Under the Umbrella, with You

Was going for a fluffier angle, but wasn't really there for me. Story was quite cliché and honestly forgettable. It's hard to write something memorable in one volume, but the story lingered a little too long in the wrong parts. We spent way too long learning about Mio's bad luck with girls, and too long establishing that he gets along with Yugi and his college friends. Once things actualy start moving, we don't spend nearly enough time going into why the characters feel the way they do. In the later chapters, Yugi's feelings feel way too convenient. There's one act that may have justified part of it,but even then, for him to feel that way about Mio for so long is just too good to be true. If there was just one more volume or a couple more chapters, I really think this would've been fleshed out in a way that would've felt more satisfying. Would also like to add that, because this is one of Junko's earlier works, their characters suffer from same-face syndrome. There's seme build and uke build, and not much outside of different hairstyles to tell them apart. It does seem like their art has improved in later series, though.

I picked up this manga because I am an immense fan of Junko and took a vow long ago to read all her works. Some of her works are amazing and I will never not love her art. This story, however... was very mediocre. The story felt very rushed- it really could have been stretched out much longer. Even the individual events occurred so quickly, I would be jolted from my immersion. For example, one page was the couple kissing and the next was straight prawn. What? I was so surprised by how quickly things escalated. The characterization, while being mostly consistent, would occasionally be allover the place. I also wish Junko would design some more unique characters. These look good, but her characters to tend to look ridiculously similar to each other. The central plot is a bit cliché, not necessarily bad, but is excecated poorly. The story constantly had me going "wait, what?". Despite all this, I did think it was a fun read and was able to get through it all in one sitting.