The manga:
Volume 1 consists of 4 chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the siblings' worldview/character development through helping people, then in chapter 2; 3; and 4, focuses specifically on Aki helping minor characters; Rin helping minor characters; and China helping minor characters (in order). But, in the end of chapter 4, the mystery part is introduced.
Volume 2 also consists of 4 chapters. Chapter 5 starts off as usual, until the end of that chapter, where a new character is introduced,
Kai, Rin’s brother. The rest of the chapters (chapter 6-8) focuses on the backstory of the Yoshimori family and the effects of that secret.
If you are looking/expecting a dark or epic fantasy manga where the characters are cool and geniuses with powers and mysteries, this is not for you. This is a shoujo manga, and a pretty short one. There are no “secret world” or “secret academy” that is full of people with superpowers, the trio does not save the world either. This manga is not about their powers evolving, it's about the characters.
..Or more specifically, a "one chapter, one arc" story of minor characters told through the three main protagonists, while the trio (kinda) grows while helping those minor characters (chapter 4, 6-8 excluded). It's a casual read, yk?
(I’m an epic fantasy sucker but I don’t hate these types of stories. Although my expectations were not fulfiled, it’s my fault for not reading the tags, i guess)
My review:
Chapter 1 is a solid chapter. The author showed the trio’s personality and inferiority complex really well, making their character development better. Well, by character development I mean about how they see the world , since their personality is still the same in later chapters.
The rest are decent. Like I said, the main protagonist is still the same in later chapters,
even after leaning the Yoshimori family’s backstory/secret.
They don’t think badly of their powers anymore ever since chap 1, so the conflicts in later chapters don’t affect anything anymore. Yes, there were some drama between the trio after learning the secret, but since it all ended with “they loved us, even though they were using us” I don’t feel like it is worth much.
If you erase the whole arc, you’re not missing out. But the backstory is the whole point of vol. 2. And because it is, because the backstory arc is dragged into multiple chapters, the story format of vol. 1 and vol. 2 is drastically different. It makes it feel like you’re watching a “sequel that’s not really a sequel”. So, if you only read vol. 1 (or even only chapter 1), you’re not missing much.
I feel like this is the case because the author originally want to make this story a oneshot (referring to vol. 1’s afterword). But honestly, it’s not a trash manga in of plot story, average, average.
What’s.. up with the incest,,,, though? ?
Yeah,, unless I’m dumb, it is implied (if not, shown) in the end that China and Rin are in love with each other. This was kinda surprising to me since I’ve barely seen China having special feelings towards Rin. Rather, China usually defends Aki whenever Rin bullies him. Maybe Rin is just not a reliable narrator? (Yes, the story is narrated by Rin by the way).
Although I didn’t expect China to return Rin’s feelings, neither the fact that Rin romantically/sexually likes China nor the incest itself was surprising, because one: even before the ending, Rin joked about Aki having a sister complex; second, Kai, said, and I quote,
“In my opinion, you look like a doll. You are not related by blood, yeah? You, did your brothers not do anything (perverted) to you?”
(Indonesian: “Menurutku kamu benar-benar seperti boneka. Kalian tidak berhubungan darah, ya? Kamu, kakak-kakakmu itu tidak berbuat macam-macam ke kamu?”)
Rin, blushing: “Bro- brother Kai! D- don’t say any weird stuff to China!”
(“Kak, Kak Kai! Ja, jangan berkata yang aneh-aneh pada China!”)
Kai: What, why are you panicking. You’re the one who has (perverted) thoughts about your sister, right?
(“Apaan sih, kenapa kamu panik? Kamu yang mikir macam-macam soal adikmu itu, ‘kan?”)
Rin, blushing even more: “^@!(#*”
Kai: Well, that’s understandable when she is that sweet.
(“Yah, wajar saja kalau dia semanis itu”)
At first I was like, “...okay.. ahaha” thinking that the incest thing was just a joke, considering this manga is pretty old. But then I saw the where Rin catches China who was falling, Yuri on Ice style . I- i- I’m speechless.
Even if they didn’t kiss, in later s, there’s this:
Aki: “Especially, I have never doubted (about) you two”
(Indonesian: “Apalagi, aku sungguh tak pernah ragu pada kalian berdua”)
For context, Aki was resting in bed, Rin was scolding him while touching his face.
(--China and Rin blushes.)
Rin: “D- don’t read(?) us with telepathy!”
(“Ja, jangan samakan(?) kami dengan telepati!”)
China: “Because brother (Aki) is weak! Uuugh!”
(“Soalnya kakak rapuuuh. Aduuuh.”)
This is literally what the “bestfriend” character would say after the FL and ML finally dated— Maybe I misread the whole , maybe blushing is just their default state, because the characters literally blush every 0.1 seconds.
Still, it puts me off because they have been step siblings for 10 years, and since they are currently middle schoolers (Aki is one year older than Rin; Rin is one year older than China. They go to the same school, making them at least 11 and at most 15, depending on the country), then they would have been siblings since SO YOUNG!
Ah, let’s just forget about the extra in Vol. 2 where Rin dreams of Aki and China marrying.
As you can see, I’m not a fan of the incest, and the romance was out of the blue, that is why I rate it low.
Anyhow, if you don’t like incest either, it is not for you.
