Suzuka

[TigerII]

Alot better off....

[UPR]

Originally Posted by TigerII

Alot better off....

actually I do agree in some point that he be better off. But the same could be said of Suzuka. Like they say opposite's do atract.

[cynicalicious]

Guh. This whole manga has been a trainwreck ever since Suzuka left for that 1-year time skip. -_-

I never could figure out just what the hell this manga was supposed to be about, anyway. Whenever I thought the track aspects might get interesting, Seo would do something to toss all the interesting bits out the window. It was really frustrating, because I really *wanted* to like this manga. (And I did for the first 120 chapters or so.)

It seems like the whole pregnancy arc is just a cop-out so he can end the story about 40-50 chapters early. I mean, why build up so much momentum with college and the rivalry and all that, and then just say, "Meh" and toss it all out the window? Bah. I'm just mad at this manga in general. We never even really got to go past the surface of "Why *is* Suzuka so screwed up, anyway?" Then again, I guess I was expecting too much.

The art was great, even if the characters all started to look a bit alike after a while, though. (In 163, I had a hard time telling sneaker guy from dumbass from Suzuka... if they were bald, they could be triplets. >_>)

Biggest crime-- no more Miki!

[TigerII]

Like I said, maybe he got tired of it.

[Key Board]

my speculation is he wanted to take the story in another direction but his publisher said no

Seo: Yes, a fresh start. With the absence of Suzuka I can know play a unique angle to the story. I can know explore Yamato's dynamics with other characters and make him more rounded

Publisher: "NO NO NO, you can't do that! She's the titular character. Bring her back ASAP!"

Seo: What? Excuse me, but the character Yamato just very recently decided to move on... That would be counter productive to the story... I'd think it's better for him to develop mature first and develop other outlooks in life...

Publisher: I don't care. What the readers want to see is their one true pairing. Everything else be damned..

Seo: Everything... else.. be damned, huh? You are saying that nothing else matters besides that..?

Publisher: correct

Seo: ......................... I will implement a time skip, and bring Suzuka back.

Publisher: that's a start in the right direction

Seo: (Nothing else matters, huh? Fine, I will take the story in that direction. Prepare to reap what you sow. I will show you the flaw of that outlook)

[Sun Shine]

Yeh it has felt that way for a while, perhaps he originally intended to end the manga with Suzuka going off to America. The standard of art has fallen considerably and the story went off pace, it is obvious that Seo had got tired of it and perhaps run out of ideas. However it seems by ending it with Yamoto still having a chance to do track in the future leaves it open for a spin off series later on down the line. Its a shame Miki and Yasunobu never got together because they'd have made a great couple!

[Kaoru Chujo]

I loved ch163. I have no complaints, at this point. We wouldn't still be here reading this manga if it had been so bad. Yamato is an idiot, but he's an idiot with a good heart who loves Suzuka with all he's got. And Suzuka is not so weird a girl as people have thought: emotional, driven, confused, hard to live with -- but that's not so unusual. She is going to be a fierce mother, I'd say. She loves Yamato, and she's going to love the baby even more.

I thought it was wonderful how Seo had Yamato think Suzuka might even be dumping him, at this stage. Lol. Real human insecurity on display. I look forward to an image of mother and baby in the bed in which the baby was conceived.

EDIT: But I agree with Freeter in being most disappointed there is no more Yui. She was my favorite flawed personality of all in this story -- and there were many.

I do not believe Seo ever intended to end this without bringing Yamato and Suzuka together. And I suspect that even if he were tired of it, he would have continued the story for the money, anyway. I think it's more likely that the basic outlines of the story were there from near the start, and the oddness of things has more to do with giving too much or too little time to various arcs. The pregnancy, birth, and parenthood arcs deserve lots of time they are not going to get. As for Seo's drawing, it has been questionable right from the start, in my opinion. Some faces are great, but too many people look too alike.

[Freeter]

Originally Posted by cynicalicious

Biggest crime-- no more Yui!

Fixed it for you

[Hydex]

Originally Posted by cynicalicious

It seems like the whole pregnancy arc is just a cop-out so he can end the story about 40-50 chapters early. I mean, why build up so much momentum with college and the rivalry and all that, and then just say, "Meh" and toss it all out the window?

My thoughts exactly... He got tired of it (I can't blame him )

[TigerII]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I loved ch163. I have no complaints, at this point. We wouldn't still be here reading this manga if it had been so bad. Yamato is an idiot, but he's an idiot with a good heart who loves Suzuka with all he's got. And Suzuka is not so weird a girl as people have thought: emotional, driven, confused, hard to live with -- but that's not so unusual. She is going to be a fierce mother, I'd say. She loves Yamato, and she's going to love the baby even more.

I thought it was wonderful how Seo had Yamato think Suzuka might even be dumping him, at this stage. Lol. Real human insecurity on display. I look forward to an image of mother and baby in the bed in which the baby was conceived.

You forgot that alot of women are clingy, psychotic, and...nevermind. Heh.

[Key Board]

I lost interest around chapter 70s, about the same time when the author decided to recycle the S and M dynamic between the two

By the timeskip, I completely dropped the manga

I am only returning because I heard someone was knocked up and I didn't believe it at first. I know several other posters in this thread who did so for the same reason

Frankly, it's interesting and was worth the entertainment, so far. If the whole thing does not end in a Disney-like ending, it will be a worthy epilogue

but overall, I do not hold the main characters of this manga dear to my heart

I like Konoha. I love Miki.
I don't see why anyone would like Yui
and as I said, I find Yamato and Suzuka unlikeable

So, that concludes my experience with this manga.

What is yours.

[tun]

Can someone tell me which chapters are in volumes 14-18?
e.g.

volume 14 - chapter xx-xx
volume 15 - chapter xx-xx
etc.

[UPR]

Volume 14---- 117-126

Volume 15---- 127-136

[tun]

nvm i found the list on wikipedia

[Polaryzed_123]

So is everybody else expecting 2 chapters of current time (maybe with the end of the second with the birth/wedding), and then the 3rd and last chapter being a time skip years in the future? I know I'm expecting that or a similar variation. S & Y still together of course, and maybe some info on the other chars that we haven't seen in a while.

[TigerII]

Not sure about that but I for some reason think we will see their child in track or something.

[aikming]

Gee ... 3 chapters to end everything....

[sweetbox01]

I lost my interest when suzuka chan pregnent. The story became a bit unrealistic T>T

[Hydex]

Because it was realistic before ?

[darkgalford]

whoa....this gonna be ended in about 3 weeks? *sniff*
this story had brought me back to my romantic sense..............that i've been away of it for so long T_T

to be honest, i'd prefer to have the twist of yamato-miki going to end this story in a happy ending way whilst suzuka become a great athlete

anyway, still worth it for you romance manga lover