Kare First Love is just another shoujo manga. I feel that while it does discuss topics that not many other manga do, I also feel that its lackluster leads drag the story down somewhat.

Story: I feel that the story is about average. It does discuss topics like dating older men and teen pregnancy and overbearing parents, and the characters play their parts well. I do feel that the story somewhat reaches a plateau for a little while in the middle. But overall it is a good story.

The real trouble I had with this series is the characters. The two leads are not compelling at all. Karin, our female protagonist changes very little from the beginning to the end of the work. As for the male protagonist, you hate him or love him. There is not real depth to them. I found the side characters to shine more, especially the character Nanri. Miyasaki-sensei put in so many shades to her character and really made her dynamic.

In short, read it if you are waiting for the release of something else, or if you're looking for something to do. Otherwise it's not really worth too much effort.