Every time I pick up another romcom I find myself wondering what is the purpose of these cute little books? Is it blatant escapism hopeless romanticism or even just waifu bait? Any seasoned romcom reader as I would consider myself would realize these are just flagrant accusations cast by those who dont understand the genre there is far more to a good romcom than just these elements. But in recent memory most romcoms have fallen into the same sullen tropes. Its not like this is anything new tropes have been a standard in the romcom genre for decades and when handled correctly can lead to a perfect blend of comedic timing and romance An example being Jin Kobayashis School Rumble. 220https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/SR26SRS1cast.jpg But a severe lack in nuance in concepts has caused a bit of a rough patch in manga within recent memory at least for largely published manga. Thats why when I saw another long titled cutesy tsundere manga I was initially disinterested. However noticing the artist of Onani Master Kurosawa was fronting the project I gained a bit more interest and decided that due to its relatively short length Like her skirt... haha... I would give it a read. Honestly it was quite a neat little manga. To be clear this manga is not a gamechanger and its not a revolutionary piece of literature to be talked about for ages rather its a culmination of what I love about romcoms as a whole and how well even a simple one like this can work when these elements are linked together. Now when covering a romcom there is a core element to every story to make it work the characters. The essence of the rom elements are the characters along with the essence of the com. Fundamentally a romcom cannot feasibly work unless the characters are entertaining or interesting enough to maintain reader interest. The manga most certainly does not fail here. Criticisms first it is extremely tropey. Aside from Sakuradaimon every character mainly falls into a preestablished little role. Yuu is the ragged Yankee Poemu is the Tsundere Nadeshiko is the wacky school pres etc. However as stated before if these characters work well in their dynamic there is no issue. And for the most part they fit perfectly Theres an engaging dynamic of stupidity between the stuckup vice president Kaoru and Nadeshiko and their antics are a fun little side plot. Other characters however are a little obnoxious in their troperiddled development though not to an extent that Id say they are a detriment. Overall the cast outside of our main two is solid and dont hurt or distract from the main dynamic whatsoever. 220https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dumbprefectcharacters.jpg Just look at how adorable they are The plot is simple and really works to support the most enjoyable part of the manga that being Sakuradaimon and Poemus dynamics. Basically Poemu wears short skirts as the rambunctious tsun that she is and the straightlaced Sakuradaimon doesnt like it and tries to get her to stop. Their exchanges arent necessarily negative and they tend to understand where each other comes from mutually. Its this wholesome little charade that carries along with the plot at your typical romcom pace for the first 20 or so chapters. The plot does surprise here though as forbidden by romcom law the two actually... get together??? Initially I was a bit skeptical at how fast the story was moving though maybe that was in part due to whiplash thanks to many other romcoms Ive read in which it takes upwards of 300 chapters to get anywhere Looking at you Komisan but the change didnt hinder the story at all rather bringing it to a higher level than before. Some minor drama ensues including the ever loveably dense Sakuradaimon figuring out the nuances of relationships all the while Poemu bashfully makes gradual steps towards taking their relationship further. Its not only a lovely setup but also feels unique as few romcoms explore this sort of dynamic whilst the two are actually in a relationship. It also helped that while he is extremely dense Sakuradaimon isnt doing that just to prolong the plot but rather because after having withstood proper moral boundaries for so long he has to learn how to open up. While not groundbreaking writing its this small amount of development and progression that allows the reader to stay interested in both his character and the typical romcom shenanigans. It works and as such so does the plot. 220https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/manga/3/230957.jpg 220https://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/manga/2/218126l.jpg Their dynamic is definitely the highlight of the manga The artwork is to put it bluntly outstanding. Anything Yokota draws I will read as this style is just so appealing Every character feels so vibrant and expressive the paneling is gorgeous the sleek lines add emphasis and almost a Sunrise style aesthetic that I absolutely adore. Its definitely personal preference in this department but I feel like the manga would not be nearly as good as it is without Yokotas outstanding artwork. It really is impressive to see the progression he has made from the subpar and often confusing paneling and artwork in Kurosawa/Chikan Otoko to this manga and the Magic The Gathering one hes currently working on. Not much else to say if youre going to read this manga read it for the art if anything In conclusion is this manga a groundbreaking piece of literature? No. Because thats not what it needs to be. It is an entertaining wholesome romcom with some simple development believable character progression and vibrant fun character designs/interactions. If you ever feel like Hey I just wanna read a simple short romcom I would highly recommend this title. Thank you for reading 220https://preview.redd.it/ow9ot7eysi731.png?auto=webps=56dc77b7d87a37d9a9972c90f58b781bcfa042a5 Absolute Chad Sakuradaimon EDIT: The manga is now a 6 out of 10 recent chapters have been absolutely trash and ruined a lot of what made the manga work. So sad.