Dear reader,

Yup. This manga gave me anxiety. The art is lovely, Ichika and Kosei have genuinely adorable chemistry, and their conversations feel so natural that I completely understood why Ichika fell for him. Unfortunately, the entire situation they find themselves in is basically one of my biggest romantic fears wrapped inside a cute college romance.

Ichika is tired of casual relationships. She wants someone sincere, someone who sees her for who she really is, and an actual committed relationship. Then she meets Kosei. He is kind to her, listens to her, shares her interests, spends time with her, and gives her all these little moments that make it ridiculously easy to catch feelings. The problem is that he is also very open about the fact that he is comfortable with casual relationships and hookups. There is nothing inherently wrong with that when everyone involved wants the same thing, but Ichika very clearly does not.

And that is where this manga got me. Ichika has already fallen for him. If she had learned how differently they viewed relationships before becoming emotionally attached, maybe walking away would have been easier. Instead, she genuinely likes the person Kosei is when they are together. It creates that terrifying little thought of, “Maybe I am different. Maybe he will want something serious with me.” I have seen and experienced that kind of situation enough times for my stomach to immediately start turning.

The frustrating part is that I actually like them together. Their chemistry works. Ichika is incredibly lovable, and Kosei has moments of real tenderness that make it impossible for me to completely write him off. That only makes the emotional mismatch more stressful because I can already imagine the misunderstandings, jealousy, heartbreak, and eventual moment where Ichika questions whether she was ever truly different to him.

So my 4.3 rating is not because I thought this was a bad manga. Quite the opposite. It got me emotionally invested enough that I am already worried about where this relationship is heading after only one volume. The art is beautiful, the romantic chemistry is strong, and I absolutely want to keep reading. I am just going to be doing it with my emotional defenses fully activated.