Shizuka is a hot spring lover, and hence on his 20th birthday, in celebration for getting into university, he goes to a hot spring alone. While there, he enters what he thinks is an abandoned spring, only to find a drunk passed out girl. He runs away and tells management, who deal with the problem, and he goes about his life. On his first day at university, joins the Hot Spring Lovers club, only to find that the girl he found passed out is part of the club, who he learns is named Ruka. She doesn’t know that he was the one that found her, and he’s determined to keep it a secret, but even beyond that, he ends up getting closer to her and eventually falling in love with her. However, while Ruka acts incredibly cheerful, she’s still dealing with damage she felt from a previous relationship, if it can be called even that, and is staying away from such matters.
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This manga is the story of Shizuka, Ruka, the rest of their club, and various others they interact with creating relationships and watching them develop. It primarily follows the relationships of Shizuka and Ruka, who obviously are destined to become a couple, but it takes a very long string of twists and turns to get there, some of them being heart wrenching, some of them being hilarious, and many of them being somewhat ridiculous. However, even the ridiculous ones, while often relying on coincidences, still seem to fit into the characters of those involved, primarily in that Shizuka and Ruka have a number of traits that make the development of their relationship really difficult. It should be noted however, that it comes to a very beautiful ending. In addition to the main couple, there are a number of stories involving other characters, who have stories that are shorter and not as developed, but are very different from the main story, while still often pushing forward the main story as well, which helps with pacing. Lastly, I should note that the art is fantastic as well, especially faces and the strongly shaded parts.
A manga that’s focused on a romance that drags on, but that actually benefits from being so.
9/10
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