Higashi no Kurume to Tonari no Meguru

Cliche and predictable from the very first chapter... I honestly felt like things were being rushed too quickly throughout the manga and it was honestly kind of sadden to build up to that confession just to have it go so quickly. I mean honestly.. The cat picks up a piece of paper and jumps over towards here and she reads it.. what kind of scene is that. The art isn't at all that bad and it was decent to look at. For a 26 chapter manga I expected it to have a little something which would make my heart raise and think at the end "Wow.. this wasn't that bad!" but all I'm left with now is regret for reading it.

[A Quirky Love Story]

If you are looking for a complicated story, or something with depth, then this story is not for you. For, this story is so simple, so quirky, and so predictable, that everyone who reads the first chapter will know how it ends. However, it’s how it executes and leads to its conclusion is what makes it an interesting story.

STORY:

Our story begins with Kousuke El, who has a rather boring school life, except for the fact that he’s sitting next to his crush, Tsukahara Meguru — a popular, cute, stoic girl. A couple days later, Kousuke’s parents decide to move, while still attending the same school. And, his neighbor (well everyone knows) is Tsukahara Meguru, who somewhat has a different personality. Why does Tsukahara Meguru have a different personality outside school? Well, that’s the question. And the main driving force of this manga.

Honestly, though, this story is really simple and quite predictable. It’s short with no filler chapters. There are barely any twist, and if there are, the reader already knows what the possibilities are. And, while, the story is predictable, it manages to avoid the common pitfalls of typical ecchi stories, such as the sick visit, shower scenes, changing clothe scenes, and pool scenes. In fact, it’s avoids them to give the story a more realistic feel, and the readers will acknowledge it immediately. While, it manages to avoids most cliches, the story, in the middle and end arc, are somewhat lacking and tries to create ‘drama’ and other wild ideas to spice up the story, but it comes off as weak and not very entertaining, and somewhat annoys the readers. Overall, though, the story is okay.

CHARACTERS:

This is where this manga shines. Its characters are really interesting and quirky, especially the female characters like Tsukahara Meguru, Kururi, Tsubasa, and even the granny. They all have very distinct personalities, and are unique and funny in their own strange ways. The only character that is somewhat lacking was the main character, himself. He comes off as bland, nice, and caring like most other ecchi manga characters.

Note: the best character is the cat, for a very particular reason.

ART:

There isn’t much to say about the art, it isn’t the most detailed, nor lacking, but rather there with enough details to know what the characters look like and where they are. The art for its background scenery are very detailed, give a broad sense for the open countryside. Its unique facial expressions are amusing and are generally funny. The overall character design, especially for the girls, are cute, and charming. But, not too cute, so that they give off a moe appearance, but rather a somewhat realistically drawn human like-appearance. Overall, its art is fine, but its key details are the background scenery and its unique facial expressions.

ENJOYMENT:

If you want a simple, straight love story, then this story is for you. You will definitely enjoy the distinct personalities of each female character. Overall, if you focus on the character interactions, their facial expressions, and funny dialogue, then you will be fine.

This manga is a ridiculously standard romcom. Every single event that happens is pretty by the book and something that if you have any familiarity with the genre you’ve probably already seen quite a few times. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but another issue is that while it has its moment, for the most part the implementation is only average. The general path the story takes is pretty decent, as are the general concepts behind each of the characters. However, the way the story is paced feels like it has random pacing and is quite haphazard, with things happening pretty randomly without there being any flow of events to draw the reader in, and things coming and going way too quickly and easily. The characters too all felt sort of off. The concepts are great, but they feel very underdeveloped. For example, the story of the heroine Meguru, gets resolved with some very evident character development, but it seems to be resolved pretty arbitrarily, and it never feels like there’s a solid enough explanation for why she was like that in the first place, nor is there really enough demonstration of her growth as a character. The same seems to apply to the other characters such as Tsubasa or Kururi, where they have development, but it comes such that their stories don’t really seem to be going anywhere at all but suddenly they’ve reached their conclusion. Hence to some degree, everyone’s story feels unfinished or incomplete. Ultimately, the only characters that don’t feel awkward and feel fully properly done are the joke characters with little roles, though on that note these characters, Afro and the Grannies, are pretty awesome. It’s important to note though, that in the case of Kousuke and Meguru this feeling of incompleteness is greatly mitigated by the ending, where even though it still feels like some things are missing from the body of the story, the ending itself gives a tremendously strong feeling of completeness and is a tremendously satisfying way of ending romance mangas that I wish we saw more often. The comedy was decent. The art is also decent enough and cute.

A pretty generic romcom with a mostly average implementation with some highlights.

7/10

This series isn't for everyone. If you're looking for some deep story progression, interesting plot twists, or drama, this is not for you. BUT, if you're just looking for a nice, standard romance with light conflict to enjoy, then it's highly recommended.

Story: 7
Very predictable if you've read a LOT of romance manga, but also at the same time not. While it's clear who the MC ends up with at the beginning, the leading up to it still leaves plenty of room for surprises, mostly pleasant ones. The conflicts introduced in this series is often quickly resolved, and usually with little effort, so you can rest assured it won't be some uphill battle (although that can be boring for some). The plot armor is real, but not overwhelming.

Art: 7
The art fits the "country life" theme of the series. The characters are distinct, the girls are relatively pretty-looking. Don't expect too much shading or background in this series. Don't expect characters' emotions to show very well either. While this worked in the beginning, it does detract from the enjoyment of this manga in the long run.

Character: 7
Typical characters, not really memorable. Not the fanservice stereotypes, but nothing special either. The leads are strong enough to push the story along rather than stagnating it, and the supporting characters perform their roles as "true" supports. Because of the pacing of the manga though, it did feel as if the characters were very manufactured for the explicit purpose of helping the romance along, rather than being standalone.

Enjoyment: 10
If it fits the bill, you will enjoy it. I was looking for a light-hearted romance, and it delivered, properly. The ending is said to be axed/rushed, but it ended well and conclusively, and won't leave you with a bitter aftertaste or wondering. It tied up some loose ends as well. All in all, a well-bundled manga, as long as you don't expect too much of it.

Overall: 9.1 - Better than many other romances that have a crappy story and crappy end.