Real no Heroine wa Irimasen!

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A review is used to help determine if one should pick up the series. And in my opinion I think you should give this one a chance.

I'm writing this review because the only other review available is putting this series at a 1, which is too low for this series, as I believe it deserves higher.

Look, lets get down to it. The reasonings of the protagonist Arimiya and choosing to believe the rumours without proof or research is shallow. Shallow but realistic in the sense that no decent guy would date a slut. The heroine's obsessiveness with becoming his ideal girl is also not the ... best.

Despite these flaws, the execution of the story and the pace is quite good. Even though the motive for her persistence is a bit off, they do manage to bring them genuinely closer and the rumours clear up along the way. Along with this, character development is also noticeably present. Character development is the main thing I base a series on, and due to the flaws and the fact that they are starting to be addressed means that the series has a lot of room to grow. The comedy in this series is quite nice as well, and though I do like the ecchi scenes, sometimes I think they were a bit forced and could do without. Because to be honest, I'm actually enjoying the story more despite it being one of those "that one incident" stories.

If you like a story that has a confession early, a straightforward nice heroine who is not a tsundere, comedy, character development and can look past the shallowness of the premise, you should give this one a chance. I'm really enjoying this and I really like this girl who is the heroine.

Overall I would give it a 7.5 but it has the potential to go higher so I chose an 8

You know how sometimes a manga makes has some good points that makes it novel and refreshing? But in the mean time there are quite a few bad points to counter-balance? And you keep reading while being annoyed? Well this is one of those manga. The rate here doesn't really mean anything depending of whether or not the bad points will bother you. So instead I will list all the bad points that may or may not turn you down.

I'v read more than 50 chapters and I'm here to tell you what you should expect, the good, the bad and the ugly!

The good parts
===========

It's not ... a harem!
---------------------

Sure there is some jealousy at first but it becomes obvious very quickly that the main heroine is the only potential couple that is going forward and every other girls are either not interested or stepping down to wish them luck or just plain stupid? (ok this last one doesn't look so good...) It still has a haremish vibes but not as much as a true harem.

Also, by not being a harem, a whole range of stupid anime tropes are averted:
- No fake girlfriend bullshit
- No dating a different girl every week
- No loosing your time with dating/fake dating/temporary dating/it's not a date ba-baka with a girl that will obviously loose. It's pretty much focused on Kotoko

Also, confession on chapter 1 is always a win.

No siscon
-------------

The MC has a sister, Kiyomi
The manga doesn't lewd the sister, not even as a joke.
That's it, that's the good part.

No simp
-----------

Seiichi is the opposite of a simp. He is pretty much not interested in girls. And not the "i pretend to not be interested but I'm still getting flustered when a girl approches me." He is not interested as in asexuel, not giving a fuck about girls kinda way. And it's kinda rare and that's the whole point of this manga. How to get over your traumatic disinterest of girl when a girl actually likes you.

The MC has balls
-----------------------

In manga, there is always this one character that you hate, you wish the MC would flip them off and tell them to get lost. Well, here, Seiichi will call out on their bullshit. Loudly. In front of the class. While pointing fingers. Those moments, damn, those moments feel good.

Good pacing
----------------

The story has a good, pacing, the characters are pretty much straight-forward and direct. And overall it's pretty much bullshit free. The characters don't try to hide their feelings. Misunderstandings are rare and don't last long. Lies and rumors get dismantled, There is no status-quo forever but instead the relations evolves and grows. And the character development is quite good.

The romance is solid
---------------------------

It's pretty much the main point of the story. The romance is believable and quite balanced. Ok, hold up. I know, it starts with a rape scene and a hero syndrome. I know. But that's just a bad start. Very quickly it shift from that to more valid reason to get close to one another. They found a common interests and as two social outcasts (for different reasons) they kind of understand each other. But they also care a lot for each other to help the other one to get over some traumatic past. And also discard the rumors that affects both of them...

The bad
======

redemption
--------------

The different arcs all have some kind of antagonist that did something wrong or try to hurt the main characters in a way or another. Half of the time this antagonist will be pardoned and join the group of friend. And it feels kind of wrong. It's too much too quick. They don't deserve it, they are annoying at first and it takes time for them to calm down and for the reader to get used to them. I just wish that a certain character would just fuck off or get expelled from the school instead of joining them... :/

Coping with traumatic past
-----------------------------------

This manga is a textbook about how not to handle traumatic past in your story. It's an awesome theme to have, but it's handled wrong. Some very traumatic events occurring in the story (not a flashback, but actually current timeline) should have a very big impact on the characters mental health and they are just... discarded.

In the mean time, the "traumatic past" of the MC is just.... Super weak. Like how can it affect him that much?

I won't tell more than this, but yeah... its a mess.

hero syndrome bullshit
------------------------------

From the very start. The MC must help everyone for no good reason, he end up in some trouble and the girls love him even more. It's happening again, again and again. It's painful to watch.

The ugly
=======

About virginity
-------------------

For better or worse (mostly worse) virginity is one of the main theme of this manga. And of course it's not in a good way. Quite a lot of rumors turn around this theme. Some girls are called "used goods", accused of compensated dating, etc. Which is already bad. But at this point is just bullying it's supposed to be bad.

But the real problem is the main character's philosophy is just as bad. Even though he doesn't like real 3D girls and is not interested in dating, one of the reason involved is about 2D girls being always virgin and pure in games. And this is unfair expectation into the real world. Yet the character truly live by this rule and is only interested in virgin girls. But when it comes to boys and Seiichi in particular, THEN being virgin becomes an insult. The difference in treatment highlight even more how twisted his mind and the whole manga can be.

When a character acts in a horrible way, the character himself, some other character or the story itself must acknowledge than he's is doing something horrible. But nobodies catch him on his bullshit. The fact that heroines in games bust be virgin is a bunch of load crap and instead of denying that, this manga just rolls with it, like it's normal to expect from a normal girl in normal life to be virgin. Honestly disgusting.

semi-NTR bullshit
------------------------

For this one I hate the comments more than the manga itself. It wouldn't be NTR if you didn't care about the girl being a virgin in the first place. People (Not just in Japan, western readers too) are worried that the heroin will or had sex with someone else before the MC. Like "oh now, the heroine had sex before, I can't believe this mange is NTR. I am disappointed and my day is ruined."

This is not cheating, this is not cuckolding, this is not a hentai where the MC is rejected.... Therefore.... IT IS NOT NTR!

Who care if she's virgin? I really really hope, someone one day will call out the MC on this bullshit. In the mean time if calling out the readers:

Stop calling it NTR, it is not. And no, the manga will not be ruined forever if she's not virgin. The MC is disgusting, but as a reader it's even worse to think like that.


rape scenes
----------------

50 chapters.
Three rape tentative and counting (and maybe one more offscreen).

Yes, it's a seinen, yes this manga deals with "traumatic events", but this is simply too much in such a short time. On top of that it is badly handled. It doesn't feel traumatic as it should. It just feels disgusting.

When you mix all of this you get the ugliest of all:

"Oh no. I can't remember if he raped me or not. Maybe I am not a virgin anymore and the MC will not like me."

STOP. That's painful to read.

A friend linked this to talk about how bad everything about it seemed just from the summary and the original title of the LN. I decided to read the first chapter to see how it is and ho boy I wasn't prepared for just how shitty this series is.

An important part of any series is the protagonist: They should be enjoyable, and in most cases they have positive traits readers can appreciate, like loyalty, honesty or even just being a reliable and kind person. This protagonist is not enjoyable or likable. His utter obsession with virginity and not having anything to do with "used ... goods" were almost funny in an 'otaku culture is so unpleasant' way but they stopped being even vaguely funny during the attempted rape scene mentioned in the summary; Not only does he have no intention of doing anything to help Ayame until his hand is forced, he even admits in his internal dialogue he can't feel any sympathy for her... because she looks like she gets around. Not long after, it's made clear he thinks of women who (he thinks) aren't virgins as defective and feels no shame or discomfort with viewing them like that. I found it impossible to enjoy such an unlikable protagonist when the manga lacks a narration that acknowledges and accepts he's the very stereotype of an otaku.

Of equal discomfort to me was how Ayame's romantic interest stems from believing Seiichi helped her out of genuine goodness. It's played up for comedy but I found nothing comedic about the very 'romance' the manga is built on being founded on a misunderstanding that turns deceptive.

The only real positive I found was the art. It remained consistent and of good quality, even if it's not particularly unique, and the anatomy in particular was well done throughout. I expect Mikumo will improve and develop a more distinct personal style as the manga continues, which is... one plus to the series, I suppose.