Futaribeya is basically a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things manga. The characters are very cute, the art is pretty, and they don't have many real problems. The story follows Sakurako and Kasumi from their first day of high school all the way through college, as they mostly just kinda hang out. Kasumi's extremely susceptible to both heat, cold, and hunger, so most of the time she doesn't have the energy to do much, and Sakurako's extremely accommodating, so she's usually fine with just staying in their room and making dinner. The romance is... around. Well ok, so Sakurako and Kasumi are clearly in love witheach other, with Sakurako being far more open and obvious with her affection whereas Kasumi's a lot more subdued. It would be ridiculous to try and argue that they're not a couple, but for some reason this is still left up to the reader. Both girls explicitly refuse to define their relationship, even when asked, and just brush the question off with a "no labels really fit" type response. This is despite most of the other characters starting and maintaining romantic relationships. There's nothing wrong, in theory, with a refusal to define your relationship to other people, but in a genre that often has trouble with this, it feels vaguely cowardly. Nothing about Sakurako and Kasumi's relationship would meaningfully change if they referred to each other as their girlfriend, and there are other couples that do so, but for some reason the main couple just... doesn't want to. There's no way to complain about this without seeming whiny and entitled, but like, come on, just... just have them say it. It almost seems like the author wasn't allowed to make the main characters an official couple, and that's why the other characters get together. Like, as a compromise.

Kasumi's also just not especially likable as a character. Sakurako's open and friendly, she likes cooking, and has a perfect memory. Kasumi's pretty, and that's kind of her only positive trait. She eats a ton, is always out of energy, doesn't have any interests, and is usually the one to reject Sakurako's advances. It's entirely possible that Kasumi's just comfortable with a different level of affection than Sakurako, but her rejections feel kind of mean. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, but Kasumi sort of acts like she thinks Sakurako's joking around? She also just doesn't really have anything going on. Sakurako has stories of the things her families did for different holidays and festivals, and for almost all of them, Kasumi goes "oh I didn't really do anything" or "I just stayed home on those days."

Sakurako, on the other hand, is really fun and likable. She honestly carries the series, and it almost feels like the author cranked up her infatuation with Kasumi early on in order to justify the relationship. She's usually the one to suggest activities, or to agree to go do something for a friend or teacher, which gets Kasumi off the couch. She's got a few good gags (when tutoring people she tends to tell them "to start with, memorize the textbook" and it's pretty silly).

Other than the main couple and their shenanigans, the appeal of the story comes from watching these characters grow up and continue on in their lives. It's somewhat rare that a story like this goes past high school and actually has the characters be in college. Sakurako and Kasumi age, they start drinking, they look for jobs, and move apartments several times. You get to watch these kids grow up, and I think I might cry when the series does end (and it looks like it's almost there).

I've gone on long enough at this point. Futaribeya is a cute manga, and it's best enjoyed if you don't expect the main couple to explicitly define their relationship, and if Kasumi's behavior doesn't get to you. Also the characters are sometimes drawn with part of their face sticking out and I think that's just how the mangaka draws chibis.