Hirunaka no Ryuusei

Yes, this is one of the stories where the unbreakable shoujo rule of relationship is broken! The heroine stays with the second choice. But let me start from the beginning.

I remember the story left me with deep imprinting only because of the heroine’s final choice, but the again I was following the story for quite a long time hence a lot of stuff was forgotten. I do not know why, but I had this strange urge to reread it again, so here I am writing the review after rereading the story. To say the truth I enjoyed it, but at the same time, I had this feeling that it lacked something. I read it quite fast, though the story is progressing not that fast. It has all the attributes of a good shoujo manga, but I wanted more passion from it. No matter what you say the relationship between Suzume and Shishio-sensei needed more passion. It was bland, and I never has a second thought when Suzume chose Daiki. He’s the character that goes through the biggest character development, and you just adore what he turns into.

Are you up to see the life of a country bumpkin going to Tokyo, find friends and even love? Enjoy a romance of a high schooler and a teacher, though nothing happens it’s still there! Enjoy it

If you can't handle vigourous heart beats, i recommend you to learn to handle it! Because im not gonna let you miss out on this "roller coaster ride-ish" manga due to that mere reason.
I am pretty much always questioned about my feminity, basically how my heart works is a mystery apart from the biology aspect of it.(basically people say i dont have the heart of a petite girl -.- or what do you say, a "maiden")
So i find it quite remarkable that i was so very moved by this manga! Heck, it was a game changer!
First of all, we can all agree that there isnt a proper "definition" of love. There are so many but when you narrow it down, burn down those walls of rationality, tear down all those flawless facades, youll end up with a bunch of arrows pointing at your heart. It goes tokidoki and it makes you feel like a feather.
But feathers also eventually land, and stop swaying in the wind. It still exists but somehow it all comes down.
And thats when, what lies deep in your heart, always tries to hide itself. Shy... fearing the judgements that others may place on us. We dwell on those feelings for so long that, we let it remain trapped, and impossible to forget.
And thats when a small crack, a little shimmer that gets you back on your feet appears. An entity that cound overcome all those barriers deep inside your heart. A feeling that makes makes you forget, even if just for a moment. A feeling that was able to overpower all of those hidden emotions, making them slowy disappear.
And thats probably the most magical thing ever.
Hirunaka no ryuusei brought out this so beautifully that i can believe i freaking wrote that para without slangs. Do read it. Read it. Just read it. Now.

Ps: SEE! I HAVE A MAIDEN HEART!

So I re-read this for the first time ever, and I want to get this off my chest. This manga is definitely aimed at young teenage girls with lots of fantasies and can't grasp age gaps. Indeed, this is a story that romanticizes a relationship between a minor and an adult, and a student and teacher nonetheless! There are so many overall plot and story aspects that make this manga somewhat unpleasant to read, but it's all disguised under the cutest art style ever to distract you from it.

When it comes to the story and characters, I feel so bad for Shishio because even though I like him (he is too handsome), many of his actions were simply unacceptable. Homeboy was grooming a lil 15 year old girl - like what !?!?!? He is, as Mamura states in the manga, an adult acting like a child. He is older than me and can't justify how his feelings came to be. What was he doing all along? Everything started so wholesome, maybe seeing a younger sister in her and wanting to protect her. I feel bad that he let himself get swayed by Suzume's personality and innocence, and it is not at all Suzume's fault (she was just living her life!). In fact, Suzume was affected by their relationship, and it was so painful to see them hide their true feelings. It was hard and annoying seeing her hurt and make bad decisions because of her teacher, but she is too young to comprehend both her feelings and what his actions meant. Anyway, I want to believe that Shishio deserved better than to fall in love with a minor. He did several questionable things, like holding her and leading her on a bit too much. Maybe he was too hurt from his past relationship that the next girl that liked him took too much of his attention. Who knows.

Also, not gonna lie, this manga rubbed me the wrong way when people insisted that the fact that they are student and teacher is the reason why their love is forbidden. Like - man, you are almost twice her age, this could be so problematic y'all aren't even in the same phase of life! Thankfully, the uncle brings some sense to him, but he was still in trouble because he was in love. This manga had no sense for boundaries both for Suzume and Shishio; and I one could declare Mamura as the only one with common sense lol.

The overall pacing of the manga is not the best. Too much time was spent developing Shishio's and Suzume's relationship and when it was Mamura's turn, it was very slow and sometimes even awkward (although cute). In a similar manner, when it came to the side characters, they were nice and cute, but they were unnecessary at times and didn't add anything to the plot besides the typical "yes, the MC has great supporting friends!". Anyway, I was more than happy that Mamura got his happy ending, but I don't feel like it was what Suzume or Shishio deserved. It's worth mentioning that I dislike how the author purposefully made it so that I want a kid to be with an adult T_T (and back when I read it as a teen, I was definitely a Shishio x Suzume shipper!). Honestly, those 2 had such good chemistry and cute moments together it makes everything (almost 3/4 of the story) go to waste. I would have liked it if they somehow got together once Suzume turned 20, but we can't have nice things.

In the end, I am grateful that Mamura was always there to protect Suzume, even though he did sometimes hurt her without thinking. I wish Shishio could either move on or never fell in love at all, because it hurts to see a nice young man tied down by a young girl. Overall, this manga was very cliché-y, but also sometimes refreshing in it's views for love. It is a work of fiction and I doubt that it seriously affected young teens' mindsets. The takeaway is to never fall for your teachers and avoid creepy old men no matter how handsome and charismatic they are!

I don't plan on reading this again, but I understand why some people love it, and can't blame them because it was so cute at times! I think it was an OK read, and I'm glad I got to read it both as a naïve teen and now as an adult.

Semi-Spoiler Alert(?)
Allow me to give a review of the entire series.

The series started off kinda so-so. Honestly when I finished reading the first few chapters, I still had some reservations if I should continue reading this story. To be honest, I am NOT a fan of reading student-teacher relationships. Nonethless, I'm so glad I trudged on. The series started with the focus on Suzume and Shishio-Sensei's relationship at the first few volumes. And while it was okay, you can also see how Mamura had a thing for Suzume. By the time the first half was done, the series focused now on Suzume and Mamura's relationship, this time with Shishio pining for her. Overall, I felt that the pacing of the story was cleverly done.

One of my main problems whenever I'm reading a shoujo manga is that the mangaka tends to try making the series longer that it really should be. I am glad I did not feel that way while reading this series at all. Another one of my main problems is the opposite, in which the mangaka tries to end the manga suddenly and leave a lot of unanswered questions. Again, I am glad I did not have that problem here. I felt the mangaka focused sufficiently on the relationship of Suzume and Shishio, and then giving ample amounts of focus on the growing relationship of Suzume and Shishio.

In addition, a shoujo series tends to end with the first lead and SPOILER ALERT: I'm glad that the MC ended with the second lead, which I wholeheartedly believe is the correct choice.

Overall, I am so glad I continued reading this manga and you can definitely expect me to try continuing to read Yamamori-sensei's other work, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet . Indeed, reading Yamamori-sensei's work does not disappoint. Domo arigato gozaimasu for this great series, Yamamori-sensei!

P.S. This review can also be seen in goodreads, and IS not plagiarised whatsoever.

enjoyed the manga alot. the mc was cool and not extemly shy or tsundere or anything. i like how she wasnt afraid to say what she thinks and she was overall really likable.

the art was *chef's kiss* i like the author's artstyle so much and how the MC also had different hairstyles, was kinda cool lol.

now to the story, it was a common love story but the character's personalities made it different. i liked it but the ending completely destroyed me LMAO bc SPOILER !! i actually liked both the teacher and mamura (that was his name i believe? idk i forgot LOL) for her and mamura was definitely more realistic and a better choice but i still felt bad for mamura. he liked her but he could not be with her and that's so sad and he literally kept her tie still after the timeskip and looked SO LONELY my heart :((((. also the lovestory between mamura and her i dunno seemed random but its ofc the better choice bc they were teacher and student after all... but they WERE SO CUTE together and the teacher was so hot... BYE LMAOO

I'll be brief: it's a shoujo manga. If you want to read a shoujo manga, then this will satisfy. If you want a good shoujo manga, it may disappoint.
Downside: The plot isn't very strong, and it rushes towards the end.
Upside: Strongest love triangle I have seen in shoujo, since both suitors actually date the leading lady (as opposed to the all-too-common "I love you! Please consider me seriously!" ->1 chapter later-> "Okay, I thought really hard about it for 5 minutes, but no, I'm in love with the same guy I've always been in love with").

But now I have to be less brief, because it's asking for a longer review.

For the most part, the manga was decent, with not much separating it from similar manga. However, I gave it a bad rating because of the ending and especially one chapter. I hope I can explain it without giving out many spoilers. The story is about a love triangle between a girl, her teacher and her classmate. It seemed like the mangaka had an ending for the lead, Suzume, to end up with one of her love interest. It was set-up to be with a certain character throughout the story, while the other characters was going to be the one with the unrequited love. From my understanding, the unrequited love character was better received by readers of this story. I am not sure if the mangaka paid attention to this, but the ending seem to coincide with it. Yet, it unexpectedly changed in one chapter, instead of developing the real love Suzume had for that character. In one chapter, love turned to admiration and superficial love turned into real love. It did not progressed slowly, but changed instantly, which ruined the series for me.

It's been a long time since a manga series made me doubt the pairing I chose. From the very beginning I liked Shishio the most, but as time goes on Mamura is growing on me. This is the best kind of love triangle. Not one where you hate the other character for getting in the way of the two you like, the kind where you cheer them both on and hope she ends up in a loving relationship no matter who wins.

=================
I like Hirunaka because:
=================
It turns a lot of cliches on their heads.
The main female character is strong. She cries like a normal person, but still gets back up and keeps going.
Female friendship isn't shown as perfect, but forgiving and caring. (At least as far as I've read)
=================

I highly recommend it.

Japanese difficulty level: 2 (out of 5)

(Note: I almost typed Myamura instead of Mamura, lol)

hello this is my first review!

HnR is a manga which took me three times to actually read to completion, as to why it took me so long, will be explained in this review

synopsis:
HnR takes place in the bustling city of Tokyo where our heroine begins her first year of high school far away from her hometown back in the country. Upon her arrival to this new world, she meets a young man, who is a friend of her uncle, only to find out that he is her history teacher the next day on her first day of school. And thus, the student-teacher relationship has begun spiraling off into a story of triangulation, drama, and romance.

plot:
What makes this shoujo manga good is its pure simplicity, the story never gets too complicated nor too boring, rather, it's quite realistic for a shoujo manga. moreover, the most remarkable aspect of this plot is its exploration on the social taboo of student-teacher relationships, which normally is never touched upon with much depth in shoujo mangas. However, the plot is really really slow; at times I felt rather bored because certain developments would take much longer than needed and seemed to have unnecessary developments occur when it was not needed. But the main issue that I have with this Story, is its lacking in built up and emotion when reaching its climax, for instance when a secret was revealed I felt nether surprised nor excited I was just like...oh ok. but despite these flaws, the story manages to wrap itself up nicely providing a fulfilling ending

art
the art work is great and there's nothing bad I have to say about it

characters:
Now this is where the manga is at its strongest and its weakest as it excels in character development but falls flat on making its characters express their emotions. While reading this manga, one can really see and understand how our characters grow and develop through their experiences as they make decisions different to what they normally would have done in the past. In addition, these characters are very relatable, making it very enjoyable for readers to learn about their personalities as none of them are generally annoying. As great as the character development is in HnR, our 3 main characters however, fall flat at times when it comes to their dimensionality and emotional depth. when it comes to the triangulation between the heroine and her two men(?) the love that they all claim for each other at times felt forced and not at all believable which left me questioning why X character loves Y character throughout the story.

Now that the general categories have been discussed, I want to set aside another portion of this review in order to share my biggest disappointment with this manga, which is how it didn't explore the danger of student-teacher relationships as deeply as I wished it could have. Throughout this whole story only but one character objected to this form of relationship because of its unethical nature, and the teacher was even forgiven for doing the things he did because of his "bubbly and immature personality" while completely disregarding his actions of starting a relationship with a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. Because of this disappointment, my enjoyment for this manga wasn't as high as i wished it could have been as the thickheadedness of some characters left me face palming at times.

so yea those where my thoughts on this story

Will definitely contain spoilers in it


In the beginning I thought the manga was cool, normal like other shoujo manga and it is, but the art is absolutely beautiful so I kind of fell in love with the manga as I kept going. I'm normally the type that ships the first and most obvious pair in any type of romance manga, anime and books, so if you have read the first chapter, our first main characters will be satsuki shishio and yosano suzume. I like suzume as the main character, she's expressionless and not your average generic female mc, and I really like satsuki being paired up with suzume. He is a teacher who doesn't act like a teacher, does that make sense? Idk that's how I feel

I really liked those two being together, satsuki chooses a nickname 'chun chun' for suzume was very cute in my opinion, and it really surprised me when he shown up as a teacher in suzume's class, I thought it would be a secret teacher and student relationship and it made me more interested in the manga, but around the second quarter of when they started their relationship, I kept thinking that they really have to overcome this status problem of being a teacher and a student, like maybe wait until she's older and out of high school to officially become a couple or something

But no

everything sort of went downhill for me in the entire second half of the manga. The other male main character which daiki mamura has developed feelings for suzume as she is the only female that has ever gotten so close to him, that I can understand his reason for falling in love with her. I don't dislike mamura but I also don't like him, especially when he gets close to suzume. It kinda sounds clingy but that's how I really feel, the fact that I can only see suzume and satsuki together make it impossible for me to accept mamura as another romantic interest for suzume.

In the first half of the manga I thought that the manga is good, but it's going too good, that's when suzume's uncle showed up, he found out about their relationship and pressured satsuki to think about their status. I was kind of pissed at him but have to agree because reality is like that. After thinking a lot, satsuki decided to end this relationship convincing himself that this was for the best (I can understand putting myself in his shoes, but don't you think it's kind of cowardly?), even lying to suzume when she said "do you love me?" In which you know/can guess how he replies.

After the first half, i decided to keep my hopes up, thinking that they will be together at the end.

But the authors completely kicked satsuki out of the entire second half of the manga, where he only appears 2-3 pages per few chapters, like they forgotten all about this character called satsuki. I was sort of despairing, desperately wanting to skip all the chapter and find out who suzume ends up with but i kept going, until the last chapter

In that very chapter, hearing her answer to satsuki's final confession, all hope was gone. I kinda just quit reading the rest of what the manga is gonna show, since it's the final chapter I don't think I'm gonna be missing anything anytime soon, although I contradicted my self cus I can't stand dropping out midway and finished the entire thing, was real tough for me

overall I think this manga is good in the first half, and absolutely boring in the second, why?think about it, most shoujo mangas mc are high school student, I think I had my fair share or reading shoujo mangas to find all the clichés and overused scenes, with both of them, suzume and mamura being high school students, and in the same class, it's just gonna go down the same routes of the shoujo mangas I have read

that's why I rate
the story :5/10 (first half good, second half bad)
The art: 10/10 (as I have said, absolutely beautiful)
Character development: 8/10 (I think they did a great job)
Enjoyment: 4/10 (first half good, second half real bad)
Overall: 4/10 (still my final vote on the whole manga)

I really truly enjoyed this manga, but I can't take it when my original ship goes down without any real hints, the ship just exploded out of nowhere into tiny particles, it's the last chapter that really, truly sank my heart and ship, the fact that the manga even give the Satsuki×suzume shippers hope that they might actually get back together is what decided on my overall vote, not the fact that the second half was boorish, even if any type of manga is clichéd, it's sort of the story line that decides whether the reader will or will not enjoy it, as for this manga I did enjoy it, but not till the end

ps. I think satsuki is way hotter than mamura

Its just me or this manga is really good? ( and actually bare with me because its my first time write a review like this. Feel free to message me if you want to teach me how to do it well :3 onegaishimasu ! )

The story is really touching and really romantic despite of the forbidden love. And for some reasons I can't move on in some scene there. It's rare for me to read such manga like this and I do appreciate it and feel the flow of the story.

The art is outstanding and they did very well having such a character that made your day and you'll never get bored while reading. The drawings is really neat and I was like " woah " this manga might be interesting :> and the part of how they drew the male characters eyes I feel like they goes through my heart every time I'm stared at them @.@

The Characters as well, the attitude the way they express their feelings is really appreciable. The Characters fits on how they look.

I do enjoyed this manga, I really feel their emotions, I smiled, I cried, I feel bit depressed and those ineffable feelings that I felt. I highly recommend this manga :) It will touch you from the bottom of your heart ;)

and....

I actually like the sensei ( Shishio Satsuki ) He's so cool that i can't help myself being happy while reading the manga even though he has some circumstances being a teacher. But shishio-kun is LOVE :D XD

*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.

First of all, im gonna tell you that im a big fan of shoujo manga. And what i know from shoujo manga is most of it has the same pattern over and over again. But when i read hirunaka no ryuusei, i can feel the diffrences and i can say that this is the best shoujo manga i have ever read. Why i like this manga? Lets check it out!

Story (8/10)
The first thing im gonna talk is about the story. For me the story is quite good. Its about a country girl who moved to tokyo and find so many new things. I think this story is quite outstanding because there is not so many shoujo manga which have the same plot as this manga. And i think the story is getting better by the time goes by. It doesnt make me bored at all. So itd quite good for me.

Art (9/10)
Tbh, when i first read this manga, i dont really like the art. I think the character has too large eye and the proportion of their face is bad. But after read several chapter i realise that this art style is quite unique and it makes me love it. But not only that, the art also getting better and better in every chapter.

Character (10/10)
This is my favorite part and i think the character in hirunaka no ryuusei is what makes this manga is so special. Lets start with the MC, i think she is a reallu great MC and she is extraordinary. She isn't quiet, bad, or anything, she just balance, So i love her. The other character that i also love is yuyuka and mamura. I think mamura is the type of cute guy and he is really nice, also yuyuka is a nice girl who is just a tsundere. So in short, all the character in this manga is unique and not boring.

Enjoyment (10/10)
I enjoy reading this manga so much. I never stopped and wanna read it till the end as fast as possible.

Overall (10/10)
Overall this is the best shoujo manga ever. The character is just so perfect and the srt style is quite unique. So i really recommend this manga

While I was searching for a manga to read , I saw one of their mangacap on Tumblr and so I decide to read it. I really like the plot of this manga and its not too cliche. I really like the way they give you supportive words in the manga not even the character feels good it even effect you like you're having a bad day or something their words cheer you up. Don't get me start about their art because the art of this manga is really good and its my favourite.

The very first time I read this manga I was excited, the art was amazing, the characters were funny and the plot was interesting. Boy and Girl meet for the first time, that encounter changes everything for both of them, typical plot for a shoujo manga. But Boy turns out to be a teacher and Girl is his student, another typical plot for shoujo manga. But what makes this manga readable is that it is a manga with a lot of common sense sans the main heroine.

Characters:
Most people find Susume refreshing, I didn't. First, find me a higschool girl nowadays who acts like her, dates a highschool teacher and not have the slightest clue as to what the consequences of that action is. Most people in this century surely knows that a student and a teacher dating is a crime, with which the teacher can be punished horribly.

Second, Susume tried so hard for Shishio, she fought head on for that love to be hers. And when she finally did, the first real trial of their story with which she should've realized at that point was enough to make her give up.

Susume seems too idiotic and naive in that part, there were so many parts that I just hate, it felt like for her, she didn't try that hard to endure and yet she keeps insisting it was love. It wasn't love at all in her part. They were in the process of falling in love. Every happy moments and trials was suppose to deepen their relationship.

Finding the reason for the break-up and trying to talk it through the person should've been her answer, that was her personality. Except she completely did a 180 and dated someone else.

She skipped the trials and retribution and left Shishio behind and at the finale she was already inlove with Mamura. When did that happen? It took the managaka 10 volumes for Susume and Shishio's love story to unveil and then suddenly she doesn't love him anymore.

For Shishio, he was in a conplicated situation. He was the adult in the relationship. He knows the consequences and tries hard to make up for it. It felt like in their relationship he was the one doing most of the work. Most people think that Shishio's character wasn't well developed but I don't think so. The only redeemable thing the mangaka did was portraying the adults in a realistic ways, they were all adults and not yet adults after all it is not that huge of an age gap for them. Shishio was striving so hard to be mature, to punch some sense into himself, to be a man and a teacher. I understand him most when the uncle talked some sense into him. Even if he did fall inlove with Susume he still has moral obligations and he did right by doing so. It was that time when Susume was supposed to take actions, but she didn't, her ways was idiotic at times and childish. And it left Shishio to that mess.

What Shishio fought for mad me sad. He did right ending his relationship with her, the ending was suppose to be Susume enduring everything and trying to fight for their love. And then what the mangaka made a side story with Shishio and Tsubomi getting back together.

SERIOUSLY?

Fine, Susume and Mamura can have their happy ending but don't the mangaka didn't have to do that. What was all the work Shishio did for?

It was horrible, the story left me completely unsatisfied and devoid of all happiness. I felt cheated, I felt like I've been robbed wasting 12 volumes of the mangaka's nonsense, hoping to find closure for both Shishio and Susume was the only retribution for me to continue this nonsense and then she ended it with no closure, real closure. Everything was so rushed, it didn't feel complete and satisfying. I even hated it more when the side stories came out.

Ratings:
Plot = 2
Art = 8
Characters = 6
Enjoyment = 1 (I myself felt pathetic at the ridiculousness of the whole story, all enjoyment I've had with this story vanished without a trace.)
Overall === 5. (Let's just end this.)

Okay, I may be prejudiced here but this manga has to be one of the best romance/school life/shoujo manga that I have ever read. Let's start off with the initial plot... Suzume Yosano is from the countryside and her parents decide that it's time to move out of Japan. Country bumpkin goes to the city to live with her uncle, country bumpkin gets lost. Not used to the fast-paced and overwhelming city of Tokyo, she becomes a bit skittish and naturally when a strange guy attempts to help her she obviously gets afraid. Ahhh... but then he helps her and she later discovers that he is her uncle's friend and her future homeroom teacher.

I know what you're thinking. Classic country girl goes to the city and falls in love with a city boy but that's where you're wrong. This story seems so simplistic and basic which is why it is so unexpected as to how the story ends. It so much more then the main character's love story. ALL of the characters in this manga are SO unique. There's your classic tsundere, the awkward guy around girls, as well as adorable homeroom teacher and some more notable characters that are introduced a little bit later. The amount of character development for everyone within the space of 78 chapters is heart-clenching. With Suzume's care-free attitude you can get a bit swept away with how heart-warming her triumphs are and her relatable struggles. If you're one for a good love triangle and a few good plot twists then strap yourself in for a good read!

Regretted re-reading after all these years.

Surely piqued my interest because of the art. Hands down for me. There's also a nice variation of character design and you can recognize them properly.

Started strong, with female MC having a unique character unlike the overused weak type, but then ended up not facing the issues head on as opposed to how she's supposed to be. I appreciate how the author weigh in the consequences student-teacher relationship hence Shishio's path of action. The issue is with how the 2nd male lead was developed, it's shallow, his actions doesn't go well with how his character was built.

I'd say the final chapter was forced when clearly the few previous ones shows how much the FMC still has strong feelings to her first love. Contrary to the popular opinion, it's not realistic at all since no one will definitely do what the FMC did on the last part.

Overall, it felt like a tragedy, where you don't end up together even though you have strong feelings for each other, felt like the FMC chose that guy at the end just because she's in a commitment with him at the moment.

I recommend reading Tsubaki-chou Planet by the same author to feel a little bit better after reading this series. Feels like this is how she originally wanted this series to end. So much similarity except almost totally remove the idea of other love interest.

Ah, Hirunaka no Ryuusei.
I'm going to start off with the bad news, and move into the good news.

The Bad News:
This manga suffers from a love triangle which, in most cases, I don't enjoy whatsoever. The story is quite typical, and to be expected. That being said, re-reading this manga has given me a bit of a different perspective. Although there is still the regular tropes to expect, the author handled a good transition in story, especially in the 8th volume.

The Good News:

The characters, for the most part, aren't too bad. We have the protagonist, Shizume, who is an interesting character but falls to the same demise as the rest of the cast: poor writing. I think Shizume suffers the most from OOC situations, in order to forward the plot in the direction it has to go. She is still unique from most protagonists in shoujo manga, including her personality and features. Yuyuka is also an interesting character, who develops quite a bit during the progression of the manga -- and I have to say that her progression was very satisfying. Yamamori did a great job making the supporting characters actually matter: everyone who was close to Shizume was given time and space to develop overtime as well, instead of remaining static. The last character I want to touch on is Mamura. It is not often that I feel so deeply for a character, and Mamura is one who I have grown attached to. His part in the story is wonderful, his characterization is wonderful, and his friendship with Shizume is something to be envied. He is not pitied and he is not made into a helpless third wheel. You see how he changes over the course of the story, and with the combination of the art, it is truly a pleasure to read.
The number one reason I recommend people read this manga is for the art. Yamamori Mika is an exceptional artist. Her characters are all unique, and she creates incredible atmosphere with the use of figure and negative space. Her strengths also include eyes, hair, and clothing. There are a lot of close ups of a character's eyes closing, and they are gorgeous. All of these things contribute to the greater aesthetic of her work. Maybe this isn't the best manga story-wise but it is probably the most beautiful series I've ever read. It is absolutely inspiring. If shoujo isn't your thing, I would still recommend sifting through this manga simply for the art. It IS that good.

Hirunaka no Ryuusei was an altogether very good manga even though the plot line was weak at first. I personally didn't think it was going to be a great manga but it was! I read it in a day in a few hours. It has like 60 something chapters and is ongoing but, good news, it releases twice a month. The art was very good and the only reason I give it a nine is because of the teeth. For some reason this artist draws teeth with straight lines going up and down and one line going across, just warning you beforehand. For some reason it bothers me alot but you can ignore it if you're a regular person. The characters are well rounded and diverse and not like some mangas where one person looks like another and you're really confused. This was also one of the few manga where I actually liked the protagonist's decision. A story of ups and downs in love, you'll enjoy it very much and I recommend it and I'm surprised I hadn't found this manga sooner.

Story: 9/10
I love the turns it took, I was not expecting many of them.
Art: 10/10
Loved it!
Character: 10/10
They were all very different, I liked them all.
Enjoyment: 10/10
It kept me very excited all the time, never knew what could happen.
Overall: 10/10
This manga was very, very good. It was not as the ordinary love triangles, for the simple fact that one of them was a teacher, yeah, which I liked the most, until we started to see Mamura's other side, than I fell for him badly. Don't regret it at all. I loved all the moments. It broke my heart so many times, but it was worth it for the ending.