Shiawase Kissa 3-choume is a great weekend read. While I found the characters very likable, the pacing and conclusion could have been very off-putting depending on my mood. If you're looking for some hot shoujo romance, you may want to postpone reading this series. But if you're looking for a steady, more slice-of-life kind of feeling, then I can highly recommend it.

The main character, Uru, falls into a reverse-harem kind of situation where everyone surrounding her is captivated by her effervescent positivity. Even as the reader, I was attracted to her wide smiles, extroversion, and boundless energy. It was a nice break from the more quiet, melancholic heroines I've recently gone through. She actually has some personality that makes you think, "Oh, yes, I can see why a story would be centered around such a person." Of course, the mangaka had to make her romantically obtuse in order to string along the various storylines, but that's not such a bad thing.

The pacing of this series is bizarrely life-like. Rather than skipping from holiday to holiday and vacation to vacation, the entire series spans less than a year. Characters reference "yesterday" much more often than "a few days/weeks ago," which is uncommon in shoujo. The mangaka introduces so many complete characters that upholding all of their side stories keeps her busy enough without having token episodes like Christmas, a beach day, or a trip to the amusement park. In fact, you should be surprised to learn that there is no "first day" chapter, which seems like a staple ingredient to any successful shoujo. While unconventional, I think that this actually speaks to the quality of the series' characters. Their realism carries along the story naturally, and you can genuinely buy into most of the relationships.

Selfishly, I will note that I was dissatisfied with the romantic conclusion, even if you can see it from 100 miles away. By chapter 1 you know whom Uru prefers, but as the series progressed I was more convinced of the merits of the other males. I think the mangaka became aware of this, too, as she constantly sets up Uru's coworkers as "formidable opponents"...not distinguishing the eventual winner. As a result, the mangaka kind of copped out in the last 5 chapters and made suitor #2 leave the scene, essentially crippling him as a romantic interest. I preferred him, so I was particularly annoyed. Considering the quality development of all the relationships, I feel like the readers deserved more detailed and conclusive endings.

All in all, I was disappointed by the ending, but did not regret reading the series.