

Ultimately, I still loved Rui's character; but, it was clear that she didn't grow to the point where she could have maintained a healthy relationship with Natsuo. I found this tragic and disappointing (of the character, not the writing).

Other Memorable Characters

Momo

God damn it, Momo's arc was initially so sad. It was clear how lonely she was from the get go, and her interest in Natsuo only solidified into infatuation when he treated her with respect despite her self harm. While the scene of Natsuo finally confessing to Rui was one of the emotional high points of the story to me, what immediately preceeded it- leaving Momo, literally and figuratively naked, vulnerable, and alone- was devastatingly heartbreaking. At this point in the story, I was clearly hoping for him and Rui to be together. That scene made me forget it entirely, for just a moment, and hope that he'd give her a chance.

I was so thankful that Momo got the happy ending she deserved, while not sacrificing the unique character she was. While a few of the others (Barusu and Fumin, for example) seemed to be reduced by their relationships to tropes of themselves, Momo was always the happy girl who loved everybody and owned her sexuality.

Miyabi

I'll be honest here- Miyabi should have been a contender for Natsuo's heart. I loved her arc of dismissing him early on and then seeing his resolve. Her feelings that develop for him felt so honest, and her lack of knowledge of how to express them endearing.

Additionally, the two characters had such extreme drive that they would have served each other well while still understanding each other's frustrations. She's the one who found a way to truly help Natsuo during his big slump (despite Hina's attempts). Her teaching him to express himself through acting was the best gift that anyone in the story gave him. She's sweet and supportive, cares deeply about him, and brings out the absolute best in him.

When Natsuo turned her down, I literally dropped my head into my tablet with a sigh. "Really, man?", I thought. "You couldn't even give your feelings a chance to grow now that you feel Rui and Hina are both unattainable?" I know that one of the major themes with this story is that the heart wants what the heart wants; but, damn it, this hurt.

Al

I mentioned before that the story stumbles with characters, and Al is the main example. I can forgive a trope-like, stereotypical American character. Al's initial boisterous attitude and forwardness is endearing, if not a bit annoying.

But, let's be completely clear here: he attempted to rape Rui.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about this. Al forced himself onto Rui, pushed her onto a futon, tore open her clothing, and was only stopped when Natsuo intervened. No amount of drinking matters when evaluating this- it's attempted rape, pure and simple.

I found the dismissal of this so unbelievable that it bordered on insulting. I have heard the arguments that it's a cultural thing that everyone would try to just get along, and it's possible I just don't understand. However, Rui herself being interested in Al after this still doesn't feel at all realistic to me. I've known victims of attempted rape and sexual abuse. While it is possible to heal and move on, I can't imagine any of them ever being completely at ease with their attackers (let alone consider dating them).

My only explanation is that this was a bit of a narrative misstep, that Al was supposed to push a boundry and remain a valid character and the rape scene was a mistake. Nevertheless, I couldn't see him as anything but a scumbag from that point forward.

Togen

Jesus Christ, as a new father, this one nearly broke me. I figured Togen was going to be the "rough teacher with a gentle side" cliche, but he turned out to go way past that. When we discovered that Forester's star playwrite was his daughter and the flashback about his son occured, I had to put everything down and take a break. When he died and it showed him reuinted with his son in the afterlife, I couldn't stifle sobs.

In addition to that, his relationship with Natsuo as a surrogate father and mentor is very fleshed out and well played. Togen is an amazing character, despite being a somewhat ancilary cast member until the end.

Plot and Scenes

The series has a lot of comedic filler; but, I think it shines most at the dramatic climaxes. The scenes that always jump to mind are the night when Rui is frantically searching for her hair pin. The moment Natsuo realizes that she can't let go because it was given to her the first time he called her cute was such a turning point. It could have fallen completely flat, but was handled with expert pacing and tension.

Additionally, all the confessions felt like watershed moments, even when they turned out to be misfires (still mad about Miyabi). Every one of them tugs at the readers heart strings and drives the pace forward.

The comedy was fine, though a bit sophmoric. The interlude when all the guys are trying to figure out whose bra they found felt very forced, like a bad 80's coming of age film. I felt the comedy really shown through with some of the throwaway lines, however. When a character would be replaced by an angry chibi version of themselves and respond in a funny way, it broke up the drama and gave the reader a welcome smile.

Taboos

The initial plot device, the twin taboos of teacher / student and step-sibling relationships, is an obvious contrivance. I was pretty quick to forgive that, considering how likable most of the characters became. For me, at least, the idea of these things being taboo quickly became rather toothless.

The greater of the two (in my opinion) is the teacher / student taboo. Hina and Natsuo's age discrepency is small enough that it would be dismissed just a few years after their relationship bloomed and ended. That said, there's the hierarchical aspect- teacher and student relationships inherently cause a conflict of interest. Second, there's the adult vs juvenile aspect. Natsuo was a fairly mature teenager; but, Hina had just enough of a lead that she should have been the adult in the scenario and stopped the relationship before it could start. The fact that she didn't is the most significant misstep her character ever makes, and arguably her most self-serving choice.

As for the step-sibling relationship, I've never known anyone in the scenario. However, it really failed to seem like a big deal other than some potential for others to clutch their pearls in horror. Maybe I'm missing something huge here, and there are definitely aspects that would be awkward; but, hardly it seemed hardly as bad as the comic wanted to sell us. The one part of this that made a difference is that there's a love triangle between the three of them, which added a little bit more of an "ick-factor" to the step sibling aspect.

I guess, especially in the frame of a high-school melodrama, the taboo hardly seemed as important as the relationship tug of war between Rui and Hina.

The Ending

I'll start by saying that where the story went and landed is perfectly fine. I don't particularly disagree with any of the ending twists or the conclusion as written. I say this as someone who was rooting for Rui for probably 3/4 of the series.

All that said, some of volume 27 and pretty much all of volume 28 felt hackneyed and rushed. The time jump after Hina's accident forced everything to be told by exposition or flashback, which seems to have been a poor choice. Further, Hina's "miraculous recovery" was reduced not only to a single chapter, but to a single panel within a chapter. This was a terrible disservice to character and is a perfect example of when writers are warned to "show, don't tell." Again, I have no problem with the fairy tale ending, and I think Rui's odd actions actually track well with the faults of her character. But, it all felt unearned as a narrative, as if Sasuga was summarizing the story she'd written somewhere else. I want to know more about Natsuo's daughter and their family dynamic. I want to see more of how Hina overcame her injuries and how she was motivated. Instead, we're told "their dynamic is good" and "she overcame them with love." This was dissatisfying.

I also have to echo someone else- the fact that his book was a titular reference felt cliched and forced; but, that didn't bother me too much. This series dealt with a lot of cliches and tropes, often in a playful way, so it was par for the course.

Overall, I'm very glad to have read this. The characters resonated well, the "special moments" in the plot stuck with me, and the melancholy plotlines geniunely landed and touched me. I would like to have seen v28 expanded into maybe 1 or 2 more volumes of chapters so that we'd better know how we got where we are; but, I'm still overall okay with how things ended.