Genre: Romance, Comedy
Publisher: Shueisha (JP), Viz (US)
Artist/Author: Kazuna Kawahara, Aruko
Serialized in: Bessatsu Margaret
Translation: JN Productions
Original Release Date: July 1, 2014
Free Preview: >>HERE<<
We always ask for something completely different in entertainment. And you all know the usual happenings of a shoujo manga: the stereotypical female lead who happens to love a pretty boy, pretty boy has issues, etc. That can get tiring. So when something like My Love Story!! comes along, I can only look at it cynically, since works that manage to be different also manage to be worse than being the generic step child in a field full of the same manga. My Love Story!! crushed my cynicism early and often, creating a work that is possibly one of the best releases of the year in the US.
My Love Story!!, written by Kazuna Kawahara (High School Debut creator) and artist Aruko, tells the story of Takeo Gouda, who looks ugly, is big, and is the nicest guy on the planet…and has terrible luck with the girls he likes. All of them like his friend, Makoto Sunakawa, who is the stereotypical pretty boy who also manages to reject those girls with little emotion. Despite their luck with girls, they’ve remained friends since elementary school. Then one day, Takeo and Makoto see a girl getting molested on the train. After Takeo apprehends him, the girl ends up falling in love with him. Takeo thinks she’s fallen in love with Makoto!
Maybe it was refreshing to just read something different, and aside from the usual shoujo formula (some poor art, sappy romance, etc), My Love Story!! manages to be different by letting the nice guy actually take the lead for once. Actually, that’s a disservice to Takeo, who’s done some sports, is actually pretty courageous (I mean he saved a kid from drowning, don’t let that kid’s mom say otherwise!), and seems like a cool guy to hang out with, even if he is naive and dense. Ultimately, his heart is in the right place, which makes his relationship with Rinko, the girl he saved, feel authentic and enjoyable.
But it’s not just simply Takeo that adds to the charm — the cast of characters introduced help out immensely, from Makoto to Makoto’s sister Ai, which leads to an environment where it can be sweet, but can also be surprisingly funny. That’s one thing I didn’t count on completely: the jokes that surprise due to the artist manipulating faces and positions worked well. There’s only two chapters in Volume 1, but these two chapters were great because of the likable characters, their motivations, and their jokes.
The obvious worry with this manga is where does it go from here? The two do end up together and now they’re gonna fret through relationship problems. Or are they? Are they gonna break up? What’s going to happen that will separate it from other shoujo of its type? The only thing that can happen is how Kawahara manages to work on these stories and make them interesting enough to stand out. But that’s just a future worry. As it currently stands, this is a shoujo manga that should be able to appeal to anyone, and worth actually owning in any capacity. So yes, go buy it and read it!
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Justin
Justin is the founder of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses. Anime & manga fan that likes to blog about anime and manga, is addicted to sports, and weak to crossovers. You can follow Justin on Twitter @Kami_nomi.Latest posts by Justin (see all)
- My Love Story!! Vol 1 Review - August 5, 2014
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- Notes of Great Teacher Onizuka 2014 Episode 4 - August 2, 2014
- Manga Worth Reading July 2014 - July 31, 2014
- Anime Worth Watching July 2014 - July 31, 2014