Feeling left behind by fellow rebel friends of her past, Takebe decided to stop being a delinquent! That’s when her old-time nemesis Soramori reappears in her life proposing one final fight. Takebe has never won a fight against Soramori, but this time if she loses, they would have to go on dates?!
Relationship Context
💥 Couple Dynamic
Takebe & Soramori – Peer Couple
Soramori demands a fight with dating her on the line, Takebe is never one to back down from a challenge!
🖤 Ayako Takebe – Stubborn Softie
- Feels out of place in life with her delinquent self
- Thinks everything is a challenge when interacting with Soramori
- Does not understand romance
❤️ Kirara Soramori – Overeager Disaster
- Won over by simple kindness from Takebe as strangers
- Fought her way up the ranks to be recognised by Takebe
- Finally confessed years later
| Title | Catch These Hands! / Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete |
| Author | murata |
| Status | Completed, 2020 |
| Genre | Modern Yuri |
| Tags | Slow burn, Comedy, Slice of life, Delinquent |
Review
| Category | Rating (0-3) |
|---|---|
| Romance | 🌸🌸 Heartwarming attempts |
| Intimacy | 🔥 Few and demure |
| Story | 📝📝 Simple and drama-free |
| Pacing | 🚶🏻♀️ Slow and good |
| Emotional damage | 0 Very painless |
| Fluff | ☁️ More cute than fluff |
Story Overview
Catch These Hands! is a gentle yet funny slow burn story about:
– School time rival delinquents reconnecting as adults with different lives
– One wanting to confess and the other wanting to grow up
– Young adults learning how to get along, hopefully without more fights?
Key Themes
Societal pressure to conform: Set in an ordinary modern city, 22 years old Takebe and Soramori have an awareness of subtle comparison to other people in their lives. After hearing news of yet another friend’s marriage, Takebe is struck by the need to shed her delinquent appearance and transform into a socially acceptable modern woman.
Soramori gently reminds her that Takebe respects those who take pride living the way just the way they are, which she has forgotten. On the other hand, Soramori gets peer pressure to have a social account even though she has no clue about it. Takebe got frustrated after being roped in to help her, wondering why they even bother with this tiring experience. Conforming for the sake of it makes no sense after all.
Learning about romance: Takebe is dense when it comes to romance and does not understand heart-fluttering stuff. Though usually unfazed about dates, she senses Soramori stressing out about them and tries to initiate in her own way. While Soramori is usually the initiator for dates and all, this is still her first dating experience too so she has some hilarious knee-jerk reactions at times.
Mutually understandable communication: Tekebe is unaware of her competitive streak when it comes to interacting with Soramori. She is also stubbornly determined to change her delinquent self, even though the latter prefers her to be authentic as she is. Stuck in a situation where she realised she has to apologise, she throws a challenge invitation to Soramori to sort out her feelings through what they both know best, fighting.
Personal Review
There are no major plot points and unexpected drama in this story. This is a plus point as sometimes I want a peaceful read where the couple faces problems just like any of us could in real life. The mundanity of life and its ordinary problems or lack thereof reminds me that things never have to be complicated.
The essence of Tekebe and Soramori’s relationship is that they are both new to dating and bad at communicating with words. But fist fighting is a raw, simple, and mutually understood language they use to be real and honest with themselves.
Thankfully they have supportive friends who were in a similar situation and are not dismissive of how the two of them work things out. Every couple is different after all, and as friends you just make sure they don’t wander too far and forget the purpose of it all.
Final Thought
Catch These Hands! is a fuss-free and drama-free short story that’s easy to devour! Read and find out how Tekebe realises what she really wants to change about herself. Would Soramori’s feelings get reciprocated? No matter what happens, they are sure to stay true to themselves while catching each other’s hands of feelings!
My Rating: 10/10 highly recommended!
What would you tell your 22 years old self who was feeling the stress of conformity?
