DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

MANGA ComedyChocolate to Kase-san.
ONA RomanceKimi no Hikari: Asagao to Kase-san.
MANGA RomanceYamada to Kase-san.
OVA RomanceAsagao to Kase-san.

REVIEWS

• 

  SoulBlade17

  78/100
  A simple and wholesome love story between two girls.

  Please note

  This review is all subjective and my own personal opinion. You do not have to agree with it, nor am I asking you to. I hope that this just helps you get an idea of what the manga I am talking about is like and form a basic and general consensus on it. The ratings I give anime and manga are mostly my personal overall enjoyment. This review may contain some spoilers, but all of them will be hidden using the spoiler tag. There will be some images sourced from the manga, but they are all from chapter one. TL;DR will be at the bottom.

  Introduction

  Kase-san and... (otherwise known as Kase-san and the Morning Glories), is a manga written and illustrated by Takashima Hiromi. It shows us the story of Yamada Yui, who notices a fellow student by the name of Kase Tomoka. Her cool nature catches her attention, signalling the beginning of a romance story between the two...

  

  Plot

  This manga starts off fairly simple, quickly introducing the main two characters within the first few pages. Already, we see Yamada's interest in Kase budding, and Yamada is not too sure on what these feelings mean. As with many other manga's in the Yuri genre, she questions her love for someone of the same gender. This proved to be a good start for the manga, not rushing into things too head on with the main character immediately being in love (although the picture above does contradict that), but having them question it provided some nice development for Yamada in the beginning. The plot largely focuses on the relationship between Yamada and Kase, mostly from Yamada's perspective. The few first chapters are the development of their feelings for each other, and from then on there, their relationship is in full swing. It does not waste time in developing the romance between the two. The events that play out between each chapter vary, each containing situations, events, and sometimes just simple time together between Kase and Yamada. These events are straightforward and easy to understand, making this manga unchallenging to read and enjoy. That helps with the reading experience of the manga, as it presents itself as a simple wholesome romance between two girls, and it does need to do much more. It is easy to just relax and enjoy this manga. The plot was engaging and kept me reading. The complications that arise within the plot are mostly cases of Yamada believing something to be true when really, it is not. Whilst this is in character for her, I found this to be a little annoying at times, but this can be easily overlooked and is more of a personal thing. The plot was overall well paced for 28 chapters, I never felt that the plot nor the development was rushed. The pace flowed and I got swept in. The development was also nicely done, with that also nicely paced and thought out. The development the characters go through was satisfying to read and got me further engrossed into the manga.

  Characters

  

  Kase-san and... has two main characters, and two notable side characters. These four characters are really the only ones worth noting, as everyone else makes only minor appearances and do not contribute much to the story. The small amount of characters helps the manga to further focus on the main two, which really is the purpose of the manga, to present a romance between two characters. Yamada (the one to the left in the image above) is the first of the two main characters in Kase-san and... She is quite emotional, with an uplifting personality and certainly not afraid to let loose a few tears. She is dedicated to gardening, and she is often seen in the manga spending hours tending to the school greenery. She is easy to like with her personality and makes many of the situations she is in more light hearted. As I stated earlier, she tends to overthink things and worry a lot about things she really should not be worrying about, contributing to her somewhat air-headed personality. Next is Kase (the one to the right), who is the second main character. She is repeatedly described as being "way cooler than any other boy". She is easily described as a tomboy and athletic. Like Yamada's dedication to gardening, Kase is equally as dedicated to athletic events. Her cool personality contrasts with Yamada's bubbly attitude, which makes their relationship stand out even more. This kind of pairing is common in Yuri manga, and may be saturated for some. But for me, I was glad to see this kind of pairing once again, especially since it was executed well. Their relationship was easily the shining point of the manga, effectively drawing me in. I wanted to see more of their wholesome relationship, and I wanted to know what was next in store for them. Whilst the development of the relationship may have been a bit predictable, that did not make it any less enjoyable to read. It was just a simple loving relationship between two girls that was fun to read. As for the side characters, they did not appear as often, but they still contributed a little to the story. However, they were easily overshadowed by the main two and were somewhat forgettable. They were not bad additions to the story, but there is not much to say about them.

  Art

  The cute art style drawn by Takashima Hiromi easily complimented the nature of the story and characters of the manga. It effectively conveyed the emotions of the characters to the audience, and also brought life to the manga.

  

  For those who have watched the movie

  Kase-san and... has an OVA movie adaptation that is one hour long. Given the length of the movie, a large amount of the manga had to be cut out in order to fit it into that time frame. Whilst the movie did well to fit in good parts of the manga and make a good movie out of it, I would recommend those who have only seen the movie (and enjoyed it) to read the manga. There is so much content you are missing out on, and you get to experience the wonderful relationship between Kase and Yamada once again. The movie starts off around after chapter 5, but you should read the first 5 chapters anyway. It will not take long and provides more build up to Kase and Yamada's relationship than the movie provided.

  Conclusion and TL;DR

  This was a nice read. It was a simple wholesome love story with lovable characters and it was easy to get swept in. This is an easy recommendation to fans of the Yuri genre. It is not a long read, and it has a sequel releasing as of the writing of this review. In summary:

  • A simple and easy to follow plot following the love story of Kase and Yamada.
  • Yamada's tendency to overthink things can be a little annoying, but it can be easily overlooked.
  • Lovable characters with relationships that draw you in.
  • Well thought out development of both characters and their relationships, making for a satisfying and enjoyable read.
  • The side characters are overshadowed by the main two, but are not bad additions to the story.
  • The cute art style compliments the characters and nature of the story.

  Hopefully you were able to get something out of this review. If you did not like this review, then I apologise for wasting your time. I would like to thank Takashima Hiromi for creating an enjoyable manga to read. And of course, thank you for reading this review. Hopefully you can enjoy this manga too.

  
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• 

  RoseFaerie

  89/100
  A charming GL series that has all the allure of high school romance shoujo.

  This is my first review of a GL manga actually. I don't think I've reviewed any BL either. So, I suppose this is pretty momentous. I would have reviewed Goodbye My Rose Garden earlier, but I was extremely sick when I read it and after I recovered, I couldn't remember anything important. My reviews from that era were sadly not particularly good. But I suppose it's a good thing that my reviews now are much better, and I can do Kase-san justice and hopefully review a lot more BL and GL in the future.

  Yamada is on the greenery committee and takes immense pride in that. Gardening is the thing she finds most interesting until the beautiful and cool track star Kase-san enters her life. Yamada has fallen head over heels for Kase who is her opposite in every way, but she doesn't know what to do since they're the same gender. However, it seems that Yamada has caught Kase-san's eye as well, and the two quickly find a budding romance on their hands.

  

  In my opinion, the first volume was the best one. We got to explore Yamada's feelings for Kase, and how she's juggling her attraction to Kase with her preconceived ideas of not being able to date women while being a woman herself. Yamada has a tough time picking up the hints that Kase's into her since she's not used to the idea of being able to date the same gender. She overthinks things, wondering if Kase's behavior is normal or if she sees her as a potential girlfriend (around chapter 3 Kase is established to be attracted women). Much of the manga is about the two of them forming a genuine romantic connection and becoming a couple.

  The second thing that the first volume covered was Yamada's social interactions. It's established that she's very awkward and doesn't really go to social events without her best friend. When she goes alone, she feels embarrassed and gets made fun of by her peers when she doesn't do things, gets made fun of when she does, and they generally make her feel like she's unwanted. This hit hard for me. So hard I almost cried. As I've mentioned in other reviews I suffer from severe social anxiety, and I didn't exactly have the greatest time in the first few years of high school. I was the girl who would only go to social events if my best friend was there and would feel completely lost and ignored if she wasn't. (I had classmates who would deliberately ignore me, even.) I would get made fun of sometimes for being awkward, shy, and quiet. It was so painfully accurate to my worst high school experiences. I just wish the manga had explored that beyond the first volume because after that it slowly becomes exclusively about Kase and Yamada's relationship, which isn't bad, but I was just expecting something a bit more, especially with how much the karaoke chapter resonated with me.

  This may be a GL manga, but it's also a shoujo manga so expect lots of shoujo tropes. We get the jealousy over the ex-girlfriend. We get the preparing for college arc. We get the misunderstandings. And it's all extremely cute and sweet. Both girls had jealousy issues, but they would always sort things out and apologize afterwards. The first two volumes were more about establishing them as a couple, and I found them more interesting. The other three volumes were more about their relationship and the two of them dating, as well as preparing for college, focusing on their respective interests (gardening and athletics). It was cute and enjoyable, though it didn't engage me as much, perhaps due to all the misunderstandings.

  

  Yamada's an awkward, cute, feminine girl. She's very girly, loves stuffed animals and gardening, and is peppy and optimistic, despite being prone to insecurities. Kase is more of a tomboy and an athlete, making her the cool to Yamada's cute. She's very protective of her friends and confident in herself. I do wish her character got explored a little more since we never got to explore her thoughts and emotions anywhere near the same level as Yamada's, making her a bit more enigmatic and one dimensional.

  There are two other characters, Mikawa (Mikawacchi) who is Yamada's best friend, and Inoue, Kase's presumed ex-girlfriend, and that's pretty much it. It's a small cast, as the series is almost exclusively about Kase and Yamada's relationship, leaving little room for other dynamics (which isn't bad at all; You Got Me Sempai is similar and that's one of my favorites.)

  

  The art is adorable. Kase and Yamada have super cute designs that emphasize their personalities and different aesthetics. Kase is usually dressed in athletic clothes, while Yamada tends to dress in lots of frills and girly styles. The art is very sketchy, often entering a chibi style where the airheaded, garden obsessed Yamada has a little plant growing from her head. It's all very charming, especially the gorgeous pastel color pages.

  Kase-san and... is a genuinely nice manga. While I liked the earlier volumes best, I think it's an enjoyable read for someone who's getting into GL and already loves shoujo manga (like me). It's a relationship focused shoujo manga which reminds me of Kimi ni Todoke and You Got Me Sempai quite a bit. It's not perfect or super deep, but it's an enjoyable wholesome romance for anyone who's looking for one.

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