MASAMUNE-KUN NO REVENGE
STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
10
RELEASE
June 27, 2018
CHAPTERS
54
DESCRIPTION
As an overweight child, Makabe Masamune was mercilessly teased and bullied by one particular girl, Adagaki Aki. Determined to one day exact his revenge upon her, Makabe begins a rigorous regimen of self-improvement and personal transformation.
Years later, Masamune reemerges as a new man. Handsome, popular, with perfect grades and good at sports, Masamune-kun transfers to Aki’s school, and is unrecognizable to her. Now, Masamune-kun is ready to confront the girl who bullied him so many years ago and humiliate her at last. But will revenge be as sweet as he thought?
(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)
Included Side Chapters:
Chapter 9.5: Investigative Report into Aki Adagaki
Chapter 12.5: A Fine Tradition of Stewardship
Chapter 14.5: Tsunade Island Incident Part 2
Chapter 20.5: Kojuurou Wants To Become A Dandy
Chapter 35.2: Piggy's Memorial Part 2
CAST
Aki Adagaki
Masamune Makabe
Yoshino Koiwai
Neko Fujinomiya
Kojuurou Shuri
Kinue Hayase
Tae Futaba
Chinatsu Hayase
Muriel Besson
Sonoka Kaneko
Yuisaki Midori
Kikune Kiba
Mari Mizuno
Kanetsugu Gasou
CHAPTERS
RELATED TO MASAMUNE-KUN NO REVENGE
NOVEL ComedyMasamune-kun no Revenge
ANIME ComedyMasamune-kun no Revenge
MANGA ComedyMasamune-kun no Re○○○
REVIEWS
nflstreet
An entertaining, yet uninspired and painfully average, rom-com mangaContinue on AniListComing from the anime, I already had an idea of what I was getting into. My blurb for the review I gave for the anime on Anilist was “While being one of the most average anime that I’ve ever watched, it still was enjoyable”. On that front, the manga held up. While it did take me almost a month to get to where the anime adaptation ended, I still read about one chapter a night, not fully immersing into the story, but at the same time not disinterested enough to drop it. I could have skipped to where the anime ended to save myself the slog of reliving the adapted parts of the manga, but I felt like I would be cheating myself by doing that. Once I arrived in Paris (in the manga), my reading pace picked up. This was uncharted territory, and as such was entertaining to read, even if the quality of the story was the same.
If you’re a fish out of water and haven’t watched the anime before deciding to read the manga, I’ll briefly summarize the plot for you: Masamune Makabe, our main character, after eight years of rigorous training deep in rural Japan, has returned as the ‘perfect young man’ (handsome, good grades, athletic, etc.) While Makabe wants to give off the air of ‘The Dreamy Transfer Student’, no one else knows that this is all the culmination of his eight-year-long training. Why did he train? It’s because of Aki Adagaki, the ‘Most Popular Girl At School’, and Masamune’s one-time childhood friend. Masamune ran away to his grandfather’s home to start his training after being rejected and being called ‘Pig’s Foot’ by a then-young Aki. Along with that, Makabe was constantly tormented for being a fat rich child. If he was in America, he would have definitely been nicknamed ‘Porky Pig’. That aside, those events, especially Aki rejecting him, was traumatizing to the point of Makabe spending half of his life in a remote part of Japan. His plan now is to get ‘revenge’ on her by swooning her into going out with him, and then humiliating her by dumping her. I’m writing this review from the point of view of someone who’s attempting to compare and contrast the manga from the anime, so if you haven’t watched the anime left, or have no interest in it and only want to know if the manga is worth reading, then this review might not be the best for you.
One great quality, probably the best quality of them all, about Masamune-kun is that the manga has great pacing. I’m not exactly the most experienced manga reader, but my experience in reading other rom-com manga has been damaged by pacing issues. Whether it is due to the manga seemingly ending all in a sudden, like The Quintessential Quintuplets, or are perpetually stuck in motion, like Rent-A-Girlfriend at the time of writing this. The mangaka makes a comment on ‘love comedy manga’ in Chapter 32, having Makabe say “A love comedy, you see, is 80% finished, once the love becomes mutual”. To their credit, the mangaka does stick to what Makabe said. A romantic comedy has to teeter the fine line of ‘teasing’ without it becoming pedantic, but must not also have its conclusion come too soon, since then it might become boring, which in some cases can be worse than being bad. Of course, this rule isn’t etched in stone, or is even necessary in some cases, but it works well with Masamune-kun. If I wanted to be negative here, I could further push my narrative that this reinforces that Masamune-kun is one of the most average anime/manga series that I’ve ever read, but that would be unfair. The general pacing of Masamune-kun keeps it interesting enough to not make it a slog to read. Its relative shortness (with the caveat of longer chapters) makes it easier to digest. It’s also a finished product, so you know you’re not getting into something that might waste your time for the next few years and have you wondering why you started reading it in the first place.
With that being said, the real question here is: Is the story better than in the anime? Like I said in the review of the anime, the story was one of the most average that I’ve ever witnessed--does the manga manage to become better? Well, on a technical level, yes, it does. The anime ended with “See you in Paris!”, alluding to the next arc. The anime cuts off here, and the god-awful OVA is pure fanservice for the diehards, leaving “See you in Paris!” to mean “Read the damn manga if you want to know what happens next!” The anime adapts the first 60% of the manga, and the manga has been officially translated in its entirety, so there’s no reason why you SHOULDN’T be able to read it (if you live in America at least). So, does the story reaching its conclusion change it from being ‘average’ to ‘good’ or ‘great’? Unfortunately for Masamune-kun, I can’t go that far.
It’s really tragic--Masamune-kun does everything correctly on a technical level: it keeps tension going throughout the series (to keep readers interested); it has its climax at the ‘right’ part, not too soon or too late; it doesn’t overstay its welcome, when it’s done telling its story it curtsies and leaves your home; and it doesn’t become so wild that it loses focus of the story at hand (the Masamune-kun wiki oversold how ‘wild’ the manga would get). It manages to get all of that ‘correct’, but fails to have a compelling story. One that will have you thinking about it for years to come. Masamune-kun doesn’t have this ‘staying factor’ that other, more memorable anime/manga series, have. While it’s not boring in any sense, Masamune-kun seems to be too focused on doing it ‘the right way’ and forgets that the series that are most remembered and highly rated are often the ones that break ‘the rules’ and forge their own. In playing it safe, Masamune-kun has avoided being ‘bad’ or becoming ‘boring’, but has become ‘forgettable’. I would also say that it has fallen into ‘anime purgatory’, but it being within the Top 200 Most Popular Anime on AniList (the manga being very close to being within the Top 100 Most Popular), that would be a lie. I don’t see anyone talk about Masamune-kun on social media, but that’s only anecdotal evidence and due to who I follow on Twitter.
The ending really reinforces the ‘paint-by-numbers’ nature of the series. It almost broke free and became something that would be worth remembering, but at the last moment reverted back to the default and called it a day. It’s fatalistic, which would be nothing new from a Japanese rom-com series, but still is disappointing to read. While it isn’t bad, I have to say that the ending is quite weak, and I would imagine have left more devoted readers on a sour note (depending on if they had a ‘favorite girl’, and who it was). One could call it an ‘ass-pull’, depending on how you took it. The ending is also very sudden, not like a cliffhanger, but you would expect that there would be a chapter or two after that. Technically, there is a whole volume after it, but it’s called a ‘sequel’, which focuses on wrapping up the loose-ends of seven of the characters. The flip-side of the ‘paint-by-numbers’ ending is that it isn’t rushed or prolonged. Even if it ends suddenly, it doesn’t end too soon.
A huge part of my review of the anime was focused on complaints--mostly trivial ones about the lack of research into ‘working out’ in relation to Makabe’s character. I’m glad to say that the series got better with this as time went on. Even to the point where Makabe talks about protein supplements! While the knowledge of ‘working out’ by the mangaka still seems pedestrian, it’s much better than the ‘Buy Low, Sell High’-tier of knowledge that was in the anime. For a series that was careful with how its plot was laid out, it still had some weird plot points that in hindsight never needed to be in there in the first place. The one that comes to mind is Makabe’s rashes that he occasionally got--while diving into why he got them in the first place would be too big of a spoiler, it’s disappointing that it got dropped as soon as it came in. There're also some characters that disappear completely as soon as their arc is over. I know that they were really never meant to be important characters, with the purpose of them being to force a progression of the story, but it still is odd how they disappear and never make a return.
Is Masamune-kun worth reading? If you’re here from the anime and want to see if the manga is worth reading, I’d say go ahead, give it a shot. The manga is relatively short and could be no-lifed within a day. It would give you closure, even if you hate the ending. If you haven’t watched the anime, then I would suggest that you watch it first, but either way is up to you. The manga, like the anime, is painfully average, only saved by the fact that it never goes off the rails or gets boring. There are better romance manga that you could read, but Masamune-kun is at least worth a shot. You should also read the ‘after stories’ after finishing the manga, since it will give you better closure and leave you more satisfied with the ending.
veritasnoai
An overall good romcom manga but with some critical flawsContinue on AniListI came upon this manga through the anime, which I came upon through Anilist's recommendations. There aren't too many reviews for the manga and having not written a review before, I wanted to give a shot writing one. This review contains what I consider minor spoilers for character introductions and story arc focuses but the real spoilers are hidden.
Story
The story follows protaganist Makabe Masamune and Adagaki Aki as they enter a strange romantic relationship. The twist here is that they were friends when they were children and Makabe was insulted by Aki for confessing his feelings for her. Makabe then trains for eight years to go from being an obese child to a handsome teenager, changes his family name, and transfers to her school to get her to fall in love with him and then dump her spectacularly, all for sweet, sweet revenge.
The beginning of the story capitalizes on the absurdity of this well. Aki has turned down every man who has approached her and is quite wary of this new Masamue. Masamune, who has never dated before and hates Aki, forces himself to try many different approaches to get close to her, many of them ridiculous but he somehow succeeds a bit in the end. It's a great dynamic and leads to many cute and hilarious moments. It's likely what hooked most people when they read or watched it.
After the beginning, Masamune-kun begins to show a couple flaws in it's writing. It introduces a number of characters who, despite large introductions, become more glorified plot tool than real dimensional character (some more or less than others). It's awkward that so much time is spent on these characters when they don't really develop that much and leave as soon as their usefulness is fulfilled. These characters often don't play a direct part in the climaxes of the arcs they are involved in either, it's just feels strange. Additionally, the manga introduces two love triangles and while the first does have interesting moments, the second feels like it's missing some tension. All of this feels wasteful, especially when it pulls attention away from the interactions between Masamune and Aki, which was what was so fun about the manga in the first place. I would consider the ending of the manga agreeable but there is a very sudden aspect to it. It's not the worst but the last few chapters are definitely some of the weakest unfortunately.
EDIT: Realized after there is another series called "After School" which provides a few chapters of epilogue after the main manga. It softens the blow a bit and has some nice moments but it isn't enough to redeem the ending of the main series.
All that being said, it was an enjoyable read. Even if we see less scenes with interaction between Masamune and Aki, the focus is still tightly on their relationship. Combined with the good pacing (except for the end), it feels structurally very solid and that supports it through some of the weaker moments.
Here are some extra thoughts that contains spoilers:
The scene between Neko and Masamune in the hospital after he rejects her is a great moment that I feel should have been given more depth. Neko, like Masamune, has used a false love to try to acquire some other goal. It almost gives a good moment of hesitation for Masamune and for him to mull over his revenge plot and consider whether it is worth it or foolish, but stops short of a serious reflection.The french otaku girl has a very big introduction for a character who doesn't last more than a few chapters. Gasou also kind of fizzles out a bit over time. Even though they are both part of the cause for their arcs' climaxes, it's feels weird that they aren't involved directly in them. Why introduce and set expectations for these characters when they never really see development or resolution that feels enough? Neko has a bit of this problem too although not as much, her romantic feelings for Masamune come back occasionally to add tension, it's especially cheap at the end.
Speaking of which, that final ending with the fake outs is almost insulting. It's such a cheap way to try and shoehorn in some extra tension since by this point we all know what's going to happen, the whole point of the story was Masamune and Aki getting together, going another direction would have required a lot more work towards that prior to the end. I would have liked some time spent on them after the start of their real relationship, it would have smoothed out a bit of the rushed weirdness at the end and just let the story do what it was doing best.
Art
I'm maybe not the best judge of manga art but the art here is quite good. The characters look great and are always on model, the background art is coherent and gives a good sense of the space they are in. Panel composition is mostly pretty functional but there are a few special moments that takes some liberty. I'm a bit too inexperienced to have an idea of what could be done better so I can't give much more critique than that.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoyed the anime and you want to see how it was supposed to end, reading the manga is probably worth it. If you're just looking for a romcom manga, this might be worth it even without the perfect end. My bar might just be lower since I mostly watch anime but it's hard to find a romcom anime that ends this well, even if there was still something left to be desired.
Kyonkk
you better read "Masamune-Kun's Revenge" or you father may have to go out for a 10 year long smokeContinue on AniListThe Reason I Shouldn't Be Allowed To Have Opinions
-Kyonkk
This manga is a major fucking joke, and that is precisely why i love it so much.
Masamune-Kun's Revenge's basic story is as follows: Makabe Masamune as a young boy was bullied by the people around with one girl standing out in particular, Adagaki Aki. Determined to one day exact his revenge upon her, Makabe trains in order to improve his mind and body
Years later, Masamune returns home reforged. Handsome, popular, with perfect grades and great athletic ability, Masamune-kun transfers to Aki’s school, and is now unrecognisable to her. Now, Masamune is ready to start the revenge that he had spent so long preparing, but how well will Masamune's revenge truly flourish?
The romcom genre really popped out another masterclass manga, there really aren't any words to describe how much i despise yet adore this dumpster fire.
Masamune-kun's revenge suffers from it's deteriorating writing quality, what started off as a small, witty and sometimes genuinely interesting story, became full of 'one off's' that lead nowhere, twists that smoothed themselves out before anyone could really care about what happened and humour that relied too much on the audiences attention to previous events or immaturity (which is probably why i still enjoyed it at least a little).
Masamune-kun's revenge really didn't have to become as much of a train-wreck as it eventually became though, for example, there are many "important" events that make you wonder wether or not they have to happen at all, such as the flip flopping between girls at the end in order to appeal to the "fans" that may have come to enjoy them. plenty of characters could have been skipped entirely, such as Yuisaki Midori the maid that is introduced in the summer trip arc towards the beginning of the story, whose only future purpose was to make sure that Kanetsugu Gasou has a reason appear in this story at all.
HOWEVER, it's because of that terrible decline in quality, and it's because of the meaningless characters that i love this manga as much as i do, without all the mistakes and annoyances, Masamune-kun would be a very underwhelming story.
Even though it has it's shortcomings, and a lot of them, i still enjoy the very idea of Masamune and although it hasn't really scratched my romance itch as much as Oregairu and Pseudo Harem did, i still find extreme joy in just talking about Masamune-kun.
The first 3/4's of Masamune-kun's revenge actually do make for a surprisingly good read if you also have low standards for it going in, although there isn't necessarily a reason to invest yourself in it that doesn't mean you won't be gripped all the same.
after note: i forgot why i started writing this, so that's cool
yet another note: over a year later and the sentiments I held whilst writing this review still ring true. What a wonderful work of art!
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SCORE
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MORE INFO
Ended inJune 27, 2018
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