Love and Lies, Vol. 1

恋と嘘 [Koi to Uso] #1

by Musawo

Yukari is dull. He doesn’t even stand out enough to be bullied – he’s just a generally lower-middle-class kid. He’s in love with Misaki, the most popular girl in school. There’s just one problem: He’s 15, one year away from receiving his government-assigned marriage partner. He normally wouldn’t have the courage to defy the law, but his sickly classmate Ririna still believes in love, and won’t stop goading him into confessing his feelings!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Comics, LGBT, Young Adult, Drama, Shonen

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 9, 2015

About the author

ムサヲ

Reviews

[Mika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich fand die Geschichte anfangs sehr süß und obwohl ich nicht wirklich gerne Romanz Manga lese fand ich die allgemeine Grundidee (das die Regierung dein Lebenspartner aussucht) schon interessant.

Obwohl die Art und Weise wie sich Yukari und Misaki sich verliebt haben bisschen zu simpel und klischeehaft war wollte ich dem Buch trotzdem 3 Sterne geben, bis ich Kapitel 4.5 gelesen habe. In generellen habe ich nichts gegen LGBT+ Elemente (hab immerhin schon einige solcher Bücher gelesen und gemocht), aber wie es gezeigt wurde wirkte es wie als ob es nur hinzugefügt wurde für den Leser und das es nicht wirklich von Belangen wäre. Insbesondere da ich so fokussiert war auf die beiden Mädchen, dass dies einfach nur lächerlich und wie bereits gesagt unnötig wirkte.

Read: 10. October - 10. October 2024

[kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t horrible. But it’s definitely a gratuitous teen sex romp type of story. If I were a teenager I’d be with it, but as an adult it feels a little weird to read. I’m not going to continue with this.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different than I thought it would be.

[Scout Steinmiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so trashy, so much drama. I love it

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngebaca manganya setelah nonton episode 1 animenya tayang tgl 4 juli kemarin. Premisnya menarik perihal saat dimana dunia ga ada yg bakal jadi jomblo, karena pemerintah udah nentuin pasangan saat orang-orang beumur 16 tahun dan dunia dimana jatuh cinta dilarang, tp yg bikin menarik tokoh utama nya yg menyimpang dari premis "tali benang merah pemerintah" dan jatuh cinta sama orang lain.

Menurutku sendiri ceritanya mirip-mirip "hasrat busuk" tp versi softnya ya mungkin. Bakalan lanjutin baca manga selagi menunggu anime nya berakhir.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really interested in this and how all the different characters lives are going to intertwine. Worried I have started yet another long series though...

[Ren (A Bookish Balance) · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the art is beautiful, this really is just fan service.

[dovesnook · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could’ve been a million times better if they were in college, but the concept is really interesting. I don’t think I’m going to continue though.

[Liam Bédard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird that it has 2 different endings, I like the second one better

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting concept. I’m interested to see where it goes.

[JoeMax · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'ai choisi ce manga pour me réconcilier avec ce genre littéraire.

Je crois que c'est tout simplement pas fait pour moi. Et puis j'éprouve un énorme malaise quand il est question d'une histoire qui tourne autour d'une ado de 16 ans hypersexualisée...

[Kasumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the distopian backdrop- where at the age of 16, the government mandates who you would marry based on genetics- it's a very cute coming of age love story.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting premise for a series - the government has basically started a eugenics program to combat low birth rate and is assigning people marriage partners when they turn 16. Yukari hates the idea and confessed to Misaki, who he’s been crushing on for years. Then his bride to be shows up, hi-jinx ensue.

Yukari is about as dull as a protagonist can get, but he comes through in the clutch. There’s just nothing particularly interesting about him, although he and Misaki make a cute pair. I assume normal manga rules about the first girl being the end point for the series will apply, but I love that they have him click so well with his mandated partner too.

So far so telegraphed, making for a pretty chill read on a rainy day sort of deal. Then there is one hell of a curveball in the last section - I’m never one to endorse actions taken without consent but holy crap did that go in a direction I wasn’t expecting - consider my interest piqued.

Little bit of fan service but nothing egregiously off-putting. I’ll likely wait until there’s a sale for these, but I will be reading more.

[Rereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Updated 11/5/2020:

Still staying at 3 stars, but I really do love Lilina and Nejima's banter and interactions. It's interesting seeing Nejima be more himself when he's around Lilina than when he's with Misaki. I get the feeling that's intentional, but who knows?

I effectively skipped the government notice exposition dumps this time around, mostly because I already know what's going on and it is straight up not interesting in the beginning. I will say, it might get more interesting in the future as th series goes on, but for now it's just poorly woven in worldbuilding exposition dumps.

First review posted on 7/22/2019:

I had a hard time rating this manga because I do think it has obvious flaws and it pales in comparison to other romance manga, but I'm settling on 3 stars even though I'd like to rate it higher. I want to discuss all of the negatives first, and no I am not discussing the obvious flaw in this government notice nonsense. I truly believe anyone with a functioning brain cell can see the flaws in this marriage system, no sense in wasting everyone's time.

Cons:

1. The pacing is way too fast. I get the feeling Musawo wanted to get to the juicy bits (the love drama) as soon as possible so they blitzed right through to the drama and sacrificed the reader's initial chance to form emotional connections to the characters. Granted, speeding through to the drama means the reader gets more time with these characters through already established relationships and readers can become attached that way, but that's a pretty risky move that can backfire spectacularly if the characters' remain one dimensional or don't develop well.

2. Going off of the pacing, the paneling was really freaking confusing sometimes. In one scene, Lilina is looking at Misaki from behind, but in the very next panel she's right in front of her. Umm, how? I get that the reader can imply that she walked up to her, but it's still really jarring. This happens a lot throughout the manga and while it doesn't hinder the story it's still a bit unpleasant.

3. Unfortunately, aside from the government notice gimmick, this story doesn't do anything to really stand out from other romances. I guess Lilina pushing Misaki and Nejima to kiss despite her and Nejima being engaged is kind of different, but I have no doubt other series have had a similar plot point before.


Pros:

1. Despite them not being the most amazing/interesting characters, I'm actually quite fond of this little group. I love Lilina and Nejima's interactions and banter, I really hope they end up together. While I'm not as fond of Misaki as I feel I should be, I do sympathize with her position and understand why she does what she does. Nisaka is pretty cool and despite his coolness I understand why he would be friends with Nejima (and possibly more?? Could Musawo be hinting at a love square with a same sex love interest?? Could we be so lucky?!) Nejima himself is not interesting on his own but I love his interactions with others. Not the best group of kids, but I love them anyway.

2. I really did the artwork in this series. It goes from cute to cartoonish to absolutely stunning in a couple of heartbeats.

3. While I wouldn't say I'm trash for drama, I'm cool with it if there's enough humor sprinkled in to cut it, and I think this series has a good balance. I do love a good drama on occasion and I think this one hits the sweet spot.

That's all I have to say for now. Not bad, not brilliant, I'd say pick it up if you long for a drama-filled romance series. There are better romance manga out there, but I don't think this is too bad.

[Mehsi · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I wanted to check this one out since it is getting an anime next season.

I am not going to continue reading this one, but I will try the anime and see if that works better for this series.
I did fly through this book, without me knowing, I was suddenly at chapter 6. Oops! But I don't know. There are just some points that didn't sit well with me, and I hope that the animated version will be better at the pacing.

Now it was just a bit too fast in pacing, and I just couldn't feel the connection between our MC and the girl he is interested in. I wasn't sure if the girl was just toying with him, or being honest about her feelings. I didn't see a spark of chemistry between the two, not even when x happens.

Plus I am kind of wondering about the "Hey, you are 16, now here is the girl/boy you are supposed to be with forever and ever." Whoever thought that was such a brilliant idea? Why not let people try to find love themselves first, and if it doesn't work out help them. Why are you binding them to someone for life at such a young age? Plus then there is the case of our MC and his engagement. What happened there? Why did that happen? Was it because of x and y? And is this the first time that it happened, or has it happened to other people as well?

The other problem I had was that I wasn't that interested in any of the characters. Or MC is just so-so and he kind of just blends into the background (not a good trait for someone who is the MC), plus, I agree with his fiancee, he was terribly rude. At least he could have tried to make the most of it. At least he could pretend to be a bit interested in the girl. :|
I also found it a tad weird that with just a few days to spare he is going after the girl he has liked for so long.

His love interest? Eh, she was just a bit too perfect, plus I found it terribly rude that she didn't show until quite a long time after the time he said for her to come. Again, maybe it has to do with the engagement stuff of the MC.

The fiancee? Eh. Prissy little princesses aren't the kind of girl I like.

The art is pretty decent, though the eyes are a bit too creepy for me.

All in all, as I said, I will try out the anime. I won't continue with the manga.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing possibilities in this world.

[Yoyomaus Die Büchereule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Der Staat bestimmt, wen du heiraten sollst?

Doch du liebst eine ganz andere?

Und sie liebt dich?

Doch wie kann man dem System entkommen?

Zum Inhalt (Booklet):
Echt jetzt? Misaki liebt ihn auch? Damit hätte Yukari nicht gerechnet! Eigentlich wollte er ihr nur deshalb seine Liebe gestehen, weil er bald sechzehn wird und dann sowieso alles zu spät ist. Dann wird ihm die Regierung eine Lebenspartnerin zuweisen und das staatliche "Yukari-System" ist unumstößlich.
Wer aufbegehrt, muss sich auf was gefasst machen. Aber lassen sich die Gefühle der Teenager wirklich so einfach vom Staat unterdrücken?

Cover:

Das Cover zeigt die Protagonistin Misaki, welche dem Betrachter entgegenblickt und dabei die Finger vor dem Gesicht kreuzt, als ob sie sagen will, dass etwas verboten ist. Das passt ganz gut zum Inhalt der Geschichte und macht natürlich auch neugierig, was es mit dem Inhalt auf sich hat. Außerdem bekommt man hier einen ersten Eindruck zu der Qualität der Zeichnungen und die kann sich wirklich sehen lassen. Top.

Eigener Eindruck:
Neji ist in seine Mitschülerin Misaki verliebt. Doch so einfach ist es mit der Liebe in diesem Leben nicht. Der Staat hat ein Programm ins Leben gerufen, um den Geburtenabfall zu kontrollieren und so wird jedem Menschen sein Partner zugeteilt und man muss diesen heiraten. Wer sich wehrt dem drohen schlimme Sanktionen. In der Schule schwören die Schulfreunde, dass sie nie heiraten werden, doch schon bald flattert Neji seine Regierungsmitteilung ins Haus. Dabei hat er sich doch endlich ein Herz gefasst und Misaki seine liebe gestanden! Geküsst haben sie sich auch! Denn Misaki empfindet ebenfalls etwas für ihn. Doch Neji muss in den sauren Apfel beißen und seine zukünftige Frau kennen lernen. Doch die ist so ganz anders als er sich vorgestellt hat und sie unterstützt ihn sogar dabei Misaki zu sehen. Ob das gut gehen kann?

Der Auftakt zu der Manga-Reihe „Love & Lies“ liest sich wirklich sehr angenehm. Das Werk stammt aus der Feder von Mangaka Musawo und besticht nicht nur durch eine detaillierte Storyline, bei der keine Fragen offenbleiben, sondern auch durch absolut geniale Zeichnungen, welche den Lesespaß wirklich oben halten. Man kann sich schnell mit den Charakteren identifizieren und auch schnell nachvollziehen in welcher Misere sie sich befinden. Schon gruselig, wenn man sich so vorstellt, dass einem vorgeschrieben wird, wen man heiraten soll – Zwangsehen sind ja heute noch Thema, aber dieses Szenario setzt der ganzen Sache ja noch eine Schippe drauf. Gerade deshalb ist der Manga vielleicht auch als ein Wink mit dem Zaunpfahl zu verstehen und durchaus ein gutes Mittel, um bestimmte Thematiken und Missstände anzusprechen und darüber nachzudenken. Ich persönlich bin gespannt, ob Misaki und Neji vielleicht doch noch zueinander finden dürfen und wie es mit den anderen Charakteren weiter geht, denn scheinbar hat hier jeder so sein Päckchen zu tragen.

Idee: 5/5

Charaktere: 4/5

Logik: 4/5

Spannung: 3/5

Emotionen: 3/5

Gesamt: 4/5

Daten:

ISBN: 9782889511570

Sprache: Deutsch

Ausgabe: Taschenbuch

Umfang: 192 Seiten

Verlag: Crunchyroll Manga

Erscheinungsdatum: 04.10.2018

Altersempfehlung: ab 14 Jahre

[Darcys_Lesestuebchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yukari ist seit Jahren in seine Mitschülerin Misaki verliebt. Weil aber der Staat den Menschen im Teenageralter vorschreibt, wen sie heiraten müssen, hat er all die Zeit seine Gefühle unterdrückt. Nun aber rückt auch seine Bestimmung an und er gesteht seinem Schwarm seine Liebe. Dass Misaki ihn auch liebt, hätte er nicht gedacht und könnte überglücklich sein, wenn eben nicht diese Sache mit der erwählten Braut anstehen würde, die sich jetzt ankündigt. Und sich dagegen aufzubegehren sieht der Staat gar nicht gerne !

Vorwort:
Love & Lies 01 von Musawo ist der erste Band der gleichnamigen Reihe. Da die Bände aufeinander aufbauen, sollte der Reihe nach gelesen werden. Es ist als Taschenbuch erhältlich, umfasst ca. 192 Seiten und erschien 2018 bei Crunchyroll Manga.

Meine Meinung:
Beim Stöbern in meiner Leihbücherei stieß ich auf diese Mangareihe und schon der Titel und der Klappentext machten mich sehr neugierig. Es hatte gewisse Dystopie Vibes und ich mag solche Geschichten eigentlich sehr gerne, auch wenn sie sich im Grunde sehr ähneln. Aber ich war sehr gespannt auf diesen Auftakt, da auch die Reviews, die ich dazu las, super klangen. Insgesamt war es eine interessanter Auftakt, dessen Umsetzung mich aber nur bedingt überzeugte und mich eher mit gemischten Gefühlen zurückließ.

Ich fand es vor allem zu Beginn recht chaotisch und auch, wenn man ein paar Infos zu dem System und dem Leben der Jugendlichen erhielt, fand ich keine richtige Verbindung zu den Figuren und dem Setting. Meistens legt sich sowas bei mir wieder schnell, aber hier kam ich einfach nie ganz rein, was schade war, weil ich die Idee sehr klasse finde und man mehr daraus hätten machen können. Klar, es ist ein Einstiegsband, aber die Geschichte hatte für mich keinen richtigen roten Faden und wirkte sehr zusammengewürfelt. Manche Dinge, die ich erst in späteren Bänden erwartete wurden hier schnell abgearbeitet und auch die angedeutete Dreiecksbeziehung langweilte mich. Weder zwischen Yukari und Misaki oder seiner Braut Ririna spürte ich irgendeine Chemie und verstand nicht so ganz, warum er auf Misaki stand. Aber es las sich flott und ich fand die Wendungen ganz interessant, auch wenn ein, zwei Momente sehr schräg wirkten und ich etwas irritiert war.

Der Zeichenstil gefiel mir gut und die Entgleisungen in manchen Mimiken passten super rein. Ich konnte mir jedenfalls einen guten ertsen Eindruck verschaffen und kam schnell durch den Manga.

Fazit:
Es war eine tolle Idee, deren Potenzial nur angekratzt wurde und ich hoffe, dass mich die weiteren Bände mehr überzeugen können. Manche Momente gefielen mir sehr gut, aber meistens fand ich es eher langweilig, weil ich auch keine Chemie zwischen den Charakteren spürte und es für mich keinen roten Faden gab. Vieles wirkte zu chaotisch und ergab keinen wirklichen Sinn für mich. Ich möchte der Reihe aber noch eine Chance geben und zumindest die nächsten beiden Bände probieren. Vielleicht kann mich die Reihe ja doch noch überzeugen. Von mir gibt es:

3 von 5 Sterne

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first volume of Love and Lies by Musawo was a really great start to this romantic drama series! This story takes place in a near future Japan where people are not allowed to fall in love, the government assigns 16 year olds a partner based on analysis of "genetic information of citizens in order to decide the best possible marriage partner for each individual" to combat the country's low birth rate- the Yukari Law. Essentially the government is the matchmaker.

Our story follows Yukari Nejima a 15 going on 16 year old boy who has been in love with his classmate Misaki Takasaki for 5 years. He desperately wants to confess to her before his notice arrives, no matter what! I love how flashbacks were interspersed within this part of the first chapter, which shows not only how Yukari developed his crush on Misaki but also how kind he is (he handed her his eraser when she had dropped hers!!) ! Since that was their first and only interaction, Yukari is unsure of how to confess to Miskai.
The following day Misaki is unsure if she remembers Yukari, but Yukari tells her they should meet at a local park that evening. Misaki shares that she's been in love with him the whole time too!!

However, just as Yukari and Misaki share a kiss, the clock strikes midnight and Yukari is officially 16! He believes he's been matched with Misaki but his phone glitches and he is met with government agents who share with him that he has been paired with Liliana Sanada.
The following chapters highlight Yukari getting to know Liliana & confronting Miskai's distance from him after he turned 16. In addition, we also follow Yukari's friend Yūsuke Nisaka

Musawo's character designs are really detailed and the more comedic moments show characters in a less detailed style, which made me laugh out loud more than I thought I would! The backgrounds while sometimes scarce, feel spacious and provide a nice addition to settings in which the characters reside!
I also love the use of space during the park scene, it really gives the feeling that their moment is just for them and that they are the only ones in the world.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable volume with a really engaging story! I wish there was more discussion on this match making system, like what happens to those who do not follow in the governments decisions, or a deeper exploration into the system. But it was enjoyable nonetheless!

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been intrigued by this ever since I saw it was getting adapted in to an anime, so I jumped at the chance to check out the manga. I'm not sure what to make of it to be honest, I feel like it's setting up a harem type thing, which I'm not really here for, and the set up between our main character and the girl he likes doesn't seem all that strong just from the one volume, and there's one other thing that I'll get to in a bit, buuuttt I'm intrigued enough to keep reading this series.

Okay, so the world has an interesting, if a little strange set up. Sixteen seems like kind of a young age to have this whole arranged marriage government thing going on but then again it's not like it's never been unheard of before.

Love and Lies is funny from the start, and it has its cute moments. I can relate to both Lilina and Yukari. I like their interactions and how they chat openly with each other, and how Lilina has offered to help him in her own blunt way. I really do love how blunt she is. Bless her. Lilina wants to know what it's like to fall in love and she has trouble interacting with other girls so she's often left out and alone. Yukari is kind of hapless to be honest. I wanted to smack him once or twice. He's not very confident and he's kind of nerdy and it's kind of a sods law thing with him. As for Takasaki....I can understand her wanting to protect herself from getting hurt, but she's definitely lying about something and I feel like there's more to it than that. I'm actually really suspicious of her, and I can't decide if she's just messing with him or not, like possibly she's trying to make someone else jealous and that someone would be Nisaka from what I can see.

I spent so long in this volume trying to work out what Nisaka is up to. Then there was the plot twist at the end involving him and I really didn't see it coming. I was actually really stoked about it at the time, and I was all ready to ship him and Yukari but my issue with the whole thing is first of all the harem aspect. Second of all, I feel like they're just baiting us with Nisaka, if he really does have feelings for Yukari. The more I thought about it, the more I realised this manga is most likely not going to go down that route, so the baiting is probably going to bug me more and more as the volumes go on. But I guess we'll see.

I have two ships already from this first volume, and I'm so torn. I know ones going to sink and I'm actually really gutted about it. I think you can guess which ship I'm talking about.

Love and Lies is really fast paced, and I breezed through this volume. The arts quite good and kind of cute, and the concept is interesting. The romance hooked me in, as did the general cuteness and drama, not to mention the humour! I'm totally with Lilina on most things and I ship her with Yukari more than the intended girl...which may or may not be a problem. I have a feeling I know which way this is going to go, but I'm not sure if I'm just being overly suspicious and unfair to the other girl. We'll see. The only problem I foresee for this manga is the situation with Nisaka. It would be really awesome to have a gay character, and for it not to be just a baiting situation but I don't have very high hopes.

Either way Love and Lies is a quick, fun, and cute manga, that's definitely got a feel good vibe and should at least make you chuckle a little bit! I'm definitely interested in this enough to give it another volume to see where it goes!

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Calificación y Review de manera general del manga.

(Aviso de que hay Spoilers y mucho odio en esta review)

Hoy elegí violencia 🏹

NO PUEDO CREER QUE DESPERDICIE MI DOMINGO LEYENDO 13 VOLUMENES DE MANGA QUE PODRIA HABER SIDO GENIAL PERO EL AUTOR LO ARRUINÓ.

No puedo creer que el autor decidiera escribir dos volúmenes diferentes para el final, mira yo te entiendo que quieres plata PERO ESTO NO ES UN OTOME, SI HUBIERA QUERIDO LEER UN OTOME ME COMPRO EL PINCHE JUEGO.

No puedo creer que el autor no tuviera los pinche cojones para hacer un final como corresponde, ni él pudo elegir con quien mierda dejar al protagonista. ¿Cuánto TE COSTABA ELEGIR A ALGUIEN?
Ni siquiera me hubiera importado que quedara con alguien que odiara, pero a mi lo que me molesto es que ni siquiera pudo el autor elegir.

Ambos finales tienen un inicio similar, pero terminan de forma diferente. PERO A MI NO ME PUEDEN VENIR A DECIR QUE EL FINAL DE RIRINA ES MALO. LO MALO ES EL PINCHE DESCENLACE QUE LE DIO.

Además encuentro completamente injusto que me hiciera rutas de misaki y Ririna, perr no hiciera una con el mejor amigo, LA AUDACIA OYE.

La idea del manga era genial, porque leer sobre matrimonios arreglados y que el gobierno elija tu pareja es genial, sobre todo porque se lee mucho en fanfics y es un cliché recurrente. LO TENIA TODO, PERO A MEDIDA QUE MÁS AVANZABA MÁS LO ODIABA.

UNA MIERDA DE MANGA.

(tu no ririna, tu eras mi favorita y te amo mucho)

Me puse a leer el manga por culpa del anime, y terminé más emputada que nunca.

[Paola Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say that it is an okay manga. It has a lot of cliche tropes and it is hinting to a harem theme (which may or may not include a gay character fawning all over our MC). What it is making it slightly different from your regular shoujo manga is that the plot revolves around the fact that marriages are arranged by the government at the age of 16, which makes falling in love with other than your assigned spouse a taboo/forbidden thing. The main characters seem a little too bland, but I hope they get some character development in the following volumes. The art is nice in general, but those eyes...

[Brett Orr · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if the government arranged your marriage the moment you turned 16? What if you had already fallen in love and wanted to rebel against your fate?

In a premise like a YA dystopian novel, Love & Lies is an ecchi romantic drama about a young boy who wants to pursue his own high-school crush, despite being in an arranged marriage.

The pacing is a little rough, but the characters are endearing. The plot errs on the side of “trashy guilt read,” but that’s not always a bad thing. There’s clearly going to be a LOT of ups-and-downs between the characters.

Definitely room to improve but I’ll be picking up the second volume for sure!

[Dante · Rating 1 out of 5]

i remember reading this in my teenage years then temporarily dropped it because it was still ongoing. now that i know that it has 2 endings for each girl but none for the boy best friend that has been through a lot in this shitty drama of a story and has been in love with the mc ever since the start of the manga is utterly frustrating. do better Musawo. if you’re not going to give him an ending route then might as well never make him fall for MC at all. or. you know, choose ONE girl. unnecessary.
the whole point of the manga is a love triangle not a harem/otome 😭 the art is so pretty but def not worth the 280+ chapters.

[Sesana · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept is fine as a fanfic trope. The biggest problem here is that I disliked all of the characters and the main character had zero chemistry with his love interest. He says he has all these feelings for her, but the way he expresses them is really, really shallow. She's pretty and... that's it, I guess. She likes him because he's nice and... that's it, I guess. This concept needs a lot more depth to the characterization to make it come to life.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rom-com featuring arranged marriage and being in love with a childhood friend.

It's a bit out there, with a little too much fanservice for my liking. However, the characters are interesting, the emotions involved feel real, messy and complicated. I wouldn't mind reading the rest of it, as I'd be interested to see where it goes, but I'm in no rush.

[David Doel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for volumes 1 through 8 of the series. Volume 8 does not promise a volume 9, but Barnes and Nobel says it will be available in June. If it shows up, I'll likely purchase and read it. I think the series can be valuable for young adults as a way to grapple with the question of what love is.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yukari gets his government notice of the girl he has to marry right after he tells his friend Misaki that he likes her.

I wanted a lot more of the sociological experiment of the government telling you who you have to marry for genetic reasons and it looks like this is really about the drama, so not for me.

[comecasuallyreadwithme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This COMPLETELY threw me. The concept that the government decides your partners and you’re not allowed to fall in love. The weird plot twist where his best friends in love with him even though he loves a girl that he is not assigned to while the girl he IS assigned to seems to be falling for him. It’s too much. I probably won’t continue the series.

[Rosario Rolon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this since the beginning and I must say I loved it.
Not only does it bring the drama but the love to it too.
This manga only has 8 pages each chapter always wonder why.
Never bothered me though.
I enjoy this story.