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| Name: Seven Days |
| Status: Completed |
| Author: TACHIBANA Venio , TAKARAI Rihito 2007 released. |
| Genre(s): Drama / School Life / Shounen Ai / Slice Of Life |
| Alternative: セブンデイズ; 星期戀人; Seven Days; سبعة أيام -; Siete Dias (Spanish); Pitong Araw (Filipino); Syv dage (Danish); सात दिन |
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The base concept for this story is simple—Seryo is known to be a weeklong lover, dating the first person that asks him out on a Monday and seeing the relationship through until Sunday, where he'll then break up with them. So, Yuzuru Shino asks him out. It's very simple, it's very cute, and it has a lot of potential, which I think this story meets. It really sells you on its concept through its execution not just in the story itself and how it unfolds but also in its format.
Each chapter, sometimes multiple chapters, are dedicated to a day; so the first chapter is of the Monday, the second and third chapters are of the Tuesday, and so on. I really liked this, telling the story in such a way really put a focus on the plot in a way that made it feel special in some sense, it seperated itself from just being another story about one guy giving another guy a chance and instead really cemented the one-week rule this story had as its gimmick. Another thing that I think was a huge bonus is the fact that it makes the timeline really easy to follow. I feel like a lesser author would have really muddled this and made all the days blend into one unidentifiable mass, so to outline them explicitly in the way the story did was a creative, smart move.
When it came to the two main characters, I absolutely loved them. Seryo's arc is about being able to move on from someone he loved for so long and finally want to open his heart to another person, while Yuzuru's arc is about really just finally being loved for who he is after repeatedly not being able to meet others expectations.
Out of the two, I did like Yuzuru more, mainly since Seryo had one jarring issue that I'll get into later.
Yuzuru is a popular man within their school, known for his good looks. It's not to the same extent as Seryo, but Yuzuru is often approached by women who were instantly smitten by his appearance and want to date him. He'll usually say yes, and the relationship will usually always end up the same way; the women will dump him and say he's not what they expected him to be. He's loud and thickheaded, he speaks the first thought that comes into his mind as if his brain is lagging behind and he's not the most aware person. He can be a brute, he can be crass, he can be jealous and tempermental; he's not the man the women he's dated had hoped he was. And then Seryo shows up, and instantly falls for who he is as a person. He likes the fact that Yuzuru speaks so freely, and though frustrating, he finds Yuzuru's thickheadedness to be endearing, and he likes possessiveness in a partner. Seryo is the first person in a long time to like Yuzuru for who he is.
Seryo's whole "thing" is that he'll date the first person that asks him every Monday for a week straight. He's loyal and he puts his all into the relationship—because he hopes that this will help him finally love someone else and move on from the person he really loves, a woman called Shino. Their relationship is really messy, as Shino is actually dating Seryo's brother and is only fucking Seryo because the brother's cheated on her . . . Though their relationship still also seems to have emotional ties on both ends rather than just being physical. I don't know, honestly I felt like it was rather poorly executed and is one of the few things that weighs this story down. Shino and Seryo's feelings towards each other aren't as clear as I'd have liked. Anyways. When he meets Yuzuru, he finally found someone who he can connect to on a deeper level. Someone he feels that spark with, that connection, that want to bare his heart. And I really like that. I always like stories of someone who is stuck in a past love and finds someone who finally gets their heart beating again; I'm just a sentimental romantic but I always find that stuff to be incredibly sweet.
The main conflict of this story though comes from—to a point, understandable—miscommunication. Yuzuru asks Seryo out on a whim, wanting to see how he'd react and if the weeklong lover rumors were true. It's not super serious, but Seryo doesn't know he wasn't serious until the next day, when he starts treating Yuzuru as an actual partner and realizes it was just a joke. However, neither really say anything, and they continue dating; now though they just have their own preconcieved notions of what this relationship is and what will happen. Yuzuru is under the impression that no matter what, Seryo is just going to break up with him by that Sunday since that's just how it goes, while Seryo is under the impression that even if he falls in love, it won't matter because to Yuzuru, this is just something fun to pass the time. And . . . I don't hate this, surprisingly enough. Usually I hate miscommunication, and at points this does obviously get frustrating, but I think this works for who these characters are.
What is frustrating to me though is fucking everything with Shino. I just . . . Don't get what role she serves in the story, in the way she exists. I just found it frustrating. I especially did not like the way Seryo basically treated her as a non-issue once he moved on and wasn't able to realize why Yuzuru was jealous over her. Like . . . Seryo was in love with her. Obviously Yuzuru is going to be upset seeing her still around, especially knowing just how deeply in love with her Seryo was. It's especially frustrating because in chapter 13, pretty much the last chapter, Seryo says, "Yuzuru, when have I ever let Shino cross my mind when I was with you?" And it's like . . . You have repeatedly? Like come the fuck on. Seryo reminded him of Shino like twice, not to mention the names . . . In case you forgot, Yuzuru's full name is Yuzuru Shino. SHINO. Like . . . Ugh.
But all in all, I did really enjoy this story. Its characters resonated with me on a pretty deep level, I found the story to be quite emotional, and I also find a really strong charm in the art style as well. Apparently, this came out in the early to mid-2000s, and you can kind of tell. It doesn't have any insane proportions, but it is a product of its time in a way I find really endearing