Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 2

Kiss Him, Not Me! #2

by Junko

Hi there! It's Kae again. When I go to school every day, it feels like I'm walking into a real life dating game. Four of the hottest guys in my school are with me everywhere I go! The school festival is coming up and I've been put in charge of making the boys outfits for a cosplay caf?. Do you know what this means? That's right, I get to see them all in costume! I have lived for this day, and this day alone. I'm brimming with excitement to go full-throttle fujoshi on those boys! But wait! Last night before the festival, Igarashi-kun was acting kind of weird, wasn't he? And now, it's the day of the event and crazy things keep happening to me with these four beautiful boys! My heart won't stop pounding!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Humor, Shojo, Young Adult, Contemporary, Comics

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 13, 2014

About the author

Junko (ぢゅん子 or 純子) is a Japanese manga and dōjinshi artist.

Associated names :
純子
CLIP CLOP
CLIP-CLOP
Dunko


Birth date: November 28
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Blood type: A

Reviews

[PumpkinBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awee I absolutely love the anime for this series and since I already bought the entire manga series, this is what I’m gonna do the entire quarantine break

[Alexis U · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me a few hours ago: eh I might keep reading this series.
Me now: oops I can't stop reading this series.

If you want to see all my thoughts about the problematic aspects of this series and why I won't rate it higher even though I'm obviously enjoying it enough to binge read it, check out my review of the first volume.

Anyways, in this volume the boys (except Mutsumi who is perfect) all come clean about their intentions and finally tell our MC that they do not just want to be best friends with everyone. Cool. They then proceed to be sexually aggressive with her and make her really uncomfortable (again, except Mutsumi who is kind of just happy doing whatever). Less cool.

Except the take-home message at the end was, "I can't handle real relationships, I'm just going to go back to shipping you all together." Sigh. I know, I know, it's the premise of the entire series, and I honestly wasn't expecting anything more.

I'm gonna continue eye-rolling all the way through the 30-some odd chapters of this manga.

[Elizabeth (Elzburg) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have this problem, where after I wash my hair I walk into my room and find myself face-to-face with all my books. By that point, it's usually already game over. All my books—especially my manga since they're fast reads—stare back at me; beckon me. I think to myself, "Oh gee, one little peak won't hurt. I'll finish styling and drying my hair right after." Though, of course, both you and I know it's a futile thought.

And now here we are! I finished this whole volume. For the second time!! I'm actually shocked that it has basically been two whole years (!) since I read this for the first time. While I was reading it I was literally thinking, "Wow I don't remember any of this at all! Haha they must have removed a lot more from the anime than I remembered, ha ha ha... (in denial because this doesn't make sense since I've also already read the manga)." This is the upside of having a shit memory: I can experience my favorite media for "the first time" over and over again! Yay... (The faint sound of internal screaming is heard in the background as I fail all my exams.)

I wasn’t even necessarily planning on writing much of a review, but welp, here we are, and I actually have some things I want to say.

First of all: Shima Nishina was introduced in this volume.



I totally forgot about her, and when she showed up it was not a pleasant reminder. I just don’t really like her at all because what the heck is a girl doing in my reverse harem??? Also she’s a boring character in general who never does anything interesting (and I’m saying this as someone who’s finished this series #animePhD). So yeah, that sucks. Moving on.

Second of all: Igarashi-kun



Yo, I actually have some negative thoughts about bestboy-kun too, if you can believe it. He was kind of... Uh… sleezy, though the worst of it was in a tiny little cartoon at the end of one of the chapters and technically maybe not even actually cannon? I don’t know, but he said something along the lines of “I love how innocent Serinuma is, I just love trudging my feet through virgin, white snow.” Is it just me or is that super creepy?!?!?! And I got the earlier term from Nana who replies to the aforementioned comment by stating that it was a “sleezy” thing to say.

In the actual canon of the manga too, though, he was a bit of a dickhead. Everyone was having a good time but since Iga-kun was getting impatient he’s all, “I don’t want to bother continuing to pretend to be friends with you lot, screw off and leave me alone with Kae” (indirect quote). Which causes everyone else to be like “Yeah!!! Screw you guys!!!!!!! (except not literally because that’s what Kae is for huehuehuehuehue)” (indirect quote), which destroyed the happiness that Kae actually wants. A true dickhead move! He should know that saying such a thing is bound to cause effects that would ultimately hurt Kae. However, I can’t be really mad at Iga-kun because I know that since he superficially likes Kae right now he actually probably didn’t know how badly saying that would affect her, and/or just didn’t think about it. So I’ll kinda leave him off the hook since character development is coming. Though I think Iga-kun was a lot more likable from the start in the anime.

Third of all: It wasn’t that funny.



Don’t get me wrong, it still gave me a chuckle or two, but compared to later volumes which literally had me screaming, this was on the not-as-funny side. It was still super entertaining though, which is why despite these three points this volume still gets four stars.

Last of all: Haha wow this “not meant to be a real review” turned out super long, whoops!!!!!


Please consider giving this review a "Like" if you've made it this far, it helps me out a lot! And follow me if you want more!

Click to read my other Kiss Him, Not Me! reviews:
Volumes: 1, 2*, 3-8 (N/A), 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

*Current review

[Lizzy (Una Lectora Nocturna) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Segunda lectura octubre 2020
Estuvo divertida la lectura

Primera lectura agosto 2019
nota 3.5

[Lexie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rule #1 in the cosplay world: that guy in costume you find hot? it's a girl 75% of the time. Which is not to say that's a BAD thing, because then you can become friends and cosplay together and do super cute things together. It can just be somewhat startling. (its worse for me when it's a guy as a female char bc then I want to sob that they're prettier than me in and out of cosplay).

[kyky · Rating 5 out of 5]

sebastian??? from grey butler????? icon babe love love love love 11/10. and mutsumi? he also is an icon love love love

[Meepelous · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as volume 2 goes, we continue to get to know the guys and an unlikely dark horse joins the scene. Consent, like with most comedy romance, is not always honored (although I'm talking about costuming right now, nothing sexual yet). I really like that the balance between her changing for the guys and the guys changing for her so far tends to lean more towards them changing for her, or at least having to do the nerdy things she wants to do.

And much like there is both female and male soft core eye-candy represented in the volume, we also have a hint of equally queer female and male themes - or maybe a none binary female relationship? TLDR rising queer quotient is rising.

The only correction I have on my initial thoughts is that Kae's mom is still a heavier set character even after Kae loses weight randomly, but I think my general point about there being only straight size representation after the initial weight loss appears to be holding true in a more abstract sense.

[Ana on the Shelves]

Oh I love this...

[Katerine CC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este me gustó mucho más que el primero, me hace reír un montón este grupito de chicos detrás de Serinuma. Cada vez las cosas se ponen un poco más interesantes.

[David Doel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying these more than expected, and the Comiket chapter is definitely 5-star material.

[Reigan Dunkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

God I love how gay it is

[N.T. Embeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

.......so now the main character might get... A GIRLFRIEND?!?!??! HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG! OHHH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE.

[Poly Dell'amore Purple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okey... hoy en día se da mucho que ves a alguien, lo encuentras totalmente atractivo y BAM! luego descubres que en realidad es una chica... hoy en día aquello pasa más de lo que uno podría esperar y no solo en eventos de manga y animé donde hay Cosplays como lo que le pasó a Serinuma, así que más de alguien puede sentirse identificado con esa parte de este tomo.

Si bien me divierto leyendo el manga siento que es solo eso... me gustaría darle más estrellas pero siento que "ñe" por eso me mantengo con mi puntuación de 3.

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2...



Honestly, I adore this series so much. Filled with anime references and conventions, I loved it! *sigh* If only Kae cosplayed.

Well, in other news, I have to cosplay Kae cause that maid cafe outfit was adorable!

Oh yes..the volume itself.

It's just more of what happened in the previous volume. A lot of shenanigans of the boys trying to win her affection and she's having none of it. Just don't think too much and it is very enjoyable.

[Anna 'Bookbuyer' · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading about school festivals! It can get a bit repetitive at times but it's always fun to see how much effort they put into it. :D

Things are finally starting to heat up now.

I feel so bad for Shinomiya and Kae! To fall on her boobs like that! In front of witnesses! And to have her freak out like that! :O

Is there a mystery 5th player entering? A girl?! O.o

[MC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5 to 4 Stars.

[DonutKnow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lovvvve this! I can relate so much to Kae! I love this series and I can't wait to get a hold of the next one! XD

[Merb · Rating 3 out of 5]

~ 3.5 stars ~

[Nanao253]

Ich konnte mich so in dem Comiket Kapitel wiedererkennen! Richtig gut und amüsant!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today’s post is on Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 2 by Junko. It is 160 pages long and is published by Kodansha. The cover has all five main characters on it. As it is the second volume in the series you need to have read the first volume to understand the story. The intended reader is someone who likes shojo manga, comedy manga, and gag manga. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from third person close of Kae. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the back of the book- Hi there! It's Kae again.
When I go to school every day, it feels like I’m walking into a real life dating game. Four of the hottest guys in my school are with me everywhere I go!
The school festival is coming up and I’ve been put in charge of making the boys outfits for a cosplay café. Do you know what this means? That’s right, I get to see them all in costume! I have lived for this day, and this day alone. I’m brimming with excitement to go full-throttle fujoshi on those boys! But wait! Last night before the festival, Igarashi-kun was acting kind of weird, wasn’t he?
And now, it’s the day of the event and crazy things keep happening to me with these four beautiful boys! My heart won’t stop pounding! This is way too real for me. I want to go back to my fantasies!!

Review- So this volume is really starting to get into the meat of the series with Kae, dealing with the attentions of the male leads and she is imploding. She does not know what to do. She does not want to hurt anyone’s feelings but she doesn't know if she wants a romantic relationship with any of them. But the humor of the series is really getting going with Kae having a overactive imagination and the boys just not understanding that, with the exception of her senior. Fun volume and I look forward to reading more.

I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this manga from a friend.

[Kaesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

TBH I found this volume less fun than the first one; most of the volume was taken up by the cosplay cafe/festival arc, which wasn't really my thing, and the last chapter is the episode where she gets all the guys to come with her to a big anime con and help her shop for merch, which I definitely thought was funny in the anime but I think maybe worked better there? Part of it is also maybe my own lack of familiarity with anime and manga? I know of a lot of the media that's referenced here, but I haven't consumed any of the actual canons, either real or we-changed-one-word-in-the-name. And because I haven't read all that much manga, I feel like I have a little more trouble parsing some of the visuals when there's a lot of action/movement, and there's so much in this volume that depends on physical comedy that works better for me as animation.

On the other hand, Shima is introduced at the very end, and so I can forgive this volume easily for not being as much my thing as I'd hoped.

[Dallas Dailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the idea of a harem where the girl does not care about any of her suitors and instead tries to set the men up with each other. Asexual/Aromantic fujoshis are one of my favorite types of character tropes, you love to see it. But I as I was reading the second book, I felt like that part of the plot just got thrown out the window. There were some BL moments, but they seemed short lived. I hope this changes when I read book 3.

If serinuma does end up with any of the men, I hope it will be Mutsumi! (Or better yet, Nishina)

Kinda hate how common it is for the men to be creeps, but that is unfortunately very comon in most manga and anime

I'm enjoying all the media references! Seeing the Black Butler reference made me especially happy since it's one of my favorite animes!

Low key hoping we get to see more of Nishina, I think adding a girl to the harem is nice. Especially since both her and Serinuma seem to be huge Otakus!

[Rereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give this volume credit, Serinuma was really relatable when she freaks out over all the attention she's getting from the guys as well as their pushy behavior. And I will also applaud Igarashi, the one who started it, for not only apologizing but trying to right his wrong. The Comiket chapter was pretty good as well and further confirmed that Mutsumi is best boy don't @ me.

However, the fact that Serinuma wanted to make outfits for Igarashi and Nana purely to dress them up rubbed me the wrong way, as well as the girls fawning over Shinomiya because he's playing a princess role. It's like every time this series does a few things right, it has to throw in a few bad things to cancel out the positivity.

Overall, this was a good second volume. I still have some qualms with the series, but I'll give volume 3 a chance before dropping it.

[•Cherry Blossom• · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌸En este segundo tomo, los chicos y Kae deciden realizar un café cosplay.🌸

🌸Pero a Igarashi le molesta la idea de tener que salir siempre con todos, ya que ninguno logra estar a solas con kae; así que deciden que cada uno pasara 1 hora con ella a solas el resto de el día, sin que nadie mas se interponga o interrumpa.🌸

🌸Tengo que admitir que mis favoritos son Nana y Mutsumi senpai.🌸

🌸Este es un tomo que disfrute demasiado, todos los chicos son realmente tiernos y aiñ lo amo.🌸


🌸ALERTA SPOILER🌸

Este tomo me recuerda el cuanto amaba a Igarashi, pero ahora mismo ya no lo amo tanto.
Ya que había leído los últimos 5 tomos hace como 2 años y la verdad pasaron algunas cosas que poco a poco les comentaré más adelante sobre este personaje.🌸


🌸Lectura iniciada:14 abril 2021🌸
🌸Lectura terminada:14 abril 2021🌸

🌸5/5🌸

[Fernanda M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Capítulos: 06 al 09.

Los niños se hacen un horario todo pendejo, Nana la acorrala contra la pared, Mutsumi le da de comer en la boca con sus propios palillos :3, amo que el vato ni tope ajsjaj, Igarashi la toma de la mano y Shinomiya le cae sin querer en el pecho, agh, Kae muestra sus nervios y extrañeza ante sus acciones y ellos deciden detenerse por lo que el festival termina en baile de Nana-Igarashi y Mutsumi-Shinomiya, mientras Kae y Amane ven felices ajsjaj, en navidad se los lleva a una convención donde conoce a una cospleyer que resulta ser su Kohai, Nishina Shima, con quien comparte un chingo de gustos por lo que se hacen amigas de inmediato, aprovechan el bug con los chicos, pero al final Nishina besa a Kae, convirtiéndose así en su primer beso ajsjajsj.

Primer beso, Nishina Shima.

Que ganas de tener a una amiga con la que compartir gustos, que sea cospleyer y me bese ajsjajjaa.

[IM · Rating 5 out of 5]

En esta nueva entrega ocurren dos acontecimientos: el festival escolar y la Comiket.
Como se esperaba, los chicos se pelean por pasar tiempo con Kae en el festival escolar así que deciden dividirse en turnos para ese día. El problema es que ellos comienzan a ser más directos en cuanto a su interés romántico, lo que le causa cortocircuitos a Kae.
Para Navidad, el grupo quiere realizar una pequeña fiesta, sin embargo, la Comiket se llevará a cabo ese mismo día. En esta ocasión, los chicos deciden acompañar a Kae para que esta pueda conseguir todos los mangas que busca y luego ir a la fiesta. Es muy chistoso porque tienen que ir a los puestos de BL y las vendedoras los malinterpretan🤭
Al final del tomo aparece una nueva pretendiente para Kae, la cosplayer Nishina.

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward harem romantic comedy. Our main character is a hardcore otaku, very into BL, she gets along well with “hot guys” but doesn’t attract them due to her weight (sigh). Her favorite anime character dies, she gets super depressed, and loses all her baby fat after holding up in her room for days on end.

When she returns to school thin, SUDDENLY SHE’S ATTRACTIVE! *hard eyeroll*

I’m not sure why I’m reading this other than for laughs. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. There’s definitely better, less offensive, shoujo manga out there if you’re willing to dig through the annoying stereotypical stories like this.

[Marianna Rainolter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kae e i suoi quattro spasimanti sono alle prese con il festival scolastico e c'è ne saranno delle belle, con il rapporto tra i quattro ragazzi che diventerà sempre più difficile da gestire per la povera ragazza. Ma la parte più bella è l'episodio finale con i cinque che vanno al Comiket (che la più grande fiera di manga e anime giapponese): esilarante, ridevo ad ogni vignetta. Mi sta piacendo e divertendo tantissimo questa serie e spero che continui ad essere pubblicata (magari con più velocità).

[Raquel Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and interesting

First off if you saw the anime you can skip a few volumes, there isn't much added.

Outside of that this is a cute manga. All the usual tropes are abound for this type of harem-of-guys story line. The added "curve ball" of her being a otaku is alright but doesn't add too much variation. Maybe I'm judgemental because I've seen the anime and it feels like unnecessary repeat of stuff I know.

Still highly recommend as a quick, cute read. Essentially if you can borrow it from the kindle library at not additional cost.

[Zian B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m giving this manga volume 3.5 stars solely for how kind (yet oblivious) Mutsumi-senpai is, as well as for the addition of a cool yet younger female student. I’m not sure if she’s a new possible love interest or just a new friend for Kae-chan but either way I’m excited for what this new character could mean for her journey.
Also I was a bit frustrated with how most of the guys treated Kae-chan in this volume, not really Mutsumi-senpai, but thankfully they made up for it in the last chapter.