High School Debut
Feb 3, 2015This was a really juvenile story about a doe-eyed hyper high school girl in complete infatuation with her first relationship. Now, I liked Haruna a lot. She was a charming character a lot of the time, really strong and energetic. But this story has been told a million times and if it's botched, it's a dreadfully boring story, and this was. Kimi ni todoke would be an example of a good rendering of the exact same issues and characters. Haruna is desperate for love and for anyone (she actually says this! anyone who likes me will do!) and she starts dating Yoh almost immediately. So whereas usually with this type of cool, indifferent, stoic Yoh character can be quite appealing in a romance story because of the slow development and the significance of him showing any emotion, all of that is washed away when they start their relationship. Everyone knows that in a good romance, the best part is almost always the beginning just before they reveal their feelings, as they draw close then pull away a dozen times. This doesn't happen in this story at all. Haruna's devotion to Yoh might be cute in another story, but it just comes across as desperate and like her entire life and existence revolves around this boy. And this is quite true since there is not one episode where anything develops about anything not involving Yoh and him being either mad at her or distant or what to get him for his birthday. Haruna is always freaking out about being a good girlfriend and I can't even think of one scene where she isn't obsessing about it with her friends or alone in her bedroom. The story has no substance, no depth. Yoh himself may have a lot to do with this. The way he is drawn, he almost has no emotions. When there are close ups of his face meant to convey something significant, I almost never knew what that was because his face is always the same and it always looks blank. There is no affection between them and little romance. The story went nowhere and I read through it in 2 days just so I could be done with it and move on to anything else.
You must be logged in to leave comments. Login or sign up today!
Definitely felt this. Some of the stuff, like Yoh not getting jealous when someone forces a kiss on Haruna, or liking her when she doesn't try to be someone else, was heartwarming, but the rest just felt... lukewarm? And Kimi Ni Todoke is vastly superior in every way. Also, like, I felt there were too many contrived plot developments at the end to prevent the story from going anywhere, and the two leads were just way too accepting of that? Like, they never got angry, or even let their frustrations be vocalized (except for Yoh with Asami, but like, it just felt weak)?