Hinatama is like eating a simple yet delicious dish that focuses on its core taste and not incorporating it with contrasting flavors that not everyone is going to like. The manga knows that it’s slice-of-life at its best and not any genre hybrid. It does resemble some shoujo characteristics but only faintly present in the narrative and does no harm with its potential. It also has a clear premise which is family and friendship. How the story manages to expound on this brings about a result of a refreshing tale that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The story follows Amano Hinata’s encounter with the new transfer studentKazama Ayato who is new to the countryside landscape as he’s from Tokyo. To add to the surprise, he also has 3 younger siblings that breathe life into the mundane setting. From then on, the successive chapters deal with Ayato and Hinata’s growing friendship with the siblings serving as a catalyst. One observation is that there is a considerate amount of shounen-ai undertones present especially with Hinata’s internal monologues. However, it doesn’t really go beyond pure intentions as it only showcases strong feelings of friendship and nothing else.

Apart from the main duo, the three siblings get characterized very well and don’t come off as overly obnoxious. Chiyoko is understandably a typical little girl that likes cute things. Hayato is also a typical little boy that gives the bratty vibe but deep down wants to make friends just like any other kid. Ikuto is well… a typical hyperactive toddler that struggles getting potty trained? Anyway he exudes such a cute aura just like his siblings. They all contribute on making the overall reading experience enjoyable.

While the manga delivers effective storytelling in making things interesting, my main gripe is that there is little payoff in the end. Sure, Hinata has deepened his bond with the Kazama family but it needed a better realization that has more impact. Inserting a conflict may harm the lighthearted nature of the story but it’s what makes stories more compelling to read. It can go wrong in various ways but I don’t blame the author for playing safe. Even if conflict is not the best suggestion, then perhaps it should have spent more time developing the easy-going story by expanding the narrative through different lenses.

Even so, Hinatama still succeeds with its objective which is to introduce the reader to a familiar setting tied to a simple scenario but does it in a way that evokes a feeling of sentimentality. It goes easy on the family drama aspect by focusing on trivial situations that usually happens in the family without making things bleak and serious. Overall it’s a fleeting yet impressive manga that is recommended to readers who crave for something sweet yet refreshing.