Wagatsuma-san wa Ore no Yome
My Wife Is Wagatsuma-san

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Let me start this off by saying the only reason I wound up reading this anime is because it was available on the Crunchy Roll manga app. If it wasn't I would never have found this brilliant slice of life comedy. Wagatsuma-san wa Ore no Yome is a manga about a boy named Aoshima that time slips 10 years into the future and finds out that he marries the school idol. The manga ultimately revolves around him using the information that he gains through these time slips to mold the future into what's best for him and his friends.

Now by far the best part of ... this manga for me was the characters, specifically Aoshima's group of otaku friends. They consistently had me laughing out loud at least once every chapter. I do feel as though the female cast was somewhat under used, and not all of them got a closing to their story, but for the most part the character interactions involving them was well done.

The art in this manga, while simple, does what it's supposed to very well. As part gag and part romance manga there are a lot of cut away gags where the art changes drastically from the usual. Think the scenes from One Punch Man where Saitama suddenly becomes very serious. The character designs are fairly simplistic, a lot of them following fairly generic character tropes. You've got your big boobed foreign exchange student, the NEET otaku in the making, and your generic male protagonist. Despite this each of the characters feel unique in their own ways.

The story is easily the part that I'm conflicted about. As a gag manga there isn't much need for a large overlapping story, however because it's also a romance story there are certain events that carry over throughout the run. I will say that the story that is there had me entertained, until the last 8 chapters or so that is. Unfortunately the ending to the story came across as feeling very rushed, and was fairly unsatisfying ultimately. I really wish that those last 8 chapters had been stretched out over 20 or so, I feel the end would be more meaningful that way. The ending to me the way it was done felt like a bit of a cop out, a way to ultimately make readers happy with how things wound up (although I think that there were many other ways it could have ended that would have been better)

Ultimately I think Wagatsuma-san wa Ore no Yome is worth reading. It kept me entertained right up until the homestretch, just don't expect the ending to be as good as the rest of it.

Ever thought that there are too many harem romcom cliché mangas out there? You're not alone. The way Wagatsuma san handles the plot and the story is a pretty commendable feat.

Story: 7/10

I usually love reading the overly crowded Harem RomCom manga tropes. But there is always the feeling of trying something different and Wagatsuma san is one of the few correct answers to that. The story is pretty predictable through most of the time but later on really revves you up leaving you to ask for more. This is a spoiler free review so I won't go so much into details. There were many ... such predictable situations but the author excellently sprinkled them a bit with many original ideas (along with the many hilarious celebrity references). All in all this is a manga that although doesn't concentrate so much on one aspect it keeps you entertained and refreshed.

Art: 7/10

I'm all for regular art types and Wagatsuma san exactly imitates that. The way comical situations are conveyed through art is really amazing and hilarious. It's almost as if the art contributes to half the joke which should happen in most mangas (but doesn't). At first, the art was a bit sloppy (?) but it changed significantly at around the 10-20 chapter mark and consistently kept up with it.

Characters: 6/10

There wasn't much character development and so is one of the few lacking points of Wagatsuma san. Ai Wagatsuma is mainly shown as a golden personality who is unapproachable in a sense at first but has another side which is shown to Aoshima later on. Aoshima Hitoshi is not like the usual dense MC tropes but more like one of those useless-but-reliable types who drop everything and rush to save the people they care about. Shimotsuma Sylvia is a tsundere in the basic sense and develops feelings quite quickly for Aoshima than I expected and she was pretty relatable in her Japanophilia (is that a word?). Itou Ran is a shy person who also developed feelings for Aoshima and was a manga artist who usually spoke through art than her words. Itou Shirou is basically comic relief. He was used a lot mainly for the jokes and was hilarious but didn't develop his personality that much during the course of the manga.

Enjoyment: 7/10

I really enjoyed reading Wagatsuma san. Either because I was tired of reading the usual tropes, or because Wagatsuma san totally enveloped me in its amazing story or maybe both. I haven't seen a manga that portrays comedy as well as Wagatsuma san and so it ranks pretty high in my enjoyment score

Overall: 7/10

A story with a lot of clichéd moments but with a secret layer of heartwarming originality and slapstick comedy. I really loved every aspect of the manga and hope you did too (or do so if you haven't read this hidden gem). I know many people won't see eye to eye with me on this manga but it is worth a good read. Trust me.

P.S: Sylvia is best girl <3

Overall Synopsis: "My Wife Is Wagatsuma-san" is a pretty cliched series with some flaws (lack of characterization being one of them), but the laughs and unpredictable moments in the time slips makes it enjoyable.

Assuming you've already read a summary of what the story's about, I'll just cut to the chase.

The various sight gags, accompanied with the series unique art style, make for some very enjoyable reading. The flash forward style time skips (think Family Guy combined with Butterfly Effect.... yeah that sounded awkward), which you would think are predictable, are surprisingly not in some cases. Because as the protagonist Aoshima learns, the future isn't ... set in stone and is prone to various changes based on his present action or inaction.

As for the characters themselves, there needed to be some more love spread around in their development. The most developed character actually turns out to be Ran Itou, who goes through quite a roller coaster ride of changes. However, the titular character herself, Ai Wagatsuma, is that typical Mary Sue trophy wife trope that we've come to see in many other series (think Belldandy from "Ah! My Goddess"). Other than a few moments that humbly characterize her - the swim meet, a weakness for certain TV shows, and even a string of jealousy - she ultimately has no true character growth. The same goes most, if not all, of the cast of characters. As much as I like some of them (Masao Komatsu is my personal favorite and an awesome scene stealer), they seemingly remain static throughout the series.

That's not to say our lovable loser Aoshima isn't without his merits. Although he fills in that cliched useless main character with no redeeming qualities, I find that to be ultimately false as the story progresses. As one of his benefactors later point out, he rises beyond himself to face certain occasions, and he carries his companions with him as he does. He is also quite a compassionate person and would go out of his way for people, even total strangers. And after seeing his various time slips just to secure his future with Wagatsuma, you start to notice that he overlooks his own desire for the sake of his own friends to save them from trouble, and even for a stranger to save his life. These are all observable qualities that, in my opinion, make him rise above the typical character trope of a useless guy everyone loves for really no reason than for the sake of the story - I'm calling you out, Tenchi.

The story wraps up a little fast at the end and leaves some unanswered questions. I think if it had at least one more chapter as an epilogue, it would have left a more satisfying ending. In spite of that, I'm glad to have read Wagatsuma and I've enjoyed my time with the series.