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As a massive yuri fan I come across tons of different kinds of yuri, but i'm almost always surprised at how the age gap sub genre is always taken seriously by the stories I come across for yuri. At first I thought maybe I'd just been lucky here and there, but the consistency still surprises me. The emotions are relatable in terms of standard relationships and most the what you'd read is more geared to being wholesome and fluffy. Instead of judging the characters you just want them to be happy despite the unrealistic circumstances.

This manga is no different. It's sweet and funny and you ... just wanna keep reading to see the day to day interactions of how they handle all these emotions. Like most stories, especially in romance, if you can separate yourself from the reality you'll find a very enjoyable set of characters and an overall great story.

Guess I gotta write one of these since the negative review bros are tripping. I'll do a quick overview of the manga as a whole after.

I guess spoilers since it's like .70% of the manga about 2 unimportant side characters and spread out. If you've even ended up on this page you're probably a yuri fan that runs through everything you possibly can. You got the greenlight to read. You've read much worse offenders than this. It'll be a 7/10 probably, or an 8/10 if you're sappy and get emotional at basically everything.

Anywho

If you're worried about the "Pedo arc" or the story going that direction, ... you're good since the offending content is basically single chapter. The small girl falls in love with one of the MCs and gets rejected outright, but has a few chapters trying to see if she has a chance. At the end you have a chapter where the secondary friend of the MCs that's been helping her admit she likes the younger girl and nothing comes from it, but lays the foundation of that maybe changing, which is soon followed by the character worrying about it because she knew she'd have to wait until the girl was older and was afraid it might not work out with so much time to wait.

And it's never brought again after. In total it's like 8 chapters spread over like 30 because it's like a side background thing. Yeah it's a bit of a weird crush with the 4ish year age gap, but it's so short it's not even worth worrying about. With the format of this having shorter than average chapter length it feels even shorter than it looks as well. Chapters cap out at 14 pages but can be less so the 134 chapters can feel more daunting than it actually is.

It's also wild calling the above grooming when the only interactions are-

young girl venting > help try to figure out who Hino likes > Admit she has crush > vent to friends about unsure feelings and having to wait for her to be older

End Rant. If this still feels like it could poison the well then by all means pass this up. At least you'll be more informed on the matter that's being complained about instead of accidentally passing something that could be enjoyable.

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The main focus of the manga is Koguma(shorter girl) trying to stop Hino(taller girl) from skipping their class, usually by conceding to the teasing of Hino that are often affectionate or lewd to some degree. Sometimes Hino goes too far, sometimes in an attempt to push her away, but pretty early on you realize the situations conclude with mutual feelings towards one another that they don't realize yet. The more absurd requests usually fizzle out because Hino, despite her forward teasing, can't really handle the situations if they actually end up escalating. It adds a layer of innocence behind everything which helps balance out some of the more absurd teasing she does.

That's the loop for the majority of the manga. It uses the growing relationship between the two girls to keep the story pretty fresh along side other situations that deviate from the loop some here and there. It can be a bit absurd at times, but nonetheless it's a pretty adorable and funny story overall with no drama making it a pretty relaxing read if you need a break from that. The characters get some solid background to expand on their motives and personalities as well.

Lastly i'll the say the art is pretty cute and consistent with a lot of blushing to double it down. If you're looking for ecchi moments you'll probably want to look elsewhere despite some of the lewd/absurd teasing. That aspect of the manga is usually painted in a heavily comedic light instead of trying to be something more ecchi. Probably why the tag isn't here in the first place.

That about wraps it up. A shame most the review focused on some random background narrative that leaves as fast as it came, but that's why I wrote one in the first place. Also one of the positive reviews makes you wanna shake your head as much as the negative ones so it feels a bit better to have another thrown down either way.

TL:DR - A decent show ruined by poor writing and strong plot convenience like no other.

Whew this is a rough one. Usually when I see something popular that I don't end up liking I can at least understand *why* it's liked.

This one eludes me, but we'll get what's NOT wrong with it out of the way first.

The overall animation is pretty solid and consistent. It does dip down here and there with some cheaper shots, but mostly it's pretty good.

Another decent point is the music. Outside of the first OP being probably one of the most mismatched intros to a show i've ever heard, the ... rest is pretty solid mostly. I'm not a huge fan of the scottish almost medieval feel for half of it, but i'll just say that's a matter of taste.

That pretty much immediately ends the good.

Tragically the characters and plot really bring down any potential the show could have.

The plot is touted as something new and special, but my lord does it quickly fall into the same types of things we see on literally every other fantasy show with a demon king. The only difference is there's no demon king. The whole point of the show is to see these types of things from a different perspective, but it just never goes out of it's way to give you a new perspective. Instead it's all mainly used to give you similarities between Frieren's old party and the new one. It could be interesting, but most of the show spends it's time on incredibly tropey situations that run off some of the hardest plot convenience i've seen in ages.

About to lose? Pure evil genocidal demons let you go, only for you to beat them because "jk they're weak".

Lose something? "here's the reward! i'm about to give you is the spell of not losing that."

Need money? Nobles popping out right on time as you complain about being poor with the literal most convenient thing possible giving you the opportunity to bag money said money.

Being tested? Make a plan that ends with "and now I just need to be the luckiest person ever to use the single worst designed spell ever made"

On top of all THAT we get these situations where the main cast decides they want to be more immature than elementary schoolers. The show is trying to tell this supposedly emotional story while linking it to Frieren's past, but it feels like it's self sabotaging itself constantly with the most frustrating situations and predictable writing i've seen in awhile.

At some point you get a hint that we're gonna get another arc we've seen in other anime a 100 times. After the terrible "everyone is incompetent" Arc for ep 8-10 seeing that it makes you worry. What hurts more is knowing from the moment they start it, it lasts ALL the way to the end so they really drag it out.

Throughout it all there really isn't any high stakes despite the show trying to act like there is despite the obvious outcome of "OP Frieren is OP". Even when the show finally decides to have a single moment where there's real danger, the reason it's dangerous just takes you out of it.

Sigh...

I'll finish by talking about some of the characters, which honestly aren't too much better. They do have some high points, but tragically the best characters have the least screen time while instead we just see the same garbage from Fern and Frieren most the episodes. Most the cast also feels pretty monotone. Some people say it's realistic, but honestly there's more emotion in day to day conversation with real people than most of frieren.

Both Priests - Pretty solid overall and actually feels like characters. Tragically all priests are hard limited on screen time. Can't have the better characters too long. You might get spoiled having a real character around.

Stark - Zenitsu from Demon Slayer, but not creepy. Also nowhere near as cool so it balances out. Solid character, but again we limit his screen time. Is in the middle ground a bit since he's also constantly involved in some of Frieren and Fern's childish personalities. A pretty standard character type with not much new to offer, but still solid despite that. Is a "coward" but not really.

Fern - Lives off cute pout energy, but transitions to insufferable at times. Like if Taiga from Toradora was robbed of her depth and charm. If not pouting she's probably blank faced and monotone. Typically characters like these are an easy win for me but my god she's terrible at times.

Frieren - Oldest of the group, somehow the dumbest. Apparently thinks jumping into mimics is the only option. OP to the point of being boring and even more monotone than Fern somehow. Just like Fern she thrives off cute energy. Acts like she's 5 until she has to act like she's older because the other characters are acting like they are 5.

As a SoL/Romance fan, I am pretty weak to the cute energy the emanates from some of the scenes, but it's ruined so often that it makes it not worth it.

There's also some real cool stuff scattered around in the show, but again it's just constantly ruined by terrible writing or characters. The deeper you look into each episode the worst most of the end up feeling as the cracks start to show.

I usually don't write reviews for these type of overhyped/overrated shows, but this one just boggles me on why it's so popular so I figured i'd drop my opinion for the Frieren cult to never read but mark as funny.

A simple slice of life comedy between a highschool girl becoming a landlord and her tenants, all dipped in a bit of ecchi.

There's no romance or yuri so it's a bit mislabeled where I read it since I was searching for some GL, but it is quite funny and entertaining nonetheless. It's about everything you'd expect from a ecchi slice of life, and the jokes land much better than I would have guessed going into it.

The antics can be a bit random, but it's not too far off the rails that it ruins the experience. All in all it's nothing too crazy since it is ... SoL. The characters aren't the deepest, but the jokes pair well with them despite most of it being silly gags.

The art is a bit rough at times, but overall it gets the job done. Should probably also mention there's no nudity in case that's a concern or hope for someone.

The overall score for this seems low, but it's kind of understandable if you assume most the people accidentally running into this are people looking for yuri. I'd skip out if that's what your goal is, but if you like SoL and ecchi isn't a deal breaker then you'll probably find this to be pretty fun.

Not too deep on spoilers, but marked just in case.

A decent manga that feels a bit rushed towards the end. As previously mentioned in other reviews, there's a short lived moment that's a bit dark, but nothing comes from it and mainly serves to further show the character is a bit twisted(even further supported by a few of the shorrt extra chapters after the end). It doesn't have too much impact on the story though and it's not as bad as others make it out to be. It is abrupt, but you can't do something like this without that feeling. It also serves as a ... comparison that the MC herself isn't the best person either, which helps you understand how the aftermath from that resolve.

Two sides of the same coin and whatnot. It adds a bit of depth to things which is kinda nice. Humans are complex and flawed by nature after all.

As for the actual story... It feels like the emotional beats are there, but the build up isn't strong/long enough to really give you the satisfaction you'd normally get from similar conclusions. Not that it's bad or anything. It is a shame though since the art really could have been more effective for the moments at the end. I think if there was like 5-10 or more chapters it could have been a bit better.

The cast has a nice balance of characters. Some are a bit questionable than others, but overall it's a decent range from cute to sporty(but still cute).

Also as previously mentioned the art is pretty strong overall. Everything is pretty and it supports the story well.

A solid ride if you're a yuri fan, even if it's not the strongest read.

A bit of a tough read due to the lack of any meaningful substance and the repetitive nature of the characters. I'd imagine many people run into this title glossing over Girl's Love tags looking for something to read. It's not entirely fair to the manga, but it also brings it upon itself with how much yuri baiting there is.

There's some really adorable art that pops up throughout, but that's probably the only thing it has going for it. After a few chapters you've pretty much experienced all that the manga has to offer. It's fine for a volume, but for 41 chapters it just ... gets stale pretty quickly. Each chapter is them enjoying sweets with some yuri-esque gags thrown into the mix fairly often.

The "yuri" stuff misses since there's no strong connections between the characters and the slice of life misses because there's no variety or emotional connection to anything they do.

If all you're looking for is cute characters, then this manga should do the trick. For everyone else, you might wanna look elsewhere.

An incredibly adorable manga with more of a focus on comedy. There's not too much plot or depth but it more than makes up with it with it's humor and cute character interactions and even cuter character art. Strong blush game here. If you're worried it's more of a gag type manga then fear not, for the yuri aspects is 100% solid as well. The son's misinterpretation of his friends feelings adds a nice balance to the whole thing.

The 18 to 36 age gap is pretty large but they handle very well imo. I wouldn't consider that a reason to pass this up if that's ... a concern. At the end of the day it's just another romance manga that's idealistic and wholesome. No need to warp this into some grand question of morals.

Aight. I'm just writing this to save fellow yuri/romance fans some time. There's no relationship or basically any progress towards any relationship. Some minor things happen but overall there's just nothingness while 2 girls fangirl over another a few times.

I'm not here for the ecchi, but for you guys, there's also not really much to speak of. Weird tags on this one.

If you're here just for some fluffiness... Yeah that's also kinda mid. Everyone loses this time around guys. Sorry.

All that's left is a somewhat middling series of events that doesn't really contribute to anything. It's a tough read overall.

This is rough in almost every way possible.

The characters are basically static and tossed in random events where they can continue to be broken records in the most asinine scenarios.

Some people praise it for the "yuri". But holy damn the other girl isn't even present in 90% of the anime. It's just not even a factor.

Nothing in the show is here for accuracy nor consistency. 20 yards between balls? Like 3 feet at best if you just look at the distance of the balls.

There's basically zero stakes even when the show is trying to tell you how high the stakes are. Everything is just done ... in the most trope way they could manage. The end result is a dull experience where you can pretty much guess the "twists" before they even happen.

The entire anime is just Eve yelling out colors anime style like she's goku as she hits golf balls.

This story is a prequel to a manga I wish existed. Spoilers ahead.

This manga has a constant sense of weight that is hard to describe. In most stories like this, something heavy might happen to set the scene and you get the entire story of them falling in love.

This time around, the entire story is around overcoming some heavy shit, and at the end you get your relationship kinda put out there at the end. So like a reverse take.

I can't say I like this method much since cute lovey dovey romance is my preferred, but it does do well in setting up these characters ... for what could have been that story of them actually falling in love.

We get that love still, but no build up for it on one side since this whole story is coming to terms with a bunch of other heavy feelings about being in a relationship that just isn't meant to be, and dealing with feelings of damn near hopelessness that your love will never work out. It's pretty well done I think, but it's basically 35 chapters of pain with not many breaks in that pain and then some nice stuff at the end. That probably contributes to the heavy feeling I got for most of time.

I'm happy where we ended, but overall i'm just damn conflicted on how we got there.

Overall, I think this is still a pretty solid manga, and i'd like to try and go through it again without the extra worrying where it'll end up.

For now i'll leave this at a 7 and maybe come back in some time to give this another shake and see where it lands.