YMMV / Adachi and Shimamura

• Base-Breaking Character: Both of the leads are rather divisive.
  • Adachi. Detractors don't like how she seems to be a Clingy Jealous Girl for Shimamura, which isn't helped by the fact that Adachi doesn't have any notable friendships with people besides Shimamura, and considers her relationship with Shimamura the only one she needs. Fans, however, contend that Adachi is understandably insecure about her relationship given her past experiences, and that even if this is unhealthy, it's a natural flaw that can be overcome as she matures and grows closer to Shimamura.
  • Shimamura is also rather divisive. Some of her detractors accuse her of not caring for Adachi at all even after they get into a relationship, since Adachi is clearly the one who's more emotionally invested in their relationship (assuming one doesn't consider that a point against Adachi, as seen above). Fans, however, argue that Shimamura, like Adachi, has her own experiences that shape her worldview, and that she's also an emotionally immature teenager who's trying to navigate her relationship with her best friend and girlfriend. One particularly controversial incident is when Shimamura responds to Adachi's rambling about seeing her with Tarumi by saying that it was "a pain." Detractors consider her to be extremely insensitive to Adachi, while some people who are critical of Adachi think Adachi's response to her crush hanging out with an old friend is excessive.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: During her first visit to the gym, Shimamura notes an obvious Lolicon staring at children taking swimming classes. She let's out an disgusted "Yikes" before leaving the place. This has nothing to do with anything else that happened in that chapter and is never referenced again.
• Broken Base: As the Base-Breaking Character entries show, whenever a conflict between the two leads come up, arguments inevitably arise as to whether Adachi is too possessive of Shimamura or Shimamura is too callous toward Adachi's feelings. A separate but related controversy is whether these conflicts are contrived ways to produce artificial drama, or the natural result of the characters' flaws.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Yashiro, due to being a cute and kind alien girl.
• Funny Moments:
  • During a televised program about horoscopes, Shaman Taoka accidentally breaks her neck while leaning too far back in one appearance and shows up in a wheelchair and neck brace in subsequent appearances.
  • The fact that Adachi gets the epiphany that breaks her out of her funk from a rather shady fortuneteller who's apparently on the run from the police.
• Heartwarming Moments
  • After the "sauna battle" between Shimamura and Mrs. Adachi, the latter actually has dinner for her daughter. The younger Adachi feels awkward about it, but it's a start toward bridging the gap between mother and daughter.
  • Shimamura remembering her Affectionate Nickname for Tarumi and making a conscious effort to call her that. Perhaps their relationship won't quite be the same as it was when they were young, but Shimamura does value her connection to Tarumi.
  • On Valentine's Day, Shimamura takes Adachi to the station, where she managed to get a Valentine's Day message to Adachi to play, asking them to stay close.
  • The story of how a young Shimamura came to care for her grandmother's dog Gon, and looked forward to seeing him this year. Reminiscing on how much she cares for him helps Shimamura realize that she can, in fact, love others.
• Moe: Aside from the titular duo, Yashiro is a ridiculously cute alien girl.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Adachi goes on a pages-long rant asking what she is to Shimamura, and only receives a single-word response, "Annoying," which causes her to believe that she's destroyed their relationship. It turns out that Shimamura barely understood Adachi's rant, but it goes to show how easily people who care about each other can hurt each other without meaning to.
  • The fact that in the flash-forward, Adachi's relationship with her mother has deteriorated to the point at which the two are no longer in contact.
  • In Volume 10, Shimamura meets up with Tarumi, admits that she's in a relationship with Adachi (although she doesn't mention her by name) and ends up making Tarumi cry. Neither one of them says it outright, but they both know that their friendship is essentially over, and Shimamura regrets ever reconnecting with Tarumi.
• Values Dissonance: Adachi and Shimamura being jokingly labelled "delinquents". Neither of them is particularly bothered by it and will sometimes use the term on each other. Shimamura only ever protests against it in her inner monologues ^note  At one point she claims that she and Adachi are "fake delinquents". For Westerns, this comes across as a very forced if not downright nonsensical joke, as it's established early on that they received this label for skipping class and dyeing their hair, neither of which is that bad of a transgression. However, Japan has a different view on those activities. Japanese value doing your best in school and getting good grades even more than Westerns, and thus there is greater stigma for those who intentionally don't put effort into their studies. Also, dyed hair has been a common form of protest against beauty stereotypes in Japan (which include long and smooth black hair) in modern times. This has the side-effect of ensuring most Japanese would associate dyed hair with rebellion and delinquency.