The series was very bittersweet, and perhaps if you don't want a lingering unfinished romance set during college years, among artists, it's probably not for you. But I really enjoyed the soul-searching of a young architect who finds solace in temple restoration, and a petite sculptor who wants nothing more than to paint gigantic landscapes and flowers instead. There are others, and they all have their own journeys. It's slice-of-life, and there are some meandering romances, but I don't think any of them is ever really resolved. There's also a fairly bizarre parody of Peter Jackson/George Lucas that transported the series into Sci-Fi territory just to give a breath of air... I think. ( )

End of the series. Haru stays with Sensei, who takes care of her, but she loves Morita who cannot take care of anyone; that is hardly satisfactory. She also cares for the narrator, who gets stranded. The other couples sort themselves out, more or less. But it is the tender storytelling that really gets one. ( )

(This is a review of the series because it's hard to rate one book at a time)
The series started out following Takemoto, an art college freshmen. His friends are "types" and funny. Takemoto falls in love with Haru but his friend Morrita is possibly on love with her too but he's st busy being weird/ making money. The other main romance is Ayu ("the iron man") in love with Mayama who is in love with some lady whose husband died.
The series started out really funny, especially because of Morrita, "the wacky one" who does thing like badly cut his room mates hair and expect money, freaking Hagu out and singing at the cherry blossom festival in weird outfits. But later Morrita leaves on one of his "business trips" for an extended period of time and things get serious. Takemoto wonders what his point in life it, Hagu wonders if she'll ever be good enough (in her art) and Ayu wonders what to do if Mayama never loves her.
The last book focuses on "the pain of being in love". No relation ships are resolved. The last line is "...nostalgically somewhere far away deep in my heart accompanied by a sweet pain forever."
What the hell? ( )