SUZUKA

I need to write a review for this manga series.

I binged this series in two days, going through all the volumes rather quickly. A long extended weekend gives you that ability after all. But at the end, I was left satisfied, yet not very much so. Let me explain.

The story is decent. Actually, it's the epitome of decent. Nothing wrong with the story, nothing overly complex with the story, it just has the right amount of drama, and romance to leave you wanting to read more. That being said, it's also not the most original or groundbreaking. After reading a few manga series that have the same categories, you recognize where things are going and how, except for the occasional "twist".

The characters though...oh the characters. I'll start with the only real positive. They all have their good moments. Every main character in the series has their moment(s) where they are fully drawn out, emotionally provoking, and complete. Every side character has their moments of usefulness and certain side characters are, most of the time, better than the main characters.

That being said, the one word that went through my head the entire time I was reading was INSUFFERABLE. Being a man who went though high school in a similar type of relationship, let me tell you that "insufferable" is the perfect way to describe how these characters behave after the first quarter of the series and before the last quarter. It honestly became annoying to read. Suzuka is temperamental, and selfish, and Yamato is selfish, dumb, and brash (essentially Naruto, pre-Shippuden). The only redeeming part about Yamato is that he is doing it all with love in mind. Suzuka, not exactly.

A 7 is a fair score and at times generous. I think some people will find the middle portion of the series as a good drama and romance play and will really enjoy this series. As for others, myself included, I think you'll find yourself struggling to get through the annoying parts to find the good ones.

Also, don't get into this if you want to see some real track and field events and development. It's lacking there.

I will tell you that if your a decent person who HAS been in a real relationship you know that some of these things NEVER happens only if a person is too stubborn or doesn't have respect for themselves. So I will recommend if you are mature and want some real adult stuff, this manga will catch your attention BUT at some point, it will keep repeating the same stuff AGAIN AND AGAIN. And if you don't have respect for yourself or self-control enough just like Yamato(the main character) You gonna waste your time, but if you want to waste time I recommended you to read it, cause it has interesting elements in it THO it doesn't use them.

Story 2/10:
The story is good at the start and it has really good goals at the start of the manga there's a lot about being successful, relationships, confidence, determination, and such. But ALL that gets thrown away because the main characters ARE IRRESPONSIBLE and make mistakes.

There are small mistakes and stupid decisions that we all as people can relate to because sometimes we are op in our own head, and don't see what others see.

But the story can make you lose brain cells because the characters sometimes does stuff that they would never do OR the characters develop as a person but few chapters after they are back to the exact person like nothing happen.

Art 4/10:
Not the best art but it has it's own moments. You know ecchi moments


Character 3/10
The main character is a girl (Suzuka) and a boy (Yamato)
Yamato is basically an introvert who is actually an extrovert who thinks loud! he is irresponsible and doesn't know a lot about girls or maybe he just doesn't know at all. But he falls for Suzuka who is a girl with a trauma.

Suzuka basically just gives Yamato an emotional ride. Where Yamato is just as confused as the reader. THROUGHOUT THE FUCKING STORY. She is acting cold and hot repeating. She is basically a fucking bitch who isn't a slut.

YAMATO IS BASICALLY A GUY WHO CAN'T GET OVER A GIRL WHO IS SAD BECAUSE A GUY WHO SHE LIKED DIED DOESN'T LIKE HIM BACK!!!

So this guy literally gets treated like a dog throughout the manga. He finds a girl who likes him but decides to go back to his owner and get treated like shit.

But then again if you look at Yamato's family they treated him shit, so that's properly why he wants suzuka

tl;dr: A romance manga with a good main couple but with drama that feels more annoying than interesting.

This is a manga focusing on young adult relationships, mostly romance. This one in particular is focused heavily on a single relationship between Yamato and Suzuka, and hence relies entirely on that to hold up the manga. The problem is that it really didn't feel like either of them or their relationship had developed at all really. The ending obviously has them much closer together than they were before, but it feels kind of forced, in that if the author hasn't decided to move it in that direction it felt like the author could continue squeezing tension, arguments, and melodrama out of their relationship forever. The main reason for this is that until the ending, nothing felt important or as actually having an impact. For example, the break up is supposed to be some major event that greatly changes their relationship or possibly even permanently ends it, but in the end they get back together pretty much as soon as possible and it felt like a minor blip. Sure, everyone knows that things will work out in the end, but the path to that can still give events like this weight, and it didn't feel like that was the case here.

In terms of the characters, while they do go well together,  I didn't like Suzuka's character at all, nor any of the other heroines all that much really. Yamato being someone that was really open and didn't try to deceive at all was interesting as it's usually the opposite in such manga, wherein trying to keep things hidden is the cause of drama. But at the same time, you still need to have drama for a manga like this, so the author seems to have given the heroines characters such that being truthful and open would end up causing drama, and I'm simply not much of a fan of that. In the moments when the main couple were actually together they had a lot of great chemistry and it was pretty great. But because they were pretty much the only thing that actually mattered in the manga whenever they felt off the whole manga felt off, and because that happened often it really felt like the entire manga was dragging on at times.  In regards to their character development, subjects would be focused on temporarily to show ways that the characters could grow and improve, such as dedication or honesty, but it would constantly flip around on them in such a way that it would end proceeding in the opposite direction of where it was pushing earlier, hence greatly minimizing the felt worth of the character development.

As for the other characters, the side characters were all fine as side characters, but the minor segments where it was suggested they could becoming more important felt really awkward and off, and it never ultimately ended up giving any value to any of them. In the end the main couple was the only thing that actually worked, and as mentioned that's not a bad thing, but it just left a really strong feeling of pointlessness to the attempts at having more stories.  As for the ending, it was strange. It was handled kind of well, in that in and of itself it was kind of good and had their relationship at its best, but at the same time it threw away a lot of what happened over the course of the manga causing a lot of problems. And at the same time, it was also resolved way too easily.  The art was pretty good, but not exceptional.

Suzuka… I was really surprised to see that this manga had a better score and more readers on MAL than Fuuka, since I completely adore Fuuka, so I was really pumped to see what this manga had to offer, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It was another manga that made me feel frustrated with the way how its characters acted, and frustration is one of the most unwanted feelings I want to experience while reading a manga. However, it wasn’t as bad as in some other works I’ve read, so I was still able to enjoy it for what it was. It’s a shame I didn’t read Suzuka before I read Fuuka, because both of them would leave a bigger impact on me that way.

Art 6/10
It didn’t really stand out to be honest. I can’t remember a single panel that would make me go: “Wow, that looks good.” It was like eating food without any seasoning, it works, but it could definitely be better. However, my degenerate heart stopped at the first chapter, where I found out that Seo-sama’s ecchi signature was completely uncensored in this one. The raw uncensored nudity was a gem in the Art side of things. Seducing poses, great details, and of course a fitting character design.

Story 7/10
This was a bit of a letdown. I loved how Fuuka portrayed a strong romance story, even though the main plot was about building up a successful band. I was hoping for something similar when I read the synopsis, a few volumes, and knew some revealing details from Fuuka. It had a lot of things going on, but the most pushing element was Yamato’s and Arima’s rivalry. I was really pumped to see this rivalry develop and experience Yamato getting to the top through his hard work, but then it completely fell flat. Eventually the romance took over the whole manga, and because I wasn’t really interested in this particular duo from the first place, I was pretty much left with nothing enjoyable.
The romance drama was the biggest flop of the manga. It’s pretty much on repeat. Yamato does something (mostly nothing bad), Suzuka lashes out, calls him an idiot, stops talking to him, then Yamato apologizes (seriously, I haven’t seen a character use the word “sorry” more times than Yamato), and then Suzuka either lashes out again and goes for another round of ignoring, or she explains some ass-pull reason why she ignored him, like she was too shy or something. If someone is ignoring someone because they’re shy, they don’t give them angry looks or scream. That’s just not how humans work in my opinion and when you read through this premise over and over again, it really starts to get on your nerves. Even though I only criticized the story till now, it wasn’t all bad. Especially the first few volumes were really enjoyable, without any giant flaws. And most importantly, it delivered a satisfying ending, which is probably the most deciding factor for me.

Characters 8/10
I despise Suzuka. She pretty much blames Yamato for anything that goes wrong, and fails to communicate with him in the most crucial moments. She goes through some character development, but it didn’t seem gradual enough. She pretty much just stopped being a bitch at a random moment. Normally I’d say how I can’t understand why is Yamato trying to be with this girl, but since I was in a similar relationship, I can understand. Sometimes looks and the rare cuteness completely overpowers the stuck-up attitude and lack of communication. Love can just be illogical sometimes, and that’s what I think this manga tried to show. Yamato might seem like a 2D character, but I was able to see a lot of depth in him, which might just be my overthinking nature, but let me explain. He seems like he has no other drive in life other than chasing Suzuka. He starts doing track just because he wants to be with her, and whenever their relationship gets problematic, he questions why is he still doing it. I wish it was made a little bit clearer in the manga, but that slight realization Yamato experiences is kind of powerful. He sort of realizes he’s running because he’s grown to like it, and not because he’s forced. He might seem confident, because of his goals and persona he’s developed in front of other people, but he gets overwhelmed by the expectations and believes Suzuka that he’s the reason for everything wrong in their relationship. He beats himself in secret for not understanding her feelings, but because he has such a low self-esteem, he doesn’t see that Suzuka didn’t offer him any information that could possibly make him understand. I liked Hashiba because of her caring nature. I personally think she liked Yamato, but she never tried anything dishonorable to be with him. Instead, she tried to be helpful to him and be a good friend, and that’s why I pronounce her the best girl of the manga. Yasunobu was a dick, acting like he knows everything about relationships, and giving Yamato stupid advice. He’s portrayed as Yamato’s best friend and yet he adopts the same bitchy attitude as Suzuka, calling him an idiot anytime he gets a chance. And lastly, I just liked the buff captain character. He was a source of a few good laughs and believed in Yamato no matter how many stupid things he did.

Overall 7/10
Yes, I might be disappointed, but did I enjoy reading it? Definitely yes. Even though it wasn’t as good as Fuuka, I’ll still treasure this manga, because without it, Fuuka would never come to be. I love how Seo-sama tries to connect his stories. The appearance of characters from his other works makes your heart stop every time. It’s just like finding an easter egg in a game or a movie, and it just makes you more invested in the story. It also makes me want to read all of his other works, so I can understand all of these easter eggs. I’d recommend this to some more experienced readers, because the frustration you might feel with Suzuka might discourage you from finishing it, but if you’re willing to see the good sides too, you definitely won’t regret picking up this story.







*SPOILERS SEGMENT*



*REAL MAJOR SPOILERS FROM SUZUKA AND FUUKA, DON’T READ THIS PART UNLESS YOU’VE READ BOTH OF THESE WORKS*
Seriously, what is the deal with traffic accidents in Seo-sama’s works? Suzuka must have had some terrible luck to lose her first love and eventually her own daughter like that. It feels a bit cheap when the “tired truck driver” card is used more than once by an author, especially if the works share the same universe and characters. But at the end of the day, it’s not that big of a deal.

I started reading manga recently and i continued where anime stopped.I can honestly say that i really liked it.I don't read manga usually but this one is great and you must read it if you want to find out what happens after anime.The art is really good and the story is good too but the best thing i liked about it was the last few chapters.It shows how they entered adulthood and how both of them started to change.Suzuka later started to pay more attention to Yamato and how he feels and he finally get more confidence and started to show that he is a man after all so i recommend you read it because if you liked anime then you will love this manga

Suzuka is a romantic drama series that would make soap opera blush with embarrassment.

The story itself is you fairly standard affair with a fish-out-of-water country boy moving to the city and immediately falling in love. Plausible, if not a little over done. Lo and behold, the main protagonist finds himself living near/with said love interest. Because that happens. Nevertheless, I'll bite. I'm a sucker for these cheesy and sappy situations.

I'll give credit where credit is due. Not many Shonen series attempt the level and type of drama Suzuka attempts. Most conflicts in other series are resolved within your standard Sitcom flair where by the end of the chapter, or after the short 4-5 chapter arc and everything returns to the way it was. However, the conflicts in Suzuka last and have long-term consequences. Unfortunately, this impressive feat is hindered by the fact they are brought about by the most unrealistic and infuriating actions of the characters that it's difficult to really feel the emotion. In a sense, the main issue with the series is that it feels as though the author created the conflict, but did not know how to bring it about, so the main character makes the obviously bad decision to instigate a conflict.

The story may be cheesy, but any story can be salvaged by decent characters. Unfortunately, Suzuka does not have this. The main character is infuriating to no end. As previously eluded to, he is an absolute master and picking the wrong thing to do or say to stir conflicts. This would be alright if the character is written as sort of an antagonist, but he is written as your generic 'nice guy', so the actions and personality are constantly in conflict. Not to mention conflicts are often the result of the same issues over and over again, for instance forgetting important dates and time. The main love interest is by no means any better. Her personality is all over the place and at best she is written as a "tsundere" [First instance I have every written, typed, or said tsundere] character, but she falls flat on both accounts.

Despite all of this, I read the entire series. Twice even, though the second time was only recently. Even considering its flaws, of which there were many, Suzuka wasn't all that bad of a series. It's probably due to the year and a half I spent in a small shop 5 days a week watching soaps on the shop owners TV that I think its alright.

This is one of my favorite manga's ever. The relationship between the two main characters isn't just a straight line from point A(not together) to point B(together) . Its a winding curving road of very good drama. My Favorite thing about this manga is that it shows not only the couple getting together but going on and showing there relationship together in all its up and downs. In fact the best drama doesn't even come till after they are really together.

Now I really do Love this manga but I am not blind that it does have more than a few week points. One being that the track/sport aspect of this manga is kind of fickle. Meaning that it goes from Yamato not caring about track to him being super serious about it and aiming for the top to again not caring about it. Which to me was not that big of a deal since I really didnt' care to much about the sport part of the manga and was really just interested in the romance/drama but still it kind of hurt my liking of the main character to see him be so wishy~washy about it although this attitude was prob more realistic for the average teenage male than him being completely in love with track and doing it more to win than to impress a girl. Also a point that hurt this manga for me was the ending. Now the ending was good and wrapped up the romance/drama pretty well but it kind of left us hanging on the whole track scene. Now it would have been fine if the author just dropped the sport part completely and just had Yamato and Suzuka completly decide that family and love is more important and track is of no or little importance but the last scene kind of gave you the feel that it wasn't over, at least not in Suzuka's mind, for Yamato. And to me I would love it if the author wrote sequel about Yamato going again for track and its effects on him and his family but as far as I know there was only a few koma's (4 panel shorts) written and put as a bonus in one of his other mangas. Now I have not read these myself but I doubt these would be enough to give this story the finish it really needs.

I did manage to finish this manga, which means it kept me reading, but I did find it frustrating and ended up disliking the title character a great deal.

The art is good, conveying a very good sense of space and doesn't detract from the story at all. You end up not noticing it, which is the best situation - because you can actually focus on the story.

And it's the story I had the most problem with. As the previous reviewer said, the title character is a total bitch. I kept wondering what on earth the MC saw in her because, throughout the story, she treats him like crap. She's moody, irrational, selfish, cruel, greedy and mean. She crushes his hopes and whenever any other, nicer girl starts looking his way, she sabotages him! I really wanted him to settle with the childhood friend who had a long term crush on him, but he screws that up because he's obsessed with the bitch. Maybe I don't understand the need to be run through the wringer by someone, but I kept thinking 'don't go back to her!' through the entire story.

Likewise, the MC is frustrating because he almost never stands up to her. There were like 6 instances in the story where she hauls off and belts him in the face! And each time, he thinks it's his fault! He never seems to find his spine, through the whole series, though they do finally start acting like a real couple near the end of the story. It's a blessed relief, but I just couldn't help still thinking he deserves a way better partner than her.

And really, that is my main complaint. The story couldn't make me really like the main characters and I wasn't able to empathize with either of them. One is a bitch and the other is a jellyfish. I'm glad they survived, but I doubt I would ever go back to reread this. If you like wishy-washy guys who stumble through life never standing up for themselves, here you go. But for me, I like men with a spine and a set on them. JMHO.

"If you stand still nothing changes.... but... if you take even a step forward....I have a feeling something will change, and something good will happen!"

Writer tells us a simple story about a guy coming into Tokyo to live , study and of course finding love is added to just because it's an romance story ... Not long the manga starts we are thrown into "Boy Meets girl" event where he notices a beautiful girl and well is captivated by her Yes it just how it goes in such mangas.
Simple events from the get go it was not the case i guess because later things get complicated being introduced to other characters cause this simpleness fade into many turns which at times could be annoying but later gets figured out somehow.

Manga goes as far as 100+ chapters which tell it from high school to i guess adulthood ? BUt in many different ways that you can look at it ... it still has only one ending to it, and it is quite well seen from the first chapters of the manga
Even if the girl is being persistent the guy is dumb he will try his best get her which will lead to that one ending of which we know all.

After many events and many rejections it goes into an interesting stage where even parents come in and making heavy decisions are what children need to do getting approved is something they must do i guess hard life is still hard but even before that there are many intriguing moments like cat fights and those feelings that get approved of and those feelings of getting rejected in the end ... They always hurt i guess.

Without talking about life of our characters you can also see a lot of sport going on in manga which actually is pretty good aspect giving this manga more than just romance. In manga we see how each characters Will to do sports change from good to bad and from bad to good trying their best wanting to be better than others and competitions with those rivals that in the end become someone to Look up to as old friends oh i loved this side of the manga.



First Meeting

Our main protagonist comes to tokyo for his first time on the way to his aunt he sees a beautiful girl doing her morning practice which captivates him at first glance but he is yet to know how hard it will be to capture her... but hey it goes always like that we fall in love we try hard some of us give up some of us goes till the end no matter what kind of future awaits.

Persistence

WEll persistence is indeed one of those that are called "love can overcome anything" types without even giving up no matter the situation so it kind of made me cheer for him at some point i started to hate him too just because of the route he tried to go Hiding and running from reality those weren't the choices here so writer just tried to spice the manga up as I read mangas from Seo, Kouji most of the time the characters he create in his stories have this strong persistence which seems could win against anything but without that they all have same wavering feelings.

Last Step

Being accepted is the hardest thing to do why ? Because you made a mistake that could ruin the ones you love future ... Because there are also people who are expecting quite a lot from that person but still what is shown as mistake in this manga for me is something beautiful and yes i am still yet to experience that but all in all ended well and nothing much is left to say.

Overall

We started out with boy meets girl and went on a roller-coaster ... meeting new friends , choosing things to do in life , pursuing romance and meeting dramatic events just to end it where it should end perfect? not really Good? Yes indeed it was delivered and i got the message Romance was overflowing drama made me tremble nothing more nothing less.

My sincere thoughts ? The mange was written quite well it wasn't dragged on to long events were untangled one after another making place for more and without leaving regrets i guess ? As far as Manga can go it showed enough book is a book and what is written can't be re-written because there will always be only one 1st story.

Art [8/10]
Seo, Kouji Art is quite nice all of the characters are drawn nicely whole atmosphere and every background felt right even in other of his works it is good.

I'm at a lost for words on how this crappy manga got such a high score. No guy in real life would fall for Suzuka since she treats the main character like trash and yet he keeps falling for her. Character development is so laughable and yet fans think this is so real and sad. I can't believe diehard fans cried at the manga ending. It's so bad I was ashamed to read it. I read it years ago and I just felt like writing this review just because I remembered reading this garbage. I remember something about the main dude knocking up Suzuka and then he got owned by her dad. He apologized and yet HE STILL KNOCKED HER UP AGAIN as was shown in the last chapter on her wedding day. He has no self control. Suzuka is an annoying Bitch. So you might ask why I kept on reading this if I hated it? I was hoping for the main character to give the other sweet girl a chance but it never worked out because he was too much of a pussy or waited to long. Oh well, she was too good for him anyways. I bet in ten years Suzuka will have ten more babies if the manga continued. Man, how can people like this garbage. It just dragged on and on....with the same stupid arguments. Just because this mirrors some real life stuff doesn't mean its good manga material. It's so boring. Anyways, rant over.

Suzuka is really a good manga...if you are into romance genre you should definitely read this manga...

ok so here we go about specifics of this manga...tho for me all that matters is my satisfaction when certain conditions of mine are met....

Story 10/10 cuz of my conditions were met i gave 10/10...Story is really good with many bittersweet moments and drama tho it could have been better on how two people in love should be like...but in later parts of manga everything got better and i really really enjoyed it..this story was one of the best story for me and i loved the ending....Kouji Seo really did a great job on this one.

Art : 10/10 i don't have any complaints for arts like how it could be better for this , that bs...so full marks for it..if you don't have any complaints then you should not be stingy xD

Characters : 10/10 well story and chars are both integrated for me so i have no complaints about it too....since i loved the story which involved these chars, i loved the chars too.

Enjoyment : 100/10 Damn i really enjoyed reading this manga...it was freaking awesome roller coaster ride for me....sometimes frustrating, sometimes satisfactory, sometimes irritating, sometimes sweet, sometimes silly moments between chars..i really loved it...very enjoyable manga...and it was all so sweet and heartwarming in later parts of manga..

Overall is obviously ..hmmm yeah its 130/10 :P.

WOW! i just finished reading it, and i don't think it's strange for me to cry at it, if you watched the anime, you MUST read the manga, the anime isn't even the 50% of the whole story.

This manga is just like the problems the couples are facing right now all over the world, and it shows now all the problems go away, and everybody has the old fashioned "happy ending" but, isn't that what we are looking for? anyways, I REALLY recommend it, I never thought I'd like more a manga then an anime, but life is the way it is, and I'm glad I spent the hours I did reading this, because it's amazingly awesome, and everybody should read it, so for all of you, READ THIS MANGA!!!!!! IT'S THE MOST AMAZING THING I'VE EVER READ, INCLUDING BOOKS, FANFICS, AND ANIMES!!!!!!

READ IT!

Suzuka is a complex romance/drama case. The story is very good. The art is not very good but readable.

I'm gonna focus and the romance and the characters. Secondary characters are good but not gorgeous. Secondary characters in KNIM are way better developed.The interesting and complex case is about thow MCs.

The main character is a hard worker boy. He's not perfect but he can do all the work in the world for suzuka (never follow his behaviour in real life it's the worst idea possible girls do not seek a dog). The complex case is suzuka. She's cold, too cold. What the reader need to understand is simple. It's not a realistic story that can happen to all of us. You will have more chances to see a werewolf under a fool moon that chances to have a complicated crush like suzuka. She has a heavy past and unfortunately MC remains her bad memories. She acts like a wh*re during the manga, if I meet a girl like her in real life, I would skip her in 1 day, simple. But her behavious is justified by her past. That's why I said it's a complicated case and that you have more chances to meet a werewolf than meeting a girl as complicated.

Once again like in KNIM, this relationship will make a poor collateral victim that didnt ask anything... Please author stop making this in every manga.

I do not recomend you to read Suzuka if cant handle too overwhelming drama.

I never really get this manga, but before I get complaining, I should atleast summarize the plot the best I can...
Summary: It's about a guy name Yamato, who falls in love with a girl Suzuka in first sight. Later on, he finds out that she's on a track team and in order to get closer to her, he himself decides to join.
Story: (7.25/10) At its best, it's a 9, but at its lowest it's a 5... It's very messy, at times you never understand what's going on until it tells you later, and by then you're ready to move on. At times I want to keep reading, and at other times I just have to force myself to read on. Plus there's a much more interesting plot in the story, like the track team he joins in, and it could've been implemented more on that but it keeps getting sidelining til it becomes important, and by then it's short, brief and immediately sidelined again!
Art: (8.2/10) At times it's a 10, but at other times it's mostly a 7 or 8. So nothing too bad, but I gotta warn you, expect to see a lot of nudity. Should've been the first thing to comment on but oh well.
Characters: (6.2/10) Oh my God, most of the characters can be lovable at times, but when the story moves on, it just absolutely destroys them! The Main character and Suzuka are especially a roller coaster, at times you want to cheer them on, but at other times you just feel like whether Yamato (MC) should shut up and move on, or Suzuka could just stop b**ching. The supporting cast it has on this manga are not all bad, like each one serves their purpose atleast, but they're mostly forgotten til the story briefly shows them for a bit but then get forgotten as it proceeds on.
Enjoyment: (7.1/10) At times I hate what this manga does to the characters (e.g Yui), every time they're about to do something right with this manga, it just seems they killed the potential as soon as it's been planted. At other times it's great, funny, and inspiring, but at other times it just makes you pissed off with the decisions done.
Overall: (7.3/10) I think it deserves a 7, not an 8, not a 9, and not even close to a 10, but a 7. Don't listen to the people who gave it more than a 8, because what I expected was a great read, but left off disappointed. It's like eating a nice and decorated cake, just to find out that it's meh. So don't go on to read this manga like I did and expect a masterpiece, because it's not even close to one. This will be my first and last time I'll read this story... and I'm not telling you to give this manga a pass, but give it a shot when ever you feel like it, just be warned, it's not a 8, so expect a 7.

This is the best manga that I have ever read and can't wait for more to come out. If you have seen the anime then this is pretty much the same at the beginning there are some small differences but for the most part they are the same at least the first 54 chapters I think. then that is were the story continues on. This is probably the best story that I have ever read it has great ups and downs and some real good surprises. This is one of the few anime or manga series that I have ever seen that I could not see everything coming. so for me this is great.

Ok first off this is a review, and my first one at that, so i'll try to keep it spoiler free. I'll present it following the sites scoring criteria.

Story: The story is for the most part solid, it's properly tied up at the end, though the ending was rushed. Suzuka didn't end on the note that it should have, but the author actually got bored with it, and didn't wanna just drop it and leave it open, so he just threw in an ending, that while yes it does tie everything up, and on normal terms wouldn't be bad, but in course with the manga you can tell it just doesn't belong. The beginning and middle are both solid, not really any dry points, allways leaving me wondering how it's going to turn out.

Art: Not really much to be said, it's well drawn, and not much run around work, decent amount of detail but it's not really flashy or eye popping, but then again this isn't some kind of fantasy/sci-fi/WTF manga where the art would truely matter, it's first and for most romance, and the story is what you read romance for, the story and Character development.(next)

Character: This is where the story is properly told. The story revolves mostly around the two main characters, while occasionally branching to a diffrent character to provide some back story on them. Each character is properly developed, and i mean each, the main characters have the perfect amount of information provided, that you can understand them, there emotion, there past, and so on. The side characters are also well developed, while not having nearly as much development as the mains, your given just enough info on them through out the read that you can understand them, and not wonder, why the hell is something going on like this.

Enjoyment: While not for everyone, in it's genre it's a great read, and i enjoyed it very much, yes even the ending. There was never a point where i stoopped to think, "this is boring, next!" i lost sleep to finish this, and it's something i'm happy i did.

Overall: Like i said above, though not for everyone, fans of school life/slice of life/romance and everything in between will likely walk away happy they read it. It's well presented, properly developed and not til the very end is it rushed in anyway. As a single piece it's well done, and left me happy that i lost as much sleep as i did to read it.

I first went into this thinking it would be a typical romance manga with sports elements mixed into it. However, as the story started to progress, I could not put this down because every moment felt that it mattered and left me with questions as to what would happen. The characters(especially the main ones) are really well developed and makes you really care for them. They all have their own motivations, goals,aspirations and fears. Thanks to these elements I grew attached to these characters.

The two main characters are young, naive and dumb typical teenagers but seeing them go through sad, confusing and lovable moments makes their struggles carry so much weight. This is really important because some of these struggles and worries can relate to the viewer and makes this story feel impactful , which is why I gave it a high rating since the themes vary and change.

The pacing was good and characters interactions were really enjoyable. The story isn't static so character motivations and goals change frequently which makes this manga so realistic and enjoyable to read. The characters not only grow as characters but also physically as well which is amazing.

The romance is fantastic, sweet and innocent however, as the characters grow, the struggles of their romances start to appear which keeps you hooked and leaves you wondering will happen.

Suzuka is a must read for any romance fan or anyone who just wants a heartwarming story with suspense and with twists and turns. I gave this manga my first 10 because Suzuka left such a good impression to me as a fantastic read and I personally related to one of the main character's struggles which struck me to rethink certain things about my life. In the end, this story deserves to be seen by many and I hope it does change or reveal something for you.

this is one of the best mangas around, it has a great story, and awesome art. really feels like your in the story. it pulls u in and u just cant help rooting for yamato to be with suzuka and it is way better than the anime because it has double the story that the anime has and its the best part

I've read about 80 chapters of this manga, and while it isnt BAD, it isnt really good either. 5 is probably a bit lower than it should be but let me explain myself. The plot starts out pretty standard, guy transfers in to new school, saw cute girl while looking around gets a crush. They live in the same dorm and are next door to each other. Also in the mix is honoka who he met when he visited the city when he was little, she lives at the shrine they had a little interaction and she likes mc. The set up is fine, there wasnt good comedy but you know its all about how the story plays out. Minor Spoilers past this point so beware.

This is where the problems begin. MC confesses and gets rejected fairly early on. Nothing wrong with that, I actually liked the choice. Thought it could be an interesting change to the formula, buttttt MC like two chapters later starts going out with shrine girl. Absolute goon. He decides right before hand he is going to pursue the girl till death then almost immediately dates a girl basically because she kisses him. There relationship is then pretty much immediately pushed into him attempting to have sex with her, which she gets mad at. Fast forward he buys a birthday gift for shrine girl with Suzuka(main bitch) and of course she sees them to misunderstand.
the story then tries to act like the MC only likes shrine girl and is devoid of guilt, when it clearly isnt true to the reader which just makes MC a total scumbag. Which leads to the biggest problem. The MC sucks.

Anime romance leads need to fucking have redeemable qualities. If he is a pervert, he has to be joking have a good heart or something. Maybe he is confident romantic or something. However this MC runs fast for plot reasons. He basically beats a champion runner in PE class with 0 exercise or training basically because the plot wants him to be fast. MC is weak willed, kinda stupid, not romantic, and just overall not enjoyable to watch interact with the main girl. WHO I MIGHT ADD ALSO IS A TERRIBLE CHARACTER. She like MC because he reminds her of her old flame who died in a car accident. But other than being fast this MC has 0 redeemable qualities other than working hard in the track club, just to impress her. He is stupid in almost every way and doesnt really 'get it'.

All this being said the manga still manages to not be bad, but it isnt good either. It kinda just exists and if you want an anime romance this isnt the manga. If you want a semi-realistic romance go read Chikan Ottoko. This tries to be real but is basically school days minus the twist ending (although I havent read the end so maybe there is)

Suzuka is a manga by Kouji Seo which takes the best from sport and romance and binds them together. From the first chapter this manga had me hooked and will hook you too.

Yamato Akitsuki, has just moved from his home in the Hiroshima Prefecture to stay at his aunt's dormitory in Tokyo. Yamato falls in love with his new next-door neighbor, Suzuka Asahina, a girl from Yokohama who was scouted by a local high school because of her high jump athletic ability. These basic romance elements set up the story and the drama of Suzuka.

The artwork of Suzuka are what makes Kouji Seo a great manga artist. The artwork is detailed and doesn't miss a beat.

There are many characters in Suzuka. Most of them play a major part in the story. Yamato Akitsuki and Suzuka Asahina go throughout a major development from the first chapter. The people in the beginning of the manga are completely different from the characters in the end of the manga. These two however are not the only characters that develop throughout the manga. Honoka Sakurai and Yasunobu Hattori are two other characters that play a major role in this manga and develop immensely in the manga.

I read this manga in about two days. I enjoyed it and I'm not even a romance kind of guy. This manga is outstanding and is a must read for all romance lovers and even ehounen lovers.