Smile! Sotomura-san

*This manga finished at 121 chapters with a following epilogue chapter. Just personal scratch. Advised, possible spoilers. Opinion & Informal Art: 6/10 The anatomy and proportions of the characters checked out. No nature showcases. Backgrounds were average. Supporting details and extras were also average-looking. Being a 4-koma and considering the synopsis, much of the art was primarily focused on Satomura's facial expressions so faces and bust shots were the large majority of framing. I think that the art began to get a bit repetitive at some point. The variation of facial expressions and reactions began to get stagnant at some point. Sotomura's scary face more or less looked thesame because the angle at which it was shown, the circumstance, and small details were the same. Even the punchline reactions from the other characters felt reused or the same. Basically, Sotomura's facial expressions were either, straight, a great smile which was a punchline, or a scary face that looked the same for more than half the manga and was constantly used as a setup for the punchline. Only later in the manga did the artist try experimenting with different scary face angles, having one eye more closed than the other, different mouth positions, etc. Overall, the art was about average for a 4-koma, but the noticeable attempt to mix things up a bit later on was appreciated and helped keep things fresh. Panel Progression: 6/10 There were plenty of supporting tones to keep the panels nice-looking and many of the tones did a great job in adding spice. The pacing of the entirety of the manga felt right too. The pacing of the individual koma sets felt fine. What I didn't like about the overall pacing and panel progression was the repetitiveness of the gags. Some intros, gag setups, and punchlines were used more than once. The panel clarity was clear and many of the jokes were straightforward. Characters: 6/10 The characters were fine. I felt that the characters were stuck in the mood of the manga. Characters couldn't break out of the mold that the plot made for them other than Sotomura, or at least, their developments weren't explored too deeply. For example, the class rep was used for the exact same gag structure for 90% of her screen time: she see's Sotomura, Sotomura does something that causes a misunderstanding (usually just a scary face with a particular choice of words), and the punchline is the class rep's terrified face or reaction. That was what the class rep was for probably all of her appearances.; the class rep's personality and development was like a rock. It never changed and was only useful for 1 or 2 specific gags (I'm not counting the end because that was obviously just because it was rushed). Likewise, the same goes for the background male characters, the "rival" delinquents, etc. Sure, Hina was a great addition and she had a lot of potential to expand on the story as well as Sotomura's development, but Hina was suddenly dropped without a proper conclusion to her just as abruptly as she was introduced so late into the manga. Hina was nowhere to be seen in the manga's conclusion and she never even got a cameo to conclude her at all. The dynamics between the characters was fine but also suffered from becoming a bit too repetitive later on. That's why I appreciate Hina's appearance towards the end of the manga. It's a shame that Hina wasn't used more often as her interactions with Sotomura were a breath of fresh air from the 80 or so previous chapters of the same formula. Hina was my favorite character and I really wished I could have seen more on her. Character designs were plain, but at least Sotomura's was focused on so much that Sotomura became more distinct and recognizable which is a plus. Plot & Development: 6/10 The plot is very simple and that's fine. I was also fine with the choice to keep things simple, but that's just it. If there was a choice made to keep the development of the characters and branching plot reigned in, then I can't expect the story to develop into something I'd call amazing. The plot was straightforward and the development was just as linear: Sotomura can't smile > Sotomura can smile. This manga is exactly that, just insert 100 or so chapters of gags that follow the exact same formula with almost no deviation. That lack of deviation is what made this manga fall short for me. Conclusion: 6/10 The ending was clearly rushed. In the span of 2 chapters, the characters, the plot, and the development made a huge shift. Abruptly, characters did things out of character for the sake of wrapping up their relationships with Sotomura as well as to set up the conclusion for a happy one. That felt weird. Out of nowhere the characters one by one would see Sotomura's good side in such a short span of time. Overall: 6/10 Overall, the conclusion felt way too rushed and out of left field, but if we're talking about the overall product, yes, I liked the ending. While I was a bit annoyed with the rushed nature of everything, I really took a liking to what Sotomura had become. The development of Sotomura's character was simple and definitely not worth it for the length of this manga, but a smile as wonderful as that was worth it. This is worth a read if you just want something you can turn your brain off to and aren't looking for anything to read in one go. This is more something you'd read in super small bits and pieces.