A review by miistical
Classmates Vol. 3: Sotsu gyo sei (Spring) by Asumiko Nakamura

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

The season we first met. The season you were there. The season we were classmates.

Spring had a strong start and didn't falter the entire time. The art is just as expressive as always, all of the characters feel like real people, and even the conflict of this volume felt realistic. The sweet parts were candy and the bitter parts ached just hard enough and long enough that I could only continue to read.

Kusakabe and Sajo are so obviously in love with each other that it makes me want to kick my feet like I'm 13 again. Even if they don't say it right (or at all), each boy is so conscious of each other and what they want out of life. Kusakabe can't stand to be apart from Sajo at all, but he also so desperately wants him to succeed in his university exams in a prefecture 14 hours away. Sajo similarly wants Kusakabe nearby, but he had already accepted that he needs a bit more freedom to get the future he wants. They're both so alike, but the way they see the world and their place in it is so different that the meeting of the both of them makes sparks fly.

Also, and I can't believe I'm saying it, I kind of feel bad for Harasen. He's so lonely and detached from the world that his attraction to Sajo is less about him and more about reclaiming the time he's lost from his own teenage years. As an adult, I understand that need - that attraction to something you once had. I really do think Harasen sees his own teacher when he looks at Sajo sometimes.

At the end of it all, though, their declaration to get married, finally saying that they love each other, having sex in their old classroom, their relief representing in Sajo crying in the last page—it's all very heartwarming.
I can't wait to get whatever else Nakamura has in store for these two.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings