Aruko

Takeo Goda's best friend, the possibly aro ace Makoto Sunakawa, has a stalker/secret admirer. So of course Goda -- lacking any nuance or insight into anyone -- is going to try to hook them up. Sunakawa sensitively displays the patience of a saint as he navigates this newest minefield Goda has created.

Even when he has gone astray, Goda is amusing and lovable, especially when he reveals his big genuine heart with statements like this about wanting permission to share a secret: "I'm not good at show more making excuses or hiding stuff . . . and I don't want to do that anyway."

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Contents: Chapters 24-27 show less

Re-reading for the first time in nearly nine years, and this is still one of my favorite manga series.

This time a romantic rivalry is resolved, a friendship is celebrated, a school festival is attended, hormones kick in, and a school trip is in the offing.

As always, the stories are best when Takeo gets to fly his hero flag or spend time with his best friend, Makoto Sunakawa.

I'm a firm member of Team Ai, but this second read-through -- and this volume specifically -- helps me comes to terms show more with the viewpoint of Team Rinko.

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Contents: Chapters 35-38 show less

A couple months back, I read the 14th volume of this series that collects some coda stories about the cast in college, and it really made me want to revisit the series from the beginning.

I was a bit worried it wouldn't hold up a decade later, but gosh darn if I wasn't laughing and crying like a fool the whole time I read this incredible first volume. I just love the heroic doofus, Takeo Goda, his delightfully odd friendship with the enigmatic Makoto Sunakawa, and his sweet, pure, and gentle show more romance with Rinko Yamato (even though I'm an committed member of team Ai).

So funny, so earnest, so cheesy, so wonderful.

Must read more!

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Contents: Chapters 1-3

Rated “Good" in our old book database. First read March 22, 2015. show less

Before reading, rip the book in half and throw the first part away. Really, it's for the best. With no interesting way to resolve the book, the author resorts to a stupid and cruel method to spice things up for the final volume, pulling in not one but two of the worst tropes in storytelling by pulling a prank on the reader that involves giving a main character a case of amnesia and then wiping it all away by saying "it was all a dream."

I was so enraged by this tangent there was no way I was show more ever going to enjoy what followed. And it makes me reconsider my opinion of everything that came before, retroactively making me like the whole series less. show less