2017 review: A really surprising reread, most of the most unique and edifying aspects of this volume 1 flew right over my head the first time around. That is not to say that I don't think this story could be enjoyed by none SJW's like myself, but rather that at that particular moment I was feeling incredibly anti-romance because of some friends telling me that this was intellectually a better relationship then Twilight. Unfortunately, while I was mostly over any interest I had ever had in Twilight, I had not yet developed the vocabulary and maturity to see what they were talking about. So I was feeling kind of stupid and defensive as a result.

At least that is what I seem to recall happening, but it is all rather fuzzy.

Otherwise, I think the relationship in this volume is a good example of one of the ways in which a romance can eliminate a lot of problems around consent, manipulation, and having romantic interest save the damsel from her own boringness, without necessarily sacrificing all titillation as a result.

While Kazehaya certainly helps draw Sawako out of her shell, he seems to be doing so purely out of the fact that he genuinely likes her and wants her to be more appreciated by their classmates. Unlike in my very guilty pleasure, Paradise Kiss, Kazehaya is not spending a lot of time using Sawako's attraction to him against her. The two are very equal and have a lot of mutual admiration for one another. Not only that, but Kazehaya does not seem particularly bent on having Sawako all to himself, in a lot of highly manipulative romance novels the main romantic interest is highly jealous and possessive of the heroin (because we readers have low self-esteem) which feels like it steps beyond harmless fantasy into perpetuating toxic masculinity.

The only real issue I had with the story is that the text was pretty hard to follow at different points. Despite this relatively small, if persistent, flaw, I have put in a request for the next few volumes and look forward to getting through them as soon as possible.