Maki Minami

Honestly, this was pretty dry, but I might have thought differently if I had read this when it first came out. I’m not going to make comparisons, but I have seen other series do this premise more entertaining. I’m not all shoujo-ed out, but I just did not find anything that stood out to me in this volume. I might watch the anime instead because I do not see myself continuing to read this.

Hikari has been obsessed with scoring higher than her school rival, Kei, since she was little. As a child, Kei was mean to her, so Hikari has made it her personal mission to one day out-rank him at school.

Although the plot seemed promising, Hikari's obsession became really tiresome. The whole volume Hikari hoped to beat Kei at something and failed. Her whole self-worth is caught up in it. I feel like nothing else happened in the story. Not a lot of comedy. Secondary characters were just show more there and didn't add much. They were introduced and re-introduced, but completely forgettable.

I have read a spoiler that Kei is secretly in love with Hikari, which sounds like a promising twist. Yet, just based on the first volume, not sure I'm interested enough to continue the series. show less

This manga really came into its own in volume 8. It resounded with my experiences in school in a huge way and i wasn't prepared for how melancholy it left me. *cries*

Nothing wholly original here, but well done and quite readable.