theautumnalreader's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Tsugumi and Itsuki’s budding love really depicts the disabled experience well and with nuance. I appreciated the depiction of Itsuki’s internal struggles, not just the physical, and was overwhelmed with gratitude at the realistic love depicted.
awitchofchaos's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tasnim_2000's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
wendytheowl's review against another edition
4.0
FR
Une découverte vraiment sympathique, je suis très contente de me plonger enfin dans ce manga. Mais alors, par contre.. certains commentaires dans le livre m'ont énervé à un point... grrrr !! Sinon, pour le reste, j'ai vraiment bien aimé !
ENG
A really nice discovery, I'm very happy to finally immerse myself in this manga. But then, on the other hand .. certain comments in the book annoyed me to a point ... grrrr !! Otherwise, for the rest, I really liked it!
Une découverte vraiment sympathique, je suis très contente de me plonger enfin dans ce manga. Mais alors, par contre.. certains commentaires dans le livre m'ont énervé à un point... grrrr !! Sinon, pour le reste, j'ai vraiment bien aimé !
ENG
A really nice discovery, I'm very happy to finally immerse myself in this manga. But then, on the other hand .. certain comments in the book annoyed me to a point ... grrrr !! Otherwise, for the rest, I really liked it!
grinningcheshire's review against another edition
5.0
Next Time Check The Drawer First!
I loved this. It was so open and honest, not just in depicting what it was like to be in a wheelchair but how to face the fact that you might have prejudices you never realised. You get to see how things seem to people outside them and also how things change as they get to know each other again. They both find something they weren’t expecting and it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to read the next volume!
I loved this. It was so open and honest, not just in depicting what it was like to be in a wheelchair but how to face the fact that you might have prejudices you never realised. You get to see how things seem to people outside them and also how things change as they get to know each other again. They both find something they weren’t expecting and it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to read the next volume!
bunniewaves's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Volume 1 was a bit on the slower side. The introduction to the main couple was very well done. Its clear how these characters are going to grow together and learn about how different their worlds are from each other. Im hopeful to see how these characters grow with each other and share their lives with each other
rosewelsh's review against another edition
4.0
Tsugumi is 26 and works with an interior design company. She attends a company party one evening and ends up running into her first crush and old friend, Itsuki. They spend the evening reconnecting but as Itsuki goes to leave for the evening, it is revealed that he was in a car accident in college and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Tsugumi continually reaches out to him to hang out and get to know one another again, slowly falling for him more and more as her old crush resurfaces. As Itsuki faces medical issues Tsugumi questions whether she has a strong enough constitution to continue moving forward with her feelings for him, or if loving someone with a disability would be too much for her mental health and general lifestyle.
I thought this was a really well-done manga that shines a light on the role disability plays in romance. It's not often you find many romances (manga or prose) that tackle talking about this in a non-judgmental way, though thankfully more are being published. This manga read very honestly and I could see and understand the points of view from all the characters, not just our main couple. Itsuki is trying to put on a brave face but has resigned himself to being alone forever, whereas Tsugumi believes in the power of love but not so much in herself and her ability to navigate taking care of someone at their worst. It's a real thing people have to deal with and I think questioning things like that is very natural in a relationship. Tsugumi is also a bit naïve to the world and the way it treats disabled people, so some of the scenes within the volume open her eyes in a new way to how she and others treat people without thinking. I enjoyed that this actually felt like a romance taking place between people in their 20s, as most manga skews younger or even when the characters are supposed to be older, gives them a forced sense of innocence that makes it hard to relate to. This story, while Tsugumi isn't entirely aware of the world around her, depicts that in a more realistic way where she is open and willing to learn and have new experiences rather than constantly being shocked about what is happening around her. The shock is still there of course, as it would be for anyone, but rather than droning on and on in a will they/won't they they sort of situation, Tsugumi understands and listens when she makes a mistake and tries to better herself, which I thought was nicely done.
As an able-bodied person, I can't comment about how realistically it portrayed life for someone in a wheelchair, but I thought the whole overall volume was done well and made me interested in continuing to read the series.
Blog / Twitter / Instagram
I thought this was a really well-done manga that shines a light on the role disability plays in romance. It's not often you find many romances (manga or prose) that tackle talking about this in a non-judgmental way, though thankfully more are being published. This manga read very honestly and I could see and understand the points of view from all the characters, not just our main couple. Itsuki is trying to put on a brave face but has resigned himself to being alone forever, whereas Tsugumi believes in the power of love but not so much in herself and her ability to navigate taking care of someone at their worst. It's a real thing people have to deal with and I think questioning things like that is very natural in a relationship. Tsugumi is also a bit naïve to the world and the way it treats disabled people, so some of the scenes within the volume open her eyes in a new way to how she and others treat people without thinking. I enjoyed that this actually felt like a romance taking place between people in their 20s, as most manga skews younger or even when the characters are supposed to be older, gives them a forced sense of innocence that makes it hard to relate to. This story, while Tsugumi isn't entirely aware of the world around her, depicts that in a more realistic way where she is open and willing to learn and have new experiences rather than constantly being shocked about what is happening around her. The shock is still there of course, as it would be for anyone, but rather than droning on and on in a will they/won't they they sort of situation, Tsugumi understands and listens when she makes a mistake and tries to better herself, which I thought was nicely done.
As an able-bodied person, I can't comment about how realistically it portrayed life for someone in a wheelchair, but I thought the whole overall volume was done well and made me interested in continuing to read the series.
Blog / Twitter / Instagram
paula_s's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review
First of all I should tell you that I requested this first volume of Perfect World for its cover and its synopsis. I intend to read diverse books and it’s not often that I come across books with a disabled person as one of the main characters. I picked it up for this, and for personal reasons.
Kawana starts working with her high school crush, they had been friends back then until he started dating another girl and that tore them apart. He was so smart, so lively and so determined to see his dream of being an architect come true. And that hasn’t changed. Ayukawa is the same optimistic man he used to be as a boy, his enthusiasm for his work is so encouraging that Kawana feels inspired by him. She, on her part, had given up her dream of being an illustrator but her job as an interior designer is what brought them together again and she’s thankful for it. But…
Ayukawa had an accident that left him with a spinal cord injury. He was on his third year of college. He was riding his bike when a car run over him making a mess of his body and since then he’s in a wheelchair. Kawana is shocked, so shocked that, at first, she reacts like everyone else does. Doubting herself, feeling outraged because she liked him but now… she can’t even think of being friends with him.
Ayukawa is so strong, so positive that little by little he gives her little lessons about what it is like to live in a wheelchair. What it feels like to live in a society where being disabled is unthinkable… or so it seems, because of the many hardships he encounters in his everyday life. And yet Ayukawa never loses his smile, he’s always encouraging and hardworking, trying alternatives when he reaches a dead end, both in his job and in his life.
Soon Kawana, as she gets closer and closer to him, learns that most of the smiles are just for show. Ayukawa’s experiences inspire Kawana, she starts learning, she changes and she falls in love with Ayukawa again, only this time she falls deeper than ever. But, as he did with his former girlfriend, Ayukawa pushes her away, he doesn’t want to be a burden, he doesn’t want anyone to feel responsible for him or look after him everytime he gets a fever or ghost pain (a pain you feel when one of your limbs isn’t there anymore or it doesn’t have sensitivity). It’ll be the time for Kawana to teach him the most important lesson of them all… love gives us strength to do anything, to bear anything.
I really loved this manga, and I wish everyone read it. It’s so important. Not only because representation matters but also because mangas, books, movies, etc, that show what it feels to live as a person with disabilities. I loved that everyday barriers are shown in the manga; both physical (stairs, for example) and personal (speaking behind their back, fear of certain topics).
There is a moment in which Kawana stops thinking about how Ayukawa’s situation affects her, up to that moment she thinks about herself. And eventually she starts thinking about him, his life and what it must feel like for him. I started to really like her then. I saw that she was just scared and that’s understandable, even Ayukawa tells her so. That’s the kind of change I would like to see in today’s society. We need to be more human.
It’s really eyeopening the fact that Kawana (at the beginning) says things like: “Ayukawa is strong, determined, intelligent, talented, hardworking, encouraging, and a really good friend… despite being in a wheelchair” please don’t hate her for saying it. This is exactly how people in general react towards disabilities. But thankfully in the manga there are people who tell her “That’s who he is, everything you said, that’s his personality… what does all that have to do with the wheelchair?”. This kind of people also exists in our society, and I’m grateful for that, because they bring hope for the future.
This little book was meant as a standalone but it was so important and it’s so incredibly beautiful and moving that people wanted more of Ayukawa’s and Kawana’s story, therefore Rie Aruga created a series around them. I hope and wish that one day it is published in my country so I can recommend it to everyone, and buy it for all of my friends’ birthdays and Christmases.
First of all I should tell you that I requested this first volume of Perfect World for its cover and its synopsis. I intend to read diverse books and it’s not often that I come across books with a disabled person as one of the main characters. I picked it up for this, and for personal reasons.
Kawana starts working with her high school crush, they had been friends back then until he started dating another girl and that tore them apart. He was so smart, so lively and so determined to see his dream of being an architect come true. And that hasn’t changed. Ayukawa is the same optimistic man he used to be as a boy, his enthusiasm for his work is so encouraging that Kawana feels inspired by him. She, on her part, had given up her dream of being an illustrator but her job as an interior designer is what brought them together again and she’s thankful for it. But…
Ayukawa had an accident that left him with a spinal cord injury. He was on his third year of college. He was riding his bike when a car run over him making a mess of his body and since then he’s in a wheelchair. Kawana is shocked, so shocked that, at first, she reacts like everyone else does. Doubting herself, feeling outraged because she liked him but now… she can’t even think of being friends with him.
Ayukawa is so strong, so positive that little by little he gives her little lessons about what it is like to live in a wheelchair. What it feels like to live in a society where being disabled is unthinkable… or so it seems, because of the many hardships he encounters in his everyday life. And yet Ayukawa never loses his smile, he’s always encouraging and hardworking, trying alternatives when he reaches a dead end, both in his job and in his life.
Soon Kawana, as she gets closer and closer to him, learns that most of the smiles are just for show. Ayukawa’s experiences inspire Kawana, she starts learning, she changes and she falls in love with Ayukawa again, only this time she falls deeper than ever. But, as he did with his former girlfriend, Ayukawa pushes her away, he doesn’t want to be a burden, he doesn’t want anyone to feel responsible for him or look after him everytime he gets a fever or ghost pain (a pain you feel when one of your limbs isn’t there anymore or it doesn’t have sensitivity). It’ll be the time for Kawana to teach him the most important lesson of them all… love gives us strength to do anything, to bear anything.
I really loved this manga, and I wish everyone read it. It’s so important. Not only because representation matters but also because mangas, books, movies, etc, that show what it feels to live as a person with disabilities. I loved that everyday barriers are shown in the manga; both physical (stairs, for example) and personal (speaking behind their back, fear of certain topics).
There is a moment in which Kawana stops thinking about how Ayukawa’s situation affects her, up to that moment she thinks about herself. And eventually she starts thinking about him, his life and what it must feel like for him. I started to really like her then. I saw that she was just scared and that’s understandable, even Ayukawa tells her so. That’s the kind of change I would like to see in today’s society. We need to be more human.
It’s really eyeopening the fact that Kawana (at the beginning) says things like: “Ayukawa is strong, determined, intelligent, talented, hardworking, encouraging, and a really good friend… despite being in a wheelchair” please don’t hate her for saying it. This is exactly how people in general react towards disabilities. But thankfully in the manga there are people who tell her “That’s who he is, everything you said, that’s his personality… what does all that have to do with the wheelchair?”. This kind of people also exists in our society, and I’m grateful for that, because they bring hope for the future.
This little book was meant as a standalone but it was so important and it’s so incredibly beautiful and moving that people wanted more of Ayukawa’s and Kawana’s story, therefore Rie Aruga created a series around them. I hope and wish that one day it is published in my country so I can recommend it to everyone, and buy it for all of my friends’ birthdays and Christmases.