So, I will start off with the one thing that bothered me in this series: the gun metaphor and associating standing up to bullies with that image. Mind you, there is no gun in actuality, but it is shown in a daydream. Especially, because the setting is a school. And maybe that is a cultural difference because I live in America. But, we have experienced a lot of school shootings, and it hits a bit too close to home. So, even though, there were only two times this was brought up, and both times were rather short, it actually really bothered me.

Now, onto the good things. To start off, please note that I generally tend to dislike romance between a bully and their victim. Despite this, I really appreciated this series. The characters were flawed in very realistic ways, and the acting, also, seemed very genuine to me. The main characters are not angels but they are not unredeemable, and often, while I don't agree with some of their actions, I can understand why they act that way. I do not think they fit in the stereotyped molds. While Hira is an introvert, he is not the stereotypical introvert you see in mainstream media. Rather than just being socially awkward and possessing low self-esteem, Hira can be kind of gloomy. Often, such characters are shown as antagonists or side characters. I liked that they made him a protagonist. As for, Kiyoi - he is supposed to fit into the bully role, but even though he does boss Hira around, he is more gentle. From the start, even when he tries to show he isn't interested, he actually listens to Hira when Hira speaks. Oftentimes, the bully character just steamrolls over their love interest's thoughts and words, but Kiyoi is not like that. That's not to say that Kiyoi doesn't say mean things, but there is something about the context that gentles what he says. Also, even though Kiyoi bosses Hira around, Hira seems to actually be glad to be bossed around, because it establishes a connection between him and Kiyoi.