Living no Matsunaga-san
Living-Room Matsunaga-san

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I've decided to review this manga because I couldn't find any other review that had completed the series. So, to note, it's my first and probably only review I'll make, so i'll try to be short, objetive and sincere. This isn't a spoiler free review.

Despite all of the age gap that we were receiving in these last years, I would like to say that this manga was ahead of this classic cliché, by a plot based in making them live in the same house with a set of side characters. About Matsunaga-san, even with all the fan-service we got, that I really didn't dislike it ... too much because it seemed like it was part of his personality. Ignoring this, his character was very cool and interesting, I never seen a personality like that in any other shoujos or josei of the same type, he was mostly very kind, respectable, patience and supportive with the ML 10 years younger than him. I think it was the best personality and way to deal with the situation, and felt very natural for me. (Takane from Takane to Hana or Vivi from Hana to Akuma are both good examples, but they seem pretty unnatural). The only problem I had with him was around the last chapters. He seemed like another character, It's like he forgot what used to be his priority, or even his little development around his kindness. I know that when we make changes into our lives we can forget some things, but even later the accident he got, I think the autor forgot what was the most important thing to him.

Miko was good, she was the representation of innocence and childhood in a house full of adults. However, I think her development was quite poor, she had the potential to not be one of the typical crybaby protagonists of a shoujo, but one thing I learnt from all the situations in which Matsunaga and the others helped her, it's that she clearly never learns to properly rely in others, it's like she forgot that little progression she did with Matsunaga a few chapters before when he took her to see her grandma. We can clearly see this regression in the final arc, when Matsunaga leaves the shared house. Also, we never knew what she wanted to do or be, we got time skipped two times, and she got zero development since Matsunaga moved, we only see her crying around and being miserable from the distance that was predictable. Her hole self and life ended exclusively revolving around this first love and Matsunaga itself. What was quite sad to be honest, not to mention that their relationship was supossed to start when she graduated, I'm pretty sure we were all waiting for that moment to happen, for them to start dating like a real couple, well i think the autor forgot about it?

Keiko-sensei seems like also forgot another things, like what was the purpose of the shared house, or present the new members that came when the other adults left without -any?- hesitation and from a moment to another in only one or two chapters. Miko was certainly left alone. She also forgot that Matsunaga-san told Miko that he needs to present formaly to her family and notice them about their situation, and many other things that I got used to love, like the chemistry of the main couple, or the side characters, or the shared house itself and the meaning of home and family that got destroyed in a few chapters. I know that this adults eventually would be leaving, but I think it happened like a shock.
Don't forget about Ryou and his feelings, that went from pure and kind to desperatly in love, like all the old cliches of triangle love we are tired to read, not to mention it was kinda unecessary. It didn't contribute to nothing in the story, I never got so unpleased with a second lead so good to fit the place of posible ML. It was super forced and horrible to be honest.

In my final opinion, and after expending years of reading manga, mostly shoujos and josei, Living no Matsunaga-san had potential as refresh for this genre and tematic, but it got crushed and wasted arround the last 8 chapters. It lost everything I loved from the start, and I can't still understand the rushed final we got, this manga could last at least, 20 more chapters of development, we only get to see a clearly regression from the main couple, and from everything we enjoyed in the past chapters. As well, the message it's kinda sad and depressing. If the autor wanted to cover the age-gap thing, and all that revolves around them, it should have gave them a little more time. (Takane to Hana, and even Hana to Akuma are good examples of distance and patience of age-gap). In a moment I thought this manga was taking the same way than Hirunaka no Ryuusei got. If that was the case I think the ending could have been more fitting that the one we got.

To be fair, I would recommend this manga, i really liked the most of the story, I really jumped and screamed and laught at too many pages, at the usual things we love to see in shoujo mangas, but all this feelings started to vanish when the love triangle began to rise in a bad way. I would like to read some specials about the time they finally started to date properly, or the time of Miko in university.

I rated this with a 7 with all the love that I could give it.

If you like Shojo/romance, you'll love Living no Matsunaga-san. It feels very familiar to read and the plot is building nicely. The story follows a 17 year old high school girl Miko.

Miko moves into a share house of 6 adults and quickly bonds with 27 year old Matsunaga and the story builds to a tense romance. It's pretty fluffy but if you like fluff and Shojo like I do, then I think this will be a good pick for you.
The art is very good, something strange that I've noticed is the fashion of the main characters is a lot cooler than in other ... Shojo manga. With Miko rocking adidas, nike and even a pair of chuck taylors. Is that a strange thing to put in a review? I think its a nice touch though. Its nice to see characters who wear things other then "cute" date clothes and school uniforms.
The story isn't necessarily unique, it reminds me of "Dengeki Daisy", "Futari no Table" in terms of the age gap and "Taiyou no Ie" a lot in terms of plot and the art style is similar to "Ao Haru Ride"

So if you've enjoyed any of these you might like this one.
The only thing I can say is that Miko is yet to develop more of a character than the typical "I'm a high school girl in love" I'm a bit sick of this trope and would like too see more characters like Yona from "Akatsuki no Yona" who have fully built personality and goals that go beyond "I love this guy" but we are still early in the story so we'll see! At least she can cook, unlike her Shoujo predecessors!

Put those drama/romance manga on hold, read a fluffy story instead!! I'm sure every romance lover would enjoy this story as it evolves around one-sided towards mutual love. From the beginning it shows that there will be nothing special in the plot, only slow love developing between the main heroine Miko and Matsunaga. Nothing else.

Their story of falling in love looks so natural it will make your heart melt!! The art style is fluffy and... hmm, how should I put it?
It has a tasty feeling... Cute maybe?? (you'll get the ''tasty-cute'' joke once you read chapter 3 or 4). While we learn ... more and more about Miko and Matsunaga every new chapter, the side characters are forgettable at best... That is until recently, when we got some info about one of the tennants. Hopefully, we will get more on the characters lives, but I don't think it will happen as the story is mostly targeted towards the romance story.

Personally, I think this should be a great read if you're a romance lover or if you have a really bad day.

[contains a LOT of spoilers so skip if you haven't finished reading]

I started reading this because I saw a video about this manga being completed and thought I'd give it a try. Also I really love male characters with glasses so here we are lol

The story was pretty good, I didn't know that this was an 'age gap' love story and while I am not necessarily someone who enjoys this kind of trope, I still decided to read further and eventually finish this.

I thought that the male lead was a good 4 to 5 years older than the female lead so I'm pretty ... shocked to find out there was a 10-year gap between the two of them. I do not disapprove of age gaps even in real life but considering that the story started with the female lead being in high school, I think it's valid to say I was a bit bothered.

A good part of the beginning of the story TRIES to play it out that he was being an 'adult' and only trying to take care of her because she's a high school student who started living in a shared house with adults. At least that's how I interpret it to be but from Day 1 his actions always seemed suspicious. He was overly concerned about her compared to the other people in the house which in my opinion, the other adults living in the house had more 'understandable' guidance to her. Matsunaga was just EVERYWHERE in her life at the house (tho to be fair he was working at home and the others weren't but still??)

So given that build up in the story, my assumption was that Matsunaga would wait for her to be out of high school and even wait for her to be considered as an 'adult' (and i'm not talking about 18 years old here which is barely an adult, i'm talking about like 20s) so imagine my shock when he confessed he also loved her (even though Miiko confessed first) and even kissed her at the latter part of the story, knowing full well she was in high school.

Like I really appreciated that Matsunaga was being shown to be 'waiting' for her at some point because he did know making a move on someone way younger than him and someone who's in high school is definitely wrong but it all came crashing down when he did made moves on her (even when she kind initiated one of the kisses). Some of the 'cover up' to these details I mentioned is I guess how he moved away from the house when the two of them confirmed their feelings to each other. I guess it's trying to steer clear from any possibility of them doing 'stuff' if they're under the same roof.

Nevertheless, the ending was cute. He actually did 'wait' for her, in some sense she graduated from University and they started living together and stuff. I love how we see Miiko become successful and I'm happy to see that they're kind of in equal footing now that she's an adult and working. I also love how less annoying Miiko was compared to other female leads in shoujo manga and Matsunaga wasn't that overly serious adult guy that I commonly see in these age-gap manga, he actually has a balance of his goofy and serious side to him (I also admire how serious and dedicated he could be in his work, he gotta teach me his ways).

Anyway it's a solid 7. It still had a cute plot, nice characters but there really are elements or aspects of the story that I disapprove of as I have discussed earlier.

PS. I still would've chosen Ryo, he was the best boy, the man really deserved her. He's also a doctor so +10 points in my standards and most especially he's a cat lover which gives him +100 more points. In short, I love him.

Okay so I've never written a review before on here but I feel like I gotta because I've recently finished it and I cannot stop thinking about it.

Honestly, no, the story is not the deepest but if you like romance that is sometimes a little cheesy that makes you roll around in your bed while your reading then this is definitely for you! The author knows what cutesy, sweet, adorable romance is and they're not greedy with it ;)

You might be shocked bc of the age difference but tbh, compared to other age gap manga's I feel like this manga handled it in the ... most healthy way you can handle an age gap in general lol :')

Also, I think the main reason I enjoyed this manga was because of the art. I loved that the male love interest had a different haircut than I'm used to in shoujo manga and literally every character was designed and drawn so beautifully!

All in all, a very wholesome, funny and light-hearted but beautifully drawn manga that is definitely worth a read if you're into comedy romance shoujo's with an age gap.

This manga is really good in terms of story and characters. Honestly its really fun and enjoyable.
There is just one thing that bothers me and it is the age. I was reading this under the impression that he was like 4 years older fresh out of college but no, I found out on the chapter of his birthday that he just turn 28. 28!!
I understand the concept of age doesn't matter but it just does not sit well with me on how Matsunaga becomes fully aware of this after a few volumes. If you read the story and watch their moments you will understand ... what I mean.
There is a 10yr gap.
She seems better of with that college student.
I will say the side characters are really entertaining and it shows how they each have their own life and problems. I will say its a very cute story but finding out the age a few volumes later threw me off.

Looking for a fun, modern, age-gap romance, from your shoujo manga? This one's for you!

Plot:

Meeko, a cheery high school student, moves into her uncles boarding house after her parents leave to care for her ailing grandmother. She's excited for the independence. The only hardships ahead of her include learning to cook balanced meals and using the washing machine on her own.

Luckily, the boarding house has five other tenants. The catch? They’re all young professionals.
Meeko can’t help feeling exhilarated by her cool new life surrounded by sleek furnishing and roommates whose lifestyles are so different from her own.

Often arriving home late from work, or ... not at all, the adults run on totally different schedules from a high school student. On rare occasions when everyone is together they include Meeko in the fun. Through them Meeko glimpses what her future could be like & can't deny she wants to grow up fast.



There is, however, one tenant who is always home. Matsunaga (27) is a freelance graphic designer, who has a habit of using the living room couch as his office.

Matsunaga takes Meeko under his wing. He can be pushy and stern with her, but through his guidance she learns to do all her own chores quickly. He also keeps an eye on her, making it impossible for her to hide the fact that she needs help. He behaves like a concerned older brother.

Oh, and his room is located right next to hers.

Unfortunately for Meeko, the more Matsunaga is kind to her, the more she can’t ignore the crush she's developed on him.


Review:

This is a strong first volume. The setting and character personalities are established quickly, so it was easy to become invested in the plot. I was excited to see what situations they would get into.

I enjoyed everything in this first volume. The story unfolds logically. Meeko’s circumstances for moving are realistic. The personalities of all the characters are believable. And the overall atmosphere is playful and modern. As the reader, I even felt a sense of wonder, like "Wow, it would be fun to live there."



Meeko's crush on Matsunaga develops quickly, but it’s justified. Rather than slap us with shallow insta-love right away, the mangaka takes the time to show us what Meeko see's in him.

Even when he's pushing her we realize Matsunaga means well. He's treating her like an adult, rather than like she’s a helpless child. At the same time he can be playful. Even immature, like when the housemates tease him.

The mangaka does not rely on cheap tricks to get the characters flirting. There is no blackmail plot. Matsunaga has no ulterior motive to helping her. He's just a nice, capable, guy who happens to be there.



The way Meeko handles her crush also feels authentic. Again there's no gimmicks used to create tension. She doesn't start plotting a way to win his affection, or make him jealous. Rather, Meeko struggles against her growing feelings. And the tension becomes about her keeping them secret, afraid that if she let them slip things will be ruined.

Meeko's character has some agency and proactivity. Like when helps Matsunaga with his newest design, cooks, and cherishes the gift he buys her. She wants to become a good housemate.

Everything is complicated by their proximity. The mangaka finds new ways to play off this central conflict. Raising the stakes for a potential romantic development between them. Will Meeko accidentally confess? Will Matsunaga’s friendly intentions cross a line?

The mangaka, Keiko Iwashita, manages to build this tension wonderfully out of ordinary life.



Side Characters:

The side characters all have distinct personalities and create a complimentary atmosphere to the romance plot. Especially Asako and Kentaro.

Asako is beautiful, kind, and very fashionable. Meeko looks up to her as the perfect example of how an adult woman should be. Kentaro is the resident ladies man who will make the uncomfortable jokes about Miko and Matsunaga flirting.

Meeko's Uncle doesn’t have much presence on the page, but the mangaka does give him a convincing reason for not living in the boarding house he owns. He is caring towards all the tenants, but I wonder what will happen if the romance plot progresses under his roof.

The other two tenants are Ryou, a collage student, and Akane, who might be the quirky female. They don't have much presence in volume one, but they get more page time in volume two.

Chapters end with funny commentary from the house cat, Sabako.



What this story has to offer you
Attractive Character Designs
Slice of Life
A Lively Boarding House
Age Gap
Modern Atmosphere
Romantic Tension
Playfulness
Trendy Decor & Clothing
Lovable Cast of Characters

Wow. What the fuck. This is just unfair.

This man is GORGEOUS. He has the nerd glasses and slicked back hair with a chiseled face that really pops out, such a refresher in a genre flooded with the same generic prettyboy face with bedhead. I would have rated this manga 10/10 for his stunning appearance alone if the story was actually serviceable enough. Unfortunately, Living no Matsunaga-san derails itself in the final volumes, far beyond repair.

First things first. I am not someone who suffers from second male lead syndrome, especially for a manga of this length. I usually accept the man adorning the first volume cover ... and title, especially since I'm reading this manga to explore a significant age gap and the more mature appearance. But the second male lead is far better than Matsunaga-san despite said generic prettyboy face, bedhead, and being closer in age. His interactions with MC are very organic and shine in the face of the ML's questionable, out of character decisions near the end of the manga, where ML lies about something important which causes a really shitty, contrived misunderstanding that triggers MC's insecurities about their relationship status. Hell, because of this, MC does something that can kind of be considered cheating. This is all brushed aside in a few panels where they "cOmmUNicaTe." All of this really highlights how they're clearly not on the same page, an aspect of their relationship that is never addressed.

The side characters' relationships really make no sense. The manwhore falls in love for NO REASON with another side character, with absolutely no hints to this happening. I didn't really care for them after that. And then this character joins the share house for the sole reason of spurring second ML on to make more advances on MC, a truly lazy plot device that gets explained away in bonus content at the very end.

MC really isn't that well written. The story tries to make a point that she's lonely and she misses her parents and she's not a functioning human being blah blah blah but.... this all happens at the end. And how she's sooo strong for being away from her parents (whom you never get to see ever except in cut content). It seems like the story kind of patronizes her and it doesn't help that ML sometimes treats MC like a grade schooler despite developing feelings for her.

It's so unfortunate that I have to give this manga such a low rating because damn is the art amazing, and a lot could have been done with the premise and side characters, but Living no Matsunaga-san ultimately didn't deliver.

Read this manga if you want to see the second male lead's character development, admire his cute blushing expressions, and watch him suffer. Otherwise just read Tsubaki-chou to Lonely Planet.

Despite the title, the protagonist of this story is 17 year-old high school student Miko. Her character is more well developed than the titular Matsunaga-san, and it is her story that we are here for. Matsunaga-san is almost just a bit of eye candy, the hunky older man that serves as catalyst for Miko's growth and coming of age.

Why a perfect 10 for this manga? Never have I seen a romance manga do a better job of handling the issue of a big age-gap. Miko is almost 11 years younger than Matsunaga, and she is by far the youngest of the ... six housemates, the only one too young to drink alcohol. The artist tells us in her notes that the editor insisted that there be absolutely no behavior that could be construed as creepy or predatory, and so we have our young heroine surrounded by a crew of older sisters and brothers who look out for her interests without pushing her into a romantic relationship.

Not that Miko needs any help with romance. She has romantic urges from the beginning of volume 1, and the romantic intentions of the main characters are developed early on. But there will be nothing to turn off the reader, no illicit or illegal sexual activity. The male leads end up being the perfect gentlemen.

The only asterisk to apply is the reminder that this is a fantasy romance. No creeps. No predators. In real life, I've never met adults who are as honorable, truthful, and caring as the tenants of Miko's shared house. If such roommates really existed, I would sign a life-time lease!

It's been a few weeks since I completed this one but now that I've had a good think on it...this story is def a must read for shojo/romance/age gap fans! I finished it in one sitting too - I couldn't put it down!

STORY
The story had a simple premise, and it didn't have a ton of conflict throughout. It was a very typical shojo romance, sweet and heart warming. Not a ton of love rivals or anything like that, and a decent amount of "misunderstandings." The romance is somewhat of a slow burn...though the characters had great chemistry and were clearly drawn to each other ... from the start, their romance does develop throughout the entire story.

CHARACTERS
The characters were cute and charming, since it's been a few weeks I only really remember the MCs. I remember the side characters getting some developments but not a whole lot. I did like the MCs though, I really adore the design of Jun!!! It's what attracted me to the story initially-getting tired of the same generic shojo anime boys. Their outfits are more modern too.

I will say I feel the main girl didn't get much development nor do we learn much about her other than the fact she likes the MC and can cook etc.

ART
The art style was very cute and very "ao haru ride" esque. I liked it!

Overall def add this to your collection if you enjoy this genre.

I love the shirts in this manga.
I think this manga is one of the shoujo manga that I liked the most, it brought me a lot of feelings, I hope you'll read this manga with the bottom of your heart 💕💕.
Really recommend reading it, for anyone who likes a well-cultivated relationship with all the drama, while being very light and easy to swallow. Most of the manga takes place in the shared house where the protagonist moves in, I really like those stories where it's not just by coincidence that the couple meet, but naturally, and with feelings gradually developing. For those who also like ... a couple with an age-gap, the topic is also addressed since the protagonist is in high school and the guy already works. And of course there's always time for a love triangle.
I will always keep this manga in my heart because it was part of an important phase in my life, and because it left me completely in love with being just a simple and well-written novel.
Sorry for bad english :))

Lately I've seen that Keiko Iwashita's works have gained quite a bit of notoriety. And while I must admit that she is a mangaka with an outstanding drawing style, the structure of her stories is, in my opinion, very weak (something that also happens with other mangakas such as Wataru Yoshizumi or Io Sakisaka)

Leaving that topic aside, let's analyze her most famous work: Living no Matsunaga-san. The story tells us about Miko, a 17-year-old teenager who, due to certain family circumstances, is forced to live in her uncle's boarding house. There she will meet several characters with whom she will relate and, little by little, ... fall in love.

The manga started off quite well, it had a very well-done balance between comedy and romance; however, from volume 4 onwards, the story loses a lot of strength. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that from that volume onwards, the author ran out of ideas to explore.

The relationship between Miko and Matsunaga is... peculiar. I don't mind the age difference as long as it's handled well (she's 17 and he's 28); what bothers me most about the main couple is the large amount of conflicts they have due to lack of communication (something that is more noticeable in the final volumes). As for the other characters, Ryou was interesting, as I think he complemented Miko more in several sentimental aspects compared to Matsunaga. As for the rest of the cast, I summarize them as follows: charismatic, but forgettable and lacking a good arc.

Living no Matsunaga-san is not a bad manga. However, it is a manga that goes from better to worse over time.

Lately I have finished reading Living-room Matsunaga-san, personally I enjoyed it. ₍^ >ヮ<^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ
I finished it in one sitting;
it was all I needed, the art was wholesome, cute, romantic, sometimes funny story with a character progress and happy ending for the main characters.
If you like shoujo/ age gap kinda thing totally go for it and read it!
if not, I dont think this is a necessary read.

This was a good one, the beginning was pretty nice, the characters were getting good with eachother and the love story had been progressing, but somewhere in the end it for me got all messed up ... with Ryu, and him being fixenated to Miko.
Since 9th volume it seemed to me like the story was longer than it should be and for me it lost its sparkle. It didn't hurt the story in any way to the person itself. Even though this was a lil bit turn off for me I woud say, I still recommend it and I think its wort it.
but thats only my personal opinion ~


PS: the scenes where is only Miko and Matsunaga are the best! give it a try!