I'm back. I finished the Citrus manga and felt I needed to write a review. So here it is.
Spoiler Alert: Don't read if you haven't finished the manga.
Citrus Review
The first 36 chapter of Citrus were a fantastic rollercoaster of emotions. While the story was mostly upbeat, there were a few tear jerking moments. Nothing is more heartbreaking than when Yuzu came home from school to find Mei's goodbye letter. Which brings us to the main topic of this piece: the chapters that followed after 36…
Chapter 37 was pretty boring and seemed rather pointless in the first place. Why devote a whole chapter to Yuzu telling Sarah and her big younger sister what happened between her and Mei, when in the end, neither of them played a role in solving the problem?
The next person Yuzu told was her best friend, Harumi. I thought this was a great part in the story. By the way, does anyone else get the feeling that Harumi likes Yuzu as more than a friend? When Yuzu told Harumi about her feelings for her sister, Harumi didn't seem surprised. Instead, She expressed a look of disappointment. I believe Harumi meant it when she told Yuzu that she loved her. Yuzu was shocked and Harumi was probably afraid the feelings weren't reciprocated. She only added "as a friend" when she didn't get the response she was looking for from Yuzu. I think they would make a good couple if it wasn't for Yuzu being so focused on Mei. Anyways…
Things are pretty uneventful until the final chapter, which brings us to the main reason I felt I had to right this review. The first half of the chapter was great. Yuzu was trying to convince Mei to come back to her. Mei was being very resistant despite her obvious desire to do so. And then Yuzu asks Mei to marry her? What? Mei's left home, switched classes, and did everything she could to avoid Yuzu for the past week, and she thinks now is a good time to propose? I know Yuzu is compulsive and foolish but this was a little much even for her. And the even more surprising part… Mei agreed? A few minutes ago, she was dead set on marrying someone else and leaving Yuzu behind. Now she's agreeing to marry Yuzu?
The next half of the chapter is them telling everyone the news and getting married. And then, it's suddenly over. It left me in disbelief. I thought 'that can't really be the end'. This is the most rushed ending to a story i've ever experienced. I'm willing to accept that for some reason, Mei suddenly agreed to marry Yuzu, But I can't accept the fact that it all happened in one chapter! They could have made a whole other volume about wedding preparations and getting married.
I really loved this story but the ending left me severely disappointed. They did announce a spin off called "Citrus plus" that supposedly takes place after the marriage. Hopefully that turns out good.
The purpose of this review isn't to hate on the author or the story "Citrus". I actually loved the story, just not the ending. I just needed to get that off my chest. Feedback welcome. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way.