- #1
I was introduced to this because of the new manga adaptation. In brief, it is a really great love story that is both romantic, suspenseful, and very erotic, with no competing love interests. The story progresses linearly from the alternating viewpoint of the two main characters.The first high-school arc introduces the main couple, their strange relationship of one renting the other, and culminates in a nice dramatic "decision time" climax at ch. 118, which establishes a new baseline of support for continuing their near-term future together in college as roommates, although the romantic element is still unresolved. You could drop the story here if you don't like it, but I imagine you will keep on reading as the story has great pacing and the main couple are each well-developed and sympathetic in their own ways. I know you will be cheering for them!Although the renting aspect goes away, the theme of having "an exchange" recurs as a rationalization for why one might do something for the other, in the absence of an explicitly expressed, "Because I love you, you are my girlfriend." These are not perfect Mary Sue type characters, each with a family history of abandonment or rejection, and you can really feel their emotional struggles as they deal with jealousy, insecurity and possessiveness. There are a couple of points where the MTL translation falls short and will make you want to shake the characters more than just theatrically for behaving like stereotypical useless lesbians in denial. Just push through those parts and you will be back enjoying the story very quickly. I strongly recommend the Amawashi translation through to whatever point it is updated, as it is far superior to the MTL.While the satisfying slow burn romance sort of plateaus when the main couple starts living together, thereafter the more slice-of-life feel is still very enjoyable. Although the main couple still has a long way to go in admitting to and expressing the true extent of their own feelings, to themselves and to their partner, there is a some "dating" and a lot of very sweet emotional intimacy throughout that will have you feeling those Yuri is Life <3 good vibes. Relationship stagnation is primarily due to the main couple treasuring what they have and being unsure about whether they can risk it in hoping for something more.But fear not - giving them a bit of a push, along with some nice comedic and dramatic tension, is how the main couple deals with the "secretly deeper" nature of their relationship with their small friend groups. Even if they don't admit their romantic relationship to themselves, the main couple recognize that some of what they do might be perceived as beyond normal roommates' behavior (not least of which is all the kissing and sex) and they increasingly have to deal with friends' skeptical or exuberant enquiries and antics around subjects like, "where'd you get that hickey on your neck?". The friends are nicely included in the story, but don't really have sub-plots or relationships of their own; they are really just there to further develop the main couple relationship, which is perfect for me. The story is still in progress so that's my review for now! 10/10 for me.