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I adore short stories like these. Seemingly mundane, daily scenes with a touch of melancholy...and then - a twist. Each of these six stories follows this formula, and most of them succeed in pretty much perfecting it.

Here's my personal rating of each of the stories:

#1 Shiki no Zenjitsu: 8/10 Intimate, unexpected, serene in a very particular way. An emotional opener that fulfills its role perfectly.

#2 Azusa 2-Gou: 10/10. This one tugged on my heartstrings hard, so much brevity and emotion in so few panels. Easily one of the best short stories I've read in a while - both in manga, and in literature.

#3 Monochrome no ... Kyoudai: 9/10. Masterful approach towards reminiscence and a very, very pleasant flow of the dialogue. Touching in a bittersweet way.

#4-5 Yumemiru Kakashi: 8/10 This is the only story that takes up two 'chapters'. Interesting characters and a rather rare (for a manga) setting. However, I feel the story lacked something.

#5 10-gatsu no Hakoniwa: 6.5/10 The least interesting out of the bunch. A bit of a cliched story, and lacked the emotional punch or depth, to be honest. Still a pleasant read.

#6 Sorekara: 7/10 Were it not for giving us a glimpse into how #1 goes on, it would've been a 6/10. However, I feel that using the cat soliloquy paired up with the atmosphere is a very nice closure to this collection.

As far as the art goes, throughout it's rather nice. There ARE some characters that look slightly similar (especially men). However, many mangaka do this anyways. This particular art style is very fitting for the nostalgic mood present in all the stories.

In short: read this. It doesn't take much time, and the intensity of the emotions/stories is easily on par with a lot of long-running series. Great work. 8/10

Man, there's something in these mid-00s manga series that really hits that angsty & bleak spot for me. 'Itoshi no Nina' is a prime example of this type of atmosphere. While certainly not a masterpiece, the series is an underrated psychological gem.

The first few chapters might turn off quite a few people. It's obvious the author was going for peak shock value to hook the readers in. Once the story rolls out, however, the series blossoms into an unexpected mixture of juvenile angstiness and a weird combo of wholesome + dysfunctional romance.

What I mean is: give it a chance despite the rough start.

The relationships ... between the characters in 'Itoshi no Nina' are complex, oftentimes contradicting each other throughout the plot. In this, the mangaka has certainly managed to encapsulate how tumultuous youth years are. Especially when you throw trauma in, and certainly all of the main characters have their own demons to battle with.

I have some remarks regarding the pacing at the last third. Things could have been wrapped up better. In general, though, the author has done a great job at layering the story.

If you're looking for something mature, with realistic characters, and serious themes being discussed -- 'Itoshi no Nina' certainly delivers. A short read - but quite dense with emotions and ripe with introspective episodes.

8/10

The most recent review here gives this a 'Not recommended' score for something that didn't actually happen in the manga. Just FYI. A lesson why it's worth waiting out controversial plot points to see whether they happened or were a bait.

Anyways, I can't give this series more than a 5/10 and 'Mixed feelings'.

The mangaka REALLY needs an editor to calm the fuck down. There are retrospections, time skips, and whatnot happening in the most jarring manner all throughout the series. Sometimes they make sense, sometimes they're so random you're like 'Wait, WTF is happening and why am I here?'

Imagine a big reveal/suspenseful moment and ... then BAM! you get a retrospection arc. Once you're back in the present, the story moves on and the reveal just...fizzles out. What? Three times I seriously asked myself whether I was reading the same series and wait, where did THAT jump come from?

The, er, plot can be dumb as rocks too. Not always, to be fair. Sometimes this manga manages to hint at the decent smutty drama it could have been. Once again, the author goes haywire and ruins it with something stupid - even for the standards of 18-year-old hormone-blasted teens in an ecchi series.

These points put aside, it's a decent trainwreck with tits as wheels if you have time to waste. Lower your expectations regarding logical decisions and it becomes pretty darn entertaining plus the smut is hot. The drama has also been ramping up slightly better than earlier, so hey, it might be actually turning into something decent?

Keep in mind that 72 chapters in, the mangaka said it's just the 'prologue'. The chapters are rather short at 8-9 pages each, but obviously, this is going to run for a while. I'm putting it on hold as this is something not worth waiting weekly/monthly for - batch reading works better.

It's been a while since I was tempted to drop a series in its very beginning. The first 7-8 chapters of 'Batsu-Hare' should be exhibited as one of the dumbest, piss-poor ways to build a setting and drive character motivations. Yes, even for an ecchi series.

In case you didn't drop it right there, congrats - it actually gets better.

I'm not sure what switch eventually flipped inside the mangaka's head. However, as the chapters progress forward, the writing and pacing slowly become better and better. The increments for me are chapter 15 onward, and then the quality steps up a bit more post-chapter 40.

Let's be honest. ... It's an office worker smut drama - you ain't getting philosophy courses or realism/a groundbreaking plot. For its genre, though? 'Batsu-Hare' actually builds up some decent conflict AND manages to create side characters/rivals that are not 40% cardboard personality and 60% tits. The latter also happens further in the series.

The art is a solid 7.5/10. Some scenes are fucking whack, treading the line between absolutely implausible, hilarious, and hot all at the same time.

This is an overall 7/10 that I put as 6/10 because of the brain rot you have to experience in the first chapters. Otherwise, 'Batsu-Hare' is decent. A bit of drama, a bit of character development, and lots of hilariously improbable episodes.

Oh, yeah, and I find it hilarious that all characters bear the names of train stations in Tokyo.

Shut your brain off a bit and fill in some of the office worker drama smut you needed, with the added spice of a harem.

The series is decent, but I feel people overstate how philosophical or existentialist it is. The manga is a 7/10 take on self-introspection and the weight we carry throughout our lives. It has its beautiful moments, darker melancholic takes, and some episodes of sending the reader on an eerie trip into the human psyche.

Unfortunately, the impact is marred by several drawbacks:

1) The Hokkaido side story with one particular character was so obviously shoehorned in and felt cheap. One of the most out-of-place plot points I've seen recently.
2) Weak delivery of the resolution/conclusion: I'd say this could be attributed to spending so much time on the ... side story and then rushing through the focal conflict.
3) At one point, the suspension of disbelief required of me as a reader was waaay too much.
4) The post-story Okinawa-hen (Volume 9, basically) swaps the atmosphere so abruptly I got whiplash. Fanservicey to the maximum - not in the NSFW way, it featured quite a few moments that were absolutely out of character for the main duo.

What I liked:

1) 'The Night on the Galactic Railroad'. Beautiful weaved into the main story and a well-executed allegory based on the original. Masterful work there.
2) As I pointed out, on some occasions, the series hits the nail on the head with its gloomy, dreadful atmosphere and existentialist ponderings. The psychological factor shines through in some chapters, just to fizzle out in others.
3) I dig most of the art. Yeah, the main characters are hot and the NSFW stuff is steamy. But where the series shines through are the cityscapes and depictions of nature. Paired with the cosmic shots from 'The Night on the Galactic Railroad', they transform the manga into a rather scenic experience.

7/10 with mixed feelings, because this could have been so, so much better. Might hit the spot for some, but I still think 'Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu' gets oversold.

7/10 if you're into lighter rom-coms; 6/10 if you get tired of repetitiveness, rigid 1D characterizations, and forced circumstances.

In all honesty, I enjoyed the first few chapters quite a bit. By chapter 15, though, I'm starting to get exhausted by Noa's hyper every-fucking-thing. I know it's her 'core' personality feature, but I wish the author introduced something extra or at least sometimes toned it down a bit.

MC's ruthless deadpan reactions are entertaining - he manages to escape being over-the-top bland/nonchalant. And, gotta give the author that, the duo's banter CAN be quite funny from time to time.

Unfortunately, the characters are way too one-dimensional to ... keep the series truly entertaining/fresh in its current slice-of-life format.

Also, this one's a personal pet peeve of mine, despite it being prevalent in the genre:

Once again, the 'adult' FMC a) has the design of a teenager and b) is, of course, 'pure' despite having a few exes and soon turning 28.

Meh. I pretty much dislike infantilizing adults in a supposedly more 'mature' office setting. Sadly, this seems to be the standard for most non-josei works.

However, if you're in for a light read? You'll probably enjoy these daily snapshots of the unlikely friendship between a clingy, emotionally explosive FMC and a detached, candid MC. Personally, it's starting to wear on me.

Despite giving this a 6.5/10 (which could have easily been an 8/10, sadly...), I'd recommend you read 'Alabaster no Kisetsu'.

First, the glaring shortcomings this manga has:

1) Unneeded plot points mid-way which, in my opinion, contributed to a degradation of the overall quality (pacing, plot points, character consistency). These 'developments' appeared just to disappear shortly, stirring controversy and feeling absolutely out of character for this manga.

2) Quite possibly related to 1), the series appears to have been soft-axed. It really feels like the controversial decisions led to backlash from an editor/magazine/whatever. The latter half feels rushed and while the mangaka manages to wrap things up, it's ... all too hectic. At least it's a better wrap-up than MANY other cases.

Moving onto the good points:

1) It's a short series. You don't need to invest a lot of time into it, so some of the plot point fiasco doesn't come after 60 chapters of stellar character building. No sunk cost fallacy issues, in other words. If you got 2-3 hours free, you're done with the series.

2) The topic/focus is interesting. Artsy manga that includes a healthy mix of drama, romance, technical details/terminology and pretty darn good explanations. This one also has a youthful atmosphere plastered all over it, in the good way (not too cheesy, not too infantilizing). A lot of things could have been better - but the series manages to score rather high on consistency in all its main points.

3) Art style. The big emphasis I put here is on the nudity, which the series has a lot of. It's presented in a very classy, introspective, you might even say analytical way. Sometimes erotic, never smutty. Toned-down, yet alluring or playful. A very nice strike of balance.

A part of me is sad how the mangaka decided to go for stray plot points that most probably cost the series a longer run/better story progression. It does feel like a rookie mistake, so maybe the author is still making baby steps. Hope that's the case and we'll see a better follow-up!

Related recommendations:
'Natsu no Zenjitsu' for a more dramatic, torrential story between two strong characters.
'Sen wa, Boku wo Egaku' for a more introvertive, shy, and romantic in a very soothing way approach.

Solid 7.5/10, so far it's been above my expectations. It's somewhat cheesy, yes, but in a good way. Definitely an overall fun read, with more than decent art and no meaningless drama so far.

MAL doesn't have a description, so here's the gist of it:

Our MC is a 30-year-old salaryman who's a virgin. Some women have laughed at him for that and some of his coworkers are assholes about his virginity, so his confidence is pretty low. His close woman friend tries to help him out, but they have an awkward moment and distance themselves. Shortly after, the owner of a fuzoku (sex services) establishment approaches ... MC with a proposition - to start working there. Basically, the MC's adventures and 'training' as a provider of sex services to women start from here on. The plot so far has been slightly episodic, but I feel the mangaka will tie these episodic encounters into the overarching linear narrative.

As I said, this is an entertaining read with plenty of nudity, funny banter, and a pretty likable cast of characters so far. Of course, there are some exaggerated characterizations or plot points, but nothing too out there. I don't think the series is meant to be taken seriously, either. It's not deep or anything. Volume two ends with a hint at some more dramatic events, so let's see how it goes.

Try it out, though so far it's available only in Japanese. Weird that no scanlators have picked this up, it's away better than most of the rom-coms/smutty comedies lying around.

Ouch. This was brutally axed, far worse than I'd expect. Seems like Honna Wakou's newest series just didn't attract enough attention.

Unfortunately, it's understandable. I'm a big fan of her works, but once volume 3 hit, one thing was obvious:

She didn't have the clarity on how to lead the plot into something as suspenseful as her previous works.

The premise was and IS interesting. The characters, despite being a bit copy-pastey from previous works like 'Nozoki Ana' were fine enough. The story flowed well in the first two volumes.

And then bam, it just fizzled out. I couldn't care in any way for the conflict or possible resolutions. ... Even the spicy factor felt artificial and forced. Compare this to the earlier volumes of 'Kaikan Douki' or 'Nozoki Ana', heck even 'HadaCamera'. They're way more intense and imaginative.

Volume 5 of 'Futari Haishin' was one of the worst cases of clear axing I've seen. Jumbled, atrocious, filled with nonsensical 'resolutions'. It felt bad to see this end in such a manner, but frankly maybe it's for the best. I hope Wakou-sensei takes some time to rest and cook up something interesting for her next series. Because we damn know she can make top tier smutty drama.

Whoa, some of these chapters swept me way more than I expected to. I admit the cover and summary of 'Junwaidan' made me think I'm in for a fun, but cheap-ish rowdy series.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

This manga is episodic in nature and despite some of the stories focusing on people at the younger stages of their lives, it's very adult. Adult in a sentimentally painful, realistic, and very, very sobering way. It doesn't condone the behavior of its characters (most chapters being based on true stories submitted to the mangaka); it rather explores them in a captivating way.

I've read very few series ... that could contain this realism and genuine feeling within a single chapter without seeming too short/unfinished.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the series transcends the usual manga storytelling methods. It rather ventures into short prose territory - intimate, emotional, and with a gentle hint of wisdom about the things we have to sometimes sacrifice. I found myself and some of my romantic experiences in several of these chapters and could 100% resonate with the characters depicted.

I would disagree with the reviewer before me. I don't think the art is bland. I think the art is purposefully more realistic and not overly flowery or majestic. It's a more mature, streamlined take on the art of manga. And I'm glad about that, as I think the stylistic choice fits the story narratives and messages very well.

A solid 9/10 out of me. I read the series is on hiatus and I'm very sad about this fact, as 'Junwaidan' delivers a special kind of atmosphere. As I said, there's a heavy dose of realism here - keep that in mind. A lot of bittersweetness to be found within the chapters.

Oh, and there are Youtube videos (much like scripts/screenplays) that tie well into the manga series. I advise you take a look at them, just search the manga name in Japanese and they'll pop up. I'm actually surprised this isn't bigger overseas, as both the series and the videos are decently popular within Japan.