みにあまる彼氏

MINIAMARU KARESHI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
13
RELEASE
November 5, 2021
CHAPTERS
83

DESCRIPTION

Iroha Aoyagi is a normal 16 year old girl, except, she's never fallen in love. She suspects there might be something wrong with her; until she meets her classmate Kusakabe-kun who seems well-versed and cynical about matters of love. Will Iroha be able to handle someone like Kusakabe-kun?

Note: Includes 5 extra chapters.

CAST

Haruki Kusakabe
Iroha Aoyagi

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

Cookiesforbreakfast
85/100
A yandere guy who's so obsessed he reaches enlightenment
After searching for a good shoujo rom-com with SAME-AGED love interests (looking at u Promise Cinderella & Takane to Hana...) I have finally found one. This manga was really not what I expected at ALL.

First of all, when picking this up, do not be alarmed at the speed of progression in the first chapter. I'm not really sure if it's a spoiler but they literally start dating after one day of hanging out I too, was shook and felt my expectations fall, thinking it was a super plain and typical romance BUT as I read on I realised that this was just a testament to how dumb (said affectionately) the two main characters are. They're basically a parody of the Naive Girl x the Guy who only thinks about romance (and has way too much time on his hands) pair, so don't let this bother you because chapter 2 is where things start unravelling.

So back to the title of this review, the guy, Kusakabe, has ISSUES. Major ones. Theres being heavy in a relationship, there's taking possessiveness a little too far, and THEN there's whatever the heck this guy has going on.
In the first few chapters his red flags start showing and eventually the girl, Iroha, starts noticing. When Kusakabe decides to open up about his issues, Iroha, having no prior romantic experience has nothing to compare this "heaviness" with, and takes in each confession with optimism, which throws him for a loop.
Her friends, the only ones with two braincells to rub together at this point, worry and rightly so. Their naive little girl is happily skipping on over into the claws of a wolf and could get eaten at any time. Amazingly though, Kusakabe is the one who'll be facing the Herculean trials, and the friends, seeming to realise this, cede and adopt him intro their group.
And thus, the circus, consisting of Kasukabe, Iroha and both their friend groups is born.

Points I love about this manga:
- The lack of avoidable misunderstandings.
  You'd think a manga with a naive protagonist and a possessive male lead would be a breeding ground for misunderstandings but boy, do they power through them. Love interests? Exes? You've come to the wrong place, please leave before being obliterated.
  Not only do the main two (unwittingly) excel in communication, with a friendship group consisting of both sides, there is little to no privacy and all the antics are discussed in hilarious detail. Also Kusakabe may or may not be a pro at interrogating people... but just like Iroha, we shall laugh that off.
- The ART
  The illustration is so cutee and the expressions give me so much life. The diversity in Kusakabe's expressions is the funniest thing ever and I would recommend checking out the manga just to see the way he snaps.
  His face when he was arguing with a 5yr old was pure comedy. And also his face when he addresses other males as insects... so true bestie!!
- The progress
  You'd think a possessive guy who always has a free house to himself would try to, y'know, trap the person they like there at every opportunity. Especially after the first few chapters, it seems like you know where it's going and so you prepare yourself to either be faced with doki doki or cringe... BUT you can relax, kinda.
  Although he uses some petty tactics to try and get some flirty action in the beginning, something within him changes after the Kyoto trip arc and he starts to he realises how much he can trust Iroha. To someone who's used to keeping his jealousy festering she's a huge breath of fresh air and basically becomes a goddess to him at this point. He's down so bad the word simp doesn't cover it.
  That's not to say there aren't doki doki moments, there are but the balance of power within them are different from what I'd originally expected and I'm so glad things of that nature don't feel forced or rushed.
  Her friends are super supportive in making sure that she never feels pressured too, so I'm sure this'll be a manga that doesn't leave you feeling icky despite how obviously yandere the main guy is.
Overall I super recommend this manga to people who are looking for an entertaining read!!
Continue on AniList
RoseFaerie
85/100
This yandere shoujo romance was a roller coaster and not what I was expecting at all!
When I heard this was a yandere romance, I was expecting it to be something that would be fun to psychoanalyze. It might not be a healthy relationship, but it would be fun to read about. I was genuinely surprised how much I loved the characters, the way they approached their relationships, and just how funny the manga was. However, the good things didn't last forever, and while I still really enjoyed this manga, the last two arcs were nowhere near the level I was expecting it to be.

Iroha Aoyagi is a sweet but naive girl who can't seem to fall in love. However, that changes when she ends up dating Kusakabe-kun, her experienced classmate. However, Kusakabe is possessive and forms strong attachments extremely quickly. With his yandere tendencies and Iroha's air-headed obliviousness and innocence, it's hard to say which one of them will have the hardest time in their relationship.

I appreciated that it never felt like Iroha was being taken advantage of. I was worried about that going into it, since it seemed like she was so innocent and inexperienced. But Iroha can recognize his negative behaviors, even recognizing that he isn't a good person. His obsessive tendencies are commented on, and he does improve a little bit. Iroha even calls him out for behavior that makes her upset or uncomfortable. For example, the Kyoto Trip arc, where he was rude to her friends, and she got upset with him. He was able to reflect on his actions and make changes for the better. And while he doesn't always change for the best reasons or in obvious ways, he is much more self-aware and considerate than he was in the beginning. And while they have a challenging time figuring out how to begin a more physical relationship, it is because they try and figure out a time when they both feel comfortable engaging in those types of things. It is made better when Iroha's friend, Sacchi, opens up about her past sexual relationships, where she was pressured to do things she wasn't comfortable with yet and that Iroha should just wait until she is ready.

Kusakabe's interactions with the other characters, and the other character's strange and comic behavior was a joy to observe. Kusakabe's creepy facial expressions when he gets annoyed are hilarious. All the character interactions are lively, and even the love rivals have lovely comedic moments with the other characters.

However, I had a lot of issues with the last two arcs. Kusakabe's ex-girlfriend makes an appearance, and I literally almost cried because of how terribly all the other characters treated her. She's extremely sweet and overly apologetic, but she has a hard time reading social cues. She's awkward, has low self-esteem, and she doesn't have any friends. Kusakabe is awful to her. He's awful to all his ex-girlfriends, but he's particularly awful to Haruka because she appears in his life again, wanting to be friends. He makes these uncalled-for jabs at her about how she doesn't have any friends and how he'd basically leave her to die. This really upset me, since I could see myself in Haruka, since I was extremely shy, awkward, anxious, overly apologetic, and had extremely low self-esteem. I also spent most of my late elementary school and early middle school years without friends. It's hard to be lonely and resigned to the fact that you might be alone forever, and Kusakabe's behavior felt like straight-up bullying. And then Iroha was jealous of her being in Kusakabe's life, though to be fair she didn't witness most of the stuff that happened between them. I was worried that they'd cut her out completely, especially since the characters were suspicious of her exclusively because of her being Kusakabe's ex-girlfriend (and a really stupid story about pudding). I was so relieved when the characters were able to respectfully work things out, and that Haruka and Iroha were able to remain friends. (And Haruka's reasons for falling for Kusakabe were so similar to my love-life experiences that I almost cried again.)

The other arc that I had issues with was the arc involving Kusakabe's mom. The arcs involving Iroha's family and the two love triangles that focus on her are great. It's just Kusakabe's life that has issues (much like Kusakabe himself). Kusakabe's mom is abusive. She destroys her son's favorite possessions if his test scores are less than perfect, but she ignores him and lets him do whatever he wants if he achieves what she desires. This arc started off strongly, and it provided a lot of context in to why Kusakabe is so obsessively attached to those close to him. However, the arc is basically resolved by his mom getting drunk, apologizing, and getting away Scott free. It just wasn't enough.

The characters are all super funny and entertaining. Kusakabe was the only one I had difficulties liking, since he could be horrible towards the other characters for no reason. He and Iroha are both self-centered and selfish, and they only aim for their own happiness. Iroha is an innocent and sheltered child, who's very airheaded but without being a pushover. The love rivals were great characters ranging from the entitled and petty childhood friend to the kindhearted but not very smart new student. Iroha and Kusakabe's friends were hilarious, even if Sacchi was the only one who got a romantic arc or a lot of depth.

The art was cute, even if everyone looked way younger than their actual ages. None of them seemed to physically age at all over the course of the manga. The color art was gorgeous, and it reminded me of the Futari de Koi wo Suru Riyuu art. (I actually had to sift through some Miniamaru Kareshi art to make the banner for FutaKoi.)

I did have a lot of fun reading this, I just got frustrated towards the end, and the ending was cute, even if it was a bit unrealistic. I would have given this a solid 9 if not for the poor handling of child abuse and the way a character I loved was constantly being insulted for no reason. It was super funny (I laughed out loud frequently while reading this), and I was surprised with how much thought and maturity their relationship was handled. Even if it wasn't healthy, they were trying to make sure that the relationship was one where they both felt comfortable.
Continue on AniList