A group of "young" woman try to enjoy their lives in Tokyo without feeling a deep guilt of not fitting in? Sign me up! I read Tokyo Tarareba Musume right after I finished Jellyfish Princess because Higashimura's writing really impacted me. I feel like I am at the perfect age and vital point to really understand what Higashimura's characters go through. I enjoyed Tokyo Tarareba Musume, specially the beginning, it really had me then, but as the story progressed I grew apart from the characters, I don't really understand what happened. In comparison to Jellyfish Princess that every page I found myself growing closer tothe characters in Tokyo Tarareba Musume the opposite happened. Maybe it's because in the latter chapters, I find the decisions that the main character takes, very poor. I enjoyed the side characters more than the main ones. Specially Key... dude I am so sorry but he was unbearable...
But I did enjoy the story as a whole! The characters that she writes about (or at least their concerns and lifestyles) are so real. It was as if I looked in the mirror...