To be clear—this review only takes into account the first 21 chapters. I have not read any content beyond chapter 21, and I don't intend to for the time being. I don't know if the manga improves later on, but given the current pace, it only seems to degrade with each chapter and I've seen many readers complain that it doesn't get any better.
Obligatory THIS REVIEW CONTAINS *MINOR* SPOILERS
Story: 5/10
After finishing the one-shot/first chapter, I was somewhat surprised because the reviews I read for this series beforehand weren't too positive about it. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but the first chapter at least gave me the
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impression that the series had some potential depending on how the mangaka decided to proceed from there. We're introduced to an MC who seems to be capable enough—excellent grades, can hold his own in a scuffle (doesn't punch with the force of a mosquito bumping into you like the commonly seen spineless romcom MC trope), and social skills that... exist (It's a low bar, but it's the genre standard lol). In any case, he's not a Gary Stu, but he's competent; I can dig it. Unfortunately, it doesn't take me too long to see why the reviews for this manga were so poor. In these 21 chapters, development for any romantic progress appears to be nonexistent. There are some inklings of character development—cool—but being primarily a romcom, having no romantic development at this point is not a good look. For the most part, it actually seems like the romance develops in the reverse (??) to some degree, as the MC's romantic interests either have an arranged fiancée, or they're interested in someone else. The MC, as competent as he is, feels virtually sidelined by the other characters most of the time. Someone shows interest in getting closer to the MC? It's likely because they're interested in his hot 16-year-old social media influencer fiancée (the heroine). The heroine's relationship with her long-separated biological parents gets closer as they have spotty interactions and family outings to bond? The MC has NO, NADA, 0 interactions with his own biological parents, and the parents (the heroine's biological parents) who have been raising him up to this point have practically tossed him out and stopped paying him much attention. It's sad, really—what is even going on here? Reading this just makes me feel bad for the MC. He somehow even says he's enjoying the new happenings in his life.
Character: 4/10
Bonus points for the MC who has managed to topple the very low bar set for romcom protagonists, I guess. I don't even think he's a great character, he just doesn't fit the spineless trope at least. As I mentioned before—he's got good grades, can handle himself in a fight, and has social skills that exist. He's completely oblivious to how shitty his situation is though, the heroine he was swapped with at birth got to be nurtured by his hotel tycoon parents who live in a mansion and are serviced by servants, while he grew up with her biological parents who are very poor. On top of that, the heroine is developing her relationship with her biological parents while the MC gets thrown away by them and has 0 interactions with his own biological parents. The mangaka makes no attempt to delve deeper into the dynamic of the two being swapped at birth, and how what should've "belonged" to the MC was practically stolen from him. I'm not necessarily saying I want the MC to be snotty about it all, but being resentful about the situation would be realistic, especially given that he's a high school kid who grew up in a home that the heroine called a "storage room." There's potential to give the MC and heroine some depth to their characters by delving more deeply into this rather than just brushing it off in a comedic tone.
The heroine is a shamelessly spoiled abrasive brat who doesn't really seem to get how good she's had it. And despite being the realistically LEAST likely match for the MC, she's definitely going to end up with him somehow since she's the heroine. I don't really see how, though—she's shown 0 romantic interest in the MC, and I've heard that remains mostly unchanged even in the most recent chapters. She resolved herself to become more independent after seeing how much more competent the MC is compared to her, but she quickly and very often still relies on people to do everything for her while she fiddles with her phone on social media. She gets some points for showing a desire to become more familiar with her estranged biological family and acting on it (upon being spurred by the MC). So far she's irredeemable to me, with no good qualities aside from having a hot bod.
I won't talk too much about the other two (as of chapter 21) love interests in lieu of spoilers, but they're not much better. They're confusing (as they're confused themselves); they either don't know what they want, won't act on want they want, or both. They appear to have resigned themselves to their family's whims. Uncaptivating characters.
Art: 7-8/10
Nice eye candy every now and then. Good occasional fanservice. Good titties and good ass if you're into that. It's nothing amazing, but it appeals to me, so I'm fond of it.
Overall: 5/10 (at best)
It's par for the course for the romcom genre. Give it a try if you like the standard romcom manga, it'll meet those expectations I suppose. Not much of a read if you're looking for something more captivating. I'm more into a romance plot riddled with subtext and undertones—something that, at the least, doesn't rely on surface-level misdirects and an overuse of misunderstandings to keep the story going. Also, give it a try if you're into looking at cute girls, it has those in my opinion.
Apr 26, 2021
Kakkou no Iinazuke
(Manga)
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To be clear—this review only takes into account the first 21 chapters. I have not read any content beyond chapter 21, and I don't intend to for the time being. I don't know if the manga improves later on, but given the current pace, it only seems to degrade with each chapter and I've seen many readers complain that it doesn't get any better.
Obligatory THIS REVIEW CONTAINS *MINOR* SPOILERS Story: 5/10 After finishing the one-shot/first chapter, I was somewhat surprised because the reviews I read for this series beforehand weren't too positive about it. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but the first chapter at least gave me the ... 
Apr 23, 2021
Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman.
(Manga)
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Don't bother if you're looking for a romance plot with character depth or actual development. This is one of those reads that you shouldn't take too seriously—the kind where you have to turn off your brain to enjoy it.
First and foremost, the plot premise is stupid right off the bat—a high school coupling teenage kids to act as married couples to foster their relationship skills. Something like this is typically forgivable, after all, there are plenty of well-done rom-coms that start off with some wacky gimmick. Story: 3/10 This entire story is executed poorly, though; it abuses the classic rom-com misunderstanding shtick to absolutely unrealistic proportions. ... 
Apr 20, 2021
Came into this expecting an average rom-com with the standard cliches and nonexistent development as the author milks their content for fanservice—be it in the form of poorly written borderline smut showcasing the author's virginity on full display, or (a) love interest(s) that caters to the average LN reader's fantasies. Luckily that wasn't the case, although one can argue that there are little sprinkles of the above as they're staples to any fictional rom-com.
From what I've read of what's translated so far (end of V4), volumes 1-3 stick pretty strictly to a formula in which the first part of each chapter gives insight into some ... |
