timefliesaway's Reviews (588)

Oh gosh. Sakura's vent was... hurtful. 

It hurts because technically that vent should've been directed at her mother. Well, Hougatsu too, yes, since her apathy is obviously making things worse for Sakura's feelings. But mostly her mother, cause you can tell how much love she was neglected of as a child. Choosing a friend like Hougatsu was like one of the worst options, since she doesn't get the love she needs from Hougatsu, and I'm not talking about romance or anything, just simply love as in caring for each other. 
Of course, Sakura does want more than just platonic love (and she finally realized and admitted that to herself!), but they need a base first. Hougatsu has her moments where she smiles a little bit, and thus giving Sakura false hopes, making her fall for Hougatsu even more, and ending up misreading their tiny progress as something more. 

And thus, my prediction of a breakdown happened. And even far worse than I imagined it. 
It was clear that she had extreme social anxiety, but this could be BPD (Borderline Disorder). And a codependency.

In the manga forum from MAL, someone made a very interesting analysis of both Sakura and Hougatsu, but particularly the theory for Hougatsu's past caught my eye.
So far I've only been on Sakura's side, since I could relate to her more, interpreting Hougatsu's apathy as disinterest and somewhat attention-seeking (knowing she draws people closer by her "mysterious" vibe). Though they mentioned that this could be due to her having been

abused

around elementary school, hence also the reason Taru tries to mend their lost friendship, since Taru might know something and feels guilty. 
Thinking about it, it could definitely be true, and I actually feel bad for putting Hougatsu into such a bad light, should something like that turn out to be what the author had in mind. 

I do sincerely hope the author gets deeper into this arc, not only because psychological romance is interesting, or because I'm a fan of melancholy, but it would also be a good rep. There's thousands of cutesy Yuri out there, there's no need for just another one, and since the storyline did open already, might as well finish what was started. 
Since the last few chapters have been kind of drifting away from that. I'm afraid the author might be afraid to continue what they started, thinking it might be too much and because they wanted to write a fluffy story or something like that. I understand, but leaving things in the open also just would be too odd, just like Hougatsu's reaction after that vent. 
So, please...

-23.07.24

Wow, Hougatsu's been so annoying with her apathy the whole volume, making me want this rate 2 or 3 stars at most, but then the last chapter was so cute and much more lively that 3 stars feel way too few. Oof, author, why. 

Been a while since I've read volume 3, but I'm pretty sure Hougatsu wasn't that apathetic the previous volumes, right? More and more it feels like she's becoming an empty shell.

And poor Sakura. She's really trying her best, also with overcoming her social anxiety. Yet there's so many signs that Hougatsu doesn't see more than a little sister that needs to be cared for. 
It also hurts cause their relationship more and more reminds me of a friendship I had. I was similar to Adachi, I hadn't seen the signs before it was too late, which still eats at me now, years later. 

I hope she's gonna be okay, but I feel like she's gonna overflow with that newfound courage, so much that she's gonna pass out or something. 

Overall there was barely any progress, much more of a low, but the last 2 chapters seemed promising. As it is always. Can't really see where the author plans on going with them, but I'll continue anyways.

-23.07.24

Still dark, and another sibling adopted, but a bit of a slower paced volume compared to the others. At least when it comes to the main characters' actions. The clock's ticking in the background just the same. 

More Mecha in this volume, really adding more "proof" to my theory about the universe of this fantasy world. Especially with that hole that was created. Or the way someone almost died.

And more limbs being cut off. Man, Be-con really loves drawing blood and body horror. Wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the series everyone has at least one missing limb, if not more. Well, it's nice for the disability rep.

Ironic how there's so many OPs in this world actually, especially the main characters (on every side) – except the protagonist. I mean, she too has her power, but compared to almost every other isekai protagonist, she's basically... nothing, without her companions. Be-con did keep his word when saying he won't make his prota over-powered, but also said "it's complicated". 

Gotta love and hate how relatable both Hinako and Hadaki are. They're both getting so incredibly annoying, but both of their views are oh so understandable, so even though I'm on Hinako's side mostly, I also feel bad for Hadaki, and at the same time I want them to perish. 
If you think about the reason they're fighting (or, well, turning the whole world upside down, just to kill each other), I can't help but think "really?" and "what's the point?", yet also don't want this Manga to ever end.

It's getting a bit repetitive with the constant fighting, so I hope next volume will feature a bit of a different storyline too or make them travel again. The art keeps being wonderful, and while the plot also keeps going during the fights, I just need a bit of a break from it, lol.
Do love the psychological touches during the conversations, though, and that one short kiss (well, technically not really a kiss) was kinda epic.

And: Carla's horns are cute. Hope she'll stop wearing the hat. 

-22.07.24

And continues to get darker...

First half was mostly fighting, second half mostly talking. And anger. 

A new reveal of the backstory made it confusing again, just when I though I had figured it out, so I hope this is gonna be picked up soon. But I do love that the author keeps adding uncertainties, as in, "it's never that simple".

That was also shown by how similar Hinako and Hidaka are. It's from Hinako's POV, so of course most readers (if not all) will be on her side, thinking she's the better. But Hidaka ain't that different, and if it were from her POV, the readers were on her side. I do think Hidaka is quite annoying, but I can't really hate her (only some of her choices), as her view's understandable. 

There are some really good bits though, and the art keeps being amazing, especially the attention to detail.

I loved the etiquette storyline, that's some wonderful advice. 
Also Elis' "Come to think of it, I’ve only learned to accept invitations. Was that the correct way to reject someone?"

That bonus chapter twisted things again, adding yet again more themes/tropes to the boat, and more mysteries to look forward to in the next volume. 
Atp I think Be-con is illustrating the way he believes/thinks afterlife looks like, or generally how the universe works. At least it's a similar theory as I have, which is cool. 

~

My only critique is that the female's dresses/outfits keep getting more questionable. If you think Elis' outfit is a "who designed that?"-moment, just wait til you see Bernadette's. 

-22.07.24

And it gets even darker...

Be-con really said "I'm gonna add whatever themes I want and idc whether you like it or not", and ngl I love them for it. 

Hinako really did herself a favor by declining an ability from the goddess. 
As cruel as it is, I want a crossover with all the other overpowered-male-portagonist-isekais to jump into this world and get some Karma for their selfishness. Heh.

The artist really loves to draw cut off limbs or body horror in general. But the artstyle is good, so even if it's a bit too yandere sometimes, I can't complain much. And I do love the vibe kinda. It's intriguing.

We've visited a giant clan and there's been a new addition to the team: Carula, who may seem innocent at first, but has secrets of her own. Seems to be an ally so far though, I hope she won't betray them.

Also, kind of albino rep? But fantasy style. Can't wait til the author picks up that arc, cause, oh, that's gonna be so epic.

But first, need to continue with that cliffhanger at the end. Didn't expect it to be happening so soon already.

-21.07.24

Damn, didn't expect it to get so dark in the first chapter already. 

But I love it. 

Also, finally an isekai where the protagonist isn't overpowered. She doesn't even have powers, as she refused it when the goddess of this world offered it to her. An anti-hero reincarnated into a fantasy/DnD world, who made it her job to protect the weak, together with a giant, who's been an outsider in her clan.

Love the disability rep. Hinako, the protagonist, has only one arm, but it's not much of a disability for her. Alice, the giant, could have dwarfism. But while they're seen as weak in their "clans", they're much more powerful than you think and together they form an unstoppable team. 
A lot of background characters also have disabilities (amputations mostly), but it's not highlighted as special. It's simply there. A more realistic portrayal of the real world than slice of life Mangas that play in our world. 

The art is amazing. I especially love the way shadows or dark powers/magic are drawn. Horror but aesthetically. Psycho/Yandere vibes. 

The bonus chapter at the end surely twisted things around a bit... I wonder where the author will take it. 
Gotta love the trope lovers to enemies though. Will they become lovers again or revenge each other, again and again? Only way to find out.

-21.07.24

Well, that was a wild volume, especially the last chapter...

The whole time, the vibe I've been getting is that they will break up soon. I could barely relax, constantly dreading the moment of the dramatic breakup. 
But it never came. Quite the opposite, they got even closer each chapter. (Not a spoiler, I'm doing you a favor! If you know they won't break up, I'm sure you can enjoy this a little more.)
I'm a bit confused on that part, tbh. 

I'm not sure what exactly the problem was. Probably the fact that they're taking things way too fast? Moving in together, after dating for maybe half a year (which we haven't seen much of, cause the author keeps doing time-skips), barely stayed over at one another's places, then there's another time-skip, and then even

getting engaged and married on the SAME DAY. Also don't even get me started on the way the engagement happened... It was... odd.

And also the lack of emotion on the characters. I often couldn't tell what the author's been trying to convey. At some scenes, I thought a character was about to cry, but then they say they're happy. In another scene, I thought they were scared, but they said they like it. And sometimes they just have a stone-face where I don't know at all what's gonna come.

The energy feels like bottled up emotions, which Tougo's friend also mentioned/hinted. Tougo was about to confess something, but the friend interrupted him. 
Regarding the scene that comes afterwards in the chapter, I guess he just wanted more intimacy with Subaru and didn't know how to communicate that without a lil alcohol? But still, I would've liked to know what exactly it was, cause that gave me an uncomfortable feeling.
Also didn't like the drunk sex scene, even though it was more or less consensual.

Akari got a boyfriend out of nowhere. Literally 2 chapters ago she's been "praying" for a boyfriend, and then, boom,

2 chapters later, she's engaged to someone. We did get to see him in the bonus chapter, but still, wth?

Subaru's been treated like a child, especially in the beginning. (Tougo went out for a few hours, leaving Subaru alone, thus resulting in Subaru hurting himself, and Tougo drove him home. Then told his parents, while Subaru was sitting a few feet away, what happened.) 
Feels like the author forgot that Subaru is an adult with a job. 

On the good parts:
I love the healthy and sweet relationship of Subaru's parents. 
We finally got to see a bit of Tougo's life as well – him meeting up with friends and also introducing Subaru to his dad. (And the dad's cat!)
It's cool that they moved into an accessible apartment, where Subaru doesn't have any limited mobility and can freely move around without anyone worrying that he might hurt himself.

Since volume 3 is the last one, I will read that too, but overall a bit of a disappointing read. Feels almost like the author just wants to get this series done, hence the amount of time-skips.

-19.07.2024

I like the rep and the premise (paraplegic protagonist & BL), but the execution unfortunately didn’t entirely touch me.

I don’t really see the chemistry that the author’s trying to portray. Bisco (the author) makes it look like they’ve been dating of months, and I think the problem is obviously that they haven’t. Author’s forgetting that just because these characters have been living in their mind for years, doesn’t actually make TougoSuba „canon“ for years, and won’t have the same effect on the reader, if not portrayed well.
They are cute, yes, but feel way too close for that short amount of time. Their dynamic still feels like Tougo is just hanging out with a fan of his, but I don’t really see the “madly in love“ vibe that Subaru’s bff described. 
Although his fanboying is valid, but…
I can’t quite describe it. Their scenes feel slow, slice-of-life like, but at the same time incredibly fast-paced, in a rather unrealistic way. 
I’m aware that some people just click and become best friends after knowing each other for a few days; and while these connections are rare, they’re not impossible. But these 2 characters don’t give that vibe at all, and it’s almost like the author’s forcing it on them.

The first chapter, where Tougo simply picks Subaru up from the wheelchair, without asking. That was… uncomfortable. Don’t do that, people. Especially when someone’s paraplegic and can’t walk. Don’t just remove their legs without permission.
At least in the other chapters he gives a warning or asks for consent.
And also… Subaru is paraplegic from knees down? I’ve googled it, but google’s awful with search results lately, so I couldn’t really find something. I’ve found knee paralysis but nothing that comes near to what the author described about Subaru’s condition.
Not sure how that even makes a difference? Story-wise, I mean. Why couldn’t Subaru be paraplegic in his entire legs? 

At least the sex scene was consensual. Actually cool how it wasn’t a “hot“ scene. They talked about wanting to go further in their relationship and just did that, without any awkwardness at all.
That’s when their love finally blossomed for me. Still, they’re development to get there feels empty.

The art is overall good, but sometimes looks like the artist used 3d models to draw over. The characters often look weirdly stiff, and the hands „too realistic“, if that makes sense. (I.e., look at the hands on the cover.) I don’t blame them, hands are difficult and anatomy even more so, but maybe could’ve been made with a little more love, so it doesn’t look like it’s been made that way.
It lacks a bit of emotion in their movements. Some scenes look great and Subaru (and his bff) especially feel alive, but everyone else often just kind of… exists. Like, if you look at early CGI movies and compare them with hand-drawn traditional animation. 
The night skies are very pretty, though.

It’s also a bit weird how they talk. I’m guessing it’s a translation mistake, but they often use each other’s names, instead of “you“. That sounds just as weird when someone is talking about themselves in 3rd person. Even over chat, they often were like:
Subaru: “Tougo-san likes photography, doesn’t Tougo-san?“
Tougo: “Yes. And what does Subaru like?“

It’s just 3 volumes so I might as well continue, but… was a bit disappointing.

-19.07.2024

Ahhh so amazing!! I've got sooo many butterflies each chapter, omg. They're so cute and they're chemistry is just... damn!! <333

But also: the hands! The sign language! 
The artist really went all out. Not to mention how hard hands are to draw, but even more difficult when it's the focus and you're using them to communicate. The attention to detail is amazing. Huge props to them. Hope they got a raise for that.

The author has a tendency to make things overly dramatic, which makes it quite fast-paced and also a bit unrealistic. Overall, it is very slice of life, but then you have those random near-death moments/scenarios, that no person experiences in just one week. 
Unless you're a character from a play, maybe. (Wait... maybe that was the point?)
But apart from that, they are very cute! 

The beginning was quite funny, with Aoi thinking Keito is Napalese! XDD
But it's cool how ready he was to learn JSL for Keito and as well how fast he picked up on it. 

Their inner monologues do get quite emotional; some of the quotes were both inspiring and tear-wrenching. It's good they found each other, they really are each other's rock. But they still need to learn to properly communicate, not just because of the language barrier, but also cause they can be very stubborn.

Overall, very good rep! There are other signing people too, who are either deaf too or can hear normally, but sign whenever Keito is present. I also learned something new about sign language: CL! Very interesting.

And also: no homophobia or heteronormativity at all! <3

Can't wait until Volume 2 is translated, ahhh I wish it was already TwT

-18.07.2024

 It's a collection of 5 stories, which is why I'll be reviewing them separately. 

 
~

Tease: Yay for the bit of disability rep, but also nay for the trope the author chose… :/ 
~

 

Chapter 1: Kusari wa Mou Iranai (鎖はもういらない) 

That was cute. 

Felt a bit off when Aoi was hanging out with the others and didn’t even tell her lover where she was going, but other than that it was cute. Also cool how Yoshino learned something about herself through the „drama“. 

 

Chapter 2: Kikoeru Suzu no Ne (キコエルスズノネ, Hearing the Sound of Bells) 

Not a fan of the "two girls can’t fall in love, what are you doing?" trope, but as it was released in 2008, I guess that's fine. Considering there’s a happy end. 

Also not much a fan of Hiromi's personality. I thought Tomo overreacted at first, but actually, her pov was totally valid, and given that Hiromi seemed kinda sus, that slap was totally fair. 

The ending was cute though. (A bit fast-paced perhaps, but understandable for the limited length.) 

 

Chapter 3: Present (プレゼント) 

"Haruki, who couldn’t see, was the one present god gave me." 

Well, damn, they made up during class? Very random and weird place to do that, but you do you I guess. 

Not a fan of the trope "we must cure disabilities", especially since the quote above was so good. I had high hopes for this, and apart from the surgery, it was quite cute. Unfortunately they had to go that route… and while I understand that you’d want to be able to see, especially when you have been blind since only recently, that trope in stories is so wrong… 

 

Chapter 4: Kakera (欠片) 

Not bad. The author wrote it quite well. The big sister especially made me emotional. You could feel her fear and regret what she did, and how bad she was treating her afterwards, but at the same time her pain over feeling that way in the first place. 

I’d have loved a bit of a backstory of them, especially from the younger sister’s POV, why they love each other so dearly. There was a bit of a hint but it would’ve been nice to show some more childhood memories of them or something. 

The beginning was a bit confusing, I couldn’t tell right away what was the present and what a flashback, but that definitely becomes clear towards the middle. 

 

Why is incest wrong for same sex couples actually? I get it for heterosexual couples – because the child might have some genetical problems. But if a couple literally can’t reproduce, why is it wrong? Clearly no one says anything about Adam and Eva’s incest story, and it was also normal af for royals back in the ages, so why is it still wrong? 

„If heterosexuals can’t have it, neither should homosexuals be allowed to do it“ or what? 

 

Chapter 5: Linkage 

"I want to create a robot that helps patients in need of love" is a nice quote, but… followed by an image of the robot – a young girl, middle-school age –, wasn’t the best introduction. 

"You have to wear a little makeup. After all, you’re a girl." Eww. 

"A female type falling in love with a woman? This is abnormal behavior." Eh? This is supposed to be sci-fi, yet they still live in the Middle Ages, when it comes to queerness? Wtf? 

The ending was cute but eh… too many icky scenes/quotes. And this could’ve been so easily avoided by making the robot older, even by just 3 years. 

 

~ 

 

Overall cute stories, each very different. The art-style is good and makes each of the characters from all 5 stories distinguishable. 

Some of the tropes could’ve been changed, especially regarding the disability rep or with the sci-fi story, but… it’s still recommendable. 

The homophobia bits were annoying, but given it’s from 2008, it’s understandable. And tbh I think they were handled better than in some recent Mangas. (Might also be the limited page count, but still.) 

 

-16.07.2024