In love, but not with each other.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mika Yamamori
Translation/Adaptation: JN Productions
What They Say
Suzume has moved to Tokyo and is living with her uncle. In an unguarded moment, while Mr. Shishio naps in the infirmary, Suzume voices her feelings. But he wasn’t sleeping?! Mamura soon realizes how Suzume feels about their teacher, and with Mr. Shishio’s ex-girlfriend back in the picture, things become even more complicated.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Due to unknown jealousy, Suzume uttered her confession to Shishio. She battled internally if he heard her or not. She wasn’t sure if she would be happy if he actually didn’t hear her. Through a blunder of his own, Shishio admits he did indeed hear her. This makes Suzume feel incredibly awkward, and not just in front of Shishio, but with everyone. However, when Shishio’s ex-girlfriend, Tsubomi, confronts Suzume regarding her feelings for Shishio, her confidence tanks even more. She’s well aware she is not an adult and doesn’t have a chance with Shishio, but it still hurts to hear it.
It’s the last day of school before summer vacation. Shishio drew a line with Tsubomi, but his thoughts are still drifting. Suzume gathers her courage and tells Shishio directly that she has a crush on him. He thanks her and then apologizes. She’s glad that she told him, but when she’s about ready to leave school, she runs into Mamura and can’t stop the tears. Mamura hugs Suzume and confesses his feelings to her. She’s a mess of emotions, but when Yuyuka stops by and she’s honest with Yuyuka about what happened with Mamura, Suzume lets everything out including her rejection from Shishio.
At the summer festival, a group of boys and girls go together, including Suzume, Yuyuka, and Mamura. When Mamura is alone with Suzume, she tells him she doesn’t have feelings for him and thanked him for that. In that moment, she sees Shishio and Tsubomi together and her heart is crushed again. She runs away, but Shishio actually runs after her. Suzume tells Shishio if he really doesn’t have any feelings for her to stop being so nice to her, and she runs away from him too. Since Yuyuka went looking for Suzume and Mamura, she ends up running into just Mamura who is all alone. Meanwhile, Shishio is coming to terms that his feelings and relationship with Tsubomi are completely over.
In Summary:
Definitely a volume packed with strong emotions. The summer festival chapter was definitely the best with the timing, the way the storyboards are laid out and the emotions clearly on the characters’ faces. Now that everyone has said their confession, the question is how this will actually turn out. Usually, it takes volumes before a confession is made, but here we are at the third volume and everyone knows how everyone feels. I still sometimes wonder why some titles that include potential or actual love relationships that span a high schooler and an adult are perceived so differently and varied in the western countries. This is a shojo with a fifteen-year-old girl and a twenty-four-year-old male teacher. There’s a ton of stories out there from Japan, but some are attacked and some not. I feel it would make a really good discussion minus the heated debates.
Content Grade: B-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: C+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shojo Beat (Viz Media)
Release Date: November 5, 2019
MSRP: $9.99