Be-Ri thought she’d been doing a good job hiding the fact that she is in love with her sister’s boyfriend, San-Ne. After he humiliates her by revealing he’s known all along, she seeks out a relationship where she won’t get hurt and agrees to date her ardent admirer, Mi-Hyuk, for whom she feels nothing. Japanese transplant Tsuyoshi, who has formed a friendship with Be-Ri, is unexpectedly bothered to see her with another guy and tries various ways to convince her to break it off, short of actually confessing his own feelings.
Very! Very! Sweet is a really interesting series. There are always parts of each volume that I’m not too fond of—usually these involve the clingy Mi-Hyuk or Erica, Tsuyoshi’s ex-girlfriend who will not accept that things are over between them—but there are many great scenes and surprisingly complex conversations throughout, as well. I once described the romantic entanglements in this series as a “love polygon,” and that still holds true, but lately an emphasis on the fleeting nature of human feelings has introduced a melancholy element to the series that I like very much.
I’m also impressed by how much character development the leads have received. Tsuyoshi was initially a spoiled brat, but has embraced the move to Korea as an opportunity for change and has almost entirely left his old persona behind. Be-Ri, meanwhile, has begun to question whether she liked San-Ne for the right reasons and, though her earnest attempt to develop feelings for Mi-Hyuk is bound to end in failure, she is at least attempting to move on from unrequited infatuation.
All in all, Very! Very! Sweet is a series that has improved as it has progressed. I definitely recommend it.
Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.
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