I'm intrigued by this first volume, but very unsure about it. The main love interest ended up getting super intense in a way that didn't make me root for their romantic pairing. The main character feels very aro/ace coded and I'd be super interested in seeing that dynamic considering she does seem to feel a level of affection that could work for a QPR. But I'm also not seeing much in the way of personality development for either character, the love interest is mainly characterized by his intense instant devotion despite having just ended another relationship.

This manga is a sweet story about a boy who wants to be loved and a girl who doesn't even know what that means. It falls into that classic if it was in any other format I probably wouldn't like either of the characters however in Manga form it works? I think Manga has different standards and expectations for me. I think when I was a teen and deep into my Manga phase I would have eaten this up, but the love bombing made me a little uncomfortable. The premise is nice, I just think it could of been executed better.

There were a few instances that had me side-eying the MMC but all in all, I think that the relationship between the FMC and MMC is off to an adorable start. The art style is excellent. The timing and the pacing of the plot and relationship development were nice and steady, I didn't feel it was going too fast or too slow at any point.

This looked sweet and youthful on the surface, but it was not the fluffy shoujo I was expecting to read! The premise is a girl who isn't into romance/has not fallen in love before (as if this is such a big deal at 16), portrayed as a deep sceptic and an outlier, ends up pusued by a popular guy. Except, you know, he is a walking illustration of a love-bombing red flag. But the tone is still very earnestly a youthful shoujo manga, so there is such a tonal dissonance between the events and the way they are portrayed. We can do better than this, shoujo manga!

Hotaru is pretty sure she’s the type of person who will never fall in love. So she thinks nothing of it when she shares her umbrella with the despondent Hananoi, who has just been dumped. He asks her out and thinks she’s the girl of his dreams, but Hotaru only agrees to go out with him on a trial basis for a month. Hananoi is determined to do everything to get Hotaru to love him, so he does extreme stunts like digging in the snow for a few hours to help find a lost hair pin. To her surprise, she enjoys spending time with him, but by the end of the trial period, she still hasn’t figure out if she loves him or not. Is what she feels actually love, or just fondness for a person?
The refreshing thing about this story is that neither of the leads are extremely embarrassed or shy. Hotaru is willing to try new things and go on dates even though she's skeptic of the whole process, but there isn't the normal shyness that is a large part of romance titles. That being said, the speed at which Hananoi gets intense is a little off-putting. He is head-over-heels, I'll-sacrifice-myself-for-you type of love within minutes. After he cools off a little bit, he's a thoughtful person and treats Hotaru with a lot of respect, which is really good to see. Other than the creep-factor at the beginning, this is a pretty sweet romance title that I'll probably give a few more volumes to see if it piques my interest more.

Kodansha rates this for 16+, but there wasn't anything in the first volume that would make this inappropriate for younger high schoolers. At this point, it might be OK for middle school even, but that could change in a few volumes depending on how serious the relationship gets.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

I love this manga. It’s a sweet story of a boy who is desperate to be loved and a girl who has absolutely no idea what love means, and the two of them figuring it out together.

This is a lovely story in which Hotaru (16-year-old high school student) decides that she will give love a try even though she is deeply sceptical about it. Unlike many other teenage girls, and unlike her best friend, Hotaru questions what it means to fall in love and much prefers focusing on her family and friends

She believes she is a friend to all and so she is rather puzzled when she finds her fellow first-year, Hananoi-kun, sitting in the cold after a messy, public breakup. She marches up to him to share her large umbrella. Hananoi-Kun is enchanted by this act of kindness and totally smitten. He asks Hotaru out but Hotaru is at a loss to respond. In any case she decides to give the relationship a trial period and so begins the path to possible true love.

This is an endearing and comforting read about a journey of discovery. Will the plain girl and the popular boy find their forever together?

Great manga with great artwork and I really enjoyed reading this.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a really good start to a new series, a shojo that seems to be trying to put a new spin on the genre. Hotaru is a high schooler who doesn't understand love, she doesn't get wanting a boyfriend and frankly it does not appeal to her. After witnessing a public break up of Hananoi, a classmate, Hotaru offers her umbrella to him, thinking nothing of it. However, the next day, Hananoi asks her out, leading Hotaru down a road that may lead to finally learning what love could mean. This is a cute story, though I will say I felt like Hananoi could be a bit too intense at times, which is often played for laughs but still was a bit weird at times. The art is fantastic and i did like the track the relationship is taking, while they get together quick, it's on a trial basis and leaves room for any romance to build and progress more naturally.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I never tried my hand at reading Manga's/Graphic Novels but this was really cute and delightful. A bit fast and I know it's the first volume but I did like the main female character and the male one I just was hoping a little bit more happened throughout and not have it start so insta love on his part.

Super cute high school romance! The main characters felt refreshing to read, and the art was beautiful. I like the main female lead's perspective on love, and it felt pretty realistic. It did feel a bit insta-lovey on the guy's side, but I'll definitely check out future volumes to see how their relationship develops.

A very sweet story and certainly very different from the usual school romance.
Usually the two protagonists like each other and are tested by others who fall in love with them but their love is strong enough to beat any rival.

This time it's different, both Hananoi and Hotaro know nothing about love. Their relationship is a continuous learning, Hotaro has never had a boyfriend and therefore tries to discover what it is to fall in love with someone, Hananoi who can seem like a huge red flag, is a boy with a problematic past who needs constant security and who he must learn to work on it and improve. And this improves, we find this growth throughout the story, an incredible growth of the characters.

It's beautiful, everyone should give it a chance and not judge everything just by appearances.

honestly this one was kind of a letdown! i had such high hopes that this would be a cute, sweet and fast read that makes you feel like love's real but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I liked the fmc but the guy was just creepy and made it so uncomfortable to read.
The romanticization of his character was really not it for me. Besides that i think the story lacked originality and fell flat so...
But it was still quick to read so it didn't feel like a waste of time. I won't continue this series but i think there's people who migh like it.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
*Thanks to NetGalley uk, the publishers and the author for the ARC*

This was so cute, I loved it a lot and really want to read the next volume! Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author and artist for the ARC I read.

This is a slice of life, high school, romance shojo manga. But it felt really unique, in that the main character is a little different from her peers. She doesn’t quite understand how they think and feel about things, especially love. She’s never really understood the pull of it and just assumed she wouldn’t ever. Our main male character, falls very quickly for her and decides to do everything he can to get her to fall for him. I like that the MC is very sweet and kind but she’s also always true to herself. She doesn’t just pretend to suddenly understand love to make the ML feel better and she doesn’t just suddenly change and understand it all. It’s a slow process, where she starts by just enjoying being around the ML and realizing that she doesn’t want to lose him and that he makes her feel special. It felt very realistic and I appreciated the representation of other ways of thinking that was shown here with the MC. I’m really excited for the next volume, also the art is top notch, it’s seriously so gorgeous.

4.5 stars

This was so pure and sweet.
Cute art and very cute story.

Will definitely be reading more.

3.5 stars!

Cute insta-romance school life manga! I like how the fmc is pretty straightforward and the art is adorable as well!

I started reading this manga because I saw that the anime was released and I saw opinions out there saying that Hananoi, the main male character, was quite toxic and had a lot of red flags. And it is like that. Hananoi is quite controversial. I like that this is not romanticized. And I think the story goes in that direction, how Hotaru begins to experience love but also setting a limit to Hananoi's obsession.

It's a story that I will definitely continue reading and I'm also going to start watching the anime!

Thank you Kodansha Comics for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this very quickly (like half an hour) and I think the story is very fluid and easy to read. I think it's a really good starter manga for somebody who's just getting into manga. It was very fast-paced and the characters were very likable. It's a little bit unrealistic that the MMC is so immediately head over heels I don't typically go for books that have the love at first sight type of trope but other than that regard, the story is really cute and the art style is really nice, I especially appreciate the characterization. The world building isn't super crazy but that's fine. This book was initially published in Japan in 2018, I read the English version and I didn't notice any mistranslation or spelling mistakes or anything like that so I think it was translated very well.
(same review left on goodreads)

This was cute! I think it differs from other high school romance manga in that the main characters actually learn to communicate and apologize in the first volume, which was refreshing. The main character is really sweet and is innocent in a way that didn't make me feel like she was being infantilized. I'm excited to see how she continues to grow both in her romantic and personal relationships. While the love interest did come off as a little obessive and intense at first, I think it balanced out as the volume went on. I'm interested in learning more about him as well. The art is good as well; it would make a cute anime. I will continue with the series and would recommend it!

I really connected with this story as I also find it hard to express or understand mine and others feelings. I think this was a super cute story where we got to see their journey of understanding themselves and feeling exempted and special

Cute high school romance. A little too simple and insta-love for me, so I may not pick up the second volume. But I'd recommend it, especially to readers who haven't read manga before.