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The Sidekick Never Gets the Girl, Let Alone the Protag’s Sister! #1
The Sidekick Never Gets the Girl, Let Alone the Protag’s Sister!
Then: Kunugi Kou waged bloody warfare as a hero in another world. Now: He’s a perfectly average high-schooler with a perfectly exceptional best friend: Ayase Kaito. The living incarnation of every cheesy romcom protagonist ever written, Kaito’s charming personality and looks that could kill have earned himself the harem of quirky beauties that every protagonist deserves—and Kou is dead-set on supporting him from the shadows as the ultimate wingman extra! And it’s all going great—that is, until a wrench is thrown into the works in the form of another romcom staple: the protagonist’s little sister, Ayase Hikari, who meets Kou under the most outlandish of circumstances possible. Even worse, it kinda sorta just maybe seems like she might have a thing for him? Now it’s up to the world’s most “extra” extra to crawl his way back into the obscurity he longs for!
Unknown Binding
First published May 31, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 5, 2021
This story has an interesting little set up, a boy named Koh who has trauma inflicted on him from his trip to an Isekai, and now having returned to Earth he's trying to be someone he's not and avoid getting hurt again. It's not really a happy story so far, as as much progress as some characters make, Koh is just as quick to brush aside or reset their relationship to the status quo to avoid what he thinks will only lead to regret. Koh interacts with his world as if it's a visual novel, treating his best friend as a harem protagonist, and trying to avoid getting on any routes himself. But this facade is pretty quickly pointed out to be sad and pathetic by one girl who knew him before the tragic events.
For the mood of this one, it's parts dramatic and parts funny, I would say verging more on the sad / drama scale, but just with some sprinkling of romcom tropes and interactions. This is definitely a harem romance story, as half the girls have some history with the lead, and he does initially get the wrong idea with a few of the girl's affections (but he's not really dense, to be clear; he's trying to avoid a romance route with anyone, but there's just a few people he discovers have an interest in him later than others). The plot does move quick I would say (some characters that start as acquaintances / enemies become friends over the course of the story), and you never feel too claustrophobic in that way since the setting and characters are always changing (the only dizzying part is the amount of characters you're dealing with since it is harem).
The big theme in the story is characters who are one thing pretending to be something else. Because of the false personas being cliche and annoying, you may find the early part of the book off-putting as the tropes are very heavy. This is seen very early in Kiryu, a girl who in class is verbally abusive to Koh, but whom we later we find out is just mad about Koh having forgotten about her in the 5 years since he left. In addition, there's a student council member who acts like an Ojou that Koh can't stand, but in reality she's an anime Otaku and a girl who is like a sister to Koh. There's a few other lighter examples as well (Yoshiki, the impish girl who is shy around most people, but is bubbly and energetic with those she likes).
The main character can be a bit off-putting at times, and not all of these seem on purpose to make you dislike him, some seem like they're trying to be relatable comedic relief but failing at it. Iirc, there's a homophobic joke at one point about Koh's friend Kaito (something along the lines of Koh "worried" that his friend might go down "the wrong path" when he shows no interest in women). Koh also is very terrible with his teacher, calling her a hag and disparaging her single status (even though he himself admits before doing so that he understands the struggles of 30 year olds with love from daytime dramas and such). In addition, Koh is quick to point out the size of each girl's breasts in dialogue, and shames one girl's size in particular (Kotou, the girl who is his friend Kaito's childhood friend). On the asshole scale, Koh is pretty high up there, despite any virtuous acts he finds himself forced to do (like the cliche "beat up groper, save girl, get girl's admiration" trope that happens twice in this book).
Another aspect touched on is when is it ok to let someone be in pain / get hurt, and when do you step in to stop someone from being hurt. This is kind of an interesting internal debate for Koh late in the book when he lets one girl wallow in the sadness of her confession being rejected, while going out of his way to comfort and support Ayase Hikari with her trauma. Is it only people you're close to who you should help? If someone was once a problem / enemy, are they undeserving of sympathy and help? Curious to see where they go with that.
Overall, I enjoyed it for what it was, and I liked that it did something interesting with a broken protagonist. I do think there was some uneven stuff though (between Koh's terrible nature and some of the roundabout steps in logic he takes, like the time he decides to stay up all night in front of a girl's house until daybreak to wait for her to wake up... Like, why?). Ayase Hikari, whom I've barely talked about in this review, is the lead girl on the cover, so that should show you how forgettable she is as lead girl to me. She's just very much a damsel character at this point with little depth beyond (she has good grades and can cook; apparently she's supposed to be a model student who helps the student council and is friends with Yoshiki, but she never comes to school in this whole volume so we don't get to see that). She has some quirky conversations with the lead over the phone, but they didn't really stick with me (only one I can remember was the "harsh words? Like genocide" line that comes out of nowhere from her in response to the guy not liking strong language like him being her "savior"). I also think it may have been fine keeping the cast to just Hikari, Kiryu, Kaito, Koh, and Myourenji (student council girl). Kotou is fine I guess (as long as she stays as Kaitou's love interest and not added to the harem). Yoshiki reminded me of Fuuka from Clannad with her size and brash cuteness, but she was just pretty tropey and her sections didn't really involve any real drama iirc. And then there's the track star Kazuki who didn't really get involved much either and was padding. So yeah, definitely an uneven book, and the cast split is a bit much.
For the mood of this one, it's parts dramatic and parts funny, I would say verging more on the sad / drama scale, but just with some sprinkling of romcom tropes and interactions. This is definitely a harem romance story, as half the girls have some history with the lead, and he does initially get the wrong idea with a few of the girl's affections (but he's not really dense, to be clear; he's trying to avoid a romance route with anyone, but there's just a few people he discovers have an interest in him later than others). The plot does move quick I would say (some characters that start as acquaintances / enemies become friends over the course of the story), and you never feel too claustrophobic in that way since the setting and characters are always changing (the only dizzying part is the amount of characters you're dealing with since it is harem).
The big theme in the story is characters who are one thing pretending to be something else. Because of the false personas being cliche and annoying, you may find the early part of the book off-putting as the tropes are very heavy. This is seen very early in Kiryu, a girl who in class is verbally abusive to Koh, but whom we later we find out is just mad about Koh having forgotten about her in the 5 years since he left. In addition, there's a student council member who acts like an Ojou that Koh can't stand, but in reality she's an anime Otaku and a girl who is like a sister to Koh. There's a few other lighter examples as well (Yoshiki, the impish girl who is shy around most people, but is bubbly and energetic with those she likes).
The main character can be a bit off-putting at times, and not all of these seem on purpose to make you dislike him, some seem like they're trying to be relatable comedic relief but failing at it. Iirc, there's a homophobic joke at one point about Koh's friend Kaito (something along the lines of Koh "worried" that his friend might go down "the wrong path" when he shows no interest in women). Koh also is very terrible with his teacher, calling her a hag and disparaging her single status (even though he himself admits before doing so that he understands the struggles of 30 year olds with love from daytime dramas and such). In addition, Koh is quick to point out the size of each girl's breasts in dialogue, and shames one girl's size in particular (Kotou, the girl who is his friend Kaito's childhood friend). On the asshole scale, Koh is pretty high up there, despite any virtuous acts he finds himself forced to do (like the cliche "beat up groper, save girl, get girl's admiration" trope that happens twice in this book).
Another aspect touched on is when is it ok to let someone be in pain / get hurt, and when do you step in to stop someone from being hurt. This is kind of an interesting internal debate for Koh late in the book when he lets one girl wallow in the sadness of her confession being rejected, while going out of his way to comfort and support Ayase Hikari with her trauma. Is it only people you're close to who you should help? If someone was once a problem / enemy, are they undeserving of sympathy and help? Curious to see where they go with that.
Overall, I enjoyed it for what it was, and I liked that it did something interesting with a broken protagonist. I do think there was some uneven stuff though (between Koh's terrible nature and some of the roundabout steps in logic he takes, like the time he decides to stay up all night in front of a girl's house until daybreak to wait for her to wake up... Like, why?). Ayase Hikari, whom I've barely talked about in this review, is the lead girl on the cover, so that should show you how forgettable she is as lead girl to me. She's just very much a damsel character at this point with little depth beyond (she has good grades and can cook; apparently she's supposed to be a model student who helps the student council and is friends with Yoshiki, but she never comes to school in this whole volume so we don't get to see that). She has some quirky conversations with the lead over the phone, but they didn't really stick with me (only one I can remember was the "harsh words? Like genocide" line that comes out of nowhere from her in response to the guy not liking strong language like him being her "savior"). I also think it may have been fine keeping the cast to just Hikari, Kiryu, Kaito, Koh, and Myourenji (student council girl). Kotou is fine I guess (as long as she stays as Kaitou's love interest and not added to the harem). Yoshiki reminded me of Fuuka from Clannad with her size and brash cuteness, but she was just pretty tropey and her sections didn't really involve any real drama iirc. And then there's the track star Kazuki who didn't really get involved much either and was padding. So yeah, definitely an uneven book, and the cast split is a bit much.
July 7, 2021
Great Read
Wasn't sure what is was getting into when got this but I have no regrets... well, the beginning could have been better, but it was smooth sailing after that. This story definitely made me laugh and want to keep reading as soon as I finished it. I suggest you give it go and see for yourself.
Wasn't sure what is was getting into when got this but I have no regrets... well, the beginning could have been better, but it was smooth sailing after that. This story definitely made me laugh and want to keep reading as soon as I finished it. I suggest you give it go and see for yourself.
July 10, 2021
Unique meta comedy with a lot of fun character interactions! The translator and editor did a great job making the writing flow smoothly in English. I'm looking forward to volume 2.
March 26, 2025
Initially drawn to the concept, and sadly just felt like it wasn't achieved. It is a fairly easy read, but the first half of the book was ... off putting. I didn't care for the style or the writing and the constant repetition of "I'm the sidekick". And while he's the sidekick, or claims to be, Koh is the one with the harem. All the girls seems to be falling all over themselves to be near him, rather than his best friend.
The latter half was more interesting, but still only enough to keep this from just disappearing into the black hole of an infinitude of light novels. I probably wouldn't have bothered with the second volume but I already got it on a sale so I'll get to it sooner or later.
The latter half was more interesting, but still only enough to keep this from just disappearing into the black hole of an infinitude of light novels. I probably wouldn't have bothered with the second volume but I already got it on a sale so I'll get to it sooner or later.
July 5, 2023
I wanted to like this one. However, I think the untold stuff would have made for a better story than what we got. Additionally, the "sidekick" or "Protagonist's best friend" stuff being mentioned on EVERY page became tedious quickly. It's amusing when done sparingly, but I think the word sparingly isn't in this author's vocabulary. Doubt I'll come back for the second (which, since the series was cancelled after the second book, seems to have been the general consensus all around).
October 27, 2021
Prett good
This story pretty average for me. The set-up and payoff were competently done.The only downside for me was that the main voice is a little more self-indulgent than I like.I get that he's working very hard to get us to see the world the same way that he does I just thought he could have been more concise.
This story pretty average for me. The set-up and payoff were competently done.The only downside for me was that the main voice is a little more self-indulgent than I like.I get that he's working very hard to get us to see the world the same way that he does I just thought he could have been more concise.
July 12, 2021
Bloody hell this is good, good enough that I proclaim it literature. It flips everything in twists and turns that you do not see coming, and not in a cliche way. If you love light novels, or anime, read this. It’s meta and it’s unique, I have yet to see a story quite like it before.
December 21, 2021
I picked it randomly nothing fancy, here and there some twist in the story.
May 4, 2022
This is much more interesting than the sample and blurb
I’ve read over a hundred books in 2022 already but this might be the best one thus far. No spoilers, but I was legitimately surprised with how things played out and the way it ended.
I’ve read over a hundred books in 2022 already but this might be the best one thus far. No spoilers, but I was legitimately surprised with how things played out and the way it ended.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews