This was truly, truly an endearing piece of work... Here I am writing this some moments after finishing the series and letting my stirred-up heart settle. It is quite unlike most shoujo mangas you would encounter, and while I would say it is neither thoroughly enjoyable nor addictive, Ohayou Ibarahime is a rare kind of shoujo romance that endears itself to almost any reader; It weaves together a unique premise and an interesting line of characters to make a refreshing story for many.

Steering clear of the common shoujo romance tropes, we are instead taken through the feelings and experiences of each character, all of whom have a role to play in the overarching plot. From helping their fellow characters to grow & face up to reality, to influencing the development of things for both Tetsu and Shizu, every character is well-fleshed out along the way.

The story is not particularly exciting as a whole but, impressively, many twists and turns that are actually REALLY unexpected are incorporated into it, all the while keeping together the meaningful aspects which grounded my enjoyment of reading this manga. What resulted was a storyline that was coherent, consistent, and one that you could tell was very thoughtfully drafted. Admittedly, the story is one which I would describe as 'calmly-paced', meaning it sometimes felt slow to me and did not have as many adrenaline-pumping scenes which usually drives my binge-reading, but in hindsight, this state of affairs was probably the most fitting for the story.

Something I especially loved about Ohayou was how the feelings and lessons experienced by the characters so compellingly conveyed the realities of our lives--both the harshness and bliss of reality--through a beautiful script (really absolutely beautiful), themes, artwork and characters. Readers are also given a satisfying and realistic ending to tie it all up which certainly provides a good sense of closure that doesn't feel at all rushed or idealistic. And one that surprisingly made me tear up numerous times as I read the last volume...

One downside, in my opinion, was that I couldn't fully 'feel'/understand the characters sometimes, which does happen when reading manga, as our ability to interpret the story is limited to the visual representations within the manga panels. Nevertheless, this was a small aspect that probably would not interfere much with one's ability to appreciate the originality and beauty of this story.

Overall, Ohayou Ibarahime is a refreshing manga with loveable characters whom I could really feel for, although I was not so strongly pulled into the story at a few rare times. Would recommend to anyone who's looking for a novel plot that is both heartwarming and heartrending :')