i don't hate this but i don't like it either.
what i liked about this manga was that it was the equivalent of the saying "a lot happened."
i don't watch soap operas but from my limited knowledge of them, i'd think that this is the manga equivalent of one. it's silly when it wants to be, dramatic when it want to be, spicy (only in the extras) when it wants to be yadda yadda. but in the end things just happened. i know that sounds obvious but it just felt like i'm reading some anime dude's life unfolding before me and there was a charm to it. we watch some random dude go through high school, two dramatic relationships, start college and get involved with acting, almost die. a lot happened! it wasn't perfect by any means but it was entertaining. didn't hurt that art was pretty cute too.
but there was something starting to bother me these past couple months. it was clear that he had chosen Rui in the end and he didn't seem like the kind of dude that would go against his word. he was too much of a nice guy. but they didn't stop hinting at Hina getting back together with him. now i'll admit i've always been a Hina fan so i always hoped that in some weird way that she still had a chance despite how concrete it seemed he'd stay with Rui. after the pregnancy, any chances of that happening in a way that made sense died. all the sudden the story seemed like it really needed to hurry up and finish when the best part about this manga was that it took its time to tell its story whether it was good or bad.
and then a time skip just to hammer in the final nail. nothing works less than a time skip. now the manga loses the only thing it had going for it which was "a lot happened." we can't see whatever growth or change they've had in those 5 years. i didn't expect that much from this manga after they started dragging their feet but this was far, far worse than i expected. i can't even be happy my girl won, i can't even feel sorry for Rui. this all just felt out of nowhere. i don't know who to blame but all i know is this wasn't a good ending at all.