The plot in this manga isn't that innovative, put it isn't the usual shoujo fairy tail either. The mail character isn't the typical shoujo prince, the female character cries here and there, but in situations that call for it... there is no unnecessary crying. The love story is realistic, it moves forward in a slow reasonable pace. Although one of the characters has a serious handicap (his can´t hear), there isn't too much melodrama... The main problem among the characters is that they need to learn how to communicate their feelings.

I really love mangas where Japanese tradition is shown, be it go, karuta, poetry, traditional sports, or -as in this case- taiko (Japanese drums). They help revive and perpetuate Japanese traditions.

The art is okay. I've seen it better, but it goes very well with the down-to-earth characters in the story. I don't know much about taiko (I only played it for a year) but in some of the panels, the body positions when playing taiko didn´t look natural to me.

The only thing I am not that convinced with is that certain passages sounded a little cliched to me. I usually don't like it when the characters go too dramatic, start talking or thinking in metaphors or start saying things such as: "we'll always walk side by side". Metaphors are good, if you keep them under control. Lovey-dovey talk is also good, if you keep it under control. The truth is that the characters in this manga don´t speak strange, don´t talk poetry all the time... but the voice in off, the inner thoughts (especially hers), is sometimes a little "oversweet", cloying.

On the other hand, I've read shoujo mangas that are much more cloying than this one, and there are some metaphors here that I liked, such as the taiko beats as a means of communication or the fishing tank as a metaphor of silence.

In short, this was a nice manga to read.