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An average but cute story with likeable characters that is ultimately brought down by it's conclusion. The story follows a very standard high school romcom plotline, with the MC Nakajima bringing the FMC Tanaka out of her shell as their relationship progresses. Nakajima's characterization as a nice and outgoing guy is nothing particularly unique, but it works for the story being told. Tanaka has a more interesting characterization as a loner due to the frightening aura she puts off, and I like the dynamic the two have with each other. I think the pacing is largely well handled, and it feels like the progression of ... the two's relationship happens at a satisfying pace. However (spoilers) the ending kind of leaves a bit to be desired. I feel there's no sense of closure by the end and there easily could've been a few more chapters to wrap things up nicer. The lackluster ending doesn't automatically make this a bad story, but it definitely puts a damper on what I thought was going to be a slightly above average short romance series.

Also this has no bearing on the story whatsoever, but Ch 23 is literally almost an exact copy of a scene out of Spy x Family which may or may not have been intentional, but was pretty funny regardless.

This is a pretty plain romance story that doesn't really offer the reader any surprises whatsoever, but is slightly charming nonetheless. The most notable thing about the story is the classically dense MC, Mako. There's such a thing as taking a trope to its extreme, and Mako definitely encapsulates that when it comes to his denseness. Sakurai does everything in her power to "hint" to Mako her feelings but he cannot seem to pick up on anything, which would generally be par for the course for this kind of story. However Sakurai's "hints" include offering him multiple indirect kisses, biting his ear, aggressively holding his ... hand, legitimately asking him on dates, and nearly locking lips with him. Yet still at the end of each interaction Mako just thinks "could this girl possibly like me?" The absurdity of which kind of weirdly loops back around to being funny rather than annoying. The actually annoying dense characterization is given to Sakurai, which I just kind of felt was unnecessary. She explicitly mentions that she doesn't know how Mako feels about her but it kind of feels pointless to have her be equally as clueless, seeing as we've gotten our fill of that characterization from Mako in spades.

Additionally, this story pulls the "Romantic moment/confession gets interrupted" like four or five times. For a series of this length, this feels way too repetitive even by just the second occurrence. Overall the basic story is only somewhat saved by the cute moments which are unfortunately compromised by the aforementioned predictable tropes present.

I went into this without any real expectations and was pleasantly surprised to find how much I enjoyed this manga. Firstly, I really like the inversion of the childhood friend got hot trope. Instead, our MC Touma returns to find his childhood friend Kyouko is, as the title would imply, broken and in a bad place in her life. Watching Kyouko slowly come out of her shell again as a result of Touma's support is really cool and surprisingly wholesome given the character design. Speaking of which, the manga is somewhat spicy, but handles its suggestive moments really well in my opinion. The story never ... really relies on worn out ecchi tropes and instead uses cropped panels of the two "getting together", each with varying levels of implication. Its impressive how often it happens without it ever feeling overused or out of place. Aside from the "plot", the actual plot progression and pacing is well done. The pace at which the two leads get together , start developing their relationship, get married, and have a kid all feels very natural, and that's partially owed to some well implemented time skips. Often, instead of just jumping time without warning, the manga gives us a full page or so of the two leads doing various activities together beforehand, which makes it feel like the time is passing more naturally.

Overall a pretty good romance manga with likeable characters and a surprisingly captivating story.

A very odd little romance story between an idol and her neighbor who both attend the same high school. Honestly I think the premise is pretty unique, and I like the overall plotline about choosing to sacrifice your real personality and interests to pursue a dream. I also like the characterization of both leads, with both of them having decently good chemistry while also being good standalone characters. My main criticisms stem from the side characters and how they're handled. I hate the "extremely obsessive over one of the MCs" character archetype and the teacher side character is a particularly annoying example of this (luckily ... she doesn't get too much screen time). Additionally, the story kind of half introduces a love triangle, without really fleshing it out, but that's probably due to the series' current short length. Overall, a very decent romance manga that is worth a short read.

A romance story with a cute premise that is hurt by its short length. At face value, I like a how the story is laid out, with the MC getting rejected by the popular girl, improving himself, and then ultimately going for a different girl once he himself has gained popularity. However the pacing feels so off for this kind of plotline. There's just no time to see the MC develop feelings for the FMC it just kind of happens at the end when he picks her. The short length also hurts the characterization of the FMC, who kind of just comes off as an ... asshole because we don't get much time to see anything but her insulting the MC. I know oneshots are inherently short, but it negatively impacts the story in this case.

This is a cute little romance story featuring the popular trope of a fake relationship becoming real. The romance itself is nothing special, but is generally pretty well executed. The only real major problem I'd point out is the organization of the character progression and the pacing of certain parts. First, it feels like the "I Love You" moment between the two leads kind of happens too soon and without much buildup. I'm all for an early confession, but it still needs proper build up to feel like the important moment it should be. Additionally, the section where the MC becomes concerned his wife will ... be whisked away by his womanizer friend comes AFTER they both declared their love for each other. It feels like his worries are unfounded and the minor drama created from it feels kind of pointless. If this section had just happened BEFORE the two leads had openly admitted to their love, it would've benefitted both the pacing and the organization of the story. Other than that though, I think the overall story is quite charming. I like the chemistry between the two leads enough and there's plenty of cute moments between the two. I also like how the setting is fantasy, but the story doesn't overplay it. There isn't constant spellcasting or insane magical creatures, but instead it just feels like a relatively normal world where magic happens to be present. It gives more time for the slice of life aspects of the story to shine, seeing as big moments of magical spectacle tend to steal the show. Save for my nitpicking, this is a perfectly fine little series that I'd recommend if you're looking for a cute romance in a fantasy setting that mostly stays away from the annoying tropes associated with the genre.

This series is just a lackluster romance between a student and teacher with a HEAVY focus on ecchi. At the bare minimum, each chapter has a revealing panel or two focusing on breasts or panties but at it's worst it's bordering on censored hentai. Aside from that, this series also finds ways to give the MC the most degenerate options for romance. Almost every female character introduced is horny for him, including his little sister, random classmates, a clubmate, his subordinate at work who shares his time travelling and exists as a loli in the past, and of course his adult teacher.

The story focusing ... on the intimate relationship between a 17 year old and his 24 year old teacher is uncomfortable enough as it stands. But the degree to which the adult woman is horny for this kid is honestly a little disturbing. Now I know that technically it's a 27 year old in a 17 year old's body, but A.) She doesn't know that, and B.) She's still getting overly intimate with the body of a high schooler.

On top of this, the manga seems to want to introduce multiple other women who are interested in the MC as well. These additions mostly feel tacked on, seeing as most of them (save for his little sister of all people) remain largely inconsequential and get very little screentime. This isn't important to the overall story, but I can't help but laugh at how, the one girl who is both interested in the MC and would also be unproblematic for him to have a relationship with, gets the least screentime and only really shows any affection towards him for a few pages that take place in an alternate future. She could literally have been removed as a character and nothing would have changed.

Overall, a very middling ecchi manga with an interesting gimmick, but otherwise little to no substance.

My Dress Up Darling is one of my favorite series of all time. The anime was on of the first shows that got me into romance series and the manga's finale perfectly wraps up the series in my opinion. I was excited to see a series with extra content featuring Kitagawa and Gojo so I read all the available chapters, only to be massively disappointed. Kitagawa, Gojo, and even Gramps all deviate heavily from their main series characterization. Gojo is characterized as a gullible moron for some reason, with Kitagawa having to correct him and point out the obvious to him. I have no clue ... why they are written like this, but it seriously feels like this should've just been an entirely separate series with completely different characters. The only characterization that really lines up with the original series is Kitagawa's endless love for Gojo, which is still cute, but ultimately can't save this spin-off.

In a vacuum, this isn't really that bad. Had this been an original series and original characters with these personalities and character dynamics, I would rate it higher and possibly even recommend it. However because the series uses familiar characters that I love, but changes their personalities for the worse, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I genuinely cannot recommend this to anybody, particularly fans of the original manga.

This series I feel is a mixed bag. On the one hand, I think the concept is pretty novel and is an interesting way to spice up the typical high school setting for a rom com. I also mostly like the leads and their characterization. Although usually an romance MC who's main character trait is "Wow I'm insanely down bad for my love interest" is super annoying, I think giving it to the female lead instead of the male works. Although it still can be pushed into annoying territory, because of the tone of the series it mostly just comes off as goofy instead of ... creepy, despite the uncomfortable real world implications of much of what Hoshikawa gets up to. My main issue with the series is actually the characterization of the male lead Yoshino. As of this review, the series totals 17 chapters. Hoshikawa spends almost every panel teasing him in various ways. She goes so far as to bathe with him and kiss him through a mask, and yet Yoshino still just sits there wondering "Why is she acting all weird?" I get that "Rom com MC dense as a neutron star" is commonplace but it literally has zero impact on the story. After he finally acknowledges that Hoshikawa obviously has feelings for him in the last chapter, my guess is that he'll keep it to himself for way too long because he wants to see how far she'll go before being open about it. This is frustrating enough as is (given my prediction is correct) but it also completely invalidates the need for his stupid dense characterization. He could've been written to figure her out day one and it not only would it make more sense, but it would be more interesting than what we got. Nitpicky? Yes, extremely. But I have never been a fan of stories that do a poor job justifying why characters keep information from each other. It's a crutch too many authors use to draw out a series length, and I've seen plenty of series that create believable reasons for the leads' secrecy. I'd have to read the series when it's complete to maybe change my score, but until then this is just a goofy rom com with some interesting ideas that fumbles just enough for me to knock its score.

An interesting enough story about overturning a corrupt government mixed with pretty endearing character moments. I gave it a read because it was tagged "romance", but the story doesn't really focus on the romance all that much. Regardless, the story that is told is decently captivating so it was still worth a short read. Speaking of which, the main issue with the manga is its short length. It feels like a grander plot with many moving parts and character twists was planned, but had to be condensed into 4 volumes. Even so, the story makes the best of the short time it has, with only ... a handful of segments that feel like the pacing was rushed. Its actually pretty impressive that the characters are as interesting as they are with so little screentime. The story juggles more characters than most romance manga of this length and yet still gives each one a role to play and unique characterization. The character interactions are also pretty well handled, with my only criticism being that the dynamic between Shin Yu and Ren Fa basically remains stagnant after the first chapter or so. I like the relationship the two form, but wish there was more build up. Maybe have Shin Yu be colder to Ren Fa at the beginning, giving him time to warm up to her and eventually become a proper caring husband for her. Possibly due to the short run time, it feels like he speedruns the character progression and just immediately starts loving her and being protective of her. Either way, a neat little romance series that goes extremely light on the romance.