I really hate the direction the author went with Yuu's character. She could've just stayed as the platonic friend, but the author just had to go there and make her fall in love with Maki. I understand wanting to create drama and tension, but this just wasn't it. What's worse is that this whole arc made up a majority of the story (her feelings start growing from Volume 4, until it's confronted in Volume 7 and officially closed on Volume 8) - it literally felt like Yuu had become the main character, and even in volume 8, the author focused more on Yuu's perspective than Umi, who is the female lead.
The only good thing is that Maki doesn't at all waver - he remains solid in his feelings for Umi. And their relationship only gets stronger. But this doesn't make the entire arc any less annoying to read, and what makes it more frustrating is how most of the characters just kind of coddled Yuu? She's the main character, the "sun" in their eyes, and so hence, she can never do wrong in their eyes. Umi, especially, just entertains Yuu with all this. She of course, let's out her real thoughts, frustrations and feelings about it but in the end, Umi caters to Yuu's feelings and let's her do whatever she wants so Yuu is allowed to experience her first love. Umi even came up with the stupid idea of having Maki and Yuu go on a date together, which in the end became a triple date because Yuu wanted the date to be with herself, Maki and Umi. I just...I'm baffled at this. I don't even know why this was entertained by any of the characters? Then at the date, at Yuu's request, she and Maki go on the ferris wheel alone together while Umi just waits for them alone. Yuu then confesses and gets quickly rejected by Maki. You would think it ends there right?...
Well, NO, because we move on to volume 8 where yet again, we're focusing on Yuu's lingering feelings for Maki. They go on a school trip, and just as Maki and Umi are about to go on their date, Yuu interrupts and asks to have a few minutes to talk with Maki alone. The characters, of course, don't know how to say NO to her so Maki goes to have a talk with her, while his own girlfriend waits by herself. During this talk, Yuu AGAIN tries to shoot her shot and asks the golden question "If you had met me first before Umi, would you have dated me?" Maki, of course, rejects this. But what bothers me about this is that Yuu's ALREADY been rejected and at this point, she's well aware of how serious Maki and Umi are (they exchanged promise rings to which Yuu has seen and is aware of), and yet Yuu still can't help herself. This is her own best friend's BOYFRIEND, by the way. She's ASKING her own best friend's boyfriend, had things gone differently would he have looked her way instead of Umi. I'm sorry, no matter how wholesome the author tries to make this out to be, this is straight disrespectful of Yuu to do especially when Umi has been nothing but been over-caring for her feelings.
I'm just not a big fan of unnecessary second leads and pushing the whole "I MUST confess so I can move on with my life", and it's unfortunate that the author used this exact trope with their story. Sorry for the long rant, but I LOVE this manga and I especially loved that there were no love triangles or second leads that suddenly grow feelings for the main leads. So, it's sad to read the LN to find out that they've gone with this direction. I'm hoping the manga changes this but I doubt it.
I really hate the direction the author went with Yuu's character. She could've just stayed as the platonic friend, but the author just had to go there and make her fall in love with Maki. I understand wanting to create drama and tension, but this just wasn't it. What's worse is that this whole arc made up a majority of the story (her feelings start growing from Volume 4, until it's confronted in Volume 7 and officially closed on Volume 8) - it literally felt like Yuu had become the main character, and even in volume 8, the author focused more on Yuu's perspective than Umi, who is the female lead.
The only good thing is that Maki doesn't at all waver - he remains solid in his feelings for Umi. And their relationship only gets stronger. But this doesn't make the entire arc any less annoying to read, and what makes it more frustrating is how most of the characters just kind of coddled Yuu? She's the main character, the "sun" in their eyes, and so hence, she can never do wrong in their eyes. Umi, especially, just entertains Yuu with all this. She of course, let's out her real thoughts, frustrations and feelings about it but in the end, Umi caters to Yuu's feelings and let's her do whatever she wants so Yuu is allowed to experience her first love. Umi even came up with the stupid idea of having Maki and Yuu go on a date together, which in the end became a triple date because Yuu wanted the date to be with herself, Maki and Umi. I just...I'm baffled at this. I don't even know why this was entertained by any of the characters? Then at the date, at Yuu's request, she and Maki go on the ferris wheel alone together while Umi just waits for them alone. Yuu then confesses and gets quickly rejected by Maki. You would think it ends there right?...
Well, NO, because we move on to volume 8 where yet again, we're focusing on Yuu's lingering feelings for Maki. They go on a school trip, and just as Maki and Umi are about to go on their date, Yuu interrupts and asks to have a few minutes to talk with Maki alone. The characters, of course, don't know how to say NO to her so Maki goes to have a talk with her, while his own girlfriend waits by herself. During this talk, Yuu AGAIN tries to shoot her shot and asks the golden question "If you had met me first before Umi, would you have dated me?" Maki, of course, rejects this. But what bothers me about this is that Yuu's ALREADY been rejected and at this point, she's well aware of how serious Maki and Umi are (they exchanged promise rings to which Yuu has seen and is aware of), and yet Yuu still can't help herself. This is her own best friend's BOYFRIEND, by the way. She's ASKING her own best friend's boyfriend, had things gone differently would he have looked her way instead of Umi. I'm sorry, no matter how wholesome the author tries to make this out to be, this is straight disrespectful of Yuu to do especially when Umi has been nothing but been over-caring for her feelings.
I'm just not a big fan of unnecessary second leads and pushing the whole "I MUST confess so I can move on with my life", and it's unfortunate that the author used this exact trope with their story. Sorry for the long rant, but I LOVE this manga and I especially loved that there were no love triangles or second leads that suddenly grow feelings for the main leads. So, it's sad to read the LN to find out that they've gone with this direction. I'm hoping the manga changes this but I doubt it.