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Nagatoro is a freshman in high school who loves teasing and torturing her older male classmate (Senpai). What is her motivation and why does Senpai put up with her? Does Nagatoro just want to create misery for Senpai? Or maybe she secretly likes him?

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2018

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nanashi

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
Profile Image for Tim.
491 reviews837 followers
December 8, 2019
Wow… I don’t even know how to review this one. So let’s start with a BIG disclaimer. This manga is toxic. It is something that many people should stay far away from. It features a bully who frankly wins just about every time, and it’s portrayed as something of a romantic relationship.

This is the sort of shit that can really get to people and as you can see from the other reviews on here it has done so. Even some of the positive reviews I’ve read seem hesitant to recommended for everyone. I will not be hesitant. If you think this COULD POSSIBLY bother you, stay the hell away.

Plot: Our protagonist is your classic awkward nerd. He draws manga; he pretty much lives his school life in the art club (of which he is seemingly the only member) and he’s got borderline crippling anxiety to the point where he always has trouble looking at the people talking to him. He’s been bullied enough and just tries to keep his head down and not be noticed. Enter Nagatoro, who decides to make Senpai (he is never named, as she doesn’t ever ask for it and actively tells him she doesn’t care the only time he offers it) her personal pet project. She is going to torment him every chance she gets, in school, out… whatever. What follows is mind games, sexual harassment and one of the evilest grins you will see outside of a horror manga.

Also, the entire thing is presented as a romantic comedy.

Yeah.

...

Yeah..

So, for anyone who says, “oh, it doesn’t sound that bad,” let’s just look at this for one moment from another angle. Let’s gender swap the characters. Imagine if the plot description above said that it was about a socially awkward girl, constantly being stalked and mentally abused by a male student who decided to make her his “pet project.” That’s the sort of thing that would NEVER get a stateside release (I honestly don’t know how it pulled off a release as things stand). There would be no way to market it without coming off as a monster.

Hell, this one’s having a hard enough time. Apparently when it was initially being translated, the first title was “Don’t Bully Me, Miss Nagatoro;” a much more fitting title, but one that wouldn’t sell. “Toy with” apparently gets the same point across without sounding as bad.

Again… just… yeah.

Here’s my biggest problem… I keep all my reviews honest. It would be so easy to close this review here, give it a one star rating and see if I get any likes agreeing with my stance.

So, with all that said… God help me, I enjoyed this manga.

Bear with me a moment. I’ll try to explain. While it is morally offensive on so many levels, it is also REALLY damn funny. I know that makes me sound like a monster, but as someone who WAS that socially awkward nerd as a teenager, I see a lot of things that made me grin looking back with the passage of time. Several situations genuinely made me laugh. It’s the same cringe comedy that made WataMote work (don’t know WataMote? Honestly, for many that may be for the best).

Also, I love the artwork. The artist does a brilliant trick with Nagatoro; she’s always drawn not necessarily how she is, but how Senpai perceives her. In many of her drawings she comes off as a normal highschool girl, but the moment she’s alone with Senpai, she changes. Here’s a few examples:



Notice how she’s drawn in an almost horror style? That’s brilliant. That gets you into Senpai’s head all the more. It’s also worth noting the font changes, which often move from their usual style, to the same font used for his thought process… implying just possibly, that we’re not getting exactly what she’s saying, but how his anxiety is taking what she’s saying. Is what we’re getting actually bullying, or overdone teasing made worse by Senpai’s anxieties? There's also some evidence of this in some of the chapter breaks where she seems to be feeling like she over did it.

...

Hell, I’m probably overthinking it to justify my liking it, but either way, this series is going on my guilty pleasure list.

Recommended for absolutely no one… but I totally won’t judge you if you like it. :P

Also, for those frustrated by Nagatoro constantly getting away with her behavior toward Senpai, make sure you read the last bonus chapter. The fact that we close with her getting something of a comeuppance at least once, gives me hope for the direction this could go.
Profile Image for The Artisan Geek.
445 reviews7,298 followers
Read
April 6, 2021
9/9/20
I didn't like this one. The whole schtick of the manga is that this girl really likes a boy who has been bullied for years and thus decides that her best strategy is to... bully/tease him as well - ugh. The schtick wasn't appealing to me, so I got bored really quickly.

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Profile Image for Nicolo.
3,464 reviews205 followers
August 23, 2021
Trigger warning: There's a lot of out of context bullying in this one.

This manga has a lot of tropes; senpai-kohai dynamic, otaku-gyaru contrast, and a lot of teasing comedy. The thing is, Nagatoro's relationship with her senpai straddles the thin line between teasing and bullying. There's comedy to be had from this teasing, but also a lot of cringe because it can be mistaken for bulllying.

The only way this over the top teasing isn't bullying is by reviewing their relationship. Nagatoro is a younger schoolmate, and in Japan, this relationship is sacrosanct. The younger yields respect to the elder. However, her senpai is basically damaged from his earlier interaction with peers, that even Nagatoro's constructive criticism done in her signature teasing manner draws tears from the poor young man.

Bullying isn't cute, but try looking at this manga from nuanced perspective.
Profile Image for Bookishrealm.
3,241 reviews6,431 followers
May 14, 2023
Ooo I have complicated feelings about this one. I decided to check this one out because it was available on the K Manga app and the first three volumes of this series are free to read. So the story basically follows this young guy who likes to draw. And then he ends up coming across this girl Nagatoro who is a complete and total asshole. I thought that the teasing wasn’t that bad at first but eventually it just got to the point where it was bullying and I didn’t find it funny, sweet, charming, or endearing. I think that it does turn around towards the end of chapter 8, and there is potential for a romance between our two main characters but I’m hesitant to continue on with the series because the bullying that she inflicts on him is so bad. I think that I may give it one more volume but I’m not sure and I haven’t made up my mind just yet.
Profile Image for k.
76 reviews
March 31, 2018
Would not recommend if you have been bullied, have had a rough/toxic past ( even with your parents ), been sexually harassed, & want a romcom.
Although I think this book is great, with realistic acting, great art and being unpredictable... maybe it's for you if you are a masochist. Or you prefer to " relieve " your trauma by reading stuff that are related to it, but I'm assuming most people would want to stay away from anything that reminds them of their toxic friends.

Bullying is the main part of the story. And no, it's not like cute teasing but the type that you get when you're being bullied. I have been bullied before, sort of found this uncomfortable especially when I get the MC and I hate the girl. It contains sexual harassment as well. This manga is aimed towards the wrong type of audience, and clearly does not portray a romantic relationship. Seems pretty toxic to me and I think this should have been aimed for a psychological type of " romance ".
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,205 followers
February 18, 2022
Gosh this Nagatoro girl is a real asshole. I get the teasing thing is part of the genre but she is such a asshole. Much more of a Bully. Luckily begins to turn around some in the end but she still a ass.
Profile Image for D.T..
Author 5 books80 followers
April 29, 2022
She’s rude, can’t keep her hands to herself, and #TeamTooMuch, and he’s got no backbone whatsoever.

Nagatoro needs to get her life in order. She's the main one talking about the MC is a wimpy, virgin-loser boy, yet she's so thirsty for him. What does that make you, Nagatoro?

Even she realizes she goes too far often, but Nagatoro never formally voices that to the MC besides wiping his tears (that she causes). At one point, it seemed her teasing was getting less brutal, and they were starting to have normal conversation, but she regressed.

I thought this was going to be light, harmless teasing, but it borders on full-on bullying. None of this was endearing unless you like sadistic characters and sexual jokes. This is for the crowd that likes to be stepped on, I guess.
Profile Image for Nore.
827 reviews48 followers
September 9, 2020
Review for up to volume 4 (I read most of my manga online and the scanlation group for this helpfully has the volumes listed, yay!) because I hate reviewing individual volumes of manga.

Horribly problematic, and yet, super fun. The original title was "Don't Bully Me, Nagatoro-san," and that's not only much more honest, it's such a better title! Nagatoro, secretly bashful as she is, lives to bully the senpai she likes, and she'll be damned if anyone else gets to edge in on her monopoly. Her senpai, as much as he hates being picked on, can't help but find her cute, especially when her bullying backfires and she embarrasses herself. Their relationship deepens as time goes on from flat-out meanness to something almost sweet in some scenes.

I particularly love the way Nagatoro is drawn - her expressions in panels where she's looking at Senpai when he's unaware are deeply evocative, especially when she sees him doing something she finds appealing.

What a horrible, awful, entertaining relationship!
Profile Image for Mina ☾.
566 reviews226 followers
December 31, 2022
This was so fucking bad.

She is a bully and he is an introvert nerd (with some dirty thoughts - but this last one didn't put me on edge).

Maybe it hit a bit too close to home... Yeah... A cliché but I'm plussize and I was bullied at school even though now I see this bullying as some kids trying to be fun, be popular, what means it was an immature relationship.

But whatever... Turning to the book here how can I shipp this female bully that is so awful with our male cute nerd that didn't did anything. He is really introvert, likes to be alone and is a reader and an artist. I can't!
Profile Image for Sean O'Hara.
Author 23 books101 followers
June 19, 2019
The first few chapters are iffy, with Nagatoro's behavior falling well within the realm of bullying, but eventually it settles down to mere teasing of a sort that's not particularly malicious.
Profile Image for sid.
64 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2021
bullying and sexual harrassment is not cute or romantic 🥰
Profile Image for Gary Sundell.
368 reviews60 followers
July 24, 2021
This was free in a current B&N sale. I am still working through my take on this.
Profile Image for Mehsi.
15.1k reviews454 followers
January 30, 2023
A girl and her senpai. Endless teasing. Was it fun or not? Not sure yet.


I was browsing through my Google Play Books when I saw the first volume of this series being free, I thought it would be fun to give it a try. I was a bit hesitant but also very curious about this series. I heard a lot of conflicting opinions about it, and I wondered what I would think of it.

Well, for now I am still unsure. On the one hand I had a laugh at some of the scenes. I loved that while she is very mean to her Senpai we do see her thinking that she may have gone to far both in the scenes and after the chapters are over. That just made it a tad better for me, seeing that she did feel guilty. That she did think that she went too far. Now if she just applied all those feelings and maybe teased her poor senpai less. But I guess that won’t happen any time soon. I did think it was cute that despite all the attitude you could clearly see a girl who was falling in love with her senpai. She loved being near him. She sought him out. She tried to be there with him. Yes. OK, I know she didn’t do many things the right way. I mean, the right way if you fall in love with someone is to stare at them and give them sweet things, give them compliments. Not tease them. XD The art was also terribly fun, though what is up with Nagatoro’s eyes? They did some weird things at times making me confused if she had more than one eye colour. I loved the expressions on the characters. I loved the fluidity of the art (hope that makes sense). I loved seeing our senpai step up and try to stop Nagatoro. In the beginning he just let her run over him, but after 2 chapters he is clearly expressing himself. Now if Nagatoro listened. But at least he is trying to set his boundaries. Good job dude! I have read too many manga in which a wimpy (or wimpy-ish) character just let the girls run over him, so this is a nice change.

But yeah, the bullying/teasing, was just a bit too much for me. I mean, I felt uncomfortable that she would go so far. Again, if you like someone? Maybe just tell them or subtly hint it. Better than make fun of their works, their art, to just tease them sexually, to slap him or push him to the ground. It was just not my thing. I just wanted to really punch her or just shake her away from him. To help him out. And that just sucks. Because again, there are things that I really liked. So if someone could let me know in the comments if the teasing gets more cute and less mean-spirited, that would be great. For now I am just leaving this series at this one volume.

Those last scenes with her calling him while in bath and then accidentally videocalling, oh I laughed. A bit of karma came her way. XD

So yeah, I am happy that I at least tried this series. That I gave it a shot. And again, hopefully someone can let me know if things improve.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Profile Image for Stephen.
556 reviews7 followers
April 29, 2020
Not sure I'm a fan of a comic where somebody gets bullied constantly. While I assume the girl is in love with the protagonist or something, the whole thing seems very toxic. Rather than laughing, as I was intended, I was rooting for him to punch her in the face the entire time.
Profile Image for Cell.
451 reviews31 followers
July 26, 2023
只看前半的話那就是讓人感到不悅的漫畫
Profile Image for Victor The Reader.
1,848 reviews25 followers
January 11, 2021
Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 1 (My Kindle Review)

Miss Nagatoro sure loves to tease and mess with our protagonist. He's a shy high schooler who likes to do art and becomes the target of her over playful behavior. She's definitely like a more evil version of Uzaki-Chan and it's easy to see why. There are some funny moments that doesn't make this manga completely harsh, but it's story for now doesn't really evolve, until a small clue at the end of the story. Maybe this girl has a sweet side for him after all. B (75%/Good)
Profile Image for Frédéric.
1,970 reviews86 followers
November 13, 2022
Funnier than I expected. Nagatoro is creepily perverse but perversely fun. It’s a good thing the book ends as it does though or she would just be a bitch and a bully. The overall comedy tone luckily alleviates this potentially unpleasant aspect.
Profile Image for Reiley Whalen.
81 reviews5 followers
January 31, 2022
It was weird to say the least. My boyfriend suggested it to me because I was looking for a graphic novel type of book. This book is definitely for a male audience cause to a girl it just seems weird and kinds creepy. The antagonist Nagotoro is so rude to the protagonist. She is rude and confusing. She torments the hell out of the poor guy until he cries. making him very uncomfortable and unsure of what he should do in certain situations with her. Nothing dirty though. I do wat to find out what happens in the other volumes even if it is creepy uncomfortable. We'll see, I guess.
Profile Image for Mark.
2,797 reviews269 followers
December 6, 2019
The first chapters of this book are murderously rough, especially if you were a bullied nerd in high school. So I found it incredibly relatable, right down to the self-insert stories :P.

Our poor protagonist is mercilessly bullied by the title character, full stop, and humiliated in a way that isn’t terribly fun. I’d never blame anybody who got that far and noped the heck out of it.

BUT...

But I’ll be back for another volume of this because, shockingly, I think the book starts to find a much better and less mean-spirited rhythm by the end that’s actually quite good.

Once Nagatoro starts to experience some actual comeuppance (the last story backfires on her in spectacularly satisfying fashion) and there are hints that she enjoys senpai’s company (even if she’s miserable about it), it shows some actual potential.

The art’s also great throughout - the kick in the first chapter is gorgeously dynamic. Very uneven start, but if it finds itself this could be really good.
Profile Image for Jillian -always aspiring-.
1,868 reviews537 followers
December 28, 2019
This is one of the worst manga I’ve ever read. Nagatoro is so sadistic, giving Nakamura from Flowers of Evil a run for her money, and the nerdy senpai is bland and hard to root for. The only thing of interest to me was how Nagatoro hides genuine feelings behind this bullying persona; she is just so bored with her life that she feels this need to target her senpai just to feel something beyond the monotony. I may not agree with that mindset, but I understand how it can fester and grow.
Profile Image for Laura.
725 reviews20 followers
June 25, 2021
I'm not sure how I feel about this manga yet, but it seems interesting.

Edit: Decided to reread this now that the anime is out!
Profile Image for IvyInThePages.
1,010 reviews10 followers
January 5, 2022
Rating: 2.3 leaves out of 5
Characters: 2/5
Cover: 3/5
Story: 2/5
Writing: 2/5
Genre: SoL/Romance/Comedy
Type: Manga
Worth?: For me? No.

I'm never one to bash anyone for what they love to read. Usually I'm a pretty level headed person when it comes to it BUT if you think this damn manga is any kind of cute and quirky I'm going to question you and your way of living. The female lead is the embodiment of "IF A BOY LIKES YOU HE WILL BE A MAJOR DICK HOLE TO YOU AND MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR LIFE IS SHIT AND YOU AREN'T WORTH THE AIR YOU BREATHE".

When I read the description of the book I thought it would be a cute kind of teasing... not a literal bitch of a bully. Not only that she basically fucking sexually assaults the guy. I'm just baffled at how the author saw her work. Thought it was good and shipped that shit out.

I bought the first 3 volumes of this stupid manga and I'm pissed. I will be reading them to get my money's worth but this is some fucked up shit.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,347 reviews281 followers
October 22, 2022
Having enjoyed Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 1, I picked this up because it has a similar premise. It's much more mean-spirited and the female protagonist is an outright bully at times to the male lead, but I did get a kick out of seeing her torture the little dweeb, so I'll be continuing on for now.
Profile Image for Red Equis.
121 reviews6 followers
November 29, 2021
Este manga tenía todos los elementos para que me guste (tensión sexual, humor, parafilias, personajes turbios) y sin embargo por ahora sólo me aburre. Esperemos que levante pronto, porque si no no sé cómo se va a sostener por tantos tomos.
Profile Image for Shabani Kasongo.
106 reviews7 followers
October 22, 2021
It's about a girl bullying her way into a relationship with a wimp...friendship actually wherever you can call it
Double standard-ship
Bull-ship
Billie and Mandy , Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
Profile Image for Doc.
1,959 reviews30 followers
June 18, 2024
Schadenfreude (Noun) - pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.

After seeing some of the anime based on this manga I decided t give this volume a second chance though the excessive bullying left a bad taste in my mouth. Yes, let me be sure to remind everyone that is sensitive to bullying subjects that the main male character is shy and the female lead is aggressive in her teasing of him so this series might be hard for you. There is also fanservice moments including a scene where Nagatoro accidentally trips into sempai where her hand lands on his crotch or when she straddles him pretending to be a vampire so those annoyed by fanservice and mature themes no matter how accidental the moments may be.

Another thing I am going mention before getting into the book is don't expect to find the complete series on Amazon Kindle because Amazon has a tendency to delete books from their marketplace if anyone complains about them (pretty sure it has to be against policies like how the characters in this book are students and also in occasional mature situations as mentioned before.) So if you are a completionist you either want to get the series physically or go through another e-book service like Google Books.

It is true that this series deals with bullying and although it can get pretty brutal there are also sections in-between bullying moments from Nagatoro showing her second guessing her actions. Ever heard of a girl throwing rocks at a boy because she likes him and can't say it? That is kind of what I see in Nagatoro as she is interested in her sempai but is socially awkward with him or possibly she is trying to toughen him up. She is shown as being very observant and easily bored later on when she doesn't realize her Sempai is at a restaurant she visits with others so I wouldn't be surprised that she is doing what she thinks is best while also trying to get closer to the artistic buy shy upper classman.

However Sempai may not always appreciate Nagatoro's teasing but with an inferiority complex from constant bullying from others he not only tolerated her constant teasing but i59n time starts taking a little bit of masochistic pleasure from having this strong and energetic girl taking verbal jabs at him. In fact now that I think of it her teasing causes him to tear up at least twice but soon (although some time does pass outside of what we see in the manga) he may get embarrassed but generally he is not nearly as rattled by her teasing as we get toward the end of the volume and possibly might actually like her as I assume she does for him. Only time and willingness to read on can tell.

By the way I like the art of the book as it is a bit simple but the characters are also expressive and well drawn when you can see their faces at all. You see Sempai has been bullied so much in his life that people around him kind of blur away into obscurity for him as shown on page 59 so technically any character that is not shadowed in appearance in the story now and in the future become at least something slightly important to him. Of course as Sempai gets used to Nagatoro the more noticeable people might be because his perspective of the world is actually opening up but I am no psychologist or literary analyst so don't take my theories to heart unless you like them too. :)

Honestly I have been bullied in the past so I really and I mean reeeeally did not like this story the first time through due to sympathizing with Sempai's plight and not having the mind set to catch subtle things in the story nor having the animated version to see expressions in real time to compare it to but it has grown a little on me and I do have some of the books from HumbleBundle so I might see what happens next at some point. After all regardless of Nagatoro's immaturity around Sempai she does show him concern as well as torment him in her own ways.
Profile Image for  Danielle The Book Huntress .
2,756 reviews6,615 followers
October 8, 2021
I heard about this Manga indirectly, from a You Tube anime recommendations list. I was intrigued because it seems like the twist on that old thing my mom and family would tell me if a boy at school was teasing me. It was because he liked me. I can definitely see some of that in Nagatoro's treatment of Naoto. However, at first it made me uncomfortable because it did come off as bullying. I was bullied from elementary up to my junior year of high school, so I can tell you how bullying made me feel. I felt really bad for Naoto. I think I would have hated Nagatoro except for at the end of each chapter there's an interlude where she questions her actions. That made it clear to me that she had a thing for Naoto and she was acting out, trying to get his attention. What would have been nice is for to jsut admit it, instead of playing games. I really hate that she made Naoto cry in some parts. But the end was pretty good as the tables are turned on Nagatoro.

I was really surprised how sexual this gets. No there is no sex. But there is a lot of sexually suggestive dialogue from Nagatoro's part, and some really overt sexual teasing as Nagatoro does exactly what the name of the story implies.

As for the artwork, it's very good. I do like the way that Nagatoro is drawn. She's very impish and cute in a devilish way. I also liked Naoto's rendering. Poor guy was so shy and prone to blushing. This is my first manga so I kept forgetting that you have to swipe to the left to keep reading. LOL.

Is this book for everyone? Nope. Did I like it? Yes. Will I read more? Yes. Feel free to judge me. I'm just curious and I think that the author didn't manage to go over my hard line. I'm glad my library has this in ebook so I can indulge my curiosity without having to buy all the mangas.

I'm giving it a 3.5 stars because Nagatoro is really quite unsympathetic for the first 2/3 of the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews

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