The Day Before Summer vol. 1-3
From the author of Koi Kaze, a story revolving around an art university student, his relationship with an older woman and the search of what to do in life.
As one would expect from Motoi Yoshida, the way the story is told as well as the art itself lends a really romantic atmosphere to the whole tale.
Tetsuo, the university student, is someone I don't completely understand. He's in love with Akira, the older woman that he ends in a relationship with, but he's also captivated by Hanami, a girl he doesn't know that he happens to see from time to time when working or going outside. So far the story has presented her as a muse for Tetsuo, though not being an artist, I don't get the difference between a muse that inspire you and someone you love, since I feel that a sort of love or interest has to be there and, with certain things having happened, I expect the events to become filled with some drama in the future.
Akira is an interesting character. She's an older woman, beautiful, with a gallery to manage and that got interested in Tetsuo when she saw him working on a painting. She seems to have a bit conflicting feelings. She wants him to love her and think about her (she get really worried when she finds out about Hanami by looking at one of Tetsuo's drawbooks) she wants him to concentrate on his art, knowing full well that when that happens he stops thinking about her.
The various other characters, mainly Tetsuo's 2 friends at the university are interesting in their own right, though I like Inoue more than Mori. Her self nude was pretty good and painted her as a bit more bold than her look would make you think. Mori is the funny, nice friend though I feel the friendship will be tested with the direction the author went in volume 3.
I see this has been scanlated up to chapter 14 of volume 3 and it is ongoing, so read it people if you haven't already!