Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai
Defying Kurosaki-kun

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I personally found this manga to be amusing and funny. There's a lot of growth and character development and it follows a clear plot line. I'll minus points due to certain overused tropes that I won't ruin. I personally enjoyed the direct confrontations the scheming ( for good reasons) the in your face shock that's meant to get a kick out of you. I was enjoyable. The whole consent thing wasn't an issue I don't think everything is meant to be so cut and dry and as they never went beyond a certain limit like a pervy groper would I had no issues here.

Art: Very ... sharp if that makes sense, it's not as nice as others perhaps in the sense that it doesn't do cutesy eyes and what not. I didn't find any character cute or handsome but I felt it was normal, some of the girls were a bit similar except for one whose eyes were always closed now she was beautiful.

Characters: Loved the protagonists and their stubbornness yet genuine care about each other, they have everything you'd want in a couple the consideration, attraction, and humor from her part.

Plot: Yeah there's a lot of worn out tropes and things that are tangential to the story. But I suppose it provides character perspective but yes this is the weakest point in that sense. It does reach a satisfying conclusion without using a timeleap, which I appreciated.

Overall, I enjoyed it and would reread it if I run out of material, unfortunately I don't reread manga much even my favorites,

Kurosaki-Kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai is an experience for me. A story to be told. A journey to the past that takes me back to a different time where the world was a lot smaller to me. 2019.

Among the few thousands of non-Japanese speaking people that have read through this manga to the end I must be in the even fewer that aren't actually into this type genre. Run-of-the-mill Shoujo manga, Why would I ever read this? Simping, of course. I was chasing someone, and heard this was what she was reading, and you bet I tore through the 40 chapters available at the ... time.

It stood out to me, but perhaps for reasons that are nothing new to this genre and target audience. Two guys after the one girl? A bully male lead who is somewhat... Abusive, to say the least? And why is the girl into it? I was not getting it- I still, don't quite get it. Like my frontiers haven't been quite expanded on exactly why it's the case that people would read that kind of thing for fun. I was puzzled by what this person I had feelings for was reading, but I was willing to sit it out, and wait and see if there was really something.

And, as luck would have it, Kurosaki-kun no Iinari Nante Naranai pleasantly surprised me. The characters that stayed bland in the beginning acquired depth and development as time went on, and though things were creepy in the beginning, the romance between Yuu and Haruto eventually became something enjoyable to read, as it didn't feel as if the author was just getting off on these boundary-pushing fantasies, but a dynamic that just feel grounded in this reality. They were fun and cute to read, and the manga even regained my respect as Yuu stopped being Haruto's mere "toy" and "stupid dog" to become her very own person that sought after her own goals regardless of the male lead- I don't know if this is something groundbreaking in shoujo manga, but boy for me did it make me happy that (unlike Haou Airen) the female lead became a person and not just some kind of toy for the dude to play with. That, is just great, and I love it.

Haruto and Takumi had basically joint character arcs that worked off eachother as they're the other two protagonists of this story, mainly centered around Haruto, who is obviously going to get the most of the spotlight as Takumi rots in his simp pit of complete perdition (No offense, white prince team). I don't understand the two-boys trope, but Takumi even felt like kind of a slump anytime he was around Yuu simply because everyone knew how it was going to turn out for him since the beginning. Haruto wins, and his best friend can only do as much as cry about it. A lot.

Of course, the characters rising above the dreadful first 20 chapters didn't mean the overall story did. Boring tropes were executed, and boy they weren't fun to read. The manga ran into some dangerous dead-ends it escaped by using the same ridiculous writing that had gotten it in those places to begin with. Good save, but those mistakes shouldn't have happened to begin with. Utilitarian characters that pop in and out are commonplace and the side cast does it's job alright if they stick around.

The art was never anything close to sublime and did it's functional job. A lot of cut corners were made even for a monthly release as photos are clearly used in almost if not all chapters, and if there's any hand drawn backgrounds they're extremely bland. The characters have the classical Shoujo manga appearance that makes them just as bland as the scenery around them, which really undermines how these bland-looking characters have actually decent stories around them.

So, in conclusion? It's okay. I don't read these kind of things (And I won't plan to do so) but this manga in particular caught my attention and keep me on hooked even after my original goal reading it just completely expired- It took me about a year after the manga ended to write this review, but the person I had started reading this "for" I haven't talked to in years. It's a personal journey for me, and perhaps that's what makes this manga more special to me than it should be. Should you read this? It honestly depends. I wouldn't say it's a diamond in the rough, far from it, it's just a cute read past a certain arc we'd all like to forget about (wink). So if a creepy bad start is something you're willing to sit through, then enjoy the adventures of Yuu and Haruto as they make their way to their very own ending, on their very own terms.
And that's honestly awesome.

Why did I start reading this manga? It has been one of the worst decisions of my life.

“The female lead is strong, and she does not let herself get pushed around as the other shoujo’s protagonists do”, they said.
“The male lead is handsome and he hides a good and kind side”, they said.
Lies. Terrible lies. And the worst is that I always want to finish what I start. This means that now I am condemned to read every single chapter untill the end of the manga. Eighty-eight chapters. I will die.
The female lead is strong only in the first episode, then she ... becomes a total idiot. Moreover, the male lead (who is called by everyone “the Black Devil”), is a crazy psychopath as well as a harasser. I will explain myself better: the Black Devil gets obsessed with the female lead, his life’s goal becomes controlling her, he kisses her multiple times without her consent (even when she starts going out with another boy) and, actually, he does even worse (he almost undresses her, again without her consent, and he leaves marks on her skin). And the annoying thing is that she does not do anything to stop him! Does he kiss her without her consent? She blushes and she does not do anything to get him off. Does he harass her? She falls madly in love with him. Does he treat her like a dog? She gets all offended but eventually falls in love even more because, deep down, "he is a good guy". I would also like to remind you that she has a boyfriend. So, yes: basically, she starts going out with a boy but, at the same time, she plays the lover and the dog of the "Black Devil".

I swear, I am losing my sanity reading this manga. There is no decent character in this story and the plot, in my humble opinion, makes no sense.
How do people love this type of plot and dream of a toxic and disgusting relationship like the one that these two protagonists have? I will never understand this. If I found a guy like that, I would fuck him off immediately, and I would slap him in the hope that he would come to his senses, but maybe it is me who is weird. I cannot even believe that the author wrote and drew clear scenes of sexual assault and painted them as romantic.

I hope not to kill all my brain cells trying to finish this manga. I will come back to update this review when and if I can finish this.