Ooooh, a shojo manga artist! I love this concept so much so I was very excited going in. I wasn’t too sure about Liam’s personality at first, but I ended up LOVING the route a whole lot. Let’s break it down.
OVERALL RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
ART/MUSIC: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♡ ♡ - MC has no eyes again :(
STORY: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
STEAMINESS: ♥ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡
LOVE INTEREST’S LIKEABILITY: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
MC’S LIKEABILITY: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
DO I RECOMMEND THE ROUTE: YES. YES. I love this one!! It’s a great one to start the series with (if you don’t mind some cliché scenes / want the nostalgia factor)
Liam is… definitely sexy. They throw this at you like two minutes into the route.
(They know I’m thirsty, lol).
I like his cool attitude a lot more than I want to admit. He ended up being really endearing. If Arata is like a cat, then Liam is like a dog. When he gets flustered, it’s absolutely ADORABLE. And he’s so soft inside, so sweet. Ugh. He is my ideal boyfriend.
So the pair end up living together because Liam needs to finish a chapter of his manga, and he’s stayed here before with MC’s grandma. I think this is the most believable reason so far, since he has an established relationship with the grandmother and didn’t expect her granddaughter to be here. I think it’s so sweet that he learned to cook from the grandma and so MC gets to taste her grandma’s recipes again. My grandma passed away a few years ago and I still miss her and her food so much :(.
I mean, the concept for the route veers into slightly-ridiculous zone when Liam is all “you need to help me think up story ideas since you ruined my notes” and “pretend to be my girlfriend” but hell, I kinda like the cheesiness. What’s an otome without at least one kabe-don, right? :p I actually enjoyed the familiar, shojo-manga tropes. It felt so relaxing to read and made me giggle occasionally. There is some drama, but it’s nothing too crazy. Certainly not life threatening like some other routes haha. The ending was a bit weaker than the others, but eh. The rest of the route was great, so I’ll forgive it.
HE SAID THE GOLDEN WORDS. #challengeaccepted.
I think MC and Liam have fantastic chemistry together. I definitely like her in this route, but she’s been pretty solid throughout the entire title. She has ambition and is a little feisty, which is awesome. Together, the pair work really well and it feels so natural. Sometimes I’m left at the end of a story wondering how the heck a couple got together when they’re so at odds, but this one doesn’t give off that vibe. It’s comfortable, it’s smooth, and it’s no wonder that they fall for each other.
It was around here that I started earnestly gushing over Liam:
It’s a fantastic message to send too.
And it was here that I completely fell head over heels:
Ugh. Find you a man that talks to cats. <3
Final thoughts: This is my favourite route from the title, hands down. To me, Liam is a perfect mix of Arata and Taiyo. I really, really recommend this one. I would put up more cute screenshots, but I don’t want to spoil too much. Also, maybe I’m just weird. A lot of people seemed to like Taiyo much more than Arata so feel free to take my opinion of Liam with a grain of salt, haha.
I just have to say, I really like the tone of the stories in this series. They’re all so fluffy and lighthearted. I usually like a bit of steam in my stories, but I don’t mind the lack of them at all. They also include some very great ideas about loving yourself and taking care of yourself, which isn’t too common in Japan due to the stressful demands placed on many office workers. LBYH displays healthy relationships, with partners that actually (well, eventually) come to really respect and treasure one another, and support each other throughout life’s tribulations. The stories really brighten up my mood when I read them. :) I hope they can do the same for you.
