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できそこないの姫君たち [Dekisokonai no Himegimi Tachi] #4
できそこないの姫君たち (4)【特典ペーパー付き／カラーページ増量版】 (バンブーコミックス)
Opposites attract in this new high school yuri manga! Fujishiro Nanaki is super cute, super popular, and super annoyed with anyone as plain as her classmate Kurokawa Kanade. When Nanaki finds out her boyfriend's cheating on her, however, her life makes a complete 180--as does her relationship with Kanade. This all-new manga series explores the budding romance between the queen bee in school and the plain girl she once brushed off!
169 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2020
15 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 1, 2021
Girl meets girl. But before that happened, well, girl met girl. In the latter instance, Izumi fell and fell hard for Fujishiro. Which drives her to react when she sees Fujishiro reaching out to Kurokawa. But there are a lot of things that are changing… and some that, unfortunately, remain the same…
So that happened. Then we get the flashback to Fujishiro and Izumi becoming friends, plus the start of Fujishiro being uninterested in guys and then rotating them like crops. We see that Izumi has been burying her feelings forever and the very threat of Kurokawa (which goes in a very different direction) causes it to happen again.
And it’s great. I love the way this focused in on both Izumi and Fujishiro. We knew the what of Izumi but not the how and the why and that gets filled in before she gets her heart well and truly broken. But this series is so good at real talk and, after hashing the situation out with Kurokawa, Fujishiro gives a proper response and makes a lot of things clear.
Even aimed away from our main characters, this is still really, really good and I love the way this further shines a light on Fujishiro - she is clearly the most confused of the cast and you get the feeling she has no idea what she does or does not want, or she won’t let herself go down that road if she does.
Well, she knows one thing she definitely doesn’t want, but at least honesty truly was the best policy and it lets Iroha, of all people, end up saving the day. Still, this is, in the end, Izumi’s book and she gets an emotional rollercoaster here.
While her personality can still be a bit over-the-top, we even get some needed background on Iroha, who was easily my weakest link character in this whole series. Seeing her actually get upset about something was kind of a relief because she was so one-note beforehand.
I particularly liked the way that her dad is utterly useless and we see exactly why he annoys the hell out of Iroha, but then he turns out to be hilariously right in a twist that I kind of expected but was also seeded really well, so I don’t care (and it promises some good fodder for later).
It also feeds into something else I really liked about this volume, which is how incredibly messy the relationships get while not being strictly trope-y about it. Izumi’s story is 100% about what we expected, but there’s a lot of nuance within that space.
So, when we get the revelation about how Fujishiro really thinks about Kurokawa (well, for now… the next volume preview looks grim and I bet Kurokawa’s insecurities have been triggered by some incredibly believable but painful logic) and Iroha turns out to be a lot less invested in her friend than was implied… that makes for good reading.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the wonderful final chapter that closes out this volume, where our title characters finally spend some time together. Besides being a real conversation that they’ve needed for a while, there is an adorable little capper at the end that tugs at the heart just a wee bit.
They both have a long way to go still and that road remains fraught - Fujishiro’s got a lot of recognizance to do and Kurokawa’s got her head to get out of, but they are such a good pair together.
5 stars - I definitely wanted more of our two leads, but I guarantee that as a piece of a whole work this won’t even bother me when I reread the series for the umpteenth time. And, you know, umbrellas.
So that happened. Then we get the flashback to Fujishiro and Izumi becoming friends, plus the start of Fujishiro being uninterested in guys and then rotating them like crops. We see that Izumi has been burying her feelings forever and the very threat of Kurokawa (which goes in a very different direction) causes it to happen again.
And it’s great. I love the way this focused in on both Izumi and Fujishiro. We knew the what of Izumi but not the how and the why and that gets filled in before she gets her heart well and truly broken. But this series is so good at real talk and, after hashing the situation out with Kurokawa, Fujishiro gives a proper response and makes a lot of things clear.
Even aimed away from our main characters, this is still really, really good and I love the way this further shines a light on Fujishiro - she is clearly the most confused of the cast and you get the feeling she has no idea what she does or does not want, or she won’t let herself go down that road if she does.
Well, she knows one thing she definitely doesn’t want, but at least honesty truly was the best policy and it lets Iroha, of all people, end up saving the day. Still, this is, in the end, Izumi’s book and she gets an emotional rollercoaster here.
While her personality can still be a bit over-the-top, we even get some needed background on Iroha, who was easily my weakest link character in this whole series. Seeing her actually get upset about something was kind of a relief because she was so one-note beforehand.
I particularly liked the way that her dad is utterly useless and we see exactly why he annoys the hell out of Iroha, but then he turns out to be hilariously right in a twist that I kind of expected but was also seeded really well, so I don’t care (and it promises some good fodder for later).
It also feeds into something else I really liked about this volume, which is how incredibly messy the relationships get while not being strictly trope-y about it. Izumi’s story is 100% about what we expected, but there’s a lot of nuance within that space.
So, when we get the revelation about how Fujishiro really thinks about Kurokawa (well, for now… the next volume preview looks grim and I bet Kurokawa’s insecurities have been triggered by some incredibly believable but painful logic) and Iroha turns out to be a lot less invested in her friend than was implied… that makes for good reading.
I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the wonderful final chapter that closes out this volume, where our title characters finally spend some time together. Besides being a real conversation that they’ve needed for a while, there is an adorable little capper at the end that tugs at the heart just a wee bit.
They both have a long way to go still and that road remains fraught - Fujishiro’s got a lot of recognizance to do and Kurokawa’s got her head to get out of, but they are such a good pair together.
5 stars - I definitely wanted more of our two leads, but I guarantee that as a piece of a whole work this won’t even bother me when I reread the series for the umpteenth time. And, you know, umbrellas.
October 31, 2024
This is some of the best handling of side characters in a romance manga that I have read. Izumi gets such a great treatment that it brought a smile to my face. Fujishiro is still trying to make sense of all that is going on and it isn't quite clear where she will end up by the end of this. This volume had some terrific artwork throughout.
November 22, 2021
Under My Umbrella!
This was so heartbreaking! Poor Izumi, my heart bled for her. There was a real exploration of friendship and how even if feelings are unrequited there can still be some type of love. I do hope that the future is brighter for Izumi and judging by the latter part of the volume it is! And of course sweetness at the end. I can't wait for the next volume!
This was so heartbreaking! Poor Izumi, my heart bled for her. There was a real exploration of friendship and how even if feelings are unrequited there can still be some type of love. I do hope that the future is brighter for Izumi and judging by the latter part of the volume it is! And of course sweetness at the end. I can't wait for the next volume!
December 29, 2021
There is nothing more cathartic than being actually heard.
January 14, 2022
Basic thoughts: This volume is a solid read because it does something very well: expanding on what it means to be in love, the struggles of not just romantic relationships but platonic too. The story is pretty slow for this volume, focusing heavily on character. It’s a good romance volume because it’s not just cookie cutter fluff, there’s some decent drama.
The side characters, Iroha and Izumi get some decent arcs and drama, more so Izumi. In a few of the romance comics I’ve read the world just revolves around the leads and the side characters are just there. The Izumi drama is different from the beauty theme of the series, but it’s done well.
I liked Iroha’s little story it was quite cute and gave her some like ability points.
The romance is a bit frustrating now because I genuinely don’t know if they will or won’t. It’s a bit too dragged out.
The art in this I noticed was alright, way too many talking heads. The shading and clothing design is nice.
This series apparently has 2 volumes left, so it will be wrapping up soon. I do believe this is a good GL read for people who want drama.
The side characters, Iroha and Izumi get some decent arcs and drama, more so Izumi. In a few of the romance comics I’ve read the world just revolves around the leads and the side characters are just there. The Izumi drama is different from the beauty theme of the series, but it’s done well.
I liked Iroha’s little story it was quite cute and gave her some like ability points.
The romance is a bit frustrating now because I genuinely don’t know if they will or won’t. It’s a bit too dragged out.
The art in this I noticed was alright, way too many talking heads. The shading and clothing design is nice.
This series apparently has 2 volumes left, so it will be wrapping up soon. I do believe this is a good GL read for people who want drama.
November 22, 2021
A school trip, a confession, and a partial rejection.
The girls continue the school trip. During an overheard conversation, someone thinks she's lost the object of her affection, before she ever had it. So she confesses, and is rejected, on a romantic level. However they are best friends, and neither want to lose that special connection. Fearing the worst, the other two girls split into pairs and try to cheer up both girls, who spent all night crying. Things gets sort of resolved, and everyone continues on as normal. However, the girl who was the one rejecting, she's realized she's terribly hurt her most treasured friend, over and over again, not realizing she was the object of love. So there's still some mess to clean up, but it looks like another girl in the group... just fell head over heels in love with the girl that was rejected?!?! Now what? Ah, young love. I look forward to the next volume very much. I've really been enjoying this series.
The girls continue the school trip. During an overheard conversation, someone thinks she's lost the object of her affection, before she ever had it. So she confesses, and is rejected, on a romantic level. However they are best friends, and neither want to lose that special connection. Fearing the worst, the other two girls split into pairs and try to cheer up both girls, who spent all night crying. Things gets sort of resolved, and everyone continues on as normal. However, the girl who was the one rejecting, she's realized she's terribly hurt her most treasured friend, over and over again, not realizing she was the object of love. So there's still some mess to clean up, but it looks like another girl in the group... just fell head over heels in love with the girl that was rejected?!?! Now what? Ah, young love. I look forward to the next volume very much. I've really been enjoying this series.
July 16, 2023
Izumi lleva tiempo enamorada de Fujishiro, así que no soporta cuando ella le dice que quiere a Kuro y termina confesando sus sentimientos por ella.
Fujishiro le cuenta a Kuro, aunque ella ya lo suponía.
Mierda, yo también malinterprete lo que dijo Fujishiro, pensé que ya se había dado cuenta que quería a Kuro, pero no, sigue pensando que solo quiere ser su mejor amiga. Igualmente, solo puede ver como amiga a Izumi y se reconcilian. El amor unilateral duele.
Y ahora Iro se enamora de Izumi, ojalá puedan quedar juntas.
Nos siguen dando más desarrollo de Maho, parece un personaje interesante para estas historias complementarias.
Fujishiro le cuenta a Kuro, aunque ella ya lo suponía.
Mierda, yo también malinterprete lo que dijo Fujishiro, pensé que ya se había dado cuenta que quería a Kuro, pero no, sigue pensando que solo quiere ser su mejor amiga. Igualmente, solo puede ver como amiga a Izumi y se reconcilian. El amor unilateral duele.
Y ahora Iro se enamora de Izumi, ojalá puedan quedar juntas.
Nos siguen dando más desarrollo de Maho, parece un personaje interesante para estas historias complementarias.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2023
Best volume so far! While not ground-breaking or as deep as it could have been, I really liked the chapters that explored Izumi's character and her struggles with her sexuality. I can see those chapters being really affirming and relatable for a lot of readers. Overall the story of this volume felt more complete and the characters had more depth. I don't expect any wild twists to this series and I can guess how it will end, but I'm looking forward to reading it.
As a non-Japanese reader I wish there was more explanation on Japanese attitudes towards queer people, but given that this was written for a Japanese audience that's not something I can expect.
As a non-Japanese reader I wish there was more explanation on Japanese attitudes towards queer people, but given that this was written for a Japanese audience that's not something I can expect.
September 7, 2021
So good!!
Ah! Fujishiro is my favorite! (Still) this volume was full of emotion. I wanted to hug Izumi. She tried so hard to keep it together, but I think she will find happiness soon! Fujishiro and Kurokawa will have to face their feeling sometime right?! I can't wait for the next one!!!
Ah! Fujishiro is my favorite! (Still) this volume was full of emotion. I wanted to hug Izumi. She tried so hard to keep it together, but I think she will find happiness soon! Fujishiro and Kurokawa will have to face their feeling sometime right?! I can't wait for the next one!!!
March 7, 2022
This was pretty good. Could of done without the fan service, and nipples though. It seems like the popular girl is becoming plainer as time goes on(dark hair, childish pigtails, glasses), and the plain girl is becoming prettier.
May 2, 2022
it’s slow burn
September 16, 2022
A rather sad volume. It does make me wonder if the romance in this story will just be between side characters.
December 31, 2023
Loved the focus on Izumi this volume and that whole storyline was something I didn't see coming at the beginning!
October 24, 2024
A perfect mix of depressing and fluffy
December 18, 2024
3.75/5
September 30, 2021
The drama was in full swing, with tears, tragic backstories, and emotional confrontation galore! That being said, I am so impressed with how Ajiichi handled Izumi's situation and showed how much Fujishiro has grown since the start. Her actually taking the time to properly address the issue and sensitively handle it was so heartwarming and incredible, my heart swelled three times over. The drama surrounding Fujishiro and Izumi took up most of the volume, but we did get some extra fluff towards the end which made me happy. This is such a fun, fluffy, yet emotionally charged yuri series and I am loving every bit of it. Thank you, Ajiichi, for all that you do! Keep up the good work!
January 16, 2026
they are so cute without even realizing it
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews