Anti-Romance Vol. 1

アンチロマンス (Anti-Romance) #1

by Shoko Hidaka

Suou and Ryou have been friends since childhood. The hairstylist and writer have lived together for six years now and, though they definitely aren't dating, their close relationship is hard to define. Will they ever move beyond the nebulous territory of "more than friends" or will they keep living in a stalemate forever?

Genres: Manga, Romance, LGBT, Yaoi, Queer, Contemporary, Boys Love

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2020

About the author

Shoko Hidaka (native name: 日高ショーコ) is a Japanese mangaka unit.
The drawings are by Shoko Hidaka, and the stories are by Takie (タキエ) but the author name is always "Shoko Hidaka".

Dōjinshi Circle: speaker

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
I am so sad I didn’t love this one, I had convinced myself that it would be a new favorite, and I saved it for a bad day, and since I’ve been sick in bed all day I thought it would be the perfect time to read this, but I didn’t enjoy it very much. These two have been childhood friends and have been roommates for six years, which it has to remind us that they’ve been roommates for six years like every other page, no joke.

The writing was kind of confusing and hard to follow, I wasn’t sure when a flashback started and ended and what was really going on? Everyone is talking about how close they are, but they didn’t even seem that close? Like not even as friends, let alone as romantic partners?

By the end I started to enjoy it a little bit more, and things felt like they were starting to happen, and the artwork is gorgeous in this, especially the color glossy illustrations in the back! But otherwise, what a bummer. After reading this I still feel like I don’t really know these characters at all and I don’t know if I’ll continue in this series, which makes me so sad. 🥲

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm. I was super excited about this one, but it was...messy?

The art was good, of course, and I particularly love the special colored illustrations section included in this volume. Everything was set up for this to be a new favorite, and I've been waiting for more of Shoko Hidaka's works to get English licenses. But I was...kind of disappointed.

I won't say it was bad; I just didn't understand what was going on a lot of the time.

We have two guys who've been friends since childhood, and have been living together as roommates since graduating from high school - so 6 years now, going on 7. They're meant to be super close, with a relationship that brushes up against something romantic but never quite crosses over. All that is great and super appealing as a setup, but it's not really what I just finished reading?

I'm confused about how I spent an entire volume with these characters and still don't feel like I have a grasp on either of their personalities. Maybe it's because Hidaka wrote this in on-and-off spurts over the course of five years, but with how ridiculously, wonderfully intricate and detailed the characters and storyline were in Blue Morning, Vol. 1, the lack of consistency in this one really threw me.

I was convinced, initially, that the stylist, Suou, was the one most aware of being in love with his roommate. In flashbacks, he seemed upset about Ryou being cold to him, and he expressed intense jealousy of Ryou's coworker Towada pretty early on, and he's always touching Ryou tenderly and reacting when Ryou touches him.

But...it turns out that Ryou is the one who's been pining away all this time, and he thinks Suou is cold and uncommunicative, and he's the one who breaks and kisses Suou, and Suou runs away to his boss's house and tries to pretend it didn't happen, and I am so confused???

I liked a few parts a lot - my fondness for Hidaka's work and art helps - but honestly, the bond between Ryou and Towada was more believable and more visible than the romance I'm supposed to be rooting for. If they've spent 6+ years basically never talking about anything, how can they actually be considered close? Forget the romance, where's the friendship?

And what's going on with Suou's work? Is this new job supposed to take him away from Ryou? (But he seemed super shocked that Ryou wanted to move out.) Why did he think his boss hated him, if he regularly slept over at the guy's house on days when he had morning shifts? What's the deal with Rui, the boss's school friend who introduces himself as a man but is dressed as a woman? (Is he just comfortable crossdressing? There didn't seem to be any hint of gender fluidity there, since exclusively male pronouns were consistently used, but he was also talking about getting plastic surgery to look more feminine, so again...confused.)

And what is Ryou's novel? Is he actually writing a novel, since he seemed so excited to be getting a writer title at work, or is he just journaling about his feelings for Suou? Why was Suou so startled and horrified when he sneakily read a snippet of it?

I guess I'm just frustrated, because I really, really wanted to like this, but it's so scattered and weirdly paced that I'm not sure I'd even be looking forward to a second volume if it wasn't Hidaka. No idea when the next one will be coming out, but I hope it's a bit more carefully put together and that it answers a lot of the questions from this one. I'll probably keep it for the pretty art, regardless, but I'm sad that I don't care more about the characters.

[Brigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manga is about two friends who have been living together for six years. Their friends/co-workers find their relationship odd; they're on the precipice of best friends and something more, but neither dares to take the next step, afraid they'd mess up everything. However, things change at both of their jobs, new opportunities present themselves, so they are confronted with the choice: do they stay together and initiate a romantic relationship or do they part ways?

The mangaka's note says she'd written the story through several years (published in a magazine), and I think you can tell. The story didn't grip me as hard as I thought it would. Maybe because of the frequent flashbacks? I like the style and the bonus colour drawings included in this edition are gorgeous! I am looking forward to the next volume, I hope it will draw me in completely!

[Lydia Ralte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable. A slow burn.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick review for a quick read. I loved "Anti-Romance" so much. I wasn't expecting to pick up this particular special edition manga, but the story premise and artwork really caught my attention. This showcases the slice-of-life stories of two roommates, 24-year old Suou and Ryou, who have been living together for six years. Suou is an up and coming hairstylist who has potential in his line of work, but isn't very perceptive of other people's feelings or wishes. Even his supervisor is like "Yeah, you're no good with this and need to work on it, so that you can be better at customer service," so to speak. Ryou is an up-and-coming writer who struggles to voice his own emotions about things. So when you learn that the two young men are developing feelings for each other and have a hard time expressing it to each other...you can kind of tell where this particular story goes.

I liked the way that this was paced in terms of being a slice-of-life look into the development of both Ryou and Suou's characters, as well as the surrounding cast. Their relationship is challenged both by their reluctance to change what has made their relationship work so well over the years (we see this somewhat in flashbacks) and how that's changed and creates tension between them. The two essentially have to come to terms with making a decision when things in their professional lives as well as their own insecurities come to the forefront. I'm curious to see how they end up dealing with some of these changes - alongside the moments where they make it absolutely clear how they feel - beyond this volume.

I'm definitely going to pick this up and follow it. I'm glad that I have it in my collection and really want to pick up more works by Shoko Hidaka.

Overall score: 4/5 stars.

[sil ♡ the book voyagers · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you love childhood best friends turned roommates and kinda pining for each other for seven years, read anti-romance⋆⭒˚｡⋆

it's angsty, there's a lot of miscommunication, but the art is beautiful. the ending left me feeling some type of way ngl like i needed more you cannot just leave me with that omg the good thing is that the next volume (and i think the final one?) comes out this month so! I WILL KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT and hopefully we get that cute happily ever after we all want to get.

[Sams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il miglior boys love letto finora! Veramente coinvolgente.

[rory (jess' version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

my heart hurts whenever i think about how long they suppressed their feelings for each other just to keep the status quo. if i were them, i would lose my mind

[alex :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

making the first move after 6 years is insane. ryou might as well have let it go at that point. and then there was lack of communication on top of it all..

[Andrew William · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up

This story has a strange pace, there were flashbacks but often they felt repetitive in some way and they didn't really add to the characters or their characterization at all. The personalities of these characters were barely there and I never really learned anything meaningful about them. What they're like or what they like to do outside of work, and the little that we do see isn't very compelling. Their reactions to the situation they're in also seemed out of place and I never saw why these characters were attracted to each other, just that they are and they're childhood friends. None of the side character introductions seemed to fit in smoothly either, they seemed sort of shoehorned in as a last ditch effort to have other people in there that weren't the main two characters. The story was a little hard to follow and it all felt very bare bones with not much substance to it at all. I might read further just because judging a manga off its first volume is just like judging a book by its very first chapter but it didn't grab my attention in the way I hoped it would. I did like the art though so the author gets points for that.

[Imanewreader ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hidaka Shoko is one of my favorite mangakas. their art and stories are always so beautiful and usually revolve around adult characters with deep and developed personalities and a character development through the story that is amazing !
here i can feel it. the story deals with best friends and roommates who will, with time, realize their actual feelings for each other.

so far, it's really well built (no surprise) !

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up for beautiful yearning.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say it, but I was pretty bored reading this which is sad because I was really looking for a mlm story that wasn’t just p*rn.

There’s emotionally repressed and then there’s whatever this is. Ryou and Suou decide to room together after high school and end up being roommates for 6 years. The crux of the story is that clearly that means they have unresolved feelings for each other and the story moves at a snail’s pace. I’ve read slow burns, but what makes those work for me is that there’s something burning.

In this story, the majority of the implication that something romantic is going on is presented through the MCs’ bosses conversations with them. There’s Ryou’s boss who doesn’t understand boundaries and Suou’s boss who seemed strangely opinionated for someone Suou thought hated him the whole time he was working there. There’s not a ton of scenes where you actually see Ryou and Suou interacting so most of the evidence there’s something there is just told to the reader.

By the end of the book, I realized I wasn’t invested in them getting together and it makes me sad because the artwork is really nice.

Bummer.

[Librarian Jessie (BibliophileRoses) · Rating 5 out of 5]

And they were roommates 😉

Seriously, this is the cutest manga I’ve read in a while about two roommates who blossom into affection for each other.

[Jen Appell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idiot childhood friends fall in love and don't know it

[Silly Pick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute and beautifully drawn, but it missed something, maybe it was too confusing 😕

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
This was cute, but I’m hoping I’ll enjoy the next volume a bit more.

[Jocelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
It was okay. I like stories of pining, but these characters didn't give me a lot of reasons to like them.

[˗ˏˋ mckenna ˎˊ˗ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is cuteee 🥹

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rip the band-aid and cry! We're going down unrequited love lane!

Phew! That was painful. I kind of liked this one a lot. Gorgeous art style, huh! It reminds me of Boy meets Maria art!!

This series revolves around the reality of getting stuck in the middle of being best of friends, other one having feelings with the other; the other not being quite sure what to do, and the idea of eventually becoming lovers but can't move forward because of routine and habit they can't get past through after so many years of practicing it. It was really good, although there are some parts lacking taste, like the I'm-going-to-move-out-tomorrow-if-you-don't-want-a-relationship-with-me trope. Leave some time to breathe with that life-changing confession! It's going to hurt, and it needs a little more time for adjustments. For sure, Suou needs that a lot. Still, this is quite good. I love how unpredictable and unexpected Suou is. I was laughing when he suddenly went berserk about the mess in the room when Ryou was talking about wanting to be in love with someone else. That is so freaking hilarious! Ryou has to figure out what he really wants to happen, though he became too comfortable.

[Leila ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epa, ¿y esta belleza? Me la tenías escondida, anilist. Amé el dibujo y la historia me pareció muy tierna y muy frustrante en iguales medidas jsjs pero bueno veremos cómo se termina todo en el siguiente volumen.

4 de 5 estrellas.

[Jack Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I picked this manga up following my move, because it ended up being as engrossing as I was expecting. In their author's note, the writer of the Shoko Hidaka penname mentions how this story didn't have a regular publication schedule when it was serialized. Having that knowledge makes their approach to this story more appealing to me. I liked getting glimpses into Suou and Ryou's work lives, and how various scenes served as parallels for earlier chapters. The push and pull is also well-developed. With the two male side characters with each lead, Suou and Ryou were able to self-analyze their feelings. With those changes comes a slight evolution in art, and the growing understanding that these two need to act before they're officially driven apart by work opportunities and circumstance.

The emotional stakes towards the end did feel too angsty for me. I wasn't a fan of how Ryou acted after a pivotal moment in the manga, leaving the two of them confused. I do also agree with Katrina's review in the fact the character motivations are murky (especially with their work). I didn't completely read Towada as an ally, for instance, and Ruiz’s framing felt problematic with how it was translated. However, I'm still interested in wrapping up the series since Hidaka did a great job with making me care for the couple thanks to flashbacks and their internal monologues. I want to see them happy amidst the struggles of their relationship.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Había momentos donde en mi cabeza gritaba: "YA BÉSENSE", pero en eso fueron expresando mejor sus sentimientos y pensamientos más íntimos, y me sentí atacada por verme reflejada en ellos. El no querer soltar a alguien después de tantos años, el pensar que todo se puede comunicar con miradas pero al final se necesitan las palabras, el miedo de qué pasará si se da el primer paso y tanto más. Fue tremendo ataque. Pero me alegra que al final soltarán casi todo lo que sentían y llegaron a ese punto entre la espada y la pared.

Estoy emocionada por saber cómo van a seguir avanzando porque al final del día es primera vez para ambos, tal vez uno estaba más consiente del otro pero el único límite que tienen ahora son sus miedos jiji.

Me dejó muy intrigada ese casi algo que tienen Towada y Atsushi, por favor, quiero más.

[Michelle Easton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very cute start to the story, but something made me feel disconnected the entire time I was reading. The characters didn’t jump off the page to me like they tend to do with manga. It felt flat.

I’ll definitely read the second volume when it comes out, but this isn’t a must read immediately.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great start to a friends to lovers romance. We follow two young adults who have lived together for six years. I like the characters and I'm looking forward to seeing where relationship goes.

[sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

absolutely noooot good but extremely entertaining?? came for the childhood friends to lovers, stayed for the art jumpscares/bl brand transphobia and rape culture//knockoff bananafish vibes. frankly it was bonkers enough that i want to read more, but i can’t bc i think towada should explode and die and i cannot take his blorbofication for one moment longer

[Yunebooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5⭐

No creo que merezca esta nota, pero me ha resultado todo tan plano que la primera mitad la aborrecí muchísimo. Han tenido que pasar meses para que pueda acabarlo... Ninguno de los protagonistas tiene carisma o una personalidad muy allá, así que es todo bastante insulso y aburrido.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Lorena B. Robles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*⭐️

[Carmelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

that was really good ! we love a childhood best friends to lovers romance 😌