February 14, 2024

The drama kicks up in this chapter, and man, you're gonna need one of those character relationship boards to keep up with everything xD Sano loves Ashiya who loves Sano, but Nakatsu also loves Ashiya, who only sees him as a friend. Meanwhile, Sano and his brother Shin have some tension, plus their father is thrown in the mix. And that's just scratching the surface! xD

Ashiya does her best to help Sano during this difficult time of facing his family again. She gradually learns a little more as time goes on, but starts to cross boundaries when it comes to Sano's father. Not wanting her to touch such a painful history, Sano starts pulling away, leading Ashiya scared and confused on what to do.

Shin and Sano seem to both have a desire to make amends, but in typical teenage fashion, or maybe just human fashion, haha, are stumbling along awkwardly to get there. I thought this was really cute and endearing, and I liked it better than what happened in the dramas. I realize Japanese shows are kept very short, but I wish there had been a little more time to see more with the brothers, like in this manga. They clearly do care about each other, but aren't sure how to handle each other. It's very cute, and offers more grey area than the drama's "brother = bad guy".

We also get another scene from one of the drama's (though I forget which one at this point ^^; ) where Ashiya bumps into Sano and Shin's father, leading to a little reveal of his character. Perhaps there's more to him than what Ashiya and Sano previously thought?

Nakatsu makes a bold move, expressing his feelings more deeply and sincerely with Ashiya. While we, as readers, all know Sano is the main guy and love interest, there definitely seemed a bit more effort into the 'love triangle' attempt in the manga than in the show. I think I like it better here, as it shows how much Ashiya genuinely cares for him, even if it's just as a friend. Especially in the original drama, while funny in its own right, she was like, a huge dick to him LOL. The poor boy x'D But I appreciate that their relationship has more depth here.

All of this leading up to the big cliffhanger of this volume--Sano's father collapsed and was sent to the hospital. Just what happened exactly? Is he okay? What will Sano do? (Well, if you know the dramas, then, you know, but shh!)

To the next volume I go! :)

For Japanese Learners:

As this is a series, my thoughts are the same as volume one, which you can read more about that + my thoughts on the series as a whole here: https://learnnatively.com/review/b012ff0d41/

Gradings:10
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Relevant gradings from other volumes
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conan graded
on November 3, 2024
花ざかりの君たちへ 1L24similar in difficulty to高嶺と花 1L24
conan graded
on February 14, 2024
conan graded
on February 14, 2024
conan graded
on February 14, 2024
花ざかりの君たちへ 1L24similar in difficulty to日常 (1)L24
conan graded
on February 14, 2024
花ざかりの君たちへ 1L24similar in difficulty to犬夜叉 1L24