Uwasa no Midori-kun!!

Why a score so low? Because the mangaka Ikeyamada Go continues to fail to understand that consent is a fundamental concept, that rape isn't something to joke about and it's disrespectful for such an event to be used as a plot device. Not only that but her female characters continue to exist as mere things to be owned by male characters and there's this idea that they're worth so much more as long as they're virgins. This author promotes the idea that emotional and physical abuse can be romantic and this infuriates me because her works target younger audiences. I completely lost interest in thismanga from the 1st chapter because it immediatly opens with a rape and the rapist and his victim become the romantic "couple" that we're supposed to root for. I'm disappointed how little soccer there is in this manga and the ending felt like a huge slap to the face. SPOILERS: The main character spends years of her life chasing after a promise and ultimatly she fails at it. I like art style but everything else is nauseating. I give this a 4/10.

Out of all of this Author's work, which I've read maybe only a few, this one has to be the most subversive. Especially the ending which was refreshing change compared to many of the other mangas that have some of the same cliches. The manga handles some tropes which can be tedious in very mature manner, some are completely unnecessary but the ones she does right are really good. Especially the character arcs of some of the more troubling characters are very well done and I actually end up forgiving them. The art style is very distinctive of this particular author, but personally it's notmy favorite. Though I can appreciate that at least it's part of her brand, and it is cute, so it really is just personal taste factor. One thing I didn't like about this story was the way girls were treated in it. It already starts with very questionable scenario, that doesn't get treatment it deserved. it just was never confronted in a way that I wish is was at the start, but at the end they kind of make up for it. Kind of. Besides the main girl, it is assumed that all the girls are certain type, and maybe this can be ignored since its teenage boys making this assumptions, but I still remember being frustrated at some of things said. Though for most part I really enjoyed the manga.

Story: a believable and realistic story that everyone can related to a little, whether its the competitiveness, the forgiveness, the love, etc! I really enjoyed the story! Art: As usual the art was beautiful! And hilarious at the same time, which I love! Characters: this was the best part of this manga. The characters were good strong characters. Midori was a strong and beautiful female character who held her own and who could beat up guys when threatened. But inside she has feelings and love and I truly admired her. Her childhood friend was also complex. He loves Midori but has a hard outer shell, muchlike Midori, so he's deemed not very nice. And the guy who fell in love with Midori was an embarrassed 15 year old boy who was also complex but was bold enough to stand up for the girl he loves. Enjoyement: Truly loved this manga and its going on my favorites pile! I thought the love was really cute and it had me rooting for both guys, which I kinda hated because my heart was split as to which guy I liked better. In the end I went with the faithful loving guy who was kind from the start. I also enjoyed the humor in it because it just made me laugh out loud and I truly enjoyed it! And so overall a well deserved 10! It wasn't like an shoujo manga where the girl can't stand up for herself and the guy always came in to the rescue. There was some of that but who doesn't love a bit of heroic male influence in a manga?! The strong characters added to the manga and the good story really helped the manga move a long in a fluent way. The art was beautiful and brilliant and this mangaka was definitely one of my favorites! As was the manga!