I hadn't thought about Karuho Shiina's works in a long time, and then all of a sudden, here's a new one that's spun off of both of her previous English-translated releases, <i>Kimi ni Todoke</i> and <i>Crazy for You</i>. In all honesty, I like both of those works better than this one, which takes Kurumi/Ume from the former and sets her up with Akahoshi from the latter, and there's a bit too much of instalove for it to really work. Kurumi is unhealthily dependent on Sawako (at least she knows it) and Akahoshi is very bad at listening when she tells him no, and frankly he would come off a lot worse if Shiina wasn't smart enough to put in a stalker to contrast him with. But despite these issues, there's a comfort food level of shoujo lunacy to this, rooted in earlier days of the genre. I'd definitely recommend familiarity with both previous titles (released by Viz, <i>Crazy for You</i> as a digital-only title), but if you have that, this is a pleasant enough way to spend some time.

I was a fan of "Kimi ni Todoke" when it first came out so when I saw this sequel drop I was super excited to read it! Now having read it I can say it did not disappoint.

It mainly follows Sawako and Kurumi as they navigate college together. Though Kurumi has her own apartment she is constantly over at Sawako's place. It seems she's gotten closer to Sawako and has become somewhat clingy. The two of them are invited to a mixer by their classmates and Kurumi forces Sawako to go because though she wants to have a romance of her own, she doesn't want to go alone. At the party they are pestered by one of the guys and Sawako's cousin comes to the rescue.

I love that this has a large focus on Kurumi and her love life. I was rooting for her by the end of the previous series, but it ended with her developing her friendship with Sawako. This left me a little disappointed, but I am now happy that we get to see her blossom into her first romance. I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume!