*Review contains spoilers*
*Be aware this might be a long rant. You have been warned*

Story 8/10
I stumbled upon this manga and dived into it with no expectations or even an idea of what it was all about because the synopsis wasn't even too telling, but I told myself "why not?" and went ahead with it without much thought. I must say, despite all the flaws I will point out with this manga, this story is somewhat addictive (I pulled an all nighter because I couldn't stop myself from reading and wanting to know what would happen next) and will keep you glued to the pages. I often wondered why an anime was not developed from this story as it is far more interesting that current things out there.

I must also point out that I hate love triangles, specially when they are overplayed, with a lot of drama and dragged out for no reason, but in this story, the love triangle was developed in a way that made sense and didn't feel like cliche stuff or made you think like "here we go again!". It flowed naturally and never once did Mamura desperately chase after Suzume or took advantage of weak moments to push himself onto her. In all honesty, Mamura never felt like a replacement or rebound. In fact, as far as love triangles go, it's actually not usual to see main character go with the second love interest (which played against me in this manga because I was relying on this formula to hope that Shishio and Suzume would end up together).

With that being said, I feel this story was very well written until the very end, and I always thought I would be giving this manga a rate of 9 or 10 until then. Those last 2 chapters were just cruel and a stab to my heart. Why? because we had been emotionally invested into this roller coaster of Shishio's and Suzume's relationship, to just watch it crash by the last pages! We go from spending more than half of the manga watching the intensity and helplessness of Shishio's and Suzume's love story unfold, rooting for him, to completely lose any hope that they will end up together (although Shishio was never really out of Suzume's mind), to then, in the last 2 chapters just be fooled, tricked and blindsided into believing that these two might come full circule towards each other, to only have Suzume tell Shishio she has "moved on"!! Really? to the person Suzume compared to her "daytime shooting star"? To the person she took an impromptu flight for (cheered on by her then boyfriend who also believed she was still in love with her ex?...see how unrealistic it all sounded when she said she had moved on? not even her boyfriend thought so!). It wasn't a fair love battle as Sensei was at disadvantage since the start.

And moreover, Suzume rejects Shishio without a second thought and/or hesitation? hmmm...excuse me! but if the person I had considered "my daylight shooting star" and my "first love" suddenly starts telling me exactly every word I had longed to hear from him in the not-so-far-away past, even if I'm starting to try with someone else (always thinking about my first love anyway and willingly coming to him to talk about this!), I would at the very least feel confused and wouldn't be able to dismiss him so quickly, specially if a couple of minutes ago I wasn't sure of my feelings to begin with!...aaaand on top of that, why would Suzume even take a plane to see Shishio just to say this? was "saying good-bye to Shishio" that urgent it couldn't wait until she got back from her trip? are we supposed to believe that "saying goodbye to Shishio" was Suzume's reason for going to him? BULLSHIT! that was extremely misleading! That was definitely not fair for Shishio or the readers and I don't think the author should have played that kind of move so late in the story.

From a realistic point of view, Suzume's choice to go with Mamura made sense. Mamura was always there for her despite his own feelings, was attentive and caring towards her. He was her same age and could be with her without moral or ethical concerns. He gave her calmness, stability and was always clear and steady with his emotions. I understand that. However, I just don't see how Suzume could move on so quickly from Shishio, specially with the author hinting all the time Suzume could not forget about him. I know Shishio made big mistakes with not being clear and honest with his emotions all the time (mind you, being the "adult") and often seemed hesitant towards moving forward with Suzume, but I honestly feel it was because he always wanted to do what was "right" from a social/ethical/moral standpoint. Shishio had to lie to Suzume, putting her well-being over his own happiness and wishes, so things wouldn't get hard for her with her uncle.

I believe the age difference between Shishio and Suzume was only a problem because of Suzume being a minor and because they were teacher-student in the same institution, but...were there not any other schools in Tokyo? couldn't he have requested a transfer to another school? Yes, I know...it's a crime dating a person 5 years younger than you if they are underage, but again people, context! It was not like Shishio met Suzume at school and purposely started pursuing and grooming her to engage in sexual behavior with her...the guy never even made any disrespectful or physical/sexual moves towards her. They met by chance and couldn't help developing pure feelings for each other, is that so wrong? What's more, Shishio and Suzume went back and forth "dating" for about 9 months without even sharing a kiss! It seems Japanese men are very shy and respectful towards making physical advancements with women...Shishio could have totally kind of waited Suzume out, while still being with her or at least close by, until she became of age (holding hands, going on dates, doing innocent stuff...even giving her a promise ring of becoming a formal couple when she turned 18 would have been more satisfying than the actual ending!). I believe Shishio had it harder than anyone else because he was the adult, so expectations and responsibilities were higher for him than Suzume or Mamura, despite his feelings. Plus!! On top of it all, Yukichi recognizes and somewhat regrets having "ruined them" and even allowed the two of them to talk privately about them, which means he might have come on board with their relationship eventually!

Another thing I struggle with the ending is that it was all so sudden and abrupt (ex: Suzume "realizing she loves Mamura at the last second") that I wondered what the heck did the characters went through all of that for? specially Shishio...It was a journey for him to be able to sort out his feelings, fight them, accept them, and trying to do something about them a few times even if it meant going against people, which he did (by talking to Yukichi)...yes, Suzume was not supposed to just sit and wait for him to be ready, specially after Shishio had said he didn't love her, but she never fully stopped thinking about him too! So the whole thing of her taking a plane to "listen to him" and "face her feelings", but then rejecting him and going back to Mamura did not feel believable or realistic at all to me. And also, Shishio never got to explain the reason he backed out (because of Suzume's uncle pressure). I feel that it would have made a difference if Suzume knew about it. Part of Sishio's mistakes was calling all the shots for them without honestly talking his concerns with Suzume and allowing her to make a decision for herself. And what about Mamura? I was expecting him to be completely honest with Suzume once he did tell her she still loved Shishio and cheered her to go to him...I thought he would finally tell her "and Shishio has always loved you too" because he knew about it! I don't think consciously withholding this information from her matches Mamura's character. He was already meddling in Shishio's and Suzume's relationship by sending her to Shishio, so why not tell her the truth then?

Art 10/10
Drawings were exceptionally beautiful. I loved how powerful some scenes were made by just the details put into the drawing, matched with very strong and precise dialogues. I think this anime has some of the best drawings I have seen so far. Characters did have some missing eyes at times, but it didn't really bother me.

Characters 9/10
Suzume: I find Suzume very refreshing and I think she is my favorite shoujo female lead character so far. She stays away from the stereotypical, by being spontaneous, authentic, using her brains, actually taking initiative into doing things, saying exactly what she felt in a clear manner, never victimizing herself or letting herself be bullied and not crying too much, if at all. On the contrary, when Suzume did cry you really felt for her because of how unusual it was. I think Suzume is pretty relatable and I really appreciated her being unassuming and honest with her emotions always. The only thing I found out of character for her was how easily she gave up on Shishio after she claimed to be so in love with him. Love is not easy, love has its ups and downs, and it seemed that at the first real bump (Shishio telling her he "didn't love her") she merely gave up and started dating someone else. What's worse, she didn't even ask him what happened to provoke the sudden change of heart...I mean, I understand about pride and dignity, but it seemed unlike Suzume to just give up altogether at that point.
Shishio: Oh my poor Shishio! I really feel this character was not given the justice, appreciation or ending he deserved. He didn't mean to fall in love with Suzume! He didn't actively seek it, on the contrary, at the beginning he really tried to force some sense into him and avoid liking Suzume or returning her feelings...Yes, he was careless and impulsive and struggled a lot with understanding and embracing his emotions, but that just shows he knew how much was a stake for the both of them if he moved forward with that relationship. Plus, he was forced to stand back by Suzume's uncle, which lead to him being heartbroken too! I think Suzume's and Shishio's love story was pure as never did he try to pressure her into getting physical or made a move on her. I believe he really loved Suzume but found himself at lost and under attack as to how to proceed avoiding all the negative repercussion such a relationship could have until "too late" (put in quotation marks because the author basically decided Suzume got over him in a split second despite her actions not matching those words throughout the whole manga!).
Mamura: I must say, I found Mamura pretty likable as well. He was funny, caring, attentive and always clear on his intentions with Suzume. You can't really come to hate him because it wasn't like he pushed himself unto Suzume or pressured her into getting together. He always allowed her space to make her own decisions and was a steady support to her no matter what. There is no way Suzume could go wrong by choosing him, but to me particularly, it didn't feel authentic and I would always ship Shishio and Suzume over Suzume and Mamura. And actually, in all fairness, had the author made Shishio and Suzume break up for real, with a proper talk, sooner in the story and used more time to develop in depth Mamura and Suzume's relationship (without Suzume thinking that constantly about Sensei), I might have been more satisfied with the ending.
The other characters were OK and none of them felt like extra (maybe except for Tsurutani and Kameyoshi).

Enjoyment 8/10
Again, I was prepared to give this manga a solid 9 or 10 until the very end. And I can't rate it lower because I would be punishing the whole story by just a few chapters and that wouldn't be accurate. But I honestly felt cheated by the end and that I got all hyped up for nothing. I really did not like the ending, but I think I spoke plenty about that through the review.

Overall 8/10
So I thought I had found my first 10 in a Shoujo, but nope. The manga is definitely worth reading but be prepared to either hate or love the ending.