Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 8

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 8 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

At last, Rinko's found it--the happy, comfortable relationship she's dreamt of. She and Hayasaka-san have moved into an apartment together, and her best friends have wished her well. Everything is going smoothly...until those same best friends show up breathless at her doorstep with the biggest four-alarmer yet: Key's gone missing, and Rinko may be the only one who can find him and bring him back. But the rescue may come at the cost of everything she thought she wanted... 

After last volumes cliffhanger, we're picking up straight away and I eagerly dove in to see what would happen next with Rinko! Obviously the girls have come to collect her for a quick road trip to go and grab Key. Which means it's time for Rinko to come to terms with her feelings about him even if it's going to mean ruining the happiness that she thinks she's finally found. 

I feel like Mami touched on an issue for the girls that they do really need to work on, and while she's younger than them I'm hoping she'll end up talking some sense in to them and helping them see things a different way. I feel like she'd be a good addition! 

As for Rinko, I was cheering so much when she gave Key that talking to, and then screeching at the moment between them. I don't know when I started shipping them, but here we are. I think it's largely in part due to the fact that we've slowly come to get to know Key and understand him and how he works, so I'm kinda rooting for him but I also feel like he's got a lot that he needs to deal with for things to turn out well between them. 

I'm really enjoying the direction things are starting to take, and I'm curious to see what will happen next with Rinko. I'm rooting for her to get her happiness, but she's also made some valid points about Key and what he hasn't said, and I'm anticipating some problems in the near future. Which kinda makes me sad because she just threw away her newfound happiness for him. I have to say though, that the final chapter was a bit disappointing, while it was fairly poignant to get flashes from Rinko's past and how she's ended up at the place that she is...considering what was happening I was a little bit like, 'really?! We're doing this now?!'. 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 7

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 7 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

While just starting to rekindle an old flame with Hayasaka-san, Rinko is mortified to have their first date crashed by Key. Will what he has to say condemn Rinko to another angry, drunken night with her friends...or will it strengthen her resolve to make this new relationship work? There's only one thing Rinko is sure of--she's running out of time. 

The last volume left us on quite the cliffhanger and this one doesn't leave us in suspense at all, and I was so excited to see how things would play out as we rejoined the scene straight away. Key fully hijacked Rinko's date, and it was hilariously awkward. He was questioning their intentions, and exposing the time he and Rinko slept together...I know he's trying to protect her but wow...so awkward. 

While we see a fair amount of Rinko this volume as she falls in to a comfortable relationship with Hayasaka and revels in a simple, easy relationship free from stress. There's even talk of moving in between them. But the most intriguing part of this volume? We finally get all the background on Key and his wife and everything from his past that we've been curious about since day one! Finally. There's even a surprise in store when it comes to his manager too. 

Honestly, it was a gripping volume for that fact alone, with all the background making some things finally click in to place.  So much about he and his behaviour made sense after reading this volume, not least because of a certain characters speculating that also had some more things clicking in to place and being a nicely timed reveal ready for the end of the volume! The series has progressed nicely, and now as we reach the final couple of volumes, things are continuing at a nice pace and I'm excited to see what's going to happen now with Key! 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 6

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 6 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Faced with the possibility that she might be pregnant, Kaori loses sight of what she wants from Ryo. With Koyuki sinking deeper into her affair and Rinko compromising on her dreams of a heart-pounding romance, it seems like the futures they envisioned in their twenties have never been more unattainable. Are they out of time after all? 

With this volume...things are definitely taking a turn! I have to be honest, the opening for this volume? Along with Kaori's thoughts? I just....oh Kaori sweetie, dump him. That guy, Ryo, is just such an a-hole and it's time she kicked him to the kerb! My heart actually sank for her when Key dropped his little truth bomb. To be fair to him, he might be blunt but...I guess he means well? I'm just always looking at him like, please phrase it a bit more gently dude! 

So while Kaori has a wake up call and has to deal with the fall out of that, I feel like even Koyuki has her own little wake up call even if it's not as dramatic and obvious as Kaori's. I think next volume we'll see that little thing come to a close. 

Then we have Rinko, who ends up getting close to Hayasaka again and even though they're kind of cute...I can't help but feel like she's settling. However, I knew the blonde haired demon was going to stick his nose and damn...this is the first time with this series that I actually screeched at the cliffhanger ending because come on. It was just getting good! 

Volume 6 is another nicely paced volume, but our ladies are definitely coming to terms with their current situations and the consequences and downsides to it as well as gaining some perspective on it. I feel mean saying it but...I feel like they're getting their self respect back and I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to kick off next volume when Key opens his mouth. Again. 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 5

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 5 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

After yet another devastating encounter with Key, Rinko constantly questions what it means to be a "good woman." The haunting thought drives her to consult a fortune teller, who seems to nail her problems right on the head. When Rinko brings Koyuki and Kaori along to experience the psychic for themselves, things devolve into an argument that drives the close friends to go their separate ways. But a friendship as strong as theirs is not so easily broken, and the trio will need all the support they can get as the third wedding rush begins...

Thanks to good old Key, Rinko is struggling with the question of what makes a good woman, and that question leads she and her friends to a fortune teller. What could possibly go wrong, right? 

I mean the fortune teller nailed each of them and their situations but the events after that? We see our tight knit group of friends have a pretty big falling out and I was sitting there reading the scene, and the little jabs like "ooooooohhh" and wincing. 

Usually I'm all about Key getting on my last nerve in these reviews, but this time it's Kaori's man that's more of an a-hole. I would have slapped him one, personally, I'm not going to lie. But speaking of Key, we do learn some more about him in this volume that made him start to make a little more sense. I personally find him quite hard to read, like was he actually trying to stand up for Rinko at one point? Was he feeling bad? 

I loved the fact that this volume doesn't drag out the argument, and we had some super relatable and excellently timed chapters to do with their friends wedding. Literally me right now, I can't lie. 

With this volume we examine the girls relationships a little more closely and while one of them tries to bring it to an end, for the other there's a huge bomb to be dropped that leaves us on a cliffhanger and has you thinking "oh s***". The main focus of this volume is mostly Rinko's two friends but I feel like we're seeing a shift in their relationships and their thinking about the situations they're in! 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 4

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 4
Rating: 3.5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Rinko starts a relationship with a seemingly perfect man who owns a movie-themed cafâe, but as their relationship progresses, she finds more and more things to dislike about him.

So...we all thought Rinko had met her Prince Charming and I was so on bard with it. But then his requests started and I was like....no my dude, not today. He was so fixated on her perming her hair!? Which is fine if she wanted to actually do it but she didn't. I did think Rinko's crisis about her relationship was interesting, whether to settle to achieve society's expectations/her own, or break up because it wasn't right. I also loved getting to see her get her mojo back and have a kind of comeback. 

Kaede is still a mystery, but apparently if you dig real deep he has a kind side and he's the one that sets her up with a job that's literally exactly what she needs. She got such a confidence boost from it and I was like YAAS RINKO! The thing is....I get that he probably means well, but he doesn't half need to work on his phrasing. I was actually starting to like him this volume, and as realisations and theories where made by the girls I was thinking to myself, you know what? I ship it. But then he had to go and be a total ass. 

This volume progresses not only the story but develops Rinko as a character. We see her get sunk straight down...before being pulled back up again and getting some of the fire back in her via her work and her passion for writing. I'm so here for getting the old, fired up Rinko back! Of course Kaede had to go and ruin it all and I still do not get what his deal is?!

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 3

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 3
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

When it finally seems like Rinko has caught a break, it disappears almost as quickly--thanks, once again, to Key. Meanwhile, Kaori finds out that she's not the only one her ex is cheating on his girlfriend with, and Koyuki learns her married boyfriend's wife may not be as estranged as she seemed. And yet, faced with the relentless void of loneliness, the three continue to make choices even they know they'll regret. 

Oh Key, you're more of an a-hole with each volume, aren't you mate? There's a time and a place for truth bombs and that wasn't it. He really needs to work on his timing. To give him credit this volume...he did muster up some kindness which had me shook as I was reading the volume! 

I wasn't too sure about Rinko and her options this volume, when she was presented with the opportunity I was like "Yeah Rinko, own it!" but then she just...I get she needed inspiration but she shouldn't have gone to the bar because I knew it wasn't going to work out for her, I knew what it was going to look like. Yeah she went to the Cinema bar which is goals, by the way, and yeah she met hot bar guy aka Okuda. I was rooting for her and that relationship but it feels like it's come at the expense of her career. I honestly do feel for her, I'm rooting for her so much but she's not perfect. She makes mistakes like any of us do. I was so happy for her and this relationship but I can see exactly how it's going to go and it's already making me sad for her. 

I'm still looking at her friends like...."ladies, this is going to end in tears" and it just keeps getting worse for them but they're afraid of being lonely and alone which is completely understandable and relatable but I also really want to shake them. Which is probably how our friends feel when they watch us do something dumb. 

Volume 3 has some cute moments, and some funny moments, but this volume is more than a little bit...grim. My heart dropped for Rinki when she had the job stolen out from under her...by her assistant, and Key made his comment. She's struggling, Key isn't the most encouraging in the first place and once again she's been told she isn't good enough anymore. It really hits you in the feels but I'm operating on the whole "Things have to get worse before they get better" thing...which means things should be getting better for Rinko and co soon right? RIGHT?! 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 2

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 2
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Turns out, sex isn't everything. After a misspent night with a hot model (and a little too much booze), Rinko wakes up feeling more depressed than ever, unable to shake her growing suspicion that, at 33, she's doomed to be forever alone. Her friends Kaori and Koyuki think they have found cosmopolitan bliss in an unavailable ex and a married man, but the daylight only brings increasingly devastating "what-ifs." And with younger, fitter, hungrier women entering the ring, these three will have to brawl their way to the win...or risk throwing in the towel for good. 

It happened. Rinko did the thing I was screaming at her NOT to do and it reaaaally doesn't help her. Honestly, Key is such an a-hole, the things he says to her, and then bringing Ryo to the bar I was like.....ffs Key you ****. Their bickering does provide some much needed humour however, I'm starting to wonder if I'm supposed to like Key? Yes, he says some things that you could argue are the truth but still. 

I enjoyed getting to see Kaori's background and her history and get to know her a bit bitter, even if it did end on a depressing note with her ex...I also felt vaguely hopeful for Koyuki but...nope. I was expecting the series just to focus on Rinko so it was a nice surprise to see Kaori and Koyuki getting some drama and story of their own! 

The thing is...her two friends are embarking on 'relationships' that you know aren't going to end well and they deserve so much better but they don't seem to think that they do and it makes me kind of sad how they view themselves and the sadder thing is that the thoughts they're thinking are probably true of a lot of women thanks to how society is. Which you know...is probably the point of this series. Rinko has a bit of a struggle with her feelings too, but I feel like she gets a much needed reality check in this volume. 

I'm enjoying the pace to this series, and it's going in directions I wasn't entirely expecting! 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 1
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Rinko has done everything right. She hustled her way through her 20s to make it as a screenwriter, renting her own office in a trendy Tokyo neighborhood. Everything should have gone according to plan... So at 33, she can't help but lament the fact that her career's plateaued, she's still painfully single, and she spends most of her nights drinking with her two best friends in their favorite pub. One night, drunk and delusional, Rinko swears to get married by the time the Tokyo Olympics roll around in 2020. But finding a man--and love--may be a cutthroat, dirty job for a romantic at heart. 

To be one hundred percent honest, this isn't the usual art style I like when it comes to manga, but the synopsis sounded like it was going to be fun and entertaining and I did enjoy this volume! 

Rinko is relatable in many aspects, even if you aren't the same ages as her or in the same position. I really felt for her, and I could sympathise with her and see her point of view quite easily. I just felt my heart drop for her more than once throughout the volume. Yes she makes some questionable choices, but I can't entirely blame her. Despite the fact I'm not the same age as Rinko, some of the things she struggled with hit a bit close to home for me too. Friends being married and having kids and that sort of thing. 

I loved her friends, Koyuki and Kaori, and I loved their banter and how realistic they where. The codes they had to meet up, and the conversations and the drinking. Yes, they do drink a biiiiit too much because I don't know anyone who goes out and drinks as much as these girls do! And it's actually to the extent Rinko see's talking food which was a chuckle, but at the same time I was like "slow down girl!". 

Another of the supporting cast that I liked was Mami! She was totally adorable, she seems to genuinely care for Rinko, and she really has Rinko's back with the other writer, and I'm really hoping to see more of the friendship between the pair grow as Rinko seems kind of...lowkey resentful of her a little bit. 

My rather large issue with this volume...is Key. If I was Rinko, I'd have punched him, I'm not going to lie. He's incredibly rude, he judges Rinko and her friends instantly and spouts his opinions completely unasked for. As if that wasn't enough of an a-hole thing to do, he then ends up working with Rinko and keeps banging on about how bad her writing is, and how boring it is and she ends up losing the job. I don't get what his angle is? Yeah he kinda shows he cares a bit towards the end, but I just don't get him and I'm not sure how I feel about a romance between the two of them because he actually made me angry! 

Tokyo Tarareba Girls is comedic, and entertaining, with some brilliant strong female friendships and it does kind of hit you in the feels as you see the struggles Rinko has to face and how she's feeling. But I'm fully rooting for Rinko, although I personally think she can do better than Key -_-