Aiiro Shinwa

This manga is very different. It started out perhaps a bit rough; I almost wrote it off. But then I realized that, although having a bit of a slow start, it was surprisingly, subtlely well done. I gave it a chance, and WOW. It was breathtaking. The characterization is subtle but beautiful. You see so many different sides of both characters; they go so far beyond their character stereotypes. It was just fascinating! Surprisingly, I felt like I identified with Keiko, and I truly came to care for her. Rarely do we come to love protagonists and truly root for their happiness. Seems like we canjust find them amusing or tolerable, but Keiko was different. She was...very relatable. Very real. Everything from her attitudes about school, her future aspirations, her love life, and then Kosuke is just very realistic. I LOVED her epiphany. And Kosuke also reaches beyond the stereotypical fluffy guy. His pain and his passion for film was equally as breathtaking. And watching them grow from their lighthearted, perhaps insecure high school days to mature adults close to realizing success was fantastic. This story isn't super flashy or funny. The art is sort of odd but managed to be pleasant once you got used to it. And it did play on a lot of cliches. But it was done insightfully and carefully. I don't necessarily agree with some of the messages, but I still greatly enjoyed it. So, y'know. It could either be really boring or really touching. Depends on your attitude going in, I suppose.