Having gotten into Yuama's work through The Summer You Were There, I decided to try the author's first series, The Girl I Want Is So Handsome. Girl is quite different from Summer in many ways, being a more lighthearted and, unfortunately, less polished than Summer, in large part due to its brevity.
The story is about how Hinami "Hina" Ayukawa meets a handsome Bifauxnen named Shiki Hiiragi on her first day, and joins the basketball team to get closer to her. There's no bullying, suicidal thoughts or terminal illness here- just two girls falling in love with each other and dealing with various romantic comedy situations.
Unfortunately, the main couple isn't alll that interesting, being a standard "awkward character falls in love with the popular character" couple, and while they do have a decent arc of coming to understand each other's feelings, it would have been better executed in a longer series. While Shiki and Hina's relationships with their siblings and the impact said siblings have on their lives add some depth to their characters, they come off as rather underutilized. Additionally, Hina's friends Waka and Nonon are almost completely devoid of personality and relevance to the plot.
Shiki and Hina's teammate Rei is probably the best character in the series- not that it's saying much given the competition. While Rei comes off as a jerk at first glance, she has reasons for acting the way she does and warms up to Hina over time, as well as having a good friendship with Shiki. Unfortunately, Rei's girlfriend Hanna is rather underutilized, with most of the significant moments in their relationship happening off-panel.
The plot loses its momentum once Shiki and Hina become a couple; after that point, all that's left is one last misunderstanding that's resolved almost as soon as it's brought up, which is a bit anti-climactic. Perhaps if the story was longer, it could not only give more time to develop the various plot threads, like Shiki's brother, but also give more development to Rei and Hanna.
Despite my complaints, Girl is quite funny at times, and does have reasonably good emotional beats. All in all, Girl is often fun, if not terribly deep, but it's worth a read if you want something more lighthearted than Summer or would like to see how the works contrast.
Manga Not terribly deep but can be enjoyable
Having gotten into Yuama's work through The Summer You Were There, I decided to try the author's first series, The Girl I Want Is So Handsome. Girl is quite different from Summer in many ways, being a more lighthearted and, unfortunately, less polished than Summer, in large part due to its brevity.
The story is about how Hinami "Hina" Ayukawa meets a handsome Bifauxnen named Shiki Hiiragi on her first day, and joins the basketball team to get closer to her. There's no bullying, suicidal thoughts or terminal illness here- just two girls falling in love with each other and dealing with various romantic comedy situations.
Unfortunately, the main couple isn't alll that interesting, being a standard "awkward character falls in love with the popular character" couple, and while they do have a decent arc of coming to understand each other's feelings, it would have been better executed in a longer series. While Shiki and Hina's relationships with their siblings and the impact said siblings have on their lives add some depth to their characters, they come off as rather underutilized. Additionally, Hina's friends Waka and Nonon are almost completely devoid of personality and relevance to the plot.
Shiki and Hina's teammate Rei is probably the best character in the series- not that it's saying much given the competition. While Rei comes off as a jerk at first glance, she has reasons for acting the way she does and warms up to Hina over time, as well as having a good friendship with Shiki. Unfortunately, Rei's girlfriend Hanna is rather underutilized, with most of the significant moments in their relationship happening off-panel.
The plot loses its momentum once Shiki and Hina become a couple; after that point, all that's left is one last misunderstanding that's resolved almost as soon as it's brought up, which is a bit anti-climactic. Perhaps if the story was longer, it could not only give more time to develop the various plot threads, like Shiki's brother, but also give more development to Rei and Hanna.
Despite my complaints, Girl is quite funny at times, and does have reasonably good emotional beats. All in all, Girl is often fun, if not terribly deep, but it's worth a read if you want something more lighthearted than Summer or would like to see how the works contrast.