A review by yellowbinge
Dogs and Punching Bags by Kaori Ozaki

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Publishing date: 21.01.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC. My opinions are my own. 


Hmm, I am feeling a little mixed here. This manga is nice and all, but maybe not quite what I was looking for. I think bullet points will serve me well: 

Did like: 
- The artstyle was nice
- Age gap was handled well and not necessarily the central theme
- Loved the little sister
- Main couple was in general cute

Did not like: 
- Redemption for an undeserving character
- Unnecessary sex-scene could have been fade to black 
- Story felt a little all over the place
- A certain revelation seemed to be handled a little poorly by the main character
- This is a spoiler, find it at the end of my review ...

All in all, this is an okay manga. I have read better, I have read worse. It isn't overly long, I finished it in a single day. If you are interested, I would say go for it. 

My rating will be a firm 3 stars, smack dab in the middle as I don't feel any particular way about it. 

TLDR: Typical small-town romance manga with an age gap



The spoilery disliked part:
Epilogue with pregnancy



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