I went into this mange with high hopes. I don’t find many series with older characters and so I was excited to see some real world problems to take a break from the high school does she like me, doesn’t she scenarios. This didn’t deliver.
Characters
I don’t know why the mangaka didn’t take the time to build well developed characters. I literally had to go back and google the characters because the only name I remembered was Nozomaki? Nozomi, I was close! Nozomi is the heroine in this story and I literally know nothing about her. Does she have siblings? Are her parents alive? Did she date a lot before her current relationship with Shintarou? Your guess is as good as mine.
Shintarou, the main hero, somehow has both the same and opposite problem. We learn a lot about his history, but the more we learn about him the more questions I have. He’s so diligent and hardworking in his career, but with Nozomi and outside of work he’s a lazy slob. Um, okay. They sort-of go into detail about why in the later chapters, but it seems like a rushed excuse and he makes no effort to change even though he “loves” Nozomi.
There are a good amount of side characters, but there’s no point in talking about any of them because they only pop-up to perfectly assist our main couple and then they disappear into whatever panel they hang out in until we need them again.
Setting and Atmosphere
It’s a modern day romance although they don’t make use of their cell phones. At one point in the series they are fighting, or miscommunication or whatever was happening and they couldn’t even bother text each other. Like, what!?! I find that a little unbelievable especially since they are supposed to be a couple seriously dating for marriage. The whole vibe of the anime is playful and dark simultaneously. Shintarou has some serious issues that need therapy. Everyone in his life agrees that he has issues. They also agree that it will all be fixed as long as he stays at Nozomi’s side. (Nozomi RUN!)
Plot and Story
The plot gets lost in the overall commotion of the manga. It feels as though there was a checklist that the mangaka was trying to complete in order to complete the series. At most points they were cohesive and I found myself flipping through pages to make sure I was in the correct place and didn’t miss any pages (or chapters).
The plot is supposed to be about Shintarou and Nozomi seriously dating for marriage, but Nozomi sees him as a ‘good for nothing’. Why she stay with him is beyond me although she claims its love neither character does anything to show that they care about each other. We don’t get many cute scenes or interaction and when we do it leads directly into some awkward sex or sexual attraction.
Writing Style
Even though I basically just went on a rant about the series it was actually written very well. Some pages were text heavy with onamatomepas and so I skipped through those pages. For example, the scenes when they are working and talking about what needs to get done, I immediately skipped those panels after I quickly realized it didn’t add to the story and wasn’t need.
Overall Enjoyment
Overall the manga wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good. What I feel like really tipped it into the mediocre category was the ending. It felt as though we didn’t get a complete story. If the whole series didn’t happen we wouldn’t even notice because it ended the same way it started. Nozomi and Shintarou dating seriously with the intent on getting married and Nozomi seeing him as a ‘good-for-nothing’.
I would skip this one.
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