You and I Are Polar Opposites, Vol. 2

正反対な君と僕 [Seihantai na Kimi to Boku] #2

by Kōcha Agasawa

Suzuki and Tani have successfully confessed and are going out, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect. As two very different people, they’re still learning how they fit together—and how to deal with their hang-ups. Whether it’s seeing each other not fully ready for the day or public displays of affection, they’ve still got a long way to go to figure out what works best for the both of them!

Collects chapters 7-14

Genres: Manga, Romance, Young Adult, Comedy, Slice Of Life, Fiction, Contemporary

Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2022

About the author

Koucha Agasawa (Kōcha Agasawa, 阿賀沢 紅茶)

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super cute continuation of volume 1, except for one thing.

Yikes, but what happened to the artwork!?!? Unless it was like that in the first volume and I never noticed. It wasn't ugly per say, but usually only when drawing the MC h did the artwork look cartoonish, which resulted in her looking incredibly immature. Everyone else looked normal.

This is probably just a "me" thing, as others really loved this and focused on the story and the characters, rather than the artwork, but the artwork just distracted me from fully enjoying the very cute story and the situations the characters were in. Which is a shame, because it was adorable.

3, YMMV and I hope I read the next one right, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC of this book to read and review.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summer’s here and that means warm weather and summer homework. As Tani and Suzuki navigate their first summer as a couple, they’re not the only ones who might find love. Minus a couple slight bumps in the road.

The secret sauce of why this story is good is one that many manga should be terribly envious of - this entire cast is a heck of a lot of fun to spend time with. They feel like friends with world-ending problems that are anything but in the grand scheme of things. So, teenagers, basically.

We start off with a very silly late night convenience store run that turns into an unscheduled meet-up and emphasizes an ongoing wrinkle in an otherwise smooth relationship - Suzuki is far too quick to make assumptions about how Tani feels about things.

Which is something that many, many relationships have to adjust to, so this reflection of the honeymoon phase is pretty spot on and adds a little friction to what would otherwise be one terribly cute couple (see: the very next chapter, which is wonderful).

But, as happens, it is the introduction of the woefully shy Nisshi who runs away with the volume with her burgeoning crush. The fake-out implying that this is a crush on Tani is mercifully brief and gives the very bouncy Yamada something to do.

In fact, Yamada goes from a one-note nothing to kind of an amazing character this volume with the introduction of Nisshi, who absolutely catches his eye in a way he can’t quite figure out (young love, so pure).

The way he goes about getting her contact information just before summer break is one of the sweetest, nicest moments I’ve ever seen in a manga and it is absolutely a moment of pure joy in a pretty great story.

Everything else bounces around between school stuff and summer stuff, although miraculously no beach appears in this volume, plus a clear appreciation of cats (bonus points for that).

It’s all incredibly enjoyable and there’s a real joy to be found in simply kicking back with this group of kids as they slowly grow up and learn about themselves and one another. I really want to see if that other, other coupling happens too.

There are a couple times where it goes a little slow, Nisshi can take forever with her lack of self-confidence, and Tani’s nature means that he is often the eye of a very energetic storm. But that’s pretty small stuff compared to what’s on offer.

4.5 stars - I wasn’t going to round it up, but dang was this ever good, and Yamada pretty much sealed the deal. The term ‘feel-good’ was made for series like this.

[Eressea · Rating 5 out of 5]

20251026 2nd read
--
20240510 1st read
好久沒看青春校園戀愛喜劇
結婚後心境轉變
看校園劇已經越來越少緬懷惆悵感了
這回被尖端總編的臉書發文推坑
沒想到真的好好看喔

雖然很喜歡日常系的校園戀愛作品
但在千篇一律的學園祭修學旅行聖誕節情人節裡
還是只有特定的作品會讓我一看再看
究竟是為什麼呢
若說要像文案自誇的寫實系戀愛
不覺得日本高中生會如此果斷的互相直球對決
恐怕就連台灣的學生也不會如此熱情奔放吧
大概是這部分鏡雖然浮誇，但角色的思維都非常實際
同時又很有十幾歲青少年的純真吧

高木同學很搞笑，說真的不會很想一直重看
躍動青春是日常，不過重點不是戀愛
這部作品是久違的校園戀愛劇新坑
雖然是踩地雷試看，卻欲罷不能
如今第三集也快要出版了
尖端出得還滿快的
希望趕快追上日本進度

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A second volume in line with the previous one: good vibes, charming characters who deal with their romantic troubles and minor worries in a gently humorous way.
Agasawa talks about the little things – the embarrassment of being seen buying toilet paper in your jogging gear! – that have troubled, trouble and will continue to trouble generations of teenagers. It doesn't go too far, but it's quite insightful and always ends on a positive note.
New couples are in the making in future stories, so we'll see where that takes us...

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

La història millora força en el segon volum, cosa que no m'esperava!! El fet que apareguin tants personatges secundaris amb crushos i problemes diversos li aporta molta frescor, sempre passen coses!!! La parella protagonista, a més, és ben cuqui i sana, es comuniquen, es respecten, tot bé! Ja veurem si la continuo perquè veig que ja està acabada.

[bea 🪴]

so cute also yamada and nishi <3

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the random panda things that are in the background, it makes me so happy.

[DonutKnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s cute, but I can’t personally relate to the main character 😭😅

[Anahys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certes cette romance entre lycéens peut paraître commune et basique, mais ce n’est pas tellement le cas. Je trouve que les échanges mais aussi la transmission de chaque sentiment sont justes et percutants. Ça fait du bien de trouver ce côté en même temps que l’humour qui y est ajouté. Et puis j’adore littéralement toute cette bande d’amis ! Ils se complètent tous très bien et sont attachants à leur manière. Mention spéciale pour le développement de Nishi, une agréable surprise !

[Noelhy °•°•☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like how we can explore the lives of the side characters, too. I love learning more about them!

[Sana · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The light novel protagonist with the gyaru girlfriend?'

Not Suzuki and Tani being the no miscommunication in our house couple and they're just teenagers. Also, the way both of them keep arriving early to their dates ajdlf so cute

My favorite chapter is easily the first about Suzuki's convenience store snack run on a summer night, such immaculate vibes. Suzuki, in her old middle school clothes, doesn't expect to run into Tani but is a-okay with running into her classmates that she's also known way longer. I get her wanting to be herself but not being ready to be herself that much, but of course, the universe has other plans and she ends up running into Tani after all. They have a sweet moment about it, though as Suzuki doesn't want to give off wrong vibes and Tani gets envious of the others knowing her longer.

Tani and Suzuki end up at home during one of their dates and it was adorable the way she introduced herself to Tempura, their cat. Also, not the grandma catching them in each other's arms LOL.

As much as I'm not a fan of the way peers sometimes pressure two friends to date so much that they end up dating because of it, it provided a lot of insight here with Suzuki and Ri (who is hot, yes) being awkward as hell about it and Tani finding it he's not okay with an aspect of it. Suzuki going off on a tangent about being 'pure' was hilarious, though but I loved that they talked it out at the end.

There are also a couple of chapters focusing on a new character, Nisshi, who's extremely shy and has a tendency of bursting into laughter at inopportune times that Yamada ends up finding crush worthy. It's interesting to see that Suzuki and Tani aren't the only kind of polar opposites in this manga and we get to see their classmates.

The art remains fun and light and I love the incorporation of chibi art especially when it comes to Suzuki.

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume, we meet Nishi, a super shy girl who enjoys listening in on conversations but who can't bring herself to participate. Her efforts to hide her laughter at funny things that come up in others' conversations attracts the attention of Yamada, Suzuki and Tani's hyper friendly classmate. Meanwhile, Tani and Suzuki spend more time together, which results in Suzuki getting to see Tani's home. Then it's time for the school's cultural festival...and a teeny tiny bit of drama, as Suzuki's ex-boyfriend (sort of?) from middle school stops by.

These characters are so cute.

In this volume, we have several instances of characters nervously trying to approach things in various roundabout ways, along with a few refreshing and much more direct approaches (although, as an awkward shy person, I totally get the allure of roundabout approaches!).

Unsurprisingly, it generally works best for everyone when they actually talk about what they're feeling and say what they really want to say. Which didn't keep me from enjoying the bonus "before the start of volume 1" story, in which Suzuki engineered a situation in which she could believably ask Tani for his contact info without actually telling him that she was interested in him.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[MrsHReadsALot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tani and Miyo!!!!

These two are just so cute!!!! I love the whole gamut of characters who are rooting for them. Also really refreshing that they actually communicate lol! Like nothing gets swept under the rug or anyone over reacts and just states how they're feeling. Love it!!!

[BeckyisBookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The makings of such an excellent series!!

[WeirdoElla · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’est si mignon ☺️

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Introduced two to three new characters I liked. The running joke of the character we never see is fun. I like how sweet and funny this is.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dios santo qué protagonista del bien TE AMO SUZUKI

4 de 5 estrellas.

[Vee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute! Gotta love the culture festival stuff that happens in all school settings.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Down one star because I found some of the paneling a little less clear this time - the anime did a great job of expanding and showing the characters' inner turmoil, which felt a bit muddy at times on the page - but this is such a great series. I actually laughed out loud more in the earlier chapters than I did while watching the anime. They're just so funny and genuine with each other, and I like that a whole lot.

While this is a romance manga, the friendships are what really sell it for me. It's that really nice balance of showing different levels of caring for people, and how interesting it is when you find the sparks that make someone cross from friend to crush. I adore that Suzuki and Yamada are casually really good friends, with no drama and no attraction. And I liked that Tani got jealous of this, and that he was able to explain why - which he did right away, on the way home from the convenience store where he'd run into his girlfriend in her after-school raggedy clothes.

He's dating Suzuki, but Yamada and some of her other friends have known her for longer, so they get to see more of her true self. He tells Suzuki, which I think is wonderful, that he doesn't care at all about outer appearances, because it's her that he likes, no matter how she looks.

I also appreciate that while Suzuki is initially very happy to hear this, she counters with: no, but I want to look really cute, and it makes me happy when people notice and comment on the effort I put in.

She's not putting on makeup and nice clothes simply out of insecurity or trying to cover something up - it's important to her, and it's important that her boyfriend notice. It's such a great way to show the "polar opposites" in their personalities, and how it's possible to navigate those differences and understand each other. Tani might not particularly care if his girlfriend's wearing mascara, but he knows now that it'll make her happy if he notices something different and tells her she looks pretty.

It's somehow a really good depiction of young people in their first romance, and also a really mature way of approaching relationships. I can't express how much I love their openness with each other and how they say everything they're thinking and feeling without letting it build up into a ton of will-they-won't-they nonsense and the kinds of misunderstandings that usually drag out these kinds of series.

They're not a perfect couple, and who knows if they'll last past graduation, but they are working hard at it and really enjoying each other's company, and that's what matters.

This volume also introduces the second couple, which I absolutely adored in the anime. I love Yamada. He's so dumb and straightforward and sweet, and he goes for girls who are very unlike him: quiet and serious, probably on the studious side, but with these flashes of humor that charm him to bits.

He and Nishi have a lot more hurdles to overcome, because she is very shy and insecure around louder people (especially boys), and works herself into a tizzy about being a good enough conversationalist. She thinks so hard about the right things to say that she misses the moment, and then kicks herself about it even more. So she's been "content" with just listening and laughing from the sidelines.

Yamada is too oblivious to get any of this. All he knows is that he finds it incredibly cute when this quiet, seemingly serious girl giggles at the stupid conversations swirling around her. He doesn't know if he likes her - because he doesn't actually know her very well yet - but he wants to talk to her more and change that. So instead of beating around the bush he just asks her for her number and tells her his goal.

The cutest thing for me about this series is that I can genuinely picture all of these young people in their grown up, married forms - settling down a little bit with their jobs and kids and more ironed-out senses of self, but with the same quirks and personality traits that drew them to each other.

The story swings back to Suzuki and Tani, with him running into another, more troubling bout of jealousy. It turns out Suzuki did have one boyfriend before him, although she hardly considers it a real relationship. She was buddies with this guy, similar to how she is with Yamada, but their classmates pretty much teased them into "going out," which ruined their friendship because it made everything awkward.

This is also a really accurate depiction of youthful (particularly middle school) romances, where you "have crushes" mostly because you're supposed to, not because you actually care.

Again, Suzuki and Tani talk about it, showing how compatible they are despite their on-the-surface differences.

[Tachan · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’ai vraiment l’impression avec cette série de retrouver toute l’ambiance bon enfant d’Horimiya mais avec un nouveau groupe de lycéens foufous, j’adore !

Chaque chapitre est l’occasion de passer un bon moment en compagnie de ces joyeux drilles grâce aux dessins pétillants de l’autrice et aux situations du quotidien amusantes qu’elle invente avec eux. J’aime beaucoup. C’est drôle, c’est frais et ce n’est pas bête en prime.

Elle continue en effet à explorer les différences de caractères entre les personnages et ce à quoi on s’attend en fonction de cela, mais elle le fait en se renouvelant sans cesse, ce qui fait que même au bout de deux tomes qui pourraient se ressembler, on ne s’ennuie pas, au contraire. Elle utilise pour cela une jolie galerie de personnages autour d’eux, que ce soit leurs amis ou leur famille, et raconte leur propre histoire. J’ai ainsi particulièrement aimé celle de Yamada, le pendant masculin de Suzuki, avec la binôme ultra timide de Tani à la bibliothèque, une jeune fille dans laquelle je me suis reconnue dans son envie de rire des bonnes blagues des copains, mais gênée car sa timidité l’empêche de réagir en temps réel. C’est tellement ça dans la vie !

Et des situations réalistes, tendres et drôles et comme ça, la série en est remplie ! Ça lui donne vraiment toute sa saveur et son originalité. Sous des dehors un peu foufou et foutraque, en fait les situations résonnent en nous et nous rappellent des choses vécues. Il y a par exemple, ce moment où on sort en ne ressemblant à rien, pensant ne tomber sur personne, et malheureusement... Il y a encore toutes les maladresses des premières fois quand on est en couple : première sortie, premier presque baiser, première visite chez l’autre, première rencontre malencontreuse de la famille, et j’en passe. C’est si frais !

J’ai encore tout aimé dans ce tome plus estival que le précédent. Je suis fan de la légèreté et des bons sentiments des amis de Suzuki. J’aime la façon dont Tani s’intègre peu à peu au groupe. Je trouve génial que l’autrice ne face pas de cette histoire une romance mais une histoire de bande de potes. Je trouve très frais de revivre les années lycée à leurs côtés avec des marqueurs efficaces, mignons et amusants tout plein. Bref, je passe d’excellents moments en leur compagnie et je comprends le succès de la série !

[SereneReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a librarian review.

I work in a middle school, and as most of us know, looking for age-appropriate manga for any children below the high school / YA ages is SO difficult. Mainly because our professional sources never review manga and so we have to read them ourselves to vet them... Which can be difficult with the barriers we may have obtaining them without purchasing them. So I've read through 2 of this series and here are my thoughts!

So far, this has been a great series. There are no illustrations that could be considered sexual or inappropriate like so many other series. Characters are considerate of each other and don't speak of each other with sexual comments or innuendos. This is a very cute, innocent romance series from what I've seen so far. I don't really even remember any harsh language.

The only thing that bothered me was a choice of words in the second volume on one page. The boy finds out she had a previous "boyfriend" in middle school (it didn't really become a thing) and gets a bit jealous and leaves for a bit to reflect on it. The girl feels guilty for not telling him but also has a section with a friend essentially debating on whether it should matter is past relationships are important as long as they are faithful in the current relationship. Great message! Except for the section where she says "Even if I'd slept with a hundred other people..." to which her friend reiterates "Slept with??". Any other word would have been more appropriate, such as 'gone out with' or been with' or something, so that was unfortunate. However, that is the only little 'red flag' I saw in this series so far.

Perfect for high school. Might be ok for middle school. So far teaches great lessons about healthy relationships and is actually pretty funny in a wholesome way.

[Luka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si el primer tomo ya me dejó con una sonrisa constante, este segundo viene a confirmar que esta historia es puro 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖… pero con ese puntito de caos emocional adolescente que nos encanta 👀✨

💥 Porque seamos sinceros:

El verdadero secreto de este manga es que 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗽𝗼 𝗱𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗢.

Se sienten como amigos con dramas que para ellos son el fin del mundo… pero que, en realidad, son exactamente lo que significa crecer 🥺💫

Y eso lo hace TODO.

Aquí seguimos viendo cómo avanzan las relaciones, pero lo mejor es que 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗢 𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹:

– Malentendidos típicos (𝘚𝘶𝘻𝘶𝘬𝘪, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯̃𝘰… 𝘥𝘦𝘫𝘢 𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘴 😭)

– Ese “𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦” donde todo es bonito… hasta que deja de serlo

– Momentos incómodos, dulces y muy reales 💭💕

Y ESPERA porque… 👇🏻

💘 𝗡𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗵𝗶 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮 𝘆 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗔 𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼

Tímida, insegura, adorable… y con una mini trama que te da la vida.

Y junto a ella…

👀 𝗬𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗔 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗖𝗬

De personaje meh a literalmente UNO DE LOS MEJORES del tomo.

Su dinámica con Nisshi = 🥹💘✨

Y esa escena antes de verano… PERDÓN, PERO NECESITO MÁS DE ESTO.

💥 Lo que MÁS me ha gustado:

– Personajes que se sienten reales

– Relaciones que evolucionan sin forzar drama

– Momentos cotidianos que te hacen SONREÍR

– El equilibrio perfecto entre humor + ternura + crecimiento

Pero también te digo… 👇🏻

Hay momentos algo más lentos (𝘕𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘪, 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘍𝘐́𝘈 𝘜𝘕 𝘗𝘖𝘊𝘖 𝘔𝘈́𝘚 😅) y ciertas situaciones que se resuelven rápido 🤏🏻

AUN ASÍ…

es que esto es literalmente un manga para disfrutar sin pensar demasiado, de esos que te abrazan y te dejan con el corazón calentito 💖

⭐️ 4,5/5

💬 Si te gustan:

– Historias feel good

– Romance adolescente REALISTA

– Personajes que se sienten como tus amigos

👉🏻 NECESITAS leer esta historia

[The Book Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tani and Suzuki are off to a great start to their romantic relationship (even if they're both a little awkward), but they are not the only opposite couples that are in this story.

Yamada is interested in a socially awkward introvert from the next class over. And despite him being obvious, she's oblivious. And nothing has actually happened yet, but I get the feeling that Taira is going to end up with Azuma.

But I do like that the story allows Tani's feeling to be complicated. Because that's something I struggle with too. Having emotions along with a rational brain means you end up working through your emotions mentally and can even come to the conclusion that what you're feeling doesn't make sense. But it does absolutely nothing to stop the feelings from happening so you get stuck in a spiral of "I feel this way" but "I shouldn't feel this way" and "Why do I feel this way?" and it helps to have someone just to listen (and sometimes force you to confront the root cause of the issue).

[Stephanie Augustine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still immensely enjoyed this volume. There were soooo many cute moments. The fireworks. The study session. But besides that, there was more of the side characters too.

Yamada gets a lot more page time and we see what he's really about. I liked his character a lot in the first one, but so much more in this one.

We also get 2 new characters and I really hope Nisshi develops more, which I think she will.

Taira right now is definitely the drag. His character is very one dimensional while all the side characters have personality. I understand he's the "downer" of the group but I'm ready for his development.

I think my favorite was getting more from Tani's point of view. I seriously love him and Suzuki so much!

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying these new manga titles that are more about healthy relationships than the drama. Polar Opposites does that while throwing in some good laughs. In volume 2 we get hints on what may be a new couple from our cast, or at least they're working on getting to know each other. I look forward to reading the next volume. (I received a free ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.)

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aww they're so cute. I like them falling in love and enjoying themselves, but getting too self-conscious of how much they're enjoying themselves and worrying whether they're supposed to be having that much fun. And I like that at the end they went into 'dating history' and previous relationships (or lack-thereof), it felt like a necessary hurdle to go through especially with how insecure about himself Tani can be.

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

I love these guys so much <3 <3 <3

Came from the anime, loving the manga!

Oh - one thing I noticed while watching, which was in this volume, was that we see Yamada & Suzuki in middle school, so we see that they both dye their hair which is why they’re fun colours :). Idk just a cute detail.

I continue to love the communication, main & side romantic relationships, as well as just the friendships in general! I love them all so much <3

[Lilith · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 /5 stars
[10 /10 stars]

- story [2! /2]
- worldbuilding & consistency [1 /1]
- art [1! /1]
- characters [1! /1]
- length & progress [1 /1]
- ending [1 /1]
- originality [1 /1]
- enjoyment [2 /2]

~quick thoughts~
• still so incredibly cute
• the addition of other potential couples-to-be really helps with keeping it interesting

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll be honest I could really remember the first volume but it wasn’t hard to jump back in. I just love high school romance manga where there is a friendship group and we learn a little about the friends as we follow the main characters. I like the art. The main couple is so cute. They really like each other.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un tome très mignon comme le premier. J'aime le fait qu'il y ait des moments sur les personnages secondaires car ils pourraient être délaissés comme c'est le cas dans beaucoup de Shojo, pourtant là l'auteur crée vraiment un monde autour de chacun des personnages.
Je recommande vraiment cette série :)