I Should Not Love You

by Chise Ogawa

Since he was little, Taisei Fujima has been known as the pretty boy in his town, and throughout his pampered and self-indulgent life thus far, there has only been one thing standing in his way: Keita Okachimachi, his former middle school classmate.
Therefore, when Taisei is once again reunited with Okachimachi, after three long years apart, Taisei can’t help but get riled up. And thus begins Taisei’s grand plan for revenge...!
Except, something’s wrong. Even though he loathes Okachimachi with every fiber of his being, why is Taisei’s heart beating so fast that he can hardly think straight.
“Don’t tell me I’ve fallen in love with him―?!”

Genres: Manga, Yaoi, Boys Love, Romance, LGBT, Graphic Novels, Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2013

About the author

Chise Ogawa (name in Japanese: 緒川千世) is the pen name that Shigeyoshi Takagi (高木しげよし) uses for her BL works.
She is the younger twin sister of Satoshi Morie.

She also draws dōjinshi under pen name 余暇 (Yoka) in circle 旧式 (Kyuushiki).

Different language transcriptions for Chise Ogawa:
ОГАВА Тисэ

Reviews

[MaDoReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 Mira que éste es blanco como la leche, pero me han hecho mucha gracias los esfuerzos de Taisei por vengarse de Okachi Machi, el amor siempre le acaba ganado la partida ;)

[oscar⭒ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little sad that it's already over and that it's a standalone novel. It was a light and sweet read, very comforting. I really appreciated the dynamic between the two characters, which was never toxic, quite the contrary. I highly recommend it and hope to read more by this author soon.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually super cute! The boys didn't fulfill the annoying "super uke" and "super seme" cliches - you know the ones. Yaoi hands, bad anatomy and one half of the couple looking like a prepubescent girl is off putting.

Thankfully not much of that is present here! The narrator, Taisei, is a spoiled pretty boy who reacts to the new boy (Okachi Machi) in a way that is very reminiscent of Tamaki from Ouran. Machi is ... rather flat, but he sure is drawn purty.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was adorable and had quite a few genuinely funny moments. These two lovable dummies may have had some ridiculous misunderstandings, but they were so cute that I was able to enjoy it anyway.

[Naki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una storia molto carina e leggera, perfetta per staccare la spina. Il protagonista con i suoi buffi tentativi di "vendicare" il suo onore ferito anni prima mi ha fatto ridere, è infatti evidente la sua cotta per il compagno di classe fin dal primo momento e tutti i suoi "malvagi" tentativi di infastidire l'amico sono così buffi da avermi fatto sorridere come una cretina per la metà del tempo. La storia non è certo approfondita e ci sono molti punti lasciati in sospeso, avrei voluto infatti un capitolo o due su Keita, per analizzare un po' la sua reazione al comportamento dell'amato e spiegarci cosa era successo di preciso alle medie dopo la famosa "confessione" e invece ci si concentra sul presente. Questo mi ha un po' infastidito insieme alla scelta di rendere il protagonista la vera cotta segreta di Keita, quando infatti l'amico del giovane fa notare al protagonista che il ragazzo è da sempre innamorato di un altro dai tempi delle medie avrei preferito scoprire che i sentimenti erano per un'altra persona, magari anche un personaggio morto da tempo o magari un professore o qualcuno di irraggiungibile mentre così... scoprire che dalle medie sbava per Taise... mah... se sommiamo il suo non ricordarsi minimamente neanche la sua faccia e avere una reazione "Ah... ma sei tu! Che bello rivederti ❤️"... doppio mah. Insomma è una lettura consigliata per lo più a chi vuole farsi qualche risata e assistere a tentativi idioti di vendetta degni di Willy il coyote! Se cercate invece psicologia, sentimenti ed emozioni complesse... avete sbagliato manga!

[Kimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! This story was much more emotional than some of sensei's other works. My heart broke with Fujima Taise's. The characters were all very likable. Fujima is super cute. Okachi Machi is a little bit odd but his feelings for Fujima save his character. The twins were also super cool. I loved this story a lot.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein super chaotischer, hauptsächlich ziemlich witziger Manga mit Schuljungs, die einfach zu doof zum kommunizieren sind. An der Story und dem Sex ist jetzt nichts besonderes, aber die Comedy-Einlagen und die Zeichnungen dazu sind wirklich ziemlich zum schmunzeln.

[duniamimpigie Anggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

CUTEEEEEEEEEE~~~!!!
Yaampuuuun, udah berapa kali reread ini ya? Bego sebego-begonya deh si tokoh utamanya, Fujima! Duh, si Gie yang gak biasanya demen genre comedy untuk BL, duluuu banget nemu ini dan langsung masuk list favorit untuk comedy (dan bikin jatuh cinta juga sama Ogawa Chise, selain karena Oboreru Sakana-nya juga).

Saking begonya ceritanya, saya udah gak peduli lagi soal masuk akal atau gaknya lolol~

Beberapa adegan yang paling hilarious dan sukses bikin terpingkal-pingkal tiap kali baca:
--> Bentou neraka (bento cinta buatan Fujima yang sampe disensor pake mozaik saking parahnya, tapi tetep dimakan sama Okachimachi terus besokannya gak sekolah gegara sakit perut)
--> Pak Guru yang ngerayu Fujima yang lagi patah hati sampe bilang, "Jangan nangis ya, Bapak beliin camilan nih" terus gagal, tapi gak membuat Pak Guru menyerah dan nambahin "Gak usah ngerjain PR juga, deh" yang gagal lagi, dan strategi terakhir "Nanti Bapak kasih kisi-kisi ujian, deh"--yang langsung bikin si Gie: "Guru apaan nih??? Dodol semua tokoh di komik ini ya? LOLOL"
--> Strategi mendapatkan-cinta-dari-si-dia-yang-membencimu ala shoujo manga, terus ternyata praktiknya adalah: ngejatohin manekineko dari kelas di lantai atas ke kepala Fujima. Manekineko!! Sasuga! Yang endingnya malah bikin Okachimachi kecebur kolam (dan ada ikan mas di pangkuannya pula!!). Manekineko dan ikan mas yang gak-tau-muncul-dari-mana itu yang sukses bikin "Ini komik apa-apaan sih? LOLOL"
--> Gambar bab pembuka bentou neraka. Fujima udah kayak ibu tiri yang ngacungin pisau dapur ke Okachimachi--yang lagi meluk boneka domba dan pake topi tidur!! Uwooooghhh saya gak tahan liat pokerface Okachimachi digambarin cute begituuuu!! Minta ampun begonya!!


Gara-gara saking begonya nih buku, saya udah gak peduli lagi itu si antagonis(?), sepupunya Okachimachi diceritain terus-menerus berkeliaran di sekolah Fujima dan Okachimachi padahal sekolahnya beda. Sungguh gak masuk akal sebenernya, tapi saking gak masuk akalnya, jadi lucu.

Btw lagi, gara-gara baca "Kono Ore" ini, jadi tertanam di benak saya kalau Ogawa Chise juga pinter bikin komedi, makanya pas "Koneko" rilis tahun kemarin, saya jadi excited banget! Cerita komedi Chise setelah sekiaaaan lamaaaa gitu lho! Patut ditunggu dong!
Sayangnya, ternyata Koneko gak sebego dan sekonyol dan selucu dan semanis dan se-cute Kono Ore ini. Kecewa sih, tapi ya udahlah.

Btw lagi, saya berhasil mendapatkan buku ini dengan harga 1 yen saja (plus ongkir). Meski buku bekas, kondisinya kayak baru banget! Huhuhu~~~ senangnyaaaaa~~~ Dapet buku favorit dengan harga murah meriah memang bikin kebahagiaannya berlipat ganda ya~ <3

[Chelsea &#x1f3f3;️‍&#x1f308; · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and quite predictable. I am a sucker for the grumpy/sunshine trope. Enjoyed this lore without the weird sexual things that are in so many stories about high schoolers and that dampened my enjoyment considerably. At least 98% of the story is cute and then you get to that part.

[Mayu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es sencillo, divertido, y precioso. Puro♡

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot held potential but this was super disappointing.

[Yany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical BL fluff

[Giada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una storia molto carina e leggera, perfetta per staccare la spina. Il protagonista con i suoi buffi tentativi di "vendicare" il suo onore ferito anni prima mi ha fatto ridere, è infatti evidente la sua cotta per il compagno di classe fin dal primo momento e tutti i suoi "malvagi" tentativi di infastidire l'amico sono così buffi da avermi fatto sorridere come una cretina per la metà del tempo. La storia non è certo approfondita e ci sono molti punti lasciati in sospeso, avrei voluto infatti un capitolo o due su Keita, per analizzare un po' la sua reazione al comportamento dell'amato e spiegarci cosa era successo di preciso alle medie dopo la famosa "confessione" e invece ci si concentra sul presente. Questo mi ha un po' infastidito insieme alla scelta di rendere il protagonista la vera cotta segreta di Keita, quando infatti l'amico del giovane fa notare al protagonista che il ragazzo è da sempre innamorato di un altro dai tempi delle medie avrei preferito scoprire che i sentimenti erano per un'altra persona, magari anche un personaggio morto da tempo o magari un professore o qualcuno di irraggiungibile mentre così... scoprire che dalle medie sbava per Taise... mah... se sommiamo il suo non ricordarsi minimamente neanche la sua faccia e avere una reazione "Ah... ma sei tu! Che bello rivederti ❤️"... doppio mah. Insomma è una lettura consigliata per lo più a chi vuole farsi qualche risata e assistere a tentativi idioti di vendetta degni di Willy il coyote! Se cercate invece psicologia, sentimenti ed emozioni complesse... avete sbagliato manga!

[Yue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as cute as I was hoping but it still was cute. And funny. Fujima wants revenge against Okachi Machi, because when they were younger, when he was asked, Okachi sort of denied being friends with Fujima. They meet again in high school and Okachi doesn't even remember him. So Fujima is hurt and has a grudge and is constantly telling his 2 friends (a girl and a boy) that he will do XXX thing to have his revenge and hurt Okachi in the process, just like he hurt Fujima years ago.

All his attempts of "revenge" were funny because they were kinda lame and he never actually had "revenge" in mind while doing it. Like making a bento for Okachi Machi, or waiting for him outside school. Fujima liked Okachi since he saw him again after years, only he did not notice it until Okachi fell sick (a current scene in manga). Although Okachi seemed pretty aloof most of the times, at least he talked about his feelings (he was the first to admit he liked Fujima). Their story was very cute, nothing explicit until the very end, the final chapter (which wasn't necessary but since it is a yaoi, it was a must...).

I couldn't rate it 4 because Fujima cries literally half of the story. Most of his tears were on the funny side, but still. The addition of that cousin who was meddlesome was MEH and the falling apart because of the "revenge" was HMPH (although it was funny that all the class, including the teacher, were aware of it and were cheering on Fujima). When Fujima apologizes the thing Okachi Machi does was HUH? At the end, I wasn't too in love with Okachi (Fujima, yes), hence my 3 stars.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omaiguuuuuush. This was so cute and lovely. One of my fav, without a doubt!

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny and cute. This would've been an easy 5 stars if it wasn't for some unnecessary stuff at the end (were the threat and the school girl uniform really needed?) and the silliness of the resolution. But the rest was absolutely great.

It sounds like Ogawa's regular works are a lot darker than this, and not something that would interest me, so I'm glad to have been able to indulge in a more comedic, light-hearted story.

Fujima has a pretty face, a sparkling personality, and full confidence that everyone likes him and he'll never have to struggle through life. He may be right; some people are just natural charmers who don't need to rely on brains and hard work. He actually does have a kind heart, though. While he seems selfish, he's open-hearted with his friends and has people who've been close with him since they were kids. The twins are much too smart and straightforward to stick around a guy who was actually all that bad.

He's also kind to strangers and transfer students, which is how he got in trouble to begin with. Back in middle school, he started spending a lot of time with a quiet, friendless, tall guy named Okachimachi, who seemed to get along well with him, too. It turns out Fujima didn't actually get along with everyone, despite his sunny bravado; at one point, he plays off wearing teachers' slippers instead of his school shoes, but it turns out that someone had dumped them in the trash.

Okachimachi comes out to find him and naps quietly beside him while the freshly washed shoes are drying in the sun. Fujima, who was probably still smarting from the experience of someone being cruel to him, tells Okachimachi he's so grateful that they're friends.

Okachimachi looks at him blankly, says, "We're friends?" and then replies "No" when Fujima said that he'd thought they were.

Fujima avoids him after that, Okachimachi transfers to a different high school, and Fujima spends the next three years with that one sore memory he can't shake.

Until Okachimachi shows up one day, a new transfer student who doesn't remember Fujima at all.

Fujima, with the support of his loyal friends, engages on a revenge plot. He'll be nice to Okachimachi! He'll eat lunch with him and walk home with him and share an umbrella in the rain and make him lunches and go see him when he's sick and spend time talking and hanging out and getting to really like him and - and - and then!!! He'll tell Okachimachi he doesn't care about him and make him feel as stupid and embarrassed and hurt as Fujima did back in middle school!

Except Fujima is extraordinarily bad at revenge. He keeps forgetting he even has this plot and has to consistently be reminded that he's not just redoing the friendship that'd meant so much to him three years earlier.

But then when Okachimachi kisses Fujima and tells him he likes him, everything gets way more confusing. Because Fujima...likes him too. He probably always did, and that's why that "breakup" in middle school was so devastating.

Then we meet Okachimachi's protective cousin, who tells Fujima that he'll never be Okachimachi's #1 because Okachimachi has been in love with someone from middle school all this time...

It's obvious where this is going, right? Back in middle school, Okachimachi meant he saw them as boyfriends, because Fujima was always touchy and clingy with him, and that makes them more than friends. And then Fujima was the one who rejected him and broke his heart, and maybe he either didn't remember Fujima at first, or pretended not to, but then was happy they were getting to know each other again...

But instead, Okachimachi just...genuinely didn't connect the dots. Even though the middle school guy's name was the same. It kinda didn't make a lot of sense, but at this point we were trying to wrap the story up quickly, so I guess it's alright.

Then we have to wallow through some angst and separation until they finally talk again and sort things out.

It's a very cute story. The art is wiggly and fun - kind of a more cheerful version of the long-limbed Doukyusei - Classmates art, which you either like or you don't. I find it very charming and full of personality. And Fujima is an absolute delight. This was a very cheering read.

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of a read tbh. It was extremely fast paced, which made for an easy read, but which also made the plot move at the speed of light.

From a comedy and stand alone volume perspective, I found it pretty enjoyable. The MC was funny and the fast pace plot worked well to get us from humor scene to humor scene. The MC is hard to take seriously because he is SO dramatic and over the top, but it really makes the more humorous moments hit harder , for example, when he tries cooking and comes to school COVERED in bandages, I laughed out loud; that was such a good play on the usual "cuts one or two fingers trope." .

However, from a story perspective, the fast pace did a pretty major disservice to the characters; they basically existed to be used whenever the plot called for it, and that's it. Characters were introduced out of nowhere, more so than they usually are in manga, and even the most important side characters were not fleshed out on their own, and instead only existed to move the plot forward even if they had to randomly appear out of nowhere to do so .

Now, this is something that can be excusable in a one-volume romance manga if the main characters and their relationship is strong enough to carry the rest of the story. Unfortunately, they're really... not. As I said before, I loved Fujima because he was dramatic and funny (a man after my own heart) and he does get some character development, though it does move pretty quickly.

Okachimachi, on the other hand, doesn't get much of anything going on with his character, and I find that to be the weak point of this manga. We're never shown his perspective, so we don't see how he thinks about things, what he's thinking at all, or how he changes. He simply is. An unchanging, undeveloped character, who exists to fall in love with Fujima (for, tbh, seemingly no real reason) and then want to sleep with him. That's... about all we are given. And it's boring. He just feels very under developed. And I might totally be bias, but when I read that he had bad eye sight, I instantly remembered reading Only The Flower Knows and I really hoped the author would do something similar and actually show us the character having bad eye sight, because that was interesting and painted a very clear picture of what he can see. Instead, we're not given anything like that, and left needing to guess exactly how bad his eye sight is based on his reactions to what is around him, which do not seem all that consistent, leading me to think this characterization was just done on a whim to make the plot work.

Okachimachi's underdevelopment leads to their relationship feeling underdeveloped as well, and, for me, takes a lot of the drama out of the story because, again, we don't ever get to see his side of things and what he's thinking and feeling. For all I know, Fujima spends the last chapter worried for no reason, and Okachimachi wasn't even mad at him to begin with. That feels totally possible to me, and I half expected it to be the case, because I had no idea what Okachimachi was thinking.

Anyhoo, this has turned into a far too long of a review for this manga. I'm giving it an overall 3/5 because when it comes down to it, I did have a good time while reading it, even if I think that overall it wasn't that good. It was a fun read though, and sometimes that's all that matters.

[Nico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art, flat characters.
There were some beautiful pages in this manga; the characters were not so memorable...
The main character was enjoyable to follow, he reminded me quite a bit of Tamaki from "Ouran Highschool Host Club." The rest of the cast were unbearable. The two best friends' only purpose was to be annoying and get in the way of every interaction. And don't get me started on the love interest, his only quality was "horny" There was literally nothing to him.
I feel is this book were to be longer, and the characters were given more thought along with fleshing out certain plot points then this book could have been something really good.

Overall this book was a 3.5 the only redeemable part was the art and aesthetics of the book itself.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un BL d'institut amb una voluntat clarament còmica entre el típic noi ros guapíssim, popular i que se'n surt amb la seva gràcies a la seva bellesa (i la seva cara dura) i un altre morè més esquerp, despistat i poc sociable. Tot i que a l'escola mitjana semblava que eren amics, un dia el morè posa en dubte si són amics i l'altre s'ho pren com una ofensa horrorosa, de manera que quan es retroben a l'institut decideix venjar-se. Al final tot va ser un problema de comunicació la mar de ximple i s'acaben enamorant després de moooooolt de drama i intensitat ^^' Història divertida, però força simplona...

[bow down to our ace king victor vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.65!

UGH CUTE 😭😭

this story had one of those typical revenge plot lines but i rlly liked the way it was executed bc fujima, at the end of the day, is really just a sucker for okachimachi 😭💗

also i love fujima?? his character is known to be pretty with an ego to match but man, hes so loveable 🥺 and he is just so fun to follow around too

okachimachi forgetting who fujima was was kinda lame tho lol like bro maj shame shame on u

the twins were amazing and so were the other rando side characters

but what’s with that annoying cousin tho geez like bro do u have nothing else going on

[Lily Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

El manga tiene un desarrollo un tanto torpe, pero esto va totalmente de la mano con la personalidad de los protagonistas.

El sentimiento que transmite la historia de principio es de ternura y diversión, logrando que esperes con ansias la resolución del "problema" que enfrenta el protagonista.

Finalmente, podría decir que la historia se siente como un respiro de aire fresco, por lo que es súper recomendable si buscas algo ligero y divertido.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hahahahahahahaha,

First off, Taisei Fujima reminds me of Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club. They could literally be twins.

Second, it was very predictable.
It was over the top, annoying and dramatic, but it all fit perfectly together.
Loved it. Laughed and enjoyed it from start to finish.

[alessia kacbufi warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una storia super fluffy!! Non me lo sarei mai aspettata dalla mangaka di Caste Heaven, ma è stata una storia dolcissima (mi vengono le carie quasi ahaha). Seppur corta, riesce a farti ridere, piangere e innamorare dei vari personaggi.

[ME mew desu · Rating 5 out of 5]

อ่านเเล้วตลกมาก5556555555 ด้วยความฮาของไทเซคือพาเนื้อเรื่องให้ดูไม่เครียดอ่านชิลล์ๆ เสพความหวานเเละความคลั่งรักของคู่นี้วนไป
ปล.ชอบในความมั่นใจของไทเซมาก เเบบเอ้อ ก็คนมันสวยอ่า ทำไงได้น้า กริ้สส สเต็กเรยค่ะ

[Gabrielle ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! Your average run of the mill one volume BL story. Not as interesting and definitely not as heavy as Ogawa’s superior series Caste Heaven, but this was an easy, breezy kind of read. I’m not mad at it, but it’s definitely a one time read for me.

[Fny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forgot to put this as read. But I knew I had. I remembered the synopsis and the overall story. And I really didn’t like it. I did even put the actual book away so I didn’t have to see it on my manga shelf.

[Amanda Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute, fluffy, and adorable with the perfect side characters. I loved that it was a mix of comedy and feels. I had no idea this was the same mangaka as Caste Heaven! Gonna have to try picking that up again.

[Drfoolish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big Ogawa Chise fan, her works are almost always a safe bet to have a good time :D

[TiramisuCram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very interesting. Also, the secondary characters are a bit annoying .

[Usagi Tsukino · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the Italian edition.

SO. FREAKING. CUTE!!!! Dunno if it's more cute Taisei or the name Okachimachi. Actually, both are cute (together).