Seven

This is actually two short stories in one book, and therein lies the problem: the mangaka tries to pack a lot of character history and relationship development into a very small amount of pages-- and if Momoko Tenzen has the storytelling chops to pull it off, she's certainly not showing it here.

The dialogue is melodramatic and choppy, as is the storyline. In the first story in particular, the development of the relationship between the two leads seem far to sudden and overdramatic, given what we've seen of their interactions. The story is too short to get a real sense of who the characters are, and there's little to justify the sense of intense attachment Nana feels for Mitsuha. Sure, he's been abandoned in the past, but the author show more doesn't do enough to show why he's attached to Mitsuha in particular, and not someone else. It's hardly romantic. The second story is loosely connected to the first, and a little better but not by much. It's a pretty typical yaoi setup, entirely predictable for a seasoned yaoi fan, but you do get a better sense of the characters in this one.

Both stories would benefit from being expanded; lots of details were skimmed over which could have added to the reader's understanding, and there could have been more substantial character building. The art, too, could use more detail. Tenzen has a really clean and delicate style, and a lot of panels are used on close ups of the characters faces to show their expressions. These worked fairly well. However, she leaves a lot of the backgrounds sparse where they could have been used to reveal things about the characters-- for example, what do they have in their living space, how do they organize their bedrooms, etc. All in all, this was a really forgettable read. show less