There's nothing much to say about the story besides that. It rides the whole time on the kinky "drool" thing, even reuses it's own ideas as story in the story. Which is not really bad, but it's also nothing outstanding or immersing. There are some episodes that are filled with genuine emotions but the major part is just the old man (not really too old but already too grumpy) forcing his ideals on us readers. And it would be even fine to do that, but it surely has to be more subtle than that. Punching us in the face with that ending is quite the opposite.
The characters here are not really unique too. Well, yes, you don't see many "drool bonding" girls around, but even Uraba Mikoto is mysterious enough for the manga and chapters titles. She's just shy and knows her scissors, what you're gonna do about it? The good point is that the heroes of the story feel realistic enough and not too stupid, that is really a positive thing. Because stupid wimpy, stupid agressive and just stupid characters can really fire up the rage. But even so, the people of this manga don't seem too deep or too amusing for a story with a 10-year long run.
The art is good, not anywhere near exquisite but that's fine. You don't really have the need to "drool" over every page to read the manga. It is nice enough, detailed enough and also has its own style - which, by the way, presents itself more subtle than authors views on the modern youth and how they should do relationships.
All of that said, I kind of wish I didn't read the manga. I watched the anime first, and the story it covered left room for hope - and I did hope. Well, of course, it's the author's right to ruin thing by doing them strictly his way. But it's the reader's right to complain about it. We all have our sacred things and the understanding of which way exactly they should be treated while being sacred - and that is really my cornerstone problem with this manga. If you plan to read this, don't expect much. Well, don't expect anything, that way you can't be dissapointed.
