it's not often that a sports manga main character plays a defending position, but oh my god, this one is insane. got me hyped for U21 football. every araki block, tackle and foul has me jumping. i just love it when you can tell a mangaka knows the sport they're writing about
im seriously loving this. the next chapter can't come sooner
also, ren's manager (harada) is absolutely gorgeous
i feel like with how the manga panned out, we should have gotten kei's pov or something a bit...more. as sweet and enjoyable as this was, the romance felt one-sided (from ren). i would have loved to see the romance develop in more detail from both sides, even if it meant more chapters. still, it was cute.
came back to this after like 4 years, and gave it a reread, and omg. what a manga, i have so many feelings!
if we're being honest, hananoi was a little bit on the toxic side in the sense that he was a little too over possessive/protective, however, this manga touched on a heavy and serious topic without romanticising it or making it seem OK. while therapy was probably what hananoi needed the most, it was lovely to see him change alongside hotaru, to become better people as individuals and as a couple. they have some sweet moments, but it was also lovely to see proper communication and boundaries being set.
spoiler!!
i didn't expect for hananoi and hotaru to break up, but it was probably for the best to ensure they could continue to build a healthy relationship, as even though hananoi was changing for the better, he still had some tendencies that could be...not so good in the future.
also love the side couple, wish we could see more of them.
we all knew this was coming, let's hope it passes with minimal drama
I feel like he’s gonna play it cool as a joke after confessing and he’d say something along the lines of “ jk it was for the sake of the song”
LOLLL HE REALLY WOULD
think of the worst ending you could possibly fathom, and it's still not as bad as this one is.