Mikoto-chan wa Kirawaretakunai!

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"Mikoto-chan" won't be for everyone, but the audience it's aimed toward will probably really enjoy it.

That said, you may want to read past the prologue before deciding to keep reading because it's very short and doesn't really give you much to go on but the art style.

It's an odd mixture of slice-of-life wholesomeness, romantic comedy, and subtle psychological horror.

While it's not a horror or even a horror comedy, there's something unsettling to the story and overall vibe.

Nearly every character who gets screen-time is a bit emotionally unstable, and it's often played for laughs.

It's unclear if there's much of a plot here so far, but there ... are occasionally genuinely emotional scenes, and the characters can be adorable at times.

Add to that, the art is relatively realistic but often comedically absurd and meme-worthy.

Mikoto-chan is not a consistent romantic comedy and what romance exists is dysfunctional & unhealthy alongside other factors that I'll cover in the following paragraphs.

The initial chapter is light hearted in comparison with the rest of the series. The story is about an unhealthy yet realistic dependency relationship forged by trauma, grief, guilt and doubt in oneself. Despite how the detailed characters & side cast care or feel about themselves, the relationship is off-putting due to the lack of positive vocal acknowledgement between the parties about their suffering.

It's human rather than cookie cutter but the shift after the first chapter is noticeable in a way ... that it doesn't recover from, whether that's good or bad is up to your experiences in life & in reading but it has major tonal whiplash from chapter to chapter and sometimes page to page.

Based on my experiences there needs to be major acknowledgement of the aforementioned emotions & themes before romance or unmanipulated relationships can even be a factor. At chapter 17 so far very little has been addressed and both internal & external manipulation of various forms has increased despite the glimmer of progress & improvement.

On another note the artwork can be beautiful one minute, purposely funny another and poorly framed/placed the next. It became rather frustrating and someone explained it perfectly by saying “why is it drawn like everyone is looking up so you can see into their noses”.

7.7/10

I thought this manga would be a yandere manga based on the premise and cover art, and although I am a bit bummed that it is not because it won't satisfy my degenerate yandere problem, this is surprisingly good in an opposite sense.

The plot of this manga is fluffy, but it also is not -- there are tons of cute interactions between the mc and fmc, but due to a misunderstanding from both ends, the mood this manga creates is almost like a cover for something deeper. At one moment, you're smiling all giddy because the fmc and mc are genuinely cute together, and then ... the manga hits you with a reminder that something is wrong.

It's honestly good writing on both ends, as the manga also switches perspectives to get more insight into the characters, creating some irony. The comedy is also pretty good, as the mc exaggerates his interactions due to the fmc's attachment issues.

This manga is so conflicting as it's a cycle of "I'm scared; oh, it's cute again, aww... Oh God, I hope this doesn't end badly" every chapter, and I'm all for that. The author is toying with my emotions, and it's pretty fun. At will, the author can change this manga into a wholesome healing romance or something much darker. Which one it will be is up in the air, but I'll be here for the journey.


Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

This manga despite it's slow releases is a solid 4/5 star series.
The pacing is very slow, enough to confuse a lot of people.
Likewise, you got a slow but subtly intense story with a lot going on.
Lots of hints or glimpses of the past which led to the main female MC's trauma and injury.
In this story, it's made clear the characters are all on thin ice of sorts, aware of the negatives more often then the good.
It looks like the author is balancing between female fan service (low key) and a psychological dark development.

Not bad, not peak but it's worth reading