My Girl

Before, you guys start reading my review. I need to say 2 things! 1. My review contains minor spoilers, I tried my best to keep it low as possible to not to ruin the experience for you. 2. I have compared it Usagi drop (if you are not familiar with it) it's somewhat same story, settings and atmosphere. Plot: Single 23-year-old Kazama Masamune realized, he has a kid. During the season of cherry blossoms, his beloved passes away. He happens to meet a little girl outside work and realizes she is his daughter who was raised in secrecy by his lover. -This manga is a hidden gem, it reallygave me that complete satisfy feeling which I couldn't get from Usagi drop manga's ending. It's a really beautiful mid short story about a single father. All, I have to say about the story "My Girl" is that, it hits again and again with the feels train, never relenting until the end. Genres- Drama, Slice of Life, Seinen, Tragedy, Psychological Story- 10/10 (If I compare it with Usagi drop, I felt like reading a superior version of it. I really didn't like Usagi drop's 2nd half. It was utterly disappointing and Story is done by Sumomo Sensei who did many other notable works too like Kokoro Kikai, Chou ni Naru Hi, Nanairo Sekai) Art-10/10 ( It is done by the author herself, if you don't know about Sumomo. She did the artwork of Hoshi no Koe and Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan (Our happy hours) too, but unlike these "My girl" is her original story) Characters-9.5/10 ( I felt like, Kazama's late lover needs more flashbacks and character development, not everything was explained properly. Hence, -0.5 for this, aside from that everything is perfect. All other characters fits into the story naturally) Overall-9.5/10 ( I loved it, I will replace Usagi drop with "My girl" in my top 10 list. My apologies, I keep comparing it with Usagi drop again and again, but I can't just stop it. "My girl" is everything that Usagi drop failed to deliver in the 2nd half.)

I am writing this review wishing that more people would take interest in reading this manga. The story is very beautiful, realistic, and full of emotions. The story is episodic and each arc has its story to tell which always conclude perfectly. The art is very different to your typical manga (in a very likable way) and I think that its very suitable with the flow of the story. I would say the art and the story compliment each other perfectly that I wouldn't know how it would be made better. The characters were perfect, although you wouldn't see that much growth on the other charactersI am very impressed by the character development of Koharu and Masamune. Koharu's character is mature and compassionate to the feelings of other people. She always try to not give burden to Masamune, afraid that he would also loose him, that is why she isn't able to express her emotions more freely. While Masamune give's his best to to give the emotional support to Koharu while trying to move on with his love to Youko, Koharu's mother. Enjoyment, I find this very enjoyable to the extent that I would write a review so that other people would also read this and be able to feel this unexplainable happiness and content from reading a My Girl. At the very least I wish I have the right words to describe how gorgeously made this manga is (maybe i'll leave that to the expert). I definitely recommend this manga especially to those who love the Natsume Yuujinchou feeling. To Ms Sahara Mizu, thank you for creating My Girl and if a manga would be able to understand I hope you know it was " A pleasure to read you".

My Girl is a melancholy read that leaves a lump in your throat. It's about a quiet young man and his five year old daughter learning to navigate life after the death of the mother. The watercolor style of Yumeka Sumono suits this type of story, which is also nicely paced at only 44 chapters. The author focuses mostly on the atmosphere and the emotional aftertaste each chapter leaves on its readers- at the cost of the mundane. Like a rock skipping across a body of water, we only see snippets of daily life, intrigues, conflicts, and relationships, as time goes by quickly. It makesfor a pleasant streamlined evening read, but does stretch the suspension of disbelief. Characters surrounding the father-daughter duo are choreographed in and out, and each time they show up, manage to conjure up a hallmark moment for our protagonists before fading out again. There are some attempts of studying and developing these side characters, who are actually interesting, but unfortunately those attempts start and end in the same chapter. We never get to follow up and explore the fallout of their encounters beyond immediate dramatics, and thus, several characters wind up feeling "used" and forgotten. The protagonists themselves are somewhat superhuman. While the father certainly struggles and is shown failing, he also never fails to overcome those challenges, sometimes off-screen, and is always shown well adjusted by the next chapter. The precocious daughter is even stronger, and beyond occasionally being allowed to act her age, is an endless source of wholesomeness. My Girl's cast can feel alienating, either by how other-worldly characters acted or how abrupt their exits were. Nevertheless, the repeating refrain of My Girl hammers is clear: don't forget to stop and smell the roses, and definitely don't trample them on the way to the flower garden! Yumeka Sumono's storyboards are unbelievably good at leaving readers sentimental. It's a simple setup with an inspiring theme packed into a short and emotional read, making it an easily memorable story.

All I can say is how much I adore each character. I often feel that the most important part of a manga is how believable their characters are, if the author has tried to imbue them parts of their soul; and in My Girl, I felt that every character was in some way a depiction of the authors own life, the people they hold dear, the people they struggle with. There lies a great effort to love and understand others and to love themselves. I don't think you could get such a vivid cast otherwise. Masamune's mother often annoyed me very much, I wanted himto shout out at her many times. But ultimately, she reminded me a lot of my own mother