Futari no Renai Shoka

nathandouglasdavis Mar 15, 2021

6

The interactions between the couple are pretty nice, though there are some inconsistencies with how comfortable Kanako is with blurting things out. Like, fe got embarrassed blurting out the marriage proposal, but then felt no embarrassment blurting out the cohabitation proposal, but then felt great embarrassment saying that fe loves Akio. That kind of thing made the characters feel inconsistent. I also thought it was weird how everyone referred to them as husband and wife long before they actually were. And for a relationship so far progressed that they feel comfortable matrimonially, they act strangely bashful about the most innocent of things. Again, this makes things feel inconsistent. For what it's worth, it's a G-Rated romance. Some of the attempts at emotional intimacy felt a little too forced and corny. There's some interactions involving the friends, but I didn't think that aspect was very interesting. The main drama comes from familial relationships, or the lack thereof, though honestly this aspect was not the most interesting. Akio's parents are completely out of the picture and never even make an appearance in the manga. Kanako's father is emotionally distant and has been for years, ever since the mom died. We do see the two of them interacting and some of the trauma related to these things being worked through. Kanako finds comfort in Akio reading or reciting books aloud. And what's wrong with getting comfort in another person, with pity, with licking each other's wounds? Nothing's wrong with that, this manga declares, as long as that's not all there is to the relationship. And people like what they like, this manga declares, so when you click with another person that's all the justification you need to be with them.

plumesq Dec 12, 2021

9

Honestly, I might be rating this slightly higher because I'm not experienced in reading these types of stories. I'm more used to reading high school shoujo or josei mangas, and they all follow a similar story trope.Story (a bit of spoilers):It's pretty good, and the story style is a bit new to me. Two people who just want some company. I really like that they liked each other for themselves. I also agree with some of the ideas in the story, like not needing a reason to love someone. I think the plot progression in the story is overall okay. It's not something out of this world, but not something common either. If you dislike big age gaps, or student-teacher relationships, I suggest that you don't read it. The age gaps and student-teacher relationship between Kanako's parents are pretty much the only thing that bother me.  Art:The art style in Futari no Renai Shoka is easy to read. The speech bubbles are overall not confusin. The style of the art is simple and easy. They don't put too much detail into their background though, so I guess that's the only thing I'm semi-unhappy about. Aside from that, it's fine and perfect.Characters:The characters in the story have a reasonably realistic background and life. Akio is a normal high school student and Kanako is a normal graduate. It's the fact that they're backgrounds and family lives are so relatable and realistic that really sets apart from normal characters in mangas. Most characters in other mangas have vague backstories that are badly tied together. However, with Futari no Renai Shoka, I can really see that their backgrounds were given a lot of thought and properly tied up together. Despite the fact that Akio's parent's aren't revealed in the end, we can still see how his family has affected him a lot.Overall, these components all tie the story together, giving the story a 9/10. I think that some parts still lack, like the story, but for a manga with only 12 volumes, it shows a lot, with very deep thoughts and ideas.