Aruko

Before reading, rip the book in half and throw the first part away. Really, it's for the best. With no interesting way to resolve the book, the author resorts to a stupid and cruel method to spice things up for the final volume, pulling in not one but two of the worst tropes in storytelling by pulling a prank on the reader that involves giving a main character a case of amnesia and then wiping it all away by saying "it was all a dream."

I was so enraged by this tangent there was no way I was ever going to enjoy what followed. And it makes me reconsider my opinion of everything that came before, retroactively making me like the whole series less.… (altro)

A busy volume, covering the romantic rival introduced last volume, a romantic relationship among the secondary characters, and more slow progression in the main relationship. It's all quite cute, but it's also starting to feel like it is biding time with tropes -- birthdays, White Day, college selection -- as the teens enter their final year of high school.

The last line is, "It feels like we've got a long road ahead of us," but thankfully the series ends with the three volumes I now have on hand from the library. Seems like it's is going to wrap up before it has a chance to sabotage itself by sticking around past its prime (I'm looking at you Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You and Komi Can't Communicate).… (altro)