SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

July 7, 2014 by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Review: My Love Story!! Vol. 1

July 7, 2014 by J. Caleb Mozzocco   Leave a Comment

My Love Story !! Vol. 1
Written by Kazune Kawahara
Art by Aruko
Viz; $10
Rated T for Teen

High School Debut‘s Kazune Kawahara joins forces with artist Aruko for this refreshingly unusual rom-com manga about a love triangle that only exists in the main character’s head.

That character is Takeo, a big, huge, manly-man of a high schooler, whose big muscles, thick lips, bushy eyebrows and propensity to over-emote marks him as more of a comedy relief character than the romantic lead in a shojo manga, which is, perhaps, why he himself has trouble seeing that this is actually his story (Well, that and the fact that he’s incredibly dense).

Takeo’s best friend is his next door neighbor Sunakawa, who is the sort of girlishly pretty, super-smooth guy that girls in manga usually fall for. All of Takeo’s young life, he has had crushes on cute classmates, but everyone of them has loved not him, but Sunakawa…who coolly, sometimes even cruelly, turns them all down.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Things start to change when Takeo saves the lovely Yamato from a would-be groper on a train (and, later, and perhaps less realistically, from a falling girder), and she takes a liking to the big, dense goof. Assuming that she is actually in love with Sunakawa, as is generally the case, Takeo decides to selflessly bury his own feelings and do everything in his power to bring his best friend and this girl together, despite the fact that they don’t even like each other.

Comic misunderstandings ensue, but, unlike many manga, this budding-romance isn’t dragged out interminably, or even over the course of more than one volume. Takeo and Yamato get on the same page and become a couple rather quickly (during the first half of this first volume, in fact).

In the second half, another pretty girl with affection for Takeo shows up, and could prove a rival to Yamato…or not.

Kawahara and Aruko seem to have great fun playing with the typical conventions of their genre, and readers should likewise have great fun with the results.

Filed under: Manga, Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
ArukoKazune KawaharaMy Love StoryVIZ

About J. Caleb Mozzocco

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a way-too-busy freelance writer who has written about comics for online and print venues for a rather long time now. He currently contributes to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6 blog and ComicsAlliance, and maintains his own daily-ish blog at EveryDayIsLikeWednesday.blogspot.com. He lives in northeast Ohio, where he works as a circulation clerk at a public library by day.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

May 2023

School-Live!: Letters | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

Spider-Man Fake Red | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

May 2023

My New Life as a Cat, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

April 2023

Call the Name of the Night, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

February 2023

Insomniacs After School, vol. 1 | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Name That LEGO Book Cover! (#44)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Ellen Myrick Publisher Preview: Fall 2023/Winter 2024 (Part Six – Diamond, Eye of Newt, & Floris Books)

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Squire & Knight | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

More Mock-Newbery Titles Needed: Share June Suggestions Now

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Top 25 Titles at My School: Graphic Novels and Mauds Reign Supreme!

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Trying Something New: SPEED ROUND w/ Marla Frazee, Doug Salati, Dan Santat, and Amina Luqman-Dawson

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Eight Essential Isekai Manga for Beginners | Mondo Manga

Best Graphic Novels 2022 | SLJ Best Books

PEN America and Trust Project Release Newsroom Transparency Tracker | News Bites

18 Superb Graphic Novel Adaptations for Kids and Teens

Eight Graphic Works that Offer Fresh Perspectives on the Past | Stellar Panels

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023