This series started off okay for me. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't feel that there was anything particularly awesome about it either. What I did end up loving about the first volume was Maria. It's interesting to see such a blunt, honest character that's still vulnerable a naïve in a lot of ways. Watching her form her circle with the other characters became more interesting with each volume. Though the plot wasn't particularly new in terms of shojo, I found the themes to be rather new and that made the story coast from okay to something more.

This series was pretty funny in a lot of ways, but things got a little too melodramatic for me towards the end. I also felt that Maria dealt with some rather serious drama and it didn't quite play out realistically enough for me. I was also annoyed by the fact that the mangaka felt every guy needed to fall for Maria.

I did enjoy the romance here. It was actually realistic given their ages. I would have liked a stronger ending. All in all, this series is a rather nice character study. Despite the issues I had with it, it was well written and I loved the art.