Ah fuck I've already caught up started from chp 91, 142 chps in one sitting. This manga is criminally short, bc back in my days you'd need a day or two to get through 100+ chps
Regardless, my opinion of the manga is very high. It's at least 5x better and more immersive than the anime. I genuinely felt a ton of emotions while reading this, whereas the anime came off cringey and cliche for some reason man the momojikawa/sakura backstory reveal arc broke me, umemiya's was really sad as well. I really wanna give all of these kids a big hug, I love tsubaki chan for hugging sakura in my place she's definitely one of my favourite characters from this series, ahh my shaylasss
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but, I find Hiragi way more charismatic than Umemiya lol. I feel like his words, deeds and overall character carry so much weight, the degree of impact he has on his peers and juniors seems to go somewhat weirdly overlooked. Umemiya, to me, just comes across as a friendly, overzealous dork with a lofty goal who's really good at fighting and happens to be charismatic enough to inspire the people around him However as a reader, you can see how Hiragi's influence is the one that actually extends beyond his own actions and interactions. His beliefs and values seem to naturally find their way into the people around him, who then pass them on to others (eg: Kaji giving Sakura advice on the rooftop like Hiragi once did for him), his influence becomes embedded in the way these characters think and treat one another, whereas imo the admiration directed towards Umemiya feels like superficial glaze in comparison. Idk if this is intentional on the author's part, but it's something I've noticed
That said, I don't think Hiragi should be the leader instead of Umemiya. Ume chan is ultimately bofurin's leader and I can't see anyone else in his role unironically, I feel Hiragi shines so much precisely because he's the right hand man. Honestly, I think y'all have understood by now that Hiragi is easily one of my favourite characters, probably right below Sakura. You wouldn't expect such a gruff looking guy with shark teeth to be so grounded, mature and responsible... those qualities are what perfectly makes him so compelling and endearing to me
Ah fuck I've already caught up started from chp 91, 142 chps in one sitting. This manga is criminally short, bc back in my days you'd need a day or two to get through 100+ chps
Regardless, my opinion of the manga is very high. It's at least 5x better and more immersive than the anime. I genuinely felt a ton of emotions while reading this, whereas the anime came off cringey and cliche for some reason man the momojikawa/sakura backstory reveal arc broke me, umemiya's was really sad as well. I really wanna give all of these kids a big hug, I love tsubaki chan for hugging sakura in my place she's definitely one of my favourite characters from this series, ahh my shaylasss
Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but, I find Hiragi way more charismatic than Umemiya lol. I feel like his words, deeds and overall character carry so much weight, the degree of impact he has on his peers and juniors seems to go somewhat weirdly overlooked. Umemiya, to me, just comes across as a friendly, overzealous dork with a lofty goal who's really good at fighting and happens to be charismatic enough to inspire the people around him However as a reader, you can see how Hiragi's influence is the one that actually extends beyond his own actions and interactions. His beliefs and values seem to naturally find their way into the people around him, who then pass them on to others (eg: Kaji giving Sakura advice on the rooftop like Hiragi once did for him), his influence becomes embedded in the way these characters think and treat one another, whereas imo the admiration directed towards Umemiya feels like superficial glaze in comparison. Idk if this is intentional on the author's part, but it's something I've noticed
That said, I don't think Hiragi should be the leader instead of Umemiya. Ume chan is ultimately bofurin's leader and I can't see anyone else in his role unironically, I feel Hiragi shines so much precisely because he's the right hand man. Honestly, I think y'all have understood by now that Hiragi is easily one of my favourite characters, probably right below Sakura. You wouldn't expect such a gruff looking guy with shark teeth to be so grounded, mature and responsible... those qualities are what perfectly makes him so compelling and endearing to me