Akaiito

Hmm...how should i say this... This manga is a...confusing manga to review. The story starts off with this comedic hyped up prologue that consists of the intro of 7 characters. Immediately I thought it will be a comedic vingette revolving around the 7 because the summary mentions the "red strings of fate" that connects them. The second prologue chapter dives deeper with this concept, giving a sneak peak of what the manga was like. I was actually pretty hyped up about reading the manga, it seemed interesting and unique since I like manga that focuses on a range of characters instead of just the coupleprotagonists. However that came crashing down when I realize it wasn't actually like that. I guess the mangaka changed her mind or something because the actual manga turned out to be totally different. It turned out to be more like your typical rom-com shoujo manga with two protagonists and their best friends who adds to the story when only when convenient and nothing to do with a connecting string of fate. Basically, of the 7, 2 are main, 2 are semi-main, but really do not add much to story at all (i guess they are actually side characters then?), 1 pops up during the beginning and middle as a love rival, and then randomly appears at the end just to tie the characters up to the finale, 1 hardly even appears, only showing up around 5 times maybe for brief moments, and the last character of the supposed 7 didnt even make an appearance at all. The characters are all right, its hard to find characters that break out of the shoujo characters archetypes. This manga's characters does a pretty ok job at trying to break out of them. For one, the main guy has light hair instead if dark lol. He would most resemble the "flashy-playboy-turned-loyal" type, however he wasnt a playboy at all really. Although he teases the main girl a lot, like how most of the main males act, he is way more chill than most, being happy-go-lucky rather than sadistic. The main girl would be the tsundere type and although she cried a bunch, its an upgrade from the submissive crybaby type that dominates the heroine role of shoujo manga. The others didn't make much appearance to really judge but they are alright, following an archetype with some differences. The art was pretty good. I liked the character designs well enough and the proportions and facial expressions makes sense. In all, to be honest, I was disappointed and kinda felt cheated because the manga wasnt what it was suppose to be like at all. Not so say what the manga actually was is bad, because it's not. Its a pretty decent rom-com shoujo and I would still recommend even though its not like the summary description. I guess its fine if you skip the prologue chapters?