Season of Alabaster

Despite giving this a 6.5/10 (which could have easily been an 8/10, sadly...), I'd recommend you read 'Alabaster no Kisetsu'. First, the glaring shortcomings this manga has: 1) Unneeded plot points mid-way which, in my opinion, contributed to a degradation of the overall quality (pacing, plot points, character consistency). These 'developments' appeared just to disappear shortly, stirring controversy and feeling absolutely out of character for this manga. 2) Quite possibly related to 1), the series appears to have been soft-axed. It really feels like the controversial decisions led to backlash from an editor/magazine/whatever. The latter half feels rushed and while the mangaka manages to wrap things up, it'sall too hectic. At least it's a better wrap-up than MANY other cases. Moving onto the good points: 1) It's a short series. You don't need to invest a lot of time into it, so some of the plot point fiasco doesn't come after 60 chapters of stellar character building. No sunk cost fallacy issues, in other words. If you got 2-3 hours free, you're done with the series. 2) The topic/focus is interesting. Artsy manga that includes a healthy mix of drama, romance, technical details/terminology and pretty darn good explanations. This one also has a youthful atmosphere plastered all over it, in the good way (not too cheesy, not too infantilizing). A lot of things could have been better - but the series manages to score rather high on consistency in all its main points. 3) Art style. The big emphasis I put here is on the nudity, which the series has a lot of. It's presented in a very classy, introspective, you might even say analytical way. Sometimes erotic, never smutty. Toned-down, yet alluring or playful. A very nice strike of balance. A part of me is sad how the mangaka decided to go for stray plot points that most probably cost the series a longer run/better story progression. It does feel like a rookie mistake, so maybe the author is still making baby steps. Hope that's the case and we'll see a better follow-up! Related recommendations: 'Natsu no Zenjitsu' for a more dramatic, torrential story between two strong characters. 'Sen wa, Boku wo Egaku' for a more introvertive, shy, and romantic in a very soothing way approach.