No Longer Heroine, vol. 1 | Review

No Longer Heroine, vol. 1 by Momoko Koda
Published 9/13/22, Yen Press
Rating: Teen

No longer Heroine or as I would call it, How Not to Succeed in Romance, is a romantic-comedy centered on Hatori Matsuzaki, the self-professed heroine of this story. The hero of her story is Rita Terasaka, a classmate Hatori had known since childhood who’s also a well-known playboy.  Even though she is aware of Rita’s “love ‘em and leave ‘em” personality, Hatori truly believes they are endgame (aka meant to be). She’s the only one who truly knows him and has known him longer than any other girl. 

After all, she’s the leading lady in this story, and the heroine always gets the guy, right?

But what she doesn’t expect is classmate Adachi, an seemingly stereotypical nerdy girl, becoming Rita’s new girlfriend and even worse, Rita rejecting Hatori’s affections. 

But Hatori’s the heroine of the story. How can she lose Rita to someone like Adachi, and what can Hatori do to make him see that she’s the one for him?

Hilarious, and really sad in an embarrassing way, No Longer Heroine is kind of a spoof of the typical high school drama. The leads are the stereotypical beautiful girl and the handsome jock, and the interloper is the nerdy girl. But with this take, the jock and the nerdy girl find that they are really compatible, and begin to date. The beautiful girl is in shock because she’s popular. She’s better than all the other girls. 

When you read the manga and see the many expressions Hatori shows as her reality begins to crumble, it’s a very interesting take. From being happy, stone-faced, or absolutely delusional in her goal to separate Rita and Adachi, we’re taken on an emotional rollercoaster that we don’t know if we want to get off or stay on for next phase. 

But to see Hatori become humbled by this experience is refreshing in a way, as Rita isn’t the stereotypical jock. He doesn’t like fake personalities, and since he has known Hatori since childhood, she fails to realize that he knows her too. Meanwhile Adachi is a kind-hearted person who is only serious when she needs to be, and that is what Rita likes about her. She’s the real deal. She’s what Hatori isn’t.

So what does Hatori do now? 

Does she find a new guy to be the hero in her story, or does she become a villain?

We’ll have to wait until volume 2 to see what path Hatori chooses to take.

Filed under: Graphic Novels, Manga, Reviews, Young Adult