Nisekoi
Nisekoi: False Love

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It's been years since I started the journey that is Nisekoi. I remember watching the first few episodes of the anime to only lose track of where I was not to finish it. Funny right? With an overall score of 9, how could I just stop?

I like to watch/read things through to the end. One at a time and really savour the work. So this past weekend I decided that Nisekoi would be my target.

Recalling the unique story that I began years ago was nostalgic and heart-warming all at once. I watched the first season of the anime through to the end only ... to end up with an immense love for the production.

The first season of Nisekoi was incredible. The music oh the music. It was like scenes were written for the music. I absolutely loved that you could dive into the show and be captivated not only by learning more about the story and characters but the music that took you to their world as well.

For this alone, the first season holds a special place in my heart. After finishing the first season I kind of thought that I had seen it before and must have actually finished it when it first came out, but boy was I glad that I thought I had not.

The first season leaves an impression on you with its unique love story, voice actors, music, and storyline. It makes you so excited for the second season...

Don't watch the second season. To me, it seemed like it did a complete 180, and I only realize after reading the manga why. Start at chapter 51 after finishing the first season of Nisekoi and you will not be disappointed.

The entire second season felt like OVAs and fillers. The reasoning is because it was. After reading the manga the production team left out basically all of the substance chapters in this season and only added the smallest chapters of story progression. Let me just say I was thoroughly disappointed.

I would only recommend watching this season after you have read the chapters corresponding to the episodes so that you can enjoy them animated. That way you can at least be satisfied with what is available.

Now on to the main review of the Nisekoi MANGA:

I read the entire series in a day and let me just say I was swept up in the Nisekoi universe hardcore. After rewatching the anime only to feel frustrated about its second season what else was there left for me to do, but read the story from start to finish?


|STORY| 10/10

To me, I believe the story is unique and memorable. It was the love story that made me come back to Nisekoi after all of these years and give it another go. The phrase: "Zawsze in love", the keys, the locket, and the book. What a memorable setting. It was almost as if I was dying to know 'who' after almost seven years of starting the series that I could never let it escape me without knowing the ending.

A lot of people may harp on the author about fillers and I get that. However, in the manga, I felt like the 'fillers' were mini-sagas for each potential girl that added depth to each character's interaction with one another. Sure it may have dragged the story out, but it added to the overall world beautifully. I felt as if the author was building the relationship between each character in a way to set up for the ending and with that in mind I had fond memories of Clannad while reading. Very nostalgic indeed.

What I love most about this story is that there were no loose ends or loopholes. Everything was round circle. Some things were predictable, however for the most part I was never certain I would be right. I played a fun game contemplating who might be the "promise girl" throughout the series and who might be the other keyholders. It was amazing to be able to start imagining what could have happened and fabricating your own Nisekoi as you anticipated what was coming next.


Overall, I believe this is one of the better stories I have read in a long time. In the first fifty chapters, (anime season 1) you are introduced to the fumbling love between the characters and in chapters 51-106 (anime season 2 partial) you enjoy the relationships as they develop. Afterwards, everything was brand new and exciting.

A Nisekoi I had no recollection of. Chapters 107-229 were an absolute rollercoaster. Happiness, sadness, resentment, pity, guilt, love, and relief. It came in droves. I reread the ending (Last ~15 chapters) 3 times after I finished it the same day and cried every time. The story builds up to the point where you can not help but feel what each character is feeling in the end. It is a story worth reading and rereading.

|ART| 8/10

The animation is beautiful as was the soundtrack for the anime. All I can say is that I believe the anime did a way better job depicting the emotion in each chapter than the manga with the music selection and ambience. However, the score of 8 comes solely from the manga as I believe there were a lot of missed opportunities to really drive home the emotion of a scene with a larger panel to depict what was happening more vividly. Unfortunately, that simply was not done.

Sometimes it was hard to understand what exactly was happening in some panels, however, I did not dislike this as it made you reread it into understanding the scenes better.

Overall the art is pleasurable and light-hearted. I enjoyed the emotions the author gave to the audience, but for some, I just wish that they gave us more. (Maybe I'm just being greedy).

|CHARACTERS| 10/10

I won't go into too many details about the characters because I'm sure each person will have their own "promise girl" throughout the series.

Let me summarize the main character: Ichijou, Raku.

Son of a yakuza boss the troubled boy had trouble making friends throughout his school career except for his best friend Shuu who remained at his side since kindergarten.

The story begins by introducing Raku's past marriage promise made with an unknown girl during his childhood involving a phrase, storybook, a locket, and a key. From this alone, we learn of Raku being hopelessly romantic.

As the story progresses we learn of the truths of Raku's heart as his feelings develop toward each girl unconscious to him. He remains dense, kind, and dashing throughout the manga so much that you cannot help but root for the guy in understanding how the girls fall for him.

To summarize each of the girls would be something on its own. I believe each of the girls was well thought out and reputable in their own way. You fight yourself rooting for different ones through each of the mini-sagas I mentioned before. Each girl is unique and not one is like the other.

The girl's interactions with Raku were all special to them and their character design. I believe this is one of the reasons I truly loved reading this manga. It was like reading the girl's multiple loves intertwine into an orchestrated masterpiece.

Overall each character has their unique personalities and quirks that show off who they are. Their interactions with Raku are what make the story so engulfing. Do not take this manga at face value instead learn to love the characters as they grew feelings for one another. I felt myself getting nostalgic whenever I would.

|ENJOYMENT| 8/10

I'm not sure if crying is considered enjoyable, but if so then did I ever enjoy this manga. I probably already said it above, but getting to create your own Nisekoi to experience the characters in a "what-if" scenario throughout reading was very memorable to me. I believe this aspect makes the manga so worth it. You are always wondering how Raku's feelings will develop when new loves blossoms and how that will affect the emotions he already has.

I give this only an 8/10 for the second season of the anime. I am so peeved at what they did to it that I can not help but be upset. I would love to see the whole story animated. Getting the production and music just right for each scene like it was in the first season and actually doing the story with character development. Not just random hand-picked chapters from 51-106. It just really makes me sad that something as heartwarming and heart-wrenching as Nisekoi will not get the screentime it deserves.

Overall if you are looking for a story that you can fall head over heels for then look no further. You will enjoy every moment of Nisekoi and love meeting each character as they develop throughout the story. Really just skip the second season, don't be disappointed.

|OVERALL| 9/10

Well as you can probably tell I do not like the second season of the anime very much. However, I am very happy it exists and I can watch Nisekoi come to life. The ending though. Oh my god, the ending. Fall for the characters. Fall hard. Reach the end and enjoy. Nisekoi is an emotional rollercoaster that seems to start off goofy only to develop into a work of art that made a grown man cry more than he has in years.

Truly a great story with relatable characters. I recommend Nisekoi to anyone looking for a fantastic love story and a good cry.

TLDR;

If you are thinking starting Nisekoi is a good idea? It is. There is no harem anime out there that goes full circle letting you experience so much emotion for every character like Nisekoi. Enjoy the fillers. Learn to love the characters. Experience your own Nisekoi.

Before I say anything else, I should clarify that a 6/10 score doesn't mean this manga isn't worth reading. 6/10 is "fair" and that is exactly what this manga is at this point. Secondly, I feel like I really have to give two scores for Nisekoi:

For the first 45-50 chapters:
Genuine plot progression and character development, decent romance, and the feeling that the story was building upon itself. This part of Nisekoi is highly enjoyable and is the section currently being covered by anime Shaft is producing. It's a rom-com at its finest and gets a solid 8/10.

The problem starts after that....unless you like 60(sorry, did ... I say 60? I meant 160) chapters of filler. Gone is the character development, gone is the hilarious approach to love, in is an ever-growing harem of girls we know won't win and the abuse of gags. What starts as a truly entertaining love triangle blossoms into a nauseating dodecahedron with all the depth of a bath tub. It's like the manga is an airplane that has stalled and is now plummeting downwards, getting closer to a wreck by the week. With the latest girl added to the harem: the onee-san ninja chinese gangster who Raku happens to know, it is obvious the author is suffering from PSOOYA disease, a terrible conditions many writers suffer from. That is, "Pulling Shit Out Of Your Ass" My current score for chapters 55-current(118) is about 4/10, and that's being generous to say the least.

To understand why Nisekoi's plot goes off the rails and is replaced by bland moe-blobbery on a weekly basis, you have to understand two things. First; this is a manga that is published in Shonen jump, where long serialization is more important than development. Second: the demographic reading it doesn't give a shit. The popular vote for favorite character is very telling to the kind of people reading this in Japan, but I'll get to that later.

Story: 5/10
Starts off with an unoriginal but fun premise and is, for the first part at least, very well done. It would have a higher score if it had progressed an inch in 60 chapters.

Art: 8/10

While the art in Nisekoi can vary slightly, it always seems to get its point across perfectly. As much as I hate what has been drawn recently(moe,moe,moe!) it always does a very good job at representing characters and their emotions. No complaints here.

Characters: 5/10
"Five out of ten in a series based off its characters! Sacrilege!" is probably what the die hard fanboys are thinking right now, but with no development whatsoever in any character apart from Chitoge that is what they deserve. For starters, let's look at the MC.

Raku: Typical dense MC. Is at his most interesting/least cliche when dealing with Chitoge, but becomes a flat character when dealing with just about any other girl. Has a case of convenient amnesia.

Chitoge: First girl bias, incoming. A lot of people brand her as the "typical tsundere/bipolar" but her being cold to Raku initially shouldn't be surprising considering the premise. She hates Raku at the beginning but is forced to act all lovey-dovey when others are around, so of course she comes across as bipolar: that's the "joke". She's the only girl with some proper backstory and that has some level of depth to her character, but that's largely because she's the only one that went through non-contrived development.

Onodera: Fan-boys are going to flame the crap out of me for this, but she is your run of the mill cutesy girl character. A lot of people prop her up as "pure" but the truth is she's annoyingly indecisive and mind-numbingly boring. If you have a hard-on for shy girls and have never been in any sort of relationship in your life she's going to be your favorite character because that is her entire appeal. Surprise surprise, she's the most popular character in Japan.

Ruri: Best female character? Maybe. It seems side-characters are the only ones with heads on their shoulders in this series and in Ruri's case this is extremely apparent.

Shuu: Best male character? Definitely. He isn't dense and he's generally extremely fun to watch.

The rest of the harem: You'll fall in love with Marika if you stalkers who hold onto a love from when they were five years old and are ready to rip couples apart to get it back. "She deserves Raku the most" is a bit half-arsed when she doesn't know jack-shit about the current Raku and none of us know anything about her apart from the fact that she's pretty, talks like a redneck, and wants to marry Raku. She'd be a lot more likable if she'd been introduced slowly. Tsugumi plays her role well but her character development was contrived as it gets "he called me cute, character 180 time!". I'm not even going to get into the others, because we don't know enough about Chinese-teacher-don-nee-chan yet and I don't even want to get started on the little sister.

The 'fake love' between Chitoge and Raku is really the highlight of this manga.

Enjoyment: 6/10

For the same reasons as I put on "story", 8/10 for the first half and 6/10 for the second half, respectively.

Overall: 6/10

If within the next 20-30 chapters there is a sign that this manga is once more moving towards an ending it will go back up to a 7-8. At this point in time I don't recommend reading it because I'm not sure how the authors going to do it, but I can guarantee to you if you hear that Nisekoi got a "harem end" it's NOT worth the read.

EDIT:
After literally years it has ended. Years of filler. Honestly, give this thing a shot for the first few chapters and if you don't like the characters a LOT by the 50s or 60s, drop it. Not worth it otherwise. Ending was ok at least.

Mod Edit: This review may contain spoilers.
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The thing that I loathe the most is when a harem story doesn't have a harem ending or at least an open ending. I mean, why the hell make a harem manga if you are not even gonna stick to it till the end? I know Polygamy is illegal in real life, but isn't that reason why we read or watch anime/manga? Yes, as you can see I am feeling super salty right now. It is like watching one of those horrible NTR hentai because I didn't get my favorite ship, and why the hell not? When you read ... a harem story where every girl is giving an equal amount of effort. My main beef is that don't make a harem story if you are gonna at least show us a harem ending. I mean, hell even an Open ending is perfectly fine where everyone is running after MC on some sunny beach and credits roles, then it leaves it to your imagination.

Plot- The story started out really good. I still remember it when it had only 13 chapters and I thought, wow this looks really good that has great rom-com with decent amount of lovable characters, but it went hell after something like 100 chapters. It just got so repetitive and cringy, I guess I have to blame the big hype and popularity that this series got over the years that Author milked the shit out of this. I mean, you can already predict with whom our Dense MC is gonna go out with, within the first 10 chapters, but it far-stretched to 226 chapters, and going through the last arc is like self-torture, SO MUCH PAIN, SO MUCH CRYING, SO MUCH BREAK UPS. It was god-awful, seeing them leaving one by one, but I still hold on to that tiny bit of silver lining, and boy, did I regret so much. I should have dropped it long time ago, now that I am suffering from the aftermath which is gonna remain for weeks.

Characters-The only character that I supported is Marika, why? Because she is the only woman who is straightforward and doesn't wuss out when it comes to confession unlike other females in this story which are your generic stereotype tsundere that drags the arc till the end. As for Raku, holyshit. He is the fucking worst Main Character I have ever seen. He takes denseness to whole new level and the most terrible part that he goes through no growth until the very last arc which felt like Tom and Jerry Chase all around the world. If only he had man the fuck up, things might have gone much better.

Art:- I guess this is the strongest point of the manga, and the main reason for the popularity? Because I believe Author focused more on the moe moe and kawaii shit of the females and polished their personalities through the series instead of the important issues that this story suffers from.

Enjoyment:- The only redemption is that thankfuck everyone moved on at the end because they seriously don't deserve an indecisive guy like Raku. Shuu is much better and has the balls to get the job done. He should have NTR'd him long time ago :D Oh Damn, we are going side-track here. Do yourself a favor and read Nisenisekoi which is much better than this whole train wreck.

1/10