Whispered Words

Story was pretty good, if not a bit cliché. You get the same cookie cutter drama as with "most" love stories (dead relatives, inability to communicate, transfer student, bla bla). There's a few chapters where things get very real, and you feel the characters' frustration. I was impressed with how easy it was to empathize with pretty much everyone. What drags it down is the last few chapters that were quite confusing, without spoiling anything. It was still worth reading, though. Art is very good, not much else to say. I absolutely loved the characters. I enjoyed how the protagonist was so boring without being boringat all. She's a very fleshed out character with a lot going on. The love interest was honestly a little bland, with little conflict going on. She just spent the entire story being either frustrated or waiting patiently for stuff to happen. The supporting characters were fantastic, especially Mayu. In the end, I enjoyed the story a lot. It was carried by the strong protagonist and the interesting supporting characters.

This is a very good but very flawed work. It has some high highs, some low lows, and a lot of confusing plots and periods of pacing. To put it simply, I wanted it to be better than it actually is. Funnily enough, I think the characters are fairly weak in this story as a whole; they should have been more than who they were. Sumika is a strong almost perfect girl that "isn't cute." She is the epitome of a teenage girl, and I think that is a good thing. She knows who she wants to be but can't: a cute girl that fits Ushio'spartner preference. She struggles between wanting to be close to Ushio as a best friend while wanting to be able to express her love to her. Ushio is that sunshine-smiling girl that overcomes her struggles as a girl who loves girls that never shows what's wrong to others, but there is a tragic struggle that haunts her past. Luckily, Sumika is there to help her through all struggles.. but maybe there's more? These two characters are fickle and wishy-washy, which gets pretty frustrating at times. Every other character is actually pretty simple, though that isn't always a bad thing. So the story... It's a mixed bag. The beginning is really good and interesting as feelings are discovered and struggled with and against. Conflicts of the heart arise constantly, as one would expect of a teenage drama slice of life. The issue comes as the story continues, the pacing gets strange, and the characters begin to go back and forth. Honestly, the writing starts to work against itself, as it feels more fitting for an anime rather than a manga. Multiple events will be going on at the same time on the same page without distinction, and important events are given through flashbacks and in a very unclear manner. There are many really strong moments that are written well, but I still found myself asking, "So what was that about?" and "Wait, so what's going on between these two characters then?" A part of me wants to pretend that the bad parts aren't there to give it a higher score--one I wish it deserves--but I can't. 6/10 I.. still think this is worth a read. The strong emotional moments still has me recommend this series, but I say be cautious of the weird writing and pacing. Prepare to read some parts more than once to really understand what's happening, and it will help. It's good, but man there is a lot preventing it from reaching the greatness I hoped it would be.

In short, disappointing. What could've been a short and emotionally moving GL ended up a tired, worn out, and confusing wreck. Misunderstandings, rivals, doubt, and the inability to speak ones mind are real parts of love. Unfortunately, Sasameki Koto loops through these clichés with absolutely no respect for the reader's time. Past chapter 15 character and plot progression slow to a crawl, making it genuinely difficult to remember anything changing other than circumstance or the misunderstanding of the week for 31 chapters and heartbreaking moments eventually blend into a general sense of frustration. The author in his afterword's frequently jokes, "the story will finally reach it'sclimax! Probably... Maybe..." which shows a befuddling amount of self awareness. This disappointing midsection could be somewhat looked over if it weren't for the absolute mess of an ending. The author jumps between scenes at a frenzied pace, leaving no time whatsoever to properly flesh out what should be incredibly moving moments. The climax of the story comes out of nowhere in the form of a flashback with little if any buildup. It's a shame that the last 15 or so chapters frequently left me wondering if I'd skipped a chapter or if my reading comprehension had simply gotten up and left. Upon a reread there are simply too many threads, too many scenes being split between chapters to really feel confident in what's going on. If you can handle a never-ending sequence of melodrama, this manga is for you. More than half of this manga's contents could've been erased from the mangaka's hard drive and the story would've been all the better for it. A shame when taking into consideration how strong the opening volumes were.