Kimi no Iru Machi

***Spoiler freeish review***

It has been one long ride but after more than six years of weekly chapter releases, Kimi no Iru Machi has finally concluded. The problem? It should have ended a long time ago.

Story: 3.5/10

I wish I could rate this by arc because just like with Bleach this manga starts out incredibly great but really starts to lose steam as it chugs away. Part of the problem was that there were a lot of plot lines that either lasted way too long or were abruptly ended way too quick. It starts out as a romance high school type story but then migrates into a nauseous mess of "MUST GO HERE TO FIND 'X' PERSON WHO MAY OR MAY NOT LIKE ME". Problem with this is that the girl Haruto ends up really wanting was my least favorite out of the bunch. He literally tramples over like seven different girls heart's in order to get one.

All of this aside, there were good moments in the series. Unfortunately there was just way too much crap between. And that ending? Just when I felt like something fresh and new was about to happen....yeah the same ol' crap.

Art: 8.9/10

I very much enjoyed the art in this series. Character models were great both on the male and female side. Very detailed scenes in a lot of different parts of the story. I would check out the next manga the author has planned just to see some of the new character models.

Characters: 4/10

Kind of a mixed bag here since Haruto and Yuzuki were by far the biggest factors of why I didn't end up enjoying the series as much as I could. The other characters however helped make the series much more enjoyable. Rin, Takashi, Akari, and Kyosuke really resonated with me since they had legitimate feelings, hopes, and dreams. There were even some really cute and awesome things that this cast accomplished. Too bad the main characters were total shit.

Overall: 5.5/10

Like I said in the opening; I really enjoyed the start of the series. It felt like a normal high school romance in the making. It continued to evolve and move onto new ideas and areas. It however fell very short as there were large gaps in enjoyable content. The train has been milked as far as it could so onto something different.

Enjoyment: START 8/10 MIDDLE 5/10 ENDING 2.5/10

Thanks for reading my review! If you liked my writing style, would like to see some other reviews, or just want to talk, please stop by my page!

Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer

So I just read this in the span of 4 days. I finished they entire 261 chapters instead of studying for my board exams that is in 2 weeks. That's how much I enjoyed reading this serious. Does it have it's flaws absolutely but in an enjoyment aspect. I loved it. I'm a sucker for a good romance. I love my shounen's don't get me wrong but this was just great.

SLIGHT SPOILER for 1st ARC.

Okay the story is about this girl Eba Yuzuki who shows up at the MC Haruto Kirishima's place out of the blue to live with his family and attend school there. This girl is a total ditz in an adorable puppy kinda way that is absolutely frustrating for the MC. It's a love story with heart break, romance and a little bit of spice. 1 of the main drawbacks is that it makes no sense why every girl he meets falls in love with him. I get that it is a shounen but sometimes it is a little over played. There are also part where you just get frustrated with the MC's decisions and the way he handles situations.

Art: the art for both the Manga and Anime is great

Characters: There are some really well developed characters in the story, however there are also some extra unnecessary characters that you can tell unnecessarily drew out the story. cough cough Chisa...

Overall I enjoyed the hell out of the manga. I'd like to thank sellsord's production for the recc.

I'd give it a solid 8.5!

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile.
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✦Story

Vanilla romance filled with lot of stupid drama. (but that what drama is, people do stupid s***). Should suffice?

Anyhow let's add a bit more. It's basically about countryside guy who meets up city girl, falls in love, so does she. They love each other, but lot stupid reasons, things, decisions keep them pushing apart and back together.

Also thank god it ended as vanilla on sexual relationship side, as there was some drama which was close to ruining "vanilla romance".

Ending was somewhat dissatisfying as past few chapters felt suddenly very rushed. Probably cannot really say much else without spoiling anything. Only can add that drama at times seriously made me rage at times. If this wouldn't been vanilla/pure love romance I would probably long time ago dropped it and given horrid score.

✦Art
Absolutely love this mangaka style. It feels refined, clean & beautiful. Absolutely love how women look in this manga, plus the fanservice style feels as well absolutely satisfying.

✦Character
Lower score because of stupid decisions they make. And as well the moronic drama they create at times, plus wasn't fond of how many girls who love main guy somehow pseudo-moved-on-with-life. Feels a bit of platonic cheating. (to feelings they have).

Most characters have some sort of stereotype as starting point, but since this is drama/romance they have considerably more aspects. ("depth" if prefer this word)

✦Enjoyment/Overall

Enough to say, that I really enjoyed this manga even though it had quite some moronic drama.

Seo Kouji has yet again rumble and played with my heart as the story is twisted up and down with plots that are breathe taking and heart breaking. Throughout the story, similar to Nozoki Ana and Good Ending, the theme of "the first will be the last" is shown. Beautifully written and drawn, this manga invites readers to explore a world full of beauty and bittersweet of love. (spoiler alert) Though through ups and downs, they were finally together but the death of their friends had my heart throbbing. It really pisses me off (hats off to Seo Kouji for actually provoking emotions like this within me) at the MC's "gf" because she was just being really selfish and only loving him out of pity. I cried so much as he died, it all felt so real. Though plot development can be a little slow at first, the ending unfolds leaving many memories while reading! I recommend this to anyone tbh

Right, here goes my first review of a show ever, but lemme just start by saying that I'm only feeling compelled to write this review due to how much I've enjoyed reading it, and I really want to clear any bad images that haters have left out there.

Story: (9)

In my opinion, as a drama, this manga really does manage to induce all the emotions which a good drama should produce. This show is truly a roller-coaster of emotions, whilst reading it, it did make me feel despair at times due to the directions which the series was heading off in, although one thing I will praise Seo for is the ability to make someone look past all those "bad" decisions (this is all arbitrary!) and be able to accept it in the end.

The only thing which keeps me from giving it a full 10 is due to Seo's inability to stop the show! I know it's strange to hear that from someone who really enjoys the series, but lately, the show has lost its initial magic which I had fallen in love with, and seems like mere fillers instead... (N.B - This is past the 160+ stage or something ridiculously long like that, otw the show is amazing!)

Art: (10)

I LOVE the art in this show, not just the character designs themselves, but Seo captures the countryside/city scenery exactly as I would like it to add to the mood perfectly.

Character: (8)

Well, we all have disagreements with some of the characters, but at the end of the day, it's important to evaluate whether or not it was intentional, to have such characters with such behaviours. The characters in question are just rash teenagers, it isn't unusual for them to do things that others will rage, I mean, disagree with! (I would know, being a teenager as well once upon a time)

One thing which I did not like so much, which is common with all shounen series, is how the main character seems to be perfect and everyone seems to like him no matter what. Sure the manga would not get to where it is without such a premise, but it does make me facepalm at times! (Once again, this is just a personal view, I'm sure many others would disagree, and I am fine with that!)

Enjoyment: (10)

As I mentioned earlier, this series really portrays exactly what I want from a manga; the heart-wrenching scenes to invoking feelings of regret, after reading so many chapters, you really feel like you've fallen in love with the characters and that's one feeling I won't be able to change to this day! Definitely a 10/10 here!

Overall: (10)

Yup. I know what you're thinking. "It's not like you gave a full 10/10 for every section, why are you giving one now?". All I can say to that is that, when reading/watching a show, the most important part is how much you ENJOY it. Rating something objectively only seems to kill the show, and so does listening to all the bad things about it. I'm mainly writing this review so people don't only hear negative criticisms, I believe that past these small disagreements, this show is really good, if not, why would I be writing this review eh? Definitely give this manga a shot if you have the time to!

Well, this series, in my opinion, went a little downhill after around the first ten volumes. Ill go ahead and get to the point:

The bad things:
~Most of the "story" was just about what you would find in any romance manga, except they make it so repetitive that it feels like you have already read it.
~Had the same old "ecchi" misunderstandings, but had them repeated every other page, and also had the misunderstandings barely every resolved.
~Had an unnecessary amount of drama, even for something so small and insignificant that you would not have even noticed it normally. That may be alright, but the things that the drama is about do not even advance the story. Hell, sometimes they do not even relate to the story at all.
~Also, they make it seem like talking to anyone besides your girlfriend/boyfriend is a disgusting offence that means you are cheating on someone.

The good things (I know, how can I write those after what I said above...):
~It depressed me, you may be thinking "wtf, why is that a good thing?". Well I will say this, it is hard to find an manga like this that can change your emotions. I may not have always felt connected to the characters, but this manga would make me feel happy at some points, and at others it would make me feel extremely sad. I actually felt like I could understand how the characters felt at some points, (as long as it wasn't the pointless misunderstandings and other stuff that is mentioned in the bad section).
~It had some pretty amazing endings to volumes, they always left you wanting to read the next one. Lot's of series I know leave the volumes off at a boring spot, who would want to keep reading that. Going back to what I said above though, the endings may be good in the sense that you want to keep watching, but they did not always relate well to the story. This one left every volume off at the perfect moment, forcing me to keep reading it.
~Lot's of funny characters for a bit of comedy to relieve some of the tension.

Well, sorry if any of my thoughts contradict each other. Also, thank you for reading this, if you hate this review, lemme know.

There are very few words that can describe this manga and even more so most of the work done by Seo Kouji. Kimi No Iru machi is a masterpiece that really does a fantastic job at tugging at the emotions of the reader emphasized by excellent artwork and a dynamic and hard to stop reading storyline. However this is not the first time Kouji has created such a masterpiece as his work on Suzuka was incredible as well.

Lets talk about the characters for a little bit. I will start with what was probably what held this manga from getting a perfect score on my personal list (word processing not on MAL) which was Haruto Kirishima. Haruto all in all was an excellent character but being a large Suzuka fan previously to reading this manga, I had to say there were points in the story where he was a stronger protagonist. There were just moments where he did not act as strongly as Yamato did in the Suzuka manga (although he had to because suzuka was a total ass sometimes). His caring and learning throughout the manga however was extremely well portrayed throughout.
The second character I want to speak to was Akari because to be honest she was probably one of my favourite characters. Akari was what everyone always wishes for in a childhood friend in being caring, compassionate and funny at times. Her unrequited love for haruto really was a point which I believed could have been emphasized a little more throughout the plot and her exit from the series was lackluster and disappointing in a lot of ways. I really think an arc in this series with her and Haruto dating would have been interesting but shes also my favorite so of course I'll cheer for her.
Finally any discussion of this manga cannot end without speaking to what was the most important character although not the protagonist being Eba. Eba is a lot of ways a character that you hate to love but also one that you love to hate at times. In the earlier chapters there were times you really hated her guts, I mean like you wanna slap her across the face but there are so many more times where the emotion in her character really overcomes you and makes you feel feeble and in love (in a good way). Eba is by far the greatest character in this series, her artwork was amazing, she was very pretty (but not too pretty) and soo soo lovable many times. Her interactions with other characters be it Haruto or, Rin or even Kyousuke are spectacular and awe inspiring throughout the series.

The artwork in general in this series was fantastic, I cannot say it is the best artwork by any mangaka ever but it is definitely in the upper echelons of the minor amount of series' ive read to date (about 130). The mangaka is also one of the best in the business, I mean the story, the art, the dialogue is all top notch and even touching at moments. This is the 3rd manga i have ever read which really pulled at my heartstrings and made me really come out with emotion (suzuka also by Seo Kouji was the 1st and I rather not disclose the 2nd) and i so look forward to his future work.

The worst part of this manga was simply waiting for chapters to come out.

Hope this response is helpful, IM me for questions

It is a masterpiece. Having read loads of other work, i would say, this manga is definitely up there in my list in terms of how it brings you on an emotional roller-coaster never felt before. It follows our main lead "Kirishima Haruto" on his journey throughout life in highschool in his hometown, all the way till his life as an working adult.

For a manga, it is a certain charm of realism, akin in life, not found in alot of other works that allows us to relate with the cast surprisingly well whilst going through their problems/life.

PLOT (SPOILERS AHEAD):

It started off with a very heart-warming, mellow-ish, nostalgic atmosphere as we follow our main lead, female lead "Yuzuki Eba" and their clique of friends along their daily lives in high-school in Hiroshima filled with standard romance cliches. At this point, we get to see the interaction and chemistry between Haruto and Yuzuki and how their relationship started. i was really expecting it to be a happy series through-and-through.

However, as we approach the 2nd major arc in Tokyo where Haruto decided to chase Eba to Tokyo from Hiroshima, things took a devastating turn. The once nostalgic and mellow atmosphere is nowhere to be found as it is replaced with the realism and a heart-crushing turn of events one after another. It played with my heart till the point where i've regretted reading this deep (Don't get me wrong, i'm regretting not because the plot is terrible, but because it's truly heart-breaking. This arc is definitely one of the main focal point of this series which delivers a strong blow to the readers and their feels.

Thankfully, got through that whole drama in arc, things start to turn for the better as we follow Haruto and watch him coped and recover from the depressing experience/memory caused by the 2nd major (Tokyo) arc. Here, we lose touch of our main female lead (Yuzuki) and follow another female character. Things get slightly better UNTIL more drama pops up.

This led to the 3rd arc, where we see the triumphant/home-wrecking return of our female lead (Yuzuki) and where we follow the main lead's second relationship. In this arc, things gets better and happier as we follow through their college life and watch them get through their difficulties together. Though the dramas here is less impactful than the previous 2 arcs, it was a nice breath of fresh air as we get to see them interacting like how they were back in Hiroshima (which really brings back the nostalgia after god knows how many chapters). Though the popular opinion is that from this arc onward, the series starts to become boring, with almost no meaningful plot, and is just filled with fillers. However, I beg to differ and it is one of the arcs that i TRULY ENJOYED, despite having less drama, due to it's slice of life aspect.

The last arc was rushed and mostly showed the transition of the Haruto's and Yuzuki's college life to a their working life/adult life. The ending is good and it's a good read all and all.

SUGGESTION:
If you don't really like going through the depressing stuffs/or if you're light-hearted, I suggest you stop after the Hiroshima arc and straight to the last chapter for closure. However, i feel that it is WORTHWHILE reading everything from start to end. I personally, re-read it 7 times (as of now).

THE GOOD:
I loved the 1st arc. I also loved how the story is able to pin a very strong sentimental and symbolic meaning places, areas, things (i.e. the backseat of Haruto's bicycle, etc) that brings out the nostalgia in you when they're re-visited/shown again in the manga.

I also loved the character development (while not as obvious as day and night), they indeed did mature and learn from the arcs they've been through. Honestly, it made me felt like a parent watching their kid grow up/mature into a fine adult.


THE BADS:

whilst i felt really good about this series, it did went on alot too long and had some fillers that could've been better replace to tackle other issues that are still unresolved even till this date. The last arc could've been dealt better but, all in all, was still fine.

Also, not everyone might be fond of the main leads (both male and female) as they at times make really bad decisions even if their intents were right. I've seen many hate on them and it can go either way. Personally, i take it as them being the imperfect beings we humans are and just enjoyed the ride with them. (TRY TO NOT TAKE IT TOO HARD and hate them for their mistakes.)

OVERALL:
It would've be 10/10 for me if certain aspects were not as ambiguous and if the i solely consider the Hiroshima arc. However, because of the latter part of the series which consist SOME meaningless fillers, and the fact that the 2nd arc totally destroyed the image of the main leads (won't say if it's the female/male lead xd) beyond the point of recovery without giving them a PROPER and CONVINCING redemption arc/moment, i'd give it a 9/10 overall.

I've only read a handful of manga, and all in the last month. I've watched a TON of anime, and I recently decided that I should try out manga. Man, am I glad I started with some good ones! So far I've only finished Suzuka, Deadman Wonderland, and Kimi no Iru Machi.
I chose to read Kimi no Iru Machi only because, I had read Suzuka on a whim, and I really enjoyed it. I saw that the author had another manga out (along with Fuuka, which I am really enjoying), and decided to read Kimi no Iru Machi. Let me tell you... the feels, man! Not only does this manga have a huge cast of characters, but almost every character matures really well over the course of the story. Some people say this manga was drwan out too much, but I really think that it was necessary, as you get to watch a bunch of young, interesting people advance from entering highschool, to entering the work force after college. The art style is very good, and definately surpasses Suzuka in that category. The story fantastic, and the characters are in depth and pretty unique. But really got me is the enjoyment factor. Every single issue was greatly enjoyable and fun. Some were sad, some were happy, but every issue was an enjoyable read. I know I probably repeated myself several times in my excitement to write this, but seriously... read this manga! You definitely won't regret it!

God, this manga.

Story - 10
The story really flows well I think. It's a good a story as someone can get in a slice of life romantic manga. Sometimes it gets cheesy, but if you're a fan of cheesiness it won't bother you.

Art - 7
I gave the art a 7 because I'm not a particular fan of the artist's style of the nudes, which took a bit away for me when I read it, but it is still kept consistent and professional, and the artist still does their own style well for what it is.

Characters- 10
This is a very special area for me. I love the characters; they are all done very well. They will evolve, yet stay who they are at their core. Things end up happening to most of them by the end as they make decisions, and sometimes they end up surprising you. Sometimes they seemed a bit like a utility, to provide something, but there would be times to remind you of who they are, and that they still have goals and plans in their lives and in the end they seem like people. Fantastic work on the characters; a lot of them were memorable for me.

Enjoyment - 10
I almost never felt bored reading this.

Overall - I would feel forced to give this a 9 but fuck it, I'm giving this a 10. I don't know, it is so great. It's cheesy, it's cute, it's perverted, it's serious; I loved it. Don't be intimidated by the length, it will fly by. Thanks for reading.

The first half of the story is Boy has childhood friend he does not remember come live with him. Boy remembers her, Boy falls in love with her. Both admit their love and start dating, and then the second half happens. The story that she had a close friend that she liked but did not love. That she chose to date him as a form of dying wish is interesting, but also makes the main female character extremely shallow. The fact that she acts afterwards like nothing happened, and that she wants to get back with the MC makes her character even worse. Beside this manga cannot think of another main heroine that is this shallow and as a result I ended up just hating the story.

The other major issue is that after the first part it is apparent the writer is riding high on the manga doing well and their previous work doing well. That they decided to just drag their feet as hard as they could. There are so many chapters where nothing happens or changes for the character, it is all filler. It gets so bad that the ending feels rushed since everything gets concluded in 10~ chapters obviously the higher ups said “knock it off and finish it or get canceled.”

I can recommend the writer’s previous work before this, but this is garbage.

For me there are parts of Kimi no iru machi that I dislike and parts that I love.

After a promising start, it was clear that this manga wouldn't hold back on harem drama. I dislike harem manga in general and prefer a non-drama romance story, so this affects my view on KNIM.

The Kazama arc was quite beautiful and had me crying but in general I disliked the first 164-ish chapters. After that most of the harem/drama stuff disappeared and KNIM really became a lovely romance story about 2 people. Chapter 200 was a beautiful climax between Haruto and Yuzuki, followed by terrible fanservice with the other female characters. I hated that.

After reading KNIM I wish one day I could also stand in Shinjuku's Tomoya park when the Sakura's bloom with a special someone.

tl;dr: A very well illustrated and very well written story about a relationship that gets really messy but becomes incredibly strong, and that does have some major rough edges but has a strong enough core to outshine them completely.

Kimi no Iru Machi is a story that changes quite a bit, but at it's core its about the relationship between the two main characters, Haruto and Yuzuki as it goes through a lot of twists and turns over a pretty long period of time.

It starts off as a pretty standard high school romance set in the country. There's some drama as there are some complexities to the main characters relationships, but it's pretty lighthearted overall. The biggest problem the protagonist faces is their own lack of maturity and ability to understand and deal with their own feelings, as is standard for such manga. Still, while it's not particularly unique, it does do a solid job of developing the start of the relationship of the main couple. This lasts for about the first third of the manga.

After that it changes quite a bit, with what is known as oft called the Tokyo arc. The best way to describe it is that it becomes a storm where things get incredibly intense and things change tremendously. This change is painful due to how the relationship in the main couple was already built up, especially as the manga does a good job at conveying Haruto's and Yuzuki's pain and how it influences their actions. It's well written with major twists and good pacing. Still, it does intentionally make a mess of things, which filled me with a sense of frustration strong enough that I actually dropped the manga here at one point before rereading it all again from the beginning later on after having watched the anime.

And then the storm is suddenly over to the point it feels abrupt how quickly it ended, though how it ends certainly isn't happy ending. Still, while its done a lot of damage to the relationship between the main couple, it leaves things outside that very stable so the manga actually returns to being peaceful and pretty lighthearted. At this point the manga has introduced essentially all the main characters so it just casually develops the bonds between all of them as friends and sets the foundation for their circumstances which persists for the rest of the manga. It's decent at what it is, but while I was reading it it felt pointless due to the lack of the main relationship and heroine of the manga.

But it turns out that was just the eye of the storm and things return to being chaotic once more, though its a bit strange in that you don't realize it's actually returned to being a storm until pretty much the end of this phase when it reaches it's climax. This arc is messy, even messier than the first part of the storm. Still, it felt like the messiness of it actually added to its value and helped further establish the value of the main relationship. I liked what it was doing here a lot more than I liked the first part or eye of the storm so to speak and in hindsight the direction that this takes the story and how it uses what was built up over the rest of the storm makes it feel like those parts had a lot of value in what they built up, even if I really didn't like them when I was reading them. The core of this part isn't really developing the relationship of the main couple, but rather going over it and reaffirming it by bringing a lot of what was built up before together and also showing how the two of them had grown. It's written incredibly well with by far the most powerful moments in the series with chapter 137, which as expected is critically important as one would expect considering it's named after the title of the manga itself, and chapter 141 also being incredibly memorable.

This time things don't just completely drop on the intensity scale as in the opposite case of where things were left after the first half of the storm, now the main relationship is strong but everything else is in shambles. So while things aren't as intense as they were, there's a decent level of drama that persists for a while as things are rebuilt. Intermixed with that though, is just a couple doing couple things with a decent amount of fluff. Eventually it does reach a state of pretty peaceful equilibrium though.

However, that occurs about 2/3s of the way into the manga. The majority of the rest of the manga is mostly just lighthearted fluff and comedic moments in a series of short episodes, with some parts even going to the level of ecchi gag manga. Still, it's good fluff, and with everything that had been built up up to this point I was heavily invested in these two's relationship, so even that fluff was really enjoyable with a lot of the simple happy moments or simple reminiscence to earlier events managing to be quite impactful. There's light drama here and there, but it's usually really short and quickly resolves, just feeling like minor squabbles than anywhere near the intensity of earlier events. The old characters are all still there and it adds a few new ones as well which ends up adding a decent variety to the short stories that keep things amusing even if it is mainly focusing on Haruto and Yuzuki.

And though there's not a lot of major plot events for the main couple, quite a lot happens to the rest of the cast of characters with a lot of character and relationship development that also manages to be quite impactful, though that's somewhat of a double edged sword in that it results in feeling like some characters don't get enough time. It is also somewhat strange that while all this development is happening with everyone else, Haruto and Yuzuki feel like they're staying pretty static. Over the course of the manga Yuzuki already grew a lot and it becomes very evident during this part. Haruto seems to have already grown in aspects related to how he deals with relationships, which is very strong growth, don't get me wrong, and which leads to some cool moments during this portion. However, in matters outside of that it doesn't seem like he's grown at all, rather it even feels like he's regressed a bit, in that he simply goes with the flow and isn't very decisive regarding where he wants to go in life, which leaves him looking kind of lame.

Then the manga reaches it's final arc, which to be quite frank it tremendously rushed. I feel the author was simply in a rush to start their next work, which literally began the same time the last chapter of this one was released. Still, this may have had it's advantages. It starts off immediately being kind of painful due to how strongly it had built up the main relationship, then proceeds into reaching a heart rending level of painful, and then suddenly reaches a happy ending. It was abrupt yes, but at the same time, I don't think I would have wanted it to remain painful and especially not heartrendingly painful for long, and I think I really would have hated it if it was dragged out.

Still, it feels like we ended up missing a lot, including a lot of important events. The ending very much emphasizes Haruto's lame aspects of simply being dragged along by the flow and not willing to fight it, with the happy ending ultimately being achieved due to not his actions but things outside of his control rather than him fighting for it. However after that, in the time skip epilogue, he suddenly seems to be a very different character capable of doing what's necessary to achieve what he wants even if it results in things getting messy in that he does what he should have done long ago when he was heading towards a bad ending. How he got there is skipped over entirely and thus it feels like we missed the climax of his character arc. How rushed the ending was also results in it feeling like some side characters stories were pretty much left dangling without any closure. Still, despite it being rushed, I found the ending satisfying even if it isn't completely clear how it got to where it was because it did a good job of showing the most important things, and thus I I felt happy with it but I really felt like I wanted more of it as well, fluff and all.

Lastly, the art is exceptionally good and used really well. In general the quality is high but certain panels and things like chapter and title covers are often amazing. It is kind of funny though that even though the level of quality is so high, the author can't seem to decide on various character's hair colors and they seem to be pretty inconsistent across different color pages and covers.

So, in preparation for Seo Kouji's relatively new manga, Fuuka, I decided to read the two other manga that, to my knowledge, existed within the universe that Fuuka takes place in -- that is to say, Suzuka, its prequel, and, of course, Kimi no Iru Machi. Now, before I start this review I would like to quote Cludensyo's introduction for his review of this manga as I believe it sums up all my feelings and impressions for it:

This MANGA.

Confused? Well, let me just say that I hated reading this as much as I loved it. Let me explain myself.

First off, the initial premise is nothing that you can't read in the MAL synopsis, so I'm not going to try to re-write it. Let me tell you that it doesn't last too long however. There are setting changes, character cast changes, time skips, and, as always, love interest changes. If you're an attentive or seasoned manga reader, you might have figured that out anyways since this IS a romance/slice-of-life manga that goes on for 270 chapters. You and your best buddy Drama are in for a emotional roller-coaster to say the least.

The worst part of this all is that manga gets too good too fast. What do I exactly mean? Well, notice that I have only read 141 chapters. That's about where I started to hate reading it. Up until around ch. 141 there is quite a bit of drama (obviously), and I was actually enjoying it for all that it was worth. However, after that point onwards, I didn't even bother reading the rest of the 120 or so chapters since it seemed like a lot of fillers, more pointless drama, and because the outcome was going to be the same either way ( i.e. he was going to get with "the" girl in the end). If you think that I'm being a little too judgmental and that the journey is worth more than the designation, let me ask you this: Do you hate it when the protagonist falls in love with the heroine JUST because she's the heroine and for no other explicit reason that the author can give even when there are LITERALLY half a dozen other girls that share equally good qualities, all of whom have fallen for the protagonist at some point in time or another? Yeah, me too. Let's end it there.

So what exactly is good about this manga aside from the first 141 chapters or so (probably around 135 in my opinion)? Well, the art is one.If you've read Suzuka (which you should before starting this manga if you haven't) or any of Seo Kouji's other works then you'll know what I mean. He really does know how to draws faces, expressions, and scenery. I've always hated it when authors empty the background to focus more on the characters' expressions and reactions. Seo Kouji doesn't need to simplify his art that much. We know precisely where the characters are in the story, what their reactions are, and that they aren't living with white/grey/black shading behind them half the time.

For me, however, the greatest pleasure was seeing the little bits of Suzuka in here (Kimi no Iru Machi starts about a year after Suzuka ends by the way). For instance, Haruto moves into the bathing house/apartment complex that Yamato/Suzuaka/Fuuka live in, and eventually attends the university that Yamato and Suzuka WOULD have attended. We even get to see little bits of Fuuka not to mention that the last chapter of this manga is EXACTLY where the first chapter of "Fuuka" begins. It's just cool to me when authors use the same universe for different stories.

So, can I say that I recommend this manga? Well, I certainly can't say no. It really was pleasurable for what I read of it, but it's unfortunate that the author seemed to care more about his serialization then actually creating a quality story. If you're seriously wondering if I'm going to finish this review with having read barely half of the manga, don't worry. I plan on finishing it, but I probably won't update this as I'm confident that my impressions will stay the same. And who knows, you, the reader of this review, may disagree on my feelings of what happens after ch. 141. Only one way to find out, right?


-- If there's any questions or concerns that you may have of Kimi no Iru Machi, feel free to pm me.

After having read Suzuka and really enjoying it, I went ahead and read A Town Where You Live, and Seo Kouji delivered something different but great again.

To those who read Suzuka, it can seem very similar. For example; Suzuka is about a someone from Hiroshima that goes and explores Tokyo while ATWYL is someone from Tokyo coming to Hiroshima. Although they are the same in that aspect, it still tells an enjoyable story

The characters in ATWYL are just great. The MC meets new people who are likeable and have different personalities. The characters who grew up with the MC are really great as well and have very good synergy with not just the MC but with each other in a group. I really cared for the characters and felt invested with them because they all have their own goals and those who don't, push themselves to find their goals.

Suzuka's themes and messages change throughout the story but ATWYL takes this to another level. This manga is romance story but it's also a coming of age story about the MC and his friends who try to figure out who they are as they do different things in the story which is something great. Just like Suzuka, this manga is not static and character motivations, struggles and relationships change quite often, probably more than Suzuka but it does not feel rushed in any matter and makes you become more attached to the characters since it feels really realistic.

Although I don't think it's a problem, ATWYL has slightly less tension and suspense than Suzuka but when something negative or tense happens here, it does affect the story.

I gave this a high score because this coming of age story really resonated with me and I enjoyed everything about it. Also for the Suzuka readers, there might be little moments that will grab your attention.

In the end, if you liked Suzuka and enjoy a good romance manga and want to read a coming of age story that could perhaps resonate with you and leave you satisfied and with a smile, then A Town Where You Live is a definite must read for you, although I would read Suzuka first then ATWYL since the story takes place after it.

well i would say this is by far Seo Kouj's best manga ever written behind his previous work Suzuka...

In regards with the manga... it is like the reincarnation of Suzuka not just because of physical similarities of characters to both mangas but also the protagonists' personality... and also the relationship with every character...

but what makes the difference with suzuka and kimi no iru machi is the twist... i would say kimi no iru machi is far more romantic, realistic and it keeps you interesting...

I love the idea how most of the heroines fell in love with haruto that it becomes a harem-like manga as you read further on the chapters...

though some would say a romance story set with high school students becomes cliche due to the fact that this setting had already been used and murdered many times by various manga/anime... still the story makes difference... which makes kimi no iru machi achieved its stardom as of today...

I normally don't write bad reviews unless I feel strongly about it. For Kimi no Iru Machi, I really wanted to stick it to the 270-chapters end because I wanted to give it a chance after some readers gave it such high ratings. But seriously, what's up with all those high ratings for this crap?

Story: 3/10
I think what really gets to me is the nonsensical plots throughout the story. In all honesty, this manga started off good in the first 40-50 chapters, and then it started to get ridiculous... and the nonsense extends ALL THE WAY to the very end. I actually skipped numerous scenes and because of the plain absurdity.

It's not that I don't like plot twists. In fact, I love plot twists! But please, make them realistic. The plot twists and a lot of scenes and mess in Kimi no Iru Machi are absolute garbage. They seem to only serve to send one message: that the characters in the story have no moral values, no shame, no sense of what it means to be a friend (even though friendship is such a big theme here), yet full of self-righteousness. Either that, or the mangaka is just trying to insult the readers' IQ.

Also about the ecchi scenes in the story which mainly consist of boobs, butts and panties. They got so much that it became annoying. It's like every gal is trying to show their body to the MC for whatever reasons that it's just DUH. It doesn't value-add to the story at all and it's fan service to male readers. While there's nothing wrong in fan service, but too much of anything especially in ridiculous amount is just what it is - ridiculous.

Characters: 3/10
If I have to force myself, I can only accept the MC and FC, but even then, they sometimes do things that irritate the hell out of me and I'm not even talking about their on/off relationship. The rest of the side characters mainly have crappy personalities or just do crappy things, which for the life of me I do not understand. Needless to say, I like none of the side characters. The mangaka tried to portray them as good people with good intentions but please, it just further insults my IQ.

Enjoyment: 3/10
Readers who just want a roller-coaster ride with lotsa BBP (boobs, butts & panties) but very little logic may enjoy the read, but those who are looking for a deeper and more meaningful storyline will cuss at it. I personally did not enjoy this manga at all.

The only saving grace of this manga is the decent art style. Other than that, there are many more romance mangas out there that are better worth your time.

Kimi no Iru Machi (A Town Where You Live) is a slice-or-life, romance, harem, drama manga that has risen in popularity in the past couple of years. In fact, it has become a mainstream shounen-romance manga nowadays. Personally, it is my favorite romance manga of all time.

Story:
KnIM starts out with a typical romance story setup: a boy meets girl scenario. The story soon becomes intense, in a way that is indescribable. The relationship of Haruto and Eba, and with other people are so well portrayed that I experience what the characters did vicariously while I was reading it.

Art:
The girls in the manga have incredibly slim figure and beautiful features, enough to make male readers fall in love with them. The background is quite nicely drawn. The art is definitely one of the aspects that KnIM has done well.

Character:
The main characters are realistically portrayed through "mundane" incidents in the manga. Almost every major character in this manga is likable, even though they make mistakes and hurt other people's feelings. This is why this manga is one of the best coming-of-age story. However, a significant flaw should also be pointed out. Numerous minor characters have flat personality, a trait that is quite annoying sometimes. This only gets worse and worse as we approach the later chapters, when the story is flooded with new characters.

Enjoyment:
I thoroughly enjoyed this manga. A word of warning, though, this manga turns into a romantic-comedy with occasional seriousness toward the later chapters. I have to blame this on the manga becoming so popular that this trend is almost demanded by populace.

Nonetheless, for boys and girls who would like to read a superb romance manga, this will not disappoint. Personally, nothing (unless it turns into complete rubbish, which is not happening) will stop me from associating KnIM with the title of “The Best Manga Love Story Ever”.

Overall:
This is an incredible romance, drama, slice-of-life manga that realistically portrays the relationship between a high-school boy and a high-school girl, a relationship that is extended in university. You may not agree with my giving it the title of “The Best” in romance category, but it is an undeniable fact that reading this manga is a hell of a ride.

Story: 8 (for changing of plot structures in later chapters)
Art: 10
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 9

Kimi no Iru Machi is a manga that came across at first as something that would have a great but really sweet developement in the relations between haruto and eba however i was saddly mistaken, the best way to describe it is a roller coaster over the space of afew chapters they go from a relationship to being apart to a somewhat suprising but also quiet cliche situation (spoiler) Eba is nwo going out with harutos friend. Going from high to low to lower in short time period and then suddenly they have split up and your left thinking have i just wasted time reading these chapter if they were just going to get back together again there was no real need for me to read the chapters in between in the first place!

i understand alot of people really enjoy this sort of story however it wasnt for me i wont say its a bad manga because i have had some intresting experiences with it i loved the art and i found most of the chapters enjoyable.

if you are a manga lover that is into storys that are all about highs and lows in relationships aswell was been shocked by sudden turns off events its a romance manga for you personally i just want to see a night straight forwards relationship between 2 people who love each other, indead of 5 or 6 people who think they love each other to suddenly feel they love somebody else. Something that also happens in the earlyer chapters of Kimi no Iru Machi when haruto goes from liking nanami to liking eba and wanting a long distance relationship then eba suddenly getting a boyfriend after she made such a big deal outta liking haruto .

The art for this manga is awesome! I'm already attracted to this manga when i see the cover and the expression on each character is unique. For story, it tells us a story revolved around Kirishima Haruto and his friend on his daily basis life. Character, Haruto is somewhat is not able to takes his eyes from Eba Yuzuki, a girl who is freeloading in his house who is always caught with some meddlesome troubles, he is a great cooker and wished to be a professional chef one day. Another character is Eba Yuzuki, a girl run from her house at Tokyo and came to Hiroshima to escape from her family affairs. Apparently, she is the girl that lost at the summer festival when Haruto and Yuzuki first met at, she is most favorite type of girl that I like, I mean who doesn't like the airheaded moment of her. The manga brings to us a romantic, suspense, sad and comedic side to the surface and it's easy for the reader to absorb and touched by those emotion. As for overall, let me say just one thing : don't ever try to make a long distance relationship to your love partner, it can only brings misfortunes. You can get lonely, your relationship will fades, your contact with one another will ceased, so don't ever try this if you really don't want to break up.