This one is hard to give a review for since they are all individual oneshots and each deserves different scores. Still I felt I wanted to give a accurate review so I will leave all the rest blank except the overall score since the overall score is required. The overall score will reflect the average between all the scores. Even though the score will be low one of my favorite oneshots is within this book. That being said I will score each oneshot individually here in the review.
Before Daybreak - By: Tanaka Rin
Story: 9.5/10 Art: 8/10 Characters: 9/10 Overall: 9/10
The only thing about this oneshot that was not exceptional was the art. Though in truth the art kinda did give it a more heavy feeling so perhaps it was intentional and I judged it too harshly.
The story is excellent and well worth the read. It is a romance but the story is heavy and definately not for younger people. The main characters are messed up in different ways but the girl with the main character man's help gains her resolve to take charge of her own life. It's honestly sort of empowering in my eyes and I love the ending. I think I remember reading a continuation of this oneshot in the form of another oneshot somewhere at somepoint though I cannot remember what book it was in. However, the story is really well written and has a lot of depth for how short it is.
The Characters are all relatable in my eyes and made with realistic quirks and personalities. So I really liked the characters in this and felt they were perfectly made for this type of story. Even though the story was short the girl especially was able to evolve quite a bit.
As a fair warning this whole book of oneshots has smut so if you cannot handle seeing sex in a manga then none of these would probably be your cup of tea but it's too bad if that is the case cause you are missing out on a really good story here with this first one. I would suggest it to anyone who likes romance with realistic adult drama. This story is by no means shallow.
Back Light - By: Tsumika Abe
Story: 7/10 Art: 6/10 Characters: 6/10 Overall: 6.5/10
This story was kinda difficult for me to read. It is a tragedy. It took it pretty far over the top and so it became difficult for me to continue to read. Unlike with the previous oneshot where It felt too short... this one seemed to drag on. I was able to read through the whole thing without giving up on it. However, I don't think I will ever desire to read it again. The scores are decent because I do think there would be some people who would like reading this manga a lot more than me.
The story for this one as I said it seemed over the top to me. I mean we are talking about insestuous rape, miscarrages because the character was dying, both main characters have messed up backgrounds and are dying from different things and they slowly decline throughout the story. There were parts where I felt for the characters but a lot of it really felt over done and forced at times. It also felt as though some of the most tramatic things were barely touched on and only put in the story in a sort of matter of fact way with little feeling or explination. the story seemed to take the back seat to the smut a lot of times and the smut felt overly done. If you did like the story though, there is a second part to it somewhere. I am not sure what it is called or if it is a oneshot sequel in another book or a expansion to the story which has a whole manga book to itself however, I do remember seeing it somewhere a long time ago so I know they have made one. This story in particular is not finished in this oneshot so if you ended up liking it you will need to find the continuation.
The art was not great. Don't get me wrong I have seen much worse. However, it was probably the worst art in this book of oneshots. That being said, I did like a few of the pictures. One was of the girl who had cancer when she was smiling and had a hat on her head over her lost hair and she looked cozy and happy even though she was near death.
The main characters could have had more depth to them. The idea behind each character was not bad. However, I did not really feel very close to any of them. I guess out of the characters I did feel the most for the main character girl who had cancer but all of the characters really needed to be fleshed out more. I know it is a one shot and so in some cases you should be more forgiving. However, even for a oneshot these characters felt kinda flat. It's sad because they have potential.
So overall, if your bored and feel like continuing the book after the first oneshot by all means read it. However, don't come to this one with high expectations due to how good the last story in this book was cause you will be disappointed. I do think there are probably some people who would really like this story even with all it's flaws. As for me however, I would rate it as a bit below average.
Talking to your fingertips - By: Saurano Nayuna
Story: 3/10 Art: 7.5/10 Characters: 4/10 Overall: 5/10
This story is horrible and I am usually pretty liberal in my ratings so I rarely rate something so low. This story really bothered me. It was super unrealistic. Some parts of this story were borderline discusting and I would be hard pressed to call this romance and not something that goes in maybe the psychological section alone. Though all of the romance in this book is not normal this is the only one that is off putting and offensive to me. I mean it's bad. Really bad.
The story went in a strange direction. First I have to say, I see nothing wrong with large age gaps in romance. So long as both the people are of legal age I have nothing much I would say about it other than that it is difficult for someone so much older in real life to truly love someone much younger on a deep level other than as a platonic parental figure because their maturity ends up getting in the way. Don't get me wrong... if we are talking about sex then no matter the age gap so long as they are attracted to eachother it is very feasable but when it comes to getting to know and understand each other on a deeper level it is unlikely.
In this manga. The man is old enough to be the girls father... in fact, the man is her father's brother by adoption. The guy is slightly off himself, so I cannot only blame the girl in this. Even though the girl is insane. The guy seems to have developed an awkward love for her since she was small. He writes all his picture books about her. However, to me, that alone is not something for alarm. After all, he had no kids of his own and probably thought she was cute in a older brother or even parental way. However, the girl has been obsessed with him openly from the beginning. She would follow him around, embarrass him in front of his friends, and when her parents noticed they told him to stop drawing her or move away. Personally after all she was doing I would have picked the stop drawing her option and in addition move away unlike him. So that's part of the reason I found him to be a bit off as well. Maybe had formed a secret crush on a child, though he knew it was wrong and would do nothing about it. Another reason for him deciding to leave the city instead of quit drawing her could have been that her harrassment had got so intense since she came to see him everywhere telling people there is something between her as a child and him as an adult that he used it as an excuse to get away to where she could not reach him (he was rediculously passive and she was rediculously assertive). When he moved away from the city, as a child, she could not follow him all over during the day like she did when he moved only out of the house earler on in the story. So in a effort to still harass him into thinking about her she mass mailed love letters. None of which earned a reply. When he got into a car accident she talked her parents into letting her fly down to help her grandmother take care of him and once there welcomed herself to use his key to his house and went through his things. Apparently he was slightly off because he kept all her mail to him in a cute box and even wrote a reply that he never sent and most likely never meant for her to see. Aparently in a moment of weakness he wrote a letter back to her though the content was not shown it seemed it helped her feel more entitled to continue. So finding this only enforced her stupidity. He also showed a dislike for her getting involved with men though it was faint and he still told her to go ahead and do it. However, as I said she had already read his one letter that was never sent in response to her many so she decided to force herself on him taking him out of the hospital on a date of sorts promicing to leave the next day as he had asked her to. Then before taking him back to the hospital she had sex with him in the car when he couldn't move his legs. He put up a large protest in the beginning but apparently wanted her as well after she continued. Though he should have known jumping down that rabbit hole with her already stalkerish tendencies was a bad idea. Honestly, he had no choice in the matter though cause he could not move his legs, his only other option could have been open the door to the car and attempt to crawl away... that is, even if he could have got himself out of her clutches to do so to begin with. However, he seemed to generally enjoy the sex feeling quite bad afterward. Later in the story he asked her if she ever even thought about his feelings at all which just devolves into more sex because she doesn't want to hear this. It's unfortuate. For the record I am sure most people know that stalking someone and harrassing them won't get a person results and forcing themselves continually on someone for their own selfishness... most likely won't earn them a place at their side. It is for this reason that I would never ever call this oneshot romance... what it is... I don't know for sure but definately not romance. I know I gave away a lot of this story but... it was so horrible it warrented understanding. In the end the guy dies at 50 years old. Probably from suffication from the girl being all over him. She told him to take responsibility at one point so it looks like he did in a way. I wonder if she was ever able to see herself for what she truly was before the end. There is a time skip but nothing is really explained about it in depth so how she matured, if at all, is unknown.
The story was horrible based on the content not the authors ability to write the story though. Even though it was a horrible story it did not feel amaturish in it's presentation. It flowed well.
The art in this one is just about average quality. It wasn't bad at all but not memorable eather. I really don't have much to say about the style at all other than it was done decently compared to other works.
The characters I go in to pretty well in my review of the story. So repeating myself too much would be annoying. Both main characters had issues. The girl was the one I had the majority of the issues with though. She was selfish and ignorant of what she put others through thinking if she could just have sex instead of discussing her stupidity it would solve all problems. The main guy's character was too passive and obviously harbored some feelings for the girl though it is debatable if he really came to support their relationship or was just being pushed around and allowing it reluctantly. His reluctance to speak up to her or say how he really felt outright was irritating to me so I really couldn't like or feel sorry for his character either.
Overall: I would say skip over this one unless you are interested from what I have revealed above about the story. I think this story really caters to only a small specialized crowd of people. Honestly I may have been able to appreciate it more if it was not placed in the romance genre and the ending was less ambiguous and more realistic. (Sorry for the extra long review of this oneshot)
Phantom Pain - By: Kyouko Kamishiro
Story: 7.5/10 Art: 7.5/10 Characters: 8/10 Overall: 7.5/10
This oneshot had a good story. It flowed well and was understandable and realistic. So although it is not one that is super memorable to me I could see it being memorable to someone else. It seems geared to a younger crowd than the previous ones and it gives a good message which is always a plus.
The art is nothing spectacular but it is by no means bad. It is about average like most of the art in this book of oneshots. There is really nothing for me to harp on about it or say was exceptional.
The characters were understandable and their back stories were explained pretty well for how shor the story was. Honestly I had no issues with eather of the characters nor was there anything that made them exceptional in my eyes. If I was to say anything about them it would be that the main character guy seemed nice and was willing to do what it took to make the girl realize that her way of thinking was not making things better for her. Which earned him points with me.
Over all I would say it's a good story worth reading. However, to me it was not something that I will come back to read spicificly simply because it didn't really stick out to me. That's not to say it was bad though. So my suggestion is to give it a try.
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