Our hero, Hamura Yuuri, has spent 10 years filling notebooks with the design of Michiru, his 'ideal' girlfriend. However, once he met Kuzumi Fuuko, his senpai in the Literature club and a novelist prodigy, he fell in love and abandoned his secret hobby. He took the collection of notebooks and drawings up to the local shrine to burn them, only to find Fuuko-senpai there, worrying over her writer's block. When Yuuri attempts to show her what he's written, he finds that the notebooks have disappeared, and a naked Michiru has taken their place.
So begins one of the strangest manga I've ever read. Yes, it sounds like the setup for a terrible ecchi comedy. Instead, it's a romantic drama with flashes of brilliance. There are a number of times when the plot verges on being too over-the-top, and slipping into melodrama and silliness. (The entire final arc is a prime example.) However, on occasion the author poses deep, unique questions, like what responsibilities a writer has to their characters.
On the other hand, the art is stunning, and consistently so throughout the series. A lot of thought clearly went into each character's design. For example, Michiru is drawn in a more modern moe style with rounded curves and big eyes, emphasizing her origin from Yuuri's notebooks, while Fuuko has sharper, more realistic features. Backgrounds are drawn with care, and mesh nicely with the character art.
I cannot, objectively, call this a *good* manga. It's clear that the author could have benefited greatly from a more involved editor. However, its approach is unique, enthusiastic, and so damn entertaining that I was unable to stop reading once I began. If nothing else, that alone makes it worth a few hours.
Score:
Art 9/10Plot 6/10
Characters 8/10
Overall 7.5/10
