In a nutshell:
A sweet high school romance between an average guy and a beautiful girl has just gotten underway. But tragedy ensues when the girl falls ill with leukemia. A bittersweet tale of young love, enduring devotion, and heartbreaking loss, Socrates in Love is a story to cherish.
Opinion:
The cover looks good, but don’t let that fool you. The art is crap. The characters look like those from the Pink Comics you instinctively know are meant for girls. Sure, there are no disproportionate breasts and legs, but the faces just look amateur compared to the current fare out in the market.
If you can get past that, then you might come to enjoy this simple story. The artist has actually interpreted some of the metaphors very well. The tale didn’t exactly made me tear or anything, but I would say it’s fairly moving. Surprisingly, it’s a subplot concerning the protagonist’s grandfather that’s the most heartrending.
[SPOILER ALERT]
His grandfather couldn’t marry the woman he was in love with. The lady was from a well-to-do family, but she had tuberculosis. He went around earning money recklessly for her treatment so that he could marry her. But she recovered, and her parents wouldn’t allow her to marry a rough guy like him. So now he plans to dig up her ashes and asks the protagonist to scatter his ashes with hers when he dies.
What a romantic old chum.
I was thinking maybe the novel will be more detailed as the manga seems to just breeze through the plot. Sure, the emotion is there, but I think the artist just doesn’t do the source material enough justice. If you’re thinking to shed a few tears, go get the novel.
[Name] チェン・ユ