I read this in Chinese on the manman app.
At the start, this was one of my favorite manhua, but for whatever reason, the author decided to completely change the genre and pull some crazy outta nowhere halfway through. I used to wait for the Honestly, the last arc was completely unnecessary and left a bitter aftertaste.
The Positive
I really liked Xiao Nan as a character; he was pretty strong and it was refreshing.
The art is really pretty.
Chinese manhua doesn't force gender roles on the characters like is common in Japanese manga.
I found the progression of their romance to be very cute and well-paced. Until the last arc.
I guess this is why I rated it a 7 instead of a 6.
The Negative
- This is about "A PAIR OF OTAKUS" but ultimately, their hobby is completely irrelevant.
- When Xiao Nan consulted his mom, I expected her to end up playing a bigger role, but literally she never shows up again lol.
With Su Luo's awful family situation, this is a perfect opportunity to have a family where he is accepted, but no. Especially since Su Luo's uncle and his lover committed suicide after coming out, he could be like "o no Xiao Nan I don't want to hurt u & have u suffer n die cri" then Xiao Nan is like "don't worry my mom is p chill and accept u" yay is happy BUT NO, INSTEAD WE GET THE LAST ARC
- Just all of the last arc. There was a bit of foreshadowing about
Su Luo's childhood trauma, but I never expected the dad (AND brother (why??? what is his reason??? bc he loves his daddy???) to be sooooo cruel all the way until the last chapter, when suddenly he's like, wait, nah, go be gay I guess, even though I spent the entire arc making you suffer. The way the characters handle this stuff is so ugh. just ugh. And the study abroad trope (ofc), really? really?
Anyway, I really liked the first part A LOT. So here are my recommendations:
Option 1: Just stop around chapter 47. Complete the happy ending in your heart. This entirely skips all the unnecessary drama.
Option 2: Read through 58, but skip the last two boxes of text. Again, just make up the happy ending lol.
The story really had potential. I will look for this author's future works, despite feeling disappointed.