Kore kara Hajimaru Koi wo Oshiete

This is my first review – ever! ( sorry for my amateurish way of doing this) – and I’m only doing it because I think this manga deserves a bit more recognition and maybe, just maybe, with a few words from me, someone will feel compelled to give it some of their time. This story is about Ryuutarou and Aki, who get married for the sake of Aki’s grandmother and to keep up the “charade” they even live together. Aki is a college student and Ryuutarou is a teacher there. These two were childhood friends, it was during a hard time in Ryuutarou’s life and hewas also a very important person for Aki and therefore, throughout the story, this past has a lot of influence in how they act and react towards each other. Also, it’s not exactly the typical student-teacher relationship that you might be used to, because the age factor of the characters plays a big role in their behaviours – there is a level of maturity and respect that I don’t often see in other stories, so this one felt like a really good change of pace. And I think this could be what sets it apart from all the other mangas with this sort of setting. The art itself won’t leave you dumbfounded, but it’s neat and it looked good to me. The characters go through a progressive level of development, due to all their background and current situation. It is at its core a very romantic story, but you won’t find the obnoxious rivals popping up all the time and the overboard jealousy taking over the main characters. They communicate, they ponder, and they think before acting and don’t go beating around the bush. But it’s not all serious and there are some comic relief scenes. I rated this manga quite high because it gave me a general feeling of warmth and peace. I didn’t get frustrated with the way things were progressing, I didn’t have urges to pop in the 2D world and beat some sense in to the characters and when I finished it I felt really happy and that it was really worth my time. It’s a mature and realistic love story - despite my efforts I haven’t found that many of them around. And so, if you come across this manga at some point in your life and you feel like reading a heart-warming love story, give this one a try. I believe you will enjoy it too x)