the live action series handles these characters & plot…way better tbh. this felt more like bare bones—the major components were there but something was missing.
still! this was cute. my favorite genre in jbl will always be pathetic yearner x even more pathetic yearner
修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました very much conforms to the イケメンx平凡 template but it keeps things very light. It doesn’t insist on Hioki’s ~ordinariness or Watarai’s ikemenitude, but instead (imho) focuses on Hioki’s unfamiliarity with Watarai’s group, hence the 仲良くない of the title. And compared to a couple of other stories I read, 勘違いだよね?瀬尾くん。 or 席替えしたら、どうやら後ろの男が俺のことを好きらしい, Hioki isn’t a loner. He has friends, they’re just not in this class.
Watarai/Hioki was much lighter, more fun, more youthful. The author was definitely leaning into the vibe of youthfulness. Hioki and Watarai were very adorable, and very aligned with the “young love” atmosphere.
I liked this so much I’m reading the sequel, which is just 修学旅行で仲良くないグループに入りました2。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Maybe because I just finished the really amazing 交渉人 series or I don’t usually read pure romance novels (I wouldn’t have read it if it wasn’t on kindle unlimited and has really good reviews on Amazon), this novel falls flat for me. Yes, it’s fluffy but that’s all there is. No miscommunication but also no tension nor excitement. Just the usual “unremarkable MC somehow being subtly chased and doted by a popular and good-looking ML because ”. I think the main reason that this novel gets picked to be adapted for TV drama is because it has plenty of roles for male idols to fill.
I read it before the drama aired, and thought it was perfectly average. It hit all the tropes but in a really ordinary way haha. I give it a little bit of leeway because this is a novel for young adults so these kinds of tropes can often be exciting and new for it's audience. But I want to say I found the characters to all be fairly bland, and it was hard to differentiate between the friends especially.
That being said, the drama has taken this perfectly sweet, average and bland story and turned it into some pure joy. The show is cute
Second year of High School and Hioki is in a pinch, stuck in a class with no friends he's facing the ultimate crisis. School group trip. Somehow he finds himself in a group with the Four Kings and the object of Watarai's obsession. Queue incredibly cute hs romance shenanigans.
I don't think this would have worked as much for me without the drama, and the pacing falls apart by the end, but it's a warm sugary hug of classic school romance and teen angst, with a dash of obsessed boyfriend.
Had to read it as the live action is ongoing. One of my fav tropes the innocent MC x popular ML who's obsessed with the MC.
The whole story gave out sasaki to miyano vibes and i loved it, the translation could have been a little better as i felt some of the plot was missing, but i'm in love with Hiyoki and Watari.
Just know I'm going to be so biased about this because I only picked this up after the JBL drama aired, and the main lead was Kan Hideyoshi who I loved in Kamen Rider Geats. The adaptation did a really great job based on this original novel and me and my best friend LOVED it so much that I'm going to be picking this up to translate this into Burmese (just for funsies) so I don't think I can be objective either way.