Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 3

Kiss Him, Not Me! #3

by Junko

Hi! it's Kae here! Recently, I made a new friend. Her name is Shima and she's the most handsome girl I've ever met in my life! ...And guess what else? She also happens to be one of my favorite doujin authors ever! I mean, how much cooler can you get?! But it doesn't stop there—she invited me over to her house and the most unbelievable thing happened!! It looks like the boys have some tough competition. Let's see if they can keep up...

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

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 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

[Alexis U · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shimaaaaaa (heart eyes everywhere).

Bonus points for the introduction of an apparently queer female character.

Negative points for the forced weight loss scenes. Sighhhh.

Tally of boys who actually like our MC for her personality and not the way she looks when she's skinny: 2/4.

[Coco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reconozco que todos los chicos tiene su lado bueno, y aunque Nana me encanta, sigo pensando que el que más se merece acabar con la protagonista es Mutsumi-senpai.
¡Él fue el único que la reconoció tras el cambio y el que siempre la anima a ser ella misma!

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mutsumi, my beloved. You’re my lighthouse through this dark fog

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, more of the fat nonsense.
Let me be clear -- I have nothing against having a fat character. What I have a problem with is how this is portrayed in this series. In this volume, she becomes fat, at the very least doubling her size, after A WEEKEND of eating Valentine's Day chocolates.
A WEEKEND.
I know the author wanted to show that she was still attractive to some of the boys even when fat (!!) but this was stupid. Also stupid? How she's drawn when she's fat. All of her lovely facial features disappear into a pile of mush. I mean, seriously. She could be enormous and still keep her lovely eyes. Fat isn't going to change her face in the extreme way that it does. It's just awful how she's drawn. It was stupid in the first book and it's even worse now, now that we've gotten to know and care for the characters more.
The rest of the book? I liked the rest of the book. If the author hadn't done the 'fat' chapter, or, had done it better, I would have quite enjoyed this entry. But since it was done like this, I can't say I liked the book, as the chapter made me so mad.
Oh, and she gets skinny again without any negative consequences. If she kept yo-yo-ing like this, I doubt all her skin would be that flawless and she could suffer some health consequences.

[Meepelous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be still my torn up heart! 5 stars for the trolling of the cis het male characters, 1 star for the size shaming. My only consolation is that several of the love interests were OK with Kae's 2nd sudden weight adjustment, or became OK with it. That said, she still lost the weight again in a way that was not quiet as funny unrealistic as the first time, and much more tied to the toxic idea that you just need to exercise more. Although it is slightly more realistic that the weight loss would turn into more of a yo-yo situation. The trolling was exquisite though.

[Holly Letson · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG!! Shima!! I just totally wanna keep her. We should be best friends.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume a lot starts out with a new member to the group and character development for Igarashi. That last challenge made me laugh out loud

[Rereader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, I'm dropping this series. I know I made it farther in the anime, but there is just too much shit that pisses me off. Seriously, did we need TWO FULL CHAPTERS dedicated to Serinuma gaining weight, then the guys pushing her to lose it? All so Igarashi could have the miraculous FUCKING epiphany that he loves Serinuma REGARDLESS of how she looks?! I know that people give him props for that and say that it redeems the chapters, but honestly I call bullshit. Serinuma should not have to gain weight again for him to realize that he loves her; he should have loved her regardless from the start. Plus, Nana and Shinomiya's reactions throughout the chapters were clearly meant to be funny, but they were just dickish, disrespectful, and rude. And how does she lose the weight, you may ask? The boys create an incentive where if she loses a certain amount of weight, they will perform certain actions common in BL manga. Yep, that's right! Serinuma's greatest motivation for losing weight is getting to live out her fujoshi fantasies. FUCK. THAT. SHIT.

I know I was okay with the anime when it aired, but I'm not okay with this shit now. If you like it, great. If you want to keep reading, go for it. But I'm done.

[Raki Oddbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

They didn't even show it! That was the main reason I even started reading the series, because they didn't show it in the anime either. Yet you show two girls kissing? Junko, I thought you understood my fujoshi heart.

[Nagisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed several times while reading this book. I really enjoy watching the group grow and have fun together.

[Katerine CC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ay, como me gustan esos toques bl jajaja.

[Sammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the series, hate the fat shaming.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

yay for:
- a lesbian character who not only is interested in the MC but also LOVED HER EVEN BEFORE SHE LOST WEIGHT
- two of the boys who actually like serinuma, regardless of her being fat or thin (one of them was always chill about it and the other recently realized he's in love with her, and that happened when she was fat)
- serinuma's first kiss was with a girl <3

not yay for:
- fatphobia, always
- i actually like the two boys that only like serinuma for her current looks, and that FUCKING HURTS
- the kiss wasn't shown. IT SHOWS FATPHOBIA BUT IT DOESN'T SHOW A SIMPLE KISS. GOD FUCKING DAMN IIIITTTT

[kyky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stunning installment. Missed reading about my main man Mutsumi and my main girls Serinuma and Nishina. Icons, the lot of em. Anyways rip to the cute cashier checking me out at entertainmart when i bought volume five......

[Crazy_catlady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always loved this series. I was giggling away the whole on the couch. My family kept wondering why I was laughing so much.

[DonutKnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuuuute. I really like Nishima. OMG my yuri tendencies are showing XD

[Kaesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was fun; I love the trip to Shima's absurdly nice fujoshi dream home, which definitely has similarities to the house I daydreamed about as a fangirl in high school. (Less cosplay closets in my daydreams, but I haven't given up on maybe having a bookshelf full of fanfic; I have about half a foot of shelf space taken up by fanzines/doujinshi/fan artbooks, but I want to learn bookbinding to bind longer fics too.) I also had to laugh at Kae being just, totally unable to stop thinking about Shima's kiss. Oh honey.

Content warning on the rest of this review for discussion of weight loss/diet culture/antifatness in the narrative:
I did forget about the return of the weight loss plotline, but that is kind of the price of admission for Kiss Him, Not Me!, and I got into the anime because I was in a lousy mood and wanted to hatewatch it, so... like... I would not be here reading this if not for the premise being terrible. Asuma is best boy, as always (he liked her before she was thin! he still likes her!) and Nozomu is still an insecure jerk who's lucky he looks like Kae's Beloved Slash Object, Shion. I did appreciate Shima and Yusuke coming to the conclusion that she's still cute, actually, and Hayata was at least more concerned for her health than her weight. (The fact that anyone can see these things as separate is like... look, per the last episode of the podcast Maintenance Phase, 2014 Junko's doing better than the 2023 American Academy of Pediatrics.)

tl;dr: yeah, this storyline is problematic, but the depiction of a fat teenage girl as a human being worthy of romantic love without weight loss is such a rare thing and I'm glad it exists. It's kind of like the weird mutant Shion chocolate sculpture Kae makes in the first chapter of this volume -- it's not at all perfect, and I don't expect everyone to love it, but it feels heartfelt.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today’s post is on Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 3 by Junko. It is 160 pages long and is published by Kodansha Comics. The cover has all the main characters on it. As it is the third in the series you need to have read the first two volumes to understand the story. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this volume. The intended reader is someone who likes humorous stories that play with tropes from otome games and shojo manga/anime. The story is told from third person close of mostly Kae. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Hi! it's Kae here! Recently, I made a new friend. Her name is Shima and she's the most handsome girl I've ever met in my life!
…And guess what else? She also happens to be one of my favorite doujin authors ever! I mean, how much cooler can you get?!
But it doesn't stop there—she invited me over to her house and the most unbelievable thing happened!!
It looks like the boys have some tough competition. Let’s see if they can keep up…

Review- In this volume we get some great character growth from some of the boys with Kae regaining her weight and the boys having to think about what about Kae they were attracted to in the beginning. I do wish that Kae’s weight issues were treated more seriously but this is a comedy manga and having the characters think about what they are attracted to someone is a big deal, so I’m willing to let it go. Kae doesn’t get much character development in this volume but it is more about the boys than Kae. Still an enjoyable volume and I am looking forward to the next volume.


I give this volume a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t have a lot to say about mangas so I’ll keep my review short and sweet.

This series is in general really fun but mainly has a lot of issues that were addressed in this one, however, this has been my least favourite so far.

My fave character, mutsumi wasn’t in this one a lot, but I love how he’s so supportive of Kae and what she wants. He doesn’t push her in a certain direction unlike the other characters and lets her make up her own mind. I also just appreciate how he cared about her even before she lost weight the first time.

We got introduced to a new girl from the last book who seems to be apart of the crew now. While I do decently like her, I found her a little controlling, like the tiniest spec.

This volume did address my main complaint of the body image thing and how the boys only liked her for her looks (besides mutsumi). We had some character development with one of the boys who thought he only liked her for her looks but realized he genuinely liked her for who she was which I appreciate.

Overall, while this was my least favourite in the series so far, I did enjoy it, and I’m excited to continue on.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Shima and she gives the series a sorely needed fresh element that elevates the entire story. I honestly wish she and Kae would be endgoal, but I doubt the series will ever have the guts to go there.

Although there is a lot to be said about sudden, extreme weight-changes, yo-yo effects and how unhealthy they are, I don't think that's actually the problem here. It's just so unrealistic and ridiculously over the top that no one can be expected to take this seriously. What I did find bothersome was the fat-shaming which was very present again. Some of the stuff the boys said was absolutely hurtful and disgusting. It's nice that one of them realises he loves Kae no matter the size, but honestly, it's too little too late in my eyes.

All in all, I still can't decide wether the series wants to be a satire or just a typical shoujo. On one hand, it seems to be fully aware of its toxic tropes and tries to defy them. On the other hand, it leans far too much into them, playing them painfully straight, and it's giving me a bit of whiplash.

[Fernanda M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Capítulos: 10 al 13.

Nishina se declara rival del resto, ambas fortalecen su amistad, se meten a un concurso de chocolate, Nishina cuestiona a Igarashi y su gusto por Kae y su físico, Serinuma se traga todo el chocolate y vuelve a engordar ajsjaj, odiando aquí, porque Nana y Shinomiya la quieren forzar a adelgazar, al contrario de Nishina a quien incluso le parece más bonita, a Mutsumi a quien le da completamente igual y a Igarashi quien termina gustando también de ese lado, su dieta casi la lastima, pero logra el objetivo gracias a motivaciones Fujoshi ajsjaj, Nana e Igarashi la premian con interacciones siendo un beso su última recompensa ajsjajsj, y algo que se omitió en el anime es un torneo de fútbol, donde Igarashi cuenta su amistad de años con Nana y el como se vio forzado a abandonar el fut por una lesión, en un torneo Nana se inscribe, pero a último momento Igarashi se une al equipo contrario, por lo que Nana renuncia.


Amo demasiado a Mutsumi y ondaaa, los amigos de infancia deberían besarse otra vez para romper la tensión ajska. Según sé, un par de chicos se vuelven canon, pero no recuerdo quienes, de momento el IgarashixNana lo tiene todooo.

[Marianna Rainolter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proseguono le divertenti avventure di Kae e dei suoi 4 spasimanti. Ma nel loro gruppo si inserisce Shima, una ragazza che Kae aveva inizialmente scambiato per un ragazzo ma che condivide le stesse passioni per anime, manga e per ragazzi che baciano altri ragazzi come la nostra protagonista. Per i 4 maschietti diventa sempre più difficile stare da soli con Kae e conquistarla ma per lei sono disposti a fare tutto (o quasi). Lo dico ad ogni volume ma non posso fare altrimenti: questa serie mi fa morire dal ridere ogni volta ed è per questo che l'adoro. Mi piace tantissimo Kae ma anche i quattro ragazzi che per lei si ritrovano in situazioni imbarazzanti e incredibili. Poi l'entrata in scena di Shima regala nuova vitalità e freschezza alla trama perché lei è bella, talentuosa, ricca e si compensa con la povera e imbranata Kae. L'unica cosa che mi mette tristezza di questa serie è l'arrivare al finale e non sapere quando potrò leggere il seguito...

[♡Kayla♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5*

“To be honest with you... I was at a loss... since Serinuma-san went back to her old body shape. 'Cause I thought it was her looks that I was attracted to... but before I realized it, I found myself attracted to her cheerfulness and her gentleness. Now I can say for certain... I like Serinuma-san. That's why I want to be kind to her, and do whatever I can for her.”

This volume pulled on my heartstrings! I really love the character development of Igarashi; it's just so nice to see that his shallow love became something real. Meanwhile, Senpai has always liked Serinuma as she was, and my heart feels so divided T_T. The funniest part was seeing everyone's terrib-terrific drawings of Shion lolol

[•Cherry Blossom• · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este tomo, Kae decide entrara un concurso de figuras de chocolate pero al terminar la estatua kae termina comiéndose todo el chocolate sobrante y termina volviendo a su antiguaba apariencia.

Por lo tanto, Igarashi empieza a ponerse a prueba así mismo para saber si realmente ama a kae, o solo es tracción física.



Este tomo me pareció bueno, la verdad el segundo sigue siendo mi favorito pero no esta nada mal.




ALERTA SPOILER

Empecemos hablando de Nana, el es un chico que de verdad llegue a odiar por el hecho de querer cambiar denuevo a kae y de decir que siente desagrado a ella por su físico.

Igarashi sigue pareciendome bastante lindo bastante lindo y Mutdsumi senpai ni se diga, lo amo!




Lectura iniciada: 16 abril 2021
Lectura terminada: 17 abril 2021




4/5

[Vivian Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This manga series is not for me. Firstly, this is minor in the grand scheme, but I'm not fond of the new character. Moreover, I don't like the forced kiss. I find the fatphobia of some of her male followers intolerable and insensitive. The extreme exercise regime she put herself through where she got hurt did not sit well with me. I don't understand how she can only look pretty while skinny, but with some weight gain, she suddenly loses her bright eyes and cuteness; her face changes completely. If a fat character cannot be fat and must lose weight for the original plotline to continue... I don't think I can continue. There are some hilarious antics, and I can see why people enjoy and find this series funny. However, I am dropping it.

[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.

[IM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha llegado una nueva contendiente por el amor de Kae, Shima, una chica muy talentosa que tiene los mismos gustos que nuestra protagonista.
Aparte de la introducción de Shima, otro acontecimiento importante en este tomo es que Kae vuelve a su contextura anterior, haciendo que los chicos (Salvo el senpai, tqm) intenten que baje de peso. El cambio de Serinuma hace que Igarashi se replantee sus sentimientos por ella. Aunque fue breve, me gustó conocer un poco de los pensamientos de Igarashi y la manera en que este se da cuenta de que realmente le gusta la personalidad de Kae, más allá de físico 🙏🏼
El panel final de este tomo, tanto en el manga como en el anime, me hizo reír mucho 🤭

[Zian B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 star rating but I gave it 4 stars because I love the addition of Shima-chan. She’s so teasing and overall very caring towards Kae-chan despite how she looks which I find very refreshing. I also adore how we got to see Igarashi-kun’s feelings evolve from being superficial to him genuinely caring about her. Also, for him to be the first of the 4 boys to openly admit his feelings to someone.
While I still hope for Mutsumi-senpai to eventually end up being with Kae-chan, he definitely has some competition.

[Poly Dell'amore Purple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con el volumen anterior dije que tenía un sentimiento de "ñe" y por eso lo dejaba en 3 estrellas, pero este tomo me hizo sentir diferente y es que el que Igarashi descubra sus verdaderos sentimientos y la forma en que los demuestra finalmente hacen que una emoción mayor se apodere de mi.

Realmente Igarashi es de mis personajes favoritos y es que el que realmente se enamore de Serinuma por quien ella es y no por su apariencia es tan lindo, casi perfecto... pero a la vez tan real.

[Cristina Lotusheart Gabrieli · Rating 5 out of 5]

La storia sta per entrare nel vivo.
In questo volume la nostra Otaku Serinuma torna nella sua forma "originaria" creando scompiglio tra i suoi corteggiatori. Inoltre entra in gioco anche Shima, che giocherà un ruolo essenziale nella storia.
Yuusuke fa chiarezza nei suoi sentimenti e capisce che quello che l'ha colpito di Serinuma può essere stato l'aspetto, ma che ormai la vede con altri occhi.
Ohhhh!! Io non vedo l'ora di avere il prossimo volume nelle mie mani!!