Scan barcode
A review by thekarpuk
ニセコイ 10 [Fake Love 10] by Naoshi Komi
4.0
There is a dark part of me that wants to consume nothing but Japanese high school comedies. Supernatural or high-concept makes it even more irresistible. Seen from a position of good taste, these books are garbage, but I am willing to acknowledge that I neither read nor review books to look sophisticated.
So here we are, 10 volumes into this zany harem comedy centered in theory around a true love locket and two rival gangs kept from fighting by having their offspring date. Neither is really addressed in this volume, and I don't really mind.
The characters are just too darn likable. If there's one thing I appreciate about popular Japanese protagonists in these stories, it's that they're often neither the smartest guy in the room who's also an asshole, nor are they some mega-talented person who is still somehow an underdog. Raku only really has two things going for him: He's super nice, and he can cook well. Having the protagonist be good at a few things and mediocre at most else actually makes it seem more grounded and interesting.
This volume also features the staple of manga comedies, the bit where the protagonist sees one or more of the girls naked and freaks out about it. In this case, it's at a bath house, as most manga publishers must have a stipulation about the appearance of a bath house. The protagonist has to freak out, because if he was cool with it, we would have a completely different sort of manga on our hands.
In spite of myself, I was amused by the amnesia chapters. It's a tired trope already worn out when the Flintstones did it, but in this case it helps highlight the absurdity of Raku's situation at this point. Long running comedy manga often stack characters like firewood over time, so it's fun to take a step back and realize that he's got a half dozen women with a crush on him at this point. At this point, I think it might behoove the creator to add at least one other guy to the mix.
Hilariously, I think this series still might fail the Bechdel test.
So here we are, 10 volumes into this zany harem comedy centered in theory around a true love locket and two rival gangs kept from fighting by having their offspring date. Neither is really addressed in this volume, and I don't really mind.
The characters are just too darn likable. If there's one thing I appreciate about popular Japanese protagonists in these stories, it's that they're often neither the smartest guy in the room who's also an asshole, nor are they some mega-talented person who is still somehow an underdog. Raku only really has two things going for him: He's super nice, and he can cook well. Having the protagonist be good at a few things and mediocre at most else actually makes it seem more grounded and interesting.
This volume also features the staple of manga comedies, the bit where the protagonist sees one or more of the girls naked and freaks out about it. In this case, it's at a bath house, as most manga publishers must have a stipulation about the appearance of a bath house. The protagonist has to freak out, because if he was cool with it, we would have a completely different sort of manga on our hands.
In spite of myself, I was amused by the amnesia chapters. It's a tired trope already worn out when the Flintstones did it, but in this case it helps highlight the absurdity of Raku's situation at this point. Long running comedy manga often stack characters like firewood over time, so it's fun to take a step back and realize that he's got a half dozen women with a crush on him at this point. At this point, I think it might behoove the creator to add at least one other guy to the mix.
Hilariously, I think this series still might fail the Bechdel test.