Saeko continues to date Yuria, Miwa keeps looking for love in… various places. Except the one space she probably could. But it’s all easy from this point, surely? Well, Saeko is getting a taste of how she feels to others and Miwa’s misfires keep piling up. And it’s a lot easier to say you’re done with the past than to make that a reality.
Interestingly, I don’t think this is the best manga I’ve read, but it is the one that I think is the absolute top tier for portraying the complexity of human emotions and the issues in figuring out who you are.
Things are less messy this time around in some aspects, but still plenty messy in others. Miwa and Saeko’s friendship is a welcome continuation, but there’s so much regret between the two of them that I will not be shocked if they come back around to one another, having grown to the point where they truly can relationship. The omake drops enough casual foreshadowing, plus a couple of very pointed moments.
Until that time, however, the challenges continue. Saeko has always been an odd duck, and it’s fascinating to see her push back against things like her coming of age ceremony, yet still feel compelled to hide the fact that she’s dating another female. She’s openly against the norm, but only as much as it doesn’t garner any blowback from society.
She and Yuria turn out to be really in sync over the worst stuff, including physical affection. The two of them trying to figure out sex proves to be a bit of an eye-opener for Saeko regarding her own behaviour. There’s a lot of love here, but it feels a lot different than the previous dynamic between our two leads and it’s a perfect little bit of nuance.
The question of intimacy is one that rarely gets addressed, including the possibility of a relationship that doesn’t involve sex at all, so seeing two people who at least say they love each other but don’t want to necessarily have sex for various reasons is absolutely fascinating new ground to see covered in a romance.
Meanwhile, Miwa is growing closer and closer to Tamaki, the generally unsmiling junior. This relationship feels much more organic, but it’s hamstrung by the participants. Miwa’s ‘many bitten, many shy’ experiences keeps her pushing back and staying closeted and this leads to incredibly mixed messages (including one very funny moment in a volume full of them).
Once Tamaki finds out Miwa’s a lesbian, well, it actually doesn’t get much better, but they have a much stronger chemistry than Saeko and Yuria in the moment to moment. They’re the more obvious fit, although Saeko and Yuria manage to get themselves at least partially figured out by the end. Which is far more movement than Miwa makes anywhere - the way time moves in this story feels especially relentless.
It’s not just complicated, it’s well written. As I said, it’s not the best writing I’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be good. And it is very, very good. I always start a volume of this thinking it’s just okay, but wind up absolutely taken with it by the end.
5 stars - not every moment is perfect, but this does so much different than most romances, not just by being about two women and set in college, that it’s impossible to overstate what an excellent series it’s turned into.