Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai
A Condition Called Love

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This manga is really, really bugging me. It's written as if it's a typical cute shoujo romance. Nothing special, girl meets boy, they start dating even though Hotaru isn't sure if she likes Hananoi yet.

The problem I have with it is that Hananoi is continually giving me stalker vibes. He literally knows nothing of Hotaru, yet he's immediately so obsessed with her that he'll do anything for her, such as search for her barrette in a snowy field all night. When they're alone, he throws her against the floor and looms over her threateningly, because he's just so into her he can't control himself. He'll ... do anything for her, but is mean to her friends because he has no interest in anyone that isn't her. He has a shelf in his room hidden by a curtain that is "Hotaru's spot" that he tells her she needs to be prepared to see. He comes many hours early to any meeting they have, because he's so obsessed he prioritizes anything having to do with Hotaru above anything else. Literally all of this would be red flags for me that would send me running. I keep expecting it to become gender inverted Fatal Attraction, yet at the same time, I get the impression the author thought this was a cute romance with a boy that's "a little bit weird." Shoujo isn't normally like this. I think the author made an extreme error, but I can't help but be puzzled how they could fail to notice how creepy Hananoi is.

The good point to it is the art is really good, but I just can't get over how stalker-y it is. I've read a TON of shoujo, but this is the only one I've read where I've gotten this kind of bad impression. This even includes the ones where the male protagonist is one of those forceful "bad boys." The cognitive dissonance between how it feels like the author thinks it's sweet and harmless and how Hananoi's behavior is actually creepy just makes "Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai" even harder to reconcile and accept, versus those with "bad boy" protagonists, you can fully see where the narrative is going, and so you know ultimately nothing seriously bad is going to happen.

I highly suspect given genre tropes that it's going to turn out that Hotaru actually knew Hananoi when they were younger, but she doesn't remember him, and that he liked her even from that time, but Hotaru did not reciprocate. The thing is though, even if that's what happens, it doesn't change the fact that his behavior is obsessive to an unhealthy level. The only thing it really changes is that his obsession didn't come out of nowhere.

I'm gonna start saying that I've read 22 chapters so far and I'm not giving it a solid 9 since I don't wanna rush it, but I'm loving this manga.
I'll keep it as simple as I can:
This is a very shoujo manga but the main characters have something other couples in the same genre don't: COMMUNICATION SKILLS. They express their feelings and thoughts clearly, which is sth rare in this genre and usually it's used to create misundersating and give somes sense to the plot, but many times it's simply frustrating.
The female lead, Hotaru is an honest and caring girl but not in the ... stereotypical way and I appreciate it.

The ML, Hananoi, is more controversial:
At first he might seem a bit "obsessed" with her, but truth to be told, I've read TONS of shoujo and this is nth in comparison with the usual trope.
The "obsessive guy" trope is very common and it usually displays aggressive behavior, or an unhealthy way of approaching. More often than not, the obsession lead to the guy to jealousy in great doses and making him act in creepy and stalkerish ways.
This is so not the case with Hananoi and let me highlight this: he's totally respectful of Hotaru and never crosses the boundaries, and it's repeateadly stated by him that he wants Hotaru to feel comfortable and to follow her pace, and he keeps his word.
This guy is simply depressed, or at least that's what I got, and he clings into his ideals of giving himself entirely to love, which kinda reached my heart. So he does some "crazy" things like waiting for her 2 hours early or looking for her brooch in the snow, but he always respects her and states in clear words what's going on in his head, which it's essential for me to enjoy their relationship. Yes, Hananoi is very enthusiastic about going out with Hotaru, and he assumes his way of demonstrating love may be deemed as intense, but he never pretends otherwise and they spend actual happy quality time together.
This is not "the relationship is full of drama but let's pretend it's a happy couple with a panel of sweet words and a kiss" kind of romance and it feels like a breath of fresh air.

Having said that, I wanna add that the art is gorgeous and the story is developing smoothly.
Overall, I' enjoyed it quite a lot and I hope it keeps up this way.

This is the first time I am crying while reading manga that is not supposed to make me cry. I am similar with Hananoi-kun, "too intense" but it's not because I want to be like that, maybe I just don't know how to love someone normally and too anxious. Similar with Hananoi-kun, I am also afraid the person I love will leave me when he meet someone more 'normal' than me and this is most likely because of my self-hatred. So yeah, this manga really touch my heart and I honestly need someone like Hotaru in my life, I hope I will meet someone like ... her one day.

I know many people will have problem with his attitude (Like the most helpful review in here), but this is story about character development and relationship development, what's wrong with flawed character try to be better? He changes slowly so you can't see his change just one chapter then BOOM he changes. Or you mean to say someone like me don't have the right to be loved and change? Who are you? Are you that perfect to think flawed character is not worth to be loved?

I know his behavior is kinda stalkerish but I also know he try to limit himself, his feeling is genuine, and this is what the female lead see but many reader fail to see. Their relationship is far from toxic because she knows how to make his world wider, make him change and compromise while at the same time the male lead also help her to understand love and experience new things. Their relationship is trial and error but they communicate well, compromise and change to be better. Their relationship feels real.

Other than that, the character is really real and that's also the reason why I feel what Hananoi-kun feel and I understand how Hotaru feel. And the art of this author is always nice so nothing to complain.

I also recommend to read author other works.

I would honestly say that this is not like any typical shoujo/romance series. The way the characters are very skillfully written, their personalities, how they interact with each other, their character development, it's obvious how much thought the author put into each of them.

I get why a lot of people drop this in the beginning, ML starts off as an obvious red flag (hence the title literally meaning "Hananoi-kun and the Disease of Love"), he was pretty much borderline lovebombing all his past girlfriends and he just went out with whoever asked him out first, even I won't defend him on this because it ... was that bad. If this was real life, I'd suggest he go see a professional and get some therapy. His lack of love from his parents and how he took an old man's advice the wrong way doesn't excuse him for his actions but at least it would help the readers understand why he is the way he is. It's such a waste how people drop this after only a few chapters because they're missing out a lot.

I understood him more too because there was also an actual reason why he asked Hotaru out, it wasn't just some kind of spur of the moment, love at first sight or whatever. He was a bit extreme at first but it's not like Hananoi treated her badly, in fact he always asked for Hotaru's consent for everything and I commend Hotaru for being able to tell him how she feels about his actions so he never did anything that would make her feel unsafe or uncomfortable, he respected her immensely. This isn't a "I can fix him" kind of relationship, it's just that Hotaru understood him and liked him the way he is because they actually communicate with each other. As the story progresses, Hananoi slowly accepts that deep inside he also wanted to have friends and he can't depend on just one person (Hotaru) for his social needs, the character development is crazy, it feels like watching a child grow up and mature. I would honestly choose to defend the Hananoi now(I'm at chapter 49 at the time of writing this) with all my heart and soul if anyone would still insist that he's a red flag, I would like to protect both him and Hotaru and I just want them to be happy.

So I think the most polarizing thing here is obviously going to be Saki Hananoi, our protagonist's relentless stalker I mean love interest. Is getting his hair cut based on an off hand comment endearing? Or would your heart sing when your persuer spends all night looking through the snow for your hair clip, putting his health at risk for the tiniest chance to make you smile? If he hasn't won you over yet, then certainly revealing their shrine to you sounds like a romantic date?


Oh honey, I hope not. Which would be fine enough, but this is all portrayed with complete sincerity from ... the author. This guy would be hit with a restraining order so fast in real life, but here it's portrayed as being endearing, even noble. This book will definitely be a good work out for your suspension of disbelief if nothing else. If you haven't applied for Team Hananoi, you're left with a few cute moments and some good art. But in the end, I've seen cuter moments, and prettier art.

-At the time of writing this, it has 8 chapters-

What does it mean to be in love? The troubles of understanding how another person feels, and what your own feelings are; that's what this manga focuses on so far.

The story is about Hananoi, a handsome yet lonely guy falling in love with Hotaru, a rather ordinary but thoughtful girl.
Hotaru always had trouble understanding feelings like love as she never felt that way herself, so after Hananoi confessed to her, they decided to date on "trial" before giving him a definite answer in order for her to figure out how she feels. Hananoi is pretty ... much the exact opposite, always giving it his all (or too much, actually) in order to convey his feelings. Needless to say, they make for an interesting couple.

Hananoi has a somewhat mysterious side to him, since it is shown that he only is kind towards Hotaru and nobody else, and it's in some way "suspicious" why he goes to such extents to win her over sometimes.

What I like about this manga so far is that, even though the beginning of their relationship is rather sudden, it takes it's time to slowly but constantly develop further. Especially from the view of Hotaru, exploring what it feels like to fall in love with someone.
Also, it didn't introduce a dozen side characters alongside, most of the side-characters are just "there", but basically all the focus is solely spent on the main couple.

I'll start this by saying 90% of the reason behind the rating is the male lead, as it usually tends to be with series of that sort. With that said, the remaining 10% is what made me drop this.

I'm used to reading/watching questionable stuff and often find enjoyment in it, but something about this manga set my fight or flight response off from the beginning. I couldn't exactly tell you what it was. The male lead? I've read worse. The weird way in which his actions get portrayed as cute? I've unfortunately also read worse. The way he contrasts against everyone else's blandness? I think ... that might be it. I don't even remember what the female lead's name was and I just finished reading. She's cute and nice enough, but I can't really think of any legitimate way to describe her aside from non-committal adjectives that might as well describe 99% of female leads out there. I found her non-reactions to Hananoi's creepy behavior amusing at first, but at some point it began to feel as though the story itself wasn't aware of how his behavior might come across.

In a vacuum, I think Hananoi is easy to relate to being a 0 social skills loner who hides behind books (like a lot of us probably are), it's just the way the entirety of his existence seems to revolve around the female lead after he meets her. It's genuinely worrying. I can't tell if the story is expecting the reader to find this cute or if there will be come sort of commentary on the subject along the way. Again, there's a ton of highly questionable stories I've enjoyed that fail to acknowledge a potentially disturbing premise (I unironically like Junjou Romantica and rewatch it often ffs), it's just that usually they'll at least have some point of interest like a good sense of humor, charming characters, even a bile fascination factor, but this has nothing. All it does it make me worry about the female lead and everyone around her.

It kind of reminded me of Momokuri at the beginning, where the female lead does things like collect the male lead's trash for her shrine. The things she does are way more extreme and she's arguably more obsessed, but she also... you know, has friends, ambitions, interests other than her boyfriend. Besides, a lot of the comedy comes from her unhinged behavior, and it could be that this manga tries to do the same, but so far none of the jokes have landed for me. It feels more like having an unstable boyfriend whose entire life revolves around you is supposed to be the fantasy. I don't know, maybe I can't like this series as much because it's just not enjoyable to me.

Art-wise, it's fine, but with how much eye candy you can find in shoujo it really doesn't seem that special. I don't know, maybe it gets better as it goes on. I hate dropping series and this is the first manga I've dropped in years but I just can't bring myself to continue. There's nothing interesting happening, every character but the male lead feels like white noise, and said male lead could easily be the villain of a horror story. There's just so many other things to read these days, similar premise or not, that there's just no reason to keep going for me.

If this is the sort of story that appeals to you, though, by all means, have fun reading it. I picked it up in the first place because my almost 30-year old cousin is obsessed with this series and collects the volumes. Teenage me would've outright hated this. My sister also enjoyed it a lot and it seems to be mostly recommended, so maybe I'm just an outlier. Who knows. Enjoyment, or lack thereof, is subjective is nothing to be ashamed about after all.

EDIT: Due to said cousin, I read up to volume 9, and pretty much everything I've said still holds up. After several volumes of nothing happening, the story randomly got packed with the usual shoujo tropes (childhood friend crush, creepy teacher x student subplot, male lead is 1/4 English (it's always England lol), a 'fight' between friends that lasts half an episode, etc.) so it went from boring to derivative in the worst way possible. There's an anime coming out, though, so there's that. Cheers.

Im honestly confused on how to feel about this manga, I think it has a good premise, 2 love interests who are honest about their feelings and intentions from the start and work through their issues together, and the romantic scenes and such are what you expect from your usual shoujo, its got a good amount of humor too. But i don't really get what the author has in mind for the male lead, Hananoi anymore.

Hananoi has a messed up perception of love/self worth and in his own way is trying to be better about opening up and not be overbearing/toxic, but he's essentially ... being re-socialized through his high school girlfriend? That wouldn't be that big of a deal if his attachment to her didn't come across as a genuine mental illness. This isn't a 'dig' at him, i'm just at a point in this story (ch 39-41) where I would rather read about him getting professional help because his behavior is unacceptable.

I guess the point of his character/their relationship is essentially supposed to be 'everyone deserved to be loved, and learn how to love' (in a healthy way) regardless of baggage, but we've gotten this far and his form of 'love' is still at the expense of others so now what? Having good intentions or feeling genuine affection for someone cannot make up for shitty behavior. I understand to an extent he cannot change overnight and is pretty self aware of his shortcomings, but I cant root for them completely because it feels like if they remain together he's only going to keep relying on her as his only sense of happiness and learn nothing, and thats not good for either of them in the long run.

I might be being a bit harsh, I do think its enjoyable overall and im sure plenty of people overlook the conflict for the sake of the romance, but i genuinely hope Hananoi's character is addressed properly.

EDIT 6/28/23: i decided to catch up after i took a break from reading this, I will say that my concerns did more or less get addressed! Hasanoi gets called out by several characters and is learning that a support system that isn't composed of only your girlfriend is good (lol) however, not completely satisfied with how his fuck-up wasnt treated as seriously as it could have been. Like i understand that at the end of the day this is a shoujo and its gonna be a little silly and corny at times, but this manga does take itself pretty seriously! so i wish it touched more on the aspect of how scary thinking someone you care about could be unsafe to be around. Again i appreciate this newfound realization that Hananoi can rely on other people, but i still think he need like. people that arent teenagers to give him advice lol.

Point is, this really isnt for everyone! but i do think its at least an interesting read.

This is the cutest, wholesome shit ever.
First of all, yes, the male lead did give off weird vibes, esp. in the beginning, with the signs of obsessive/stalkerish behavior. BUT if you're reading that from people who only read the first few chapters, ignore it.

I've read up to the latest chapter so far (Chapter 28) and we're given more of ML's past (with even more to be shown based on how chapter 28 ended) which explain his behavior.

The reason I'm giving this a 10/10 even though the story itself isn't completed yet is because there hasn't been any over the top drama, actually nothing ... has dragged on for more than a chapter like other typical shoujo mangas.

There's some actual character development and the FL & ML both have their own insecurities YET THEY ALWAYS MANAGE TO COMMUNICATE!!! Yeah, there are misunderstandings that are thrown here and there, yet it doesn't drag on because they talk to each other and it's just so UGH. It's what all the other shoujo manga should strive to be like.

The FL is NOT annoying for once, she's actually fucking adorable and sweet. The ML is initially very overbearing, but it's because he's really insecure due to how he grew up, but as he spends time with the FL, and with COMMUNICATION, he changes. Again, try to read more than just a few chapters before judging him for his over-the-top behavior.

Plus, the art's so gorgeous. The last few chapters, there's always been a panel that just makes you melt at how (extra) soft and fluffy and FUCKING CUTE THEY ARE. AHHH.

It's an 8 for now, but it's a nice story which may or may not progress to a 9 in the future depending on how it goes, since there are only 9 translated chapters so far.

I think this is a series most shoujo or romance fans will enjoy. Whereas in the author's previous work it was more plot focused, this new series is a simpler story with straightforward focus on the main couple, which is good if you just want to enjoy the ride and some sweet romance without getting through too much seriousness.

The main draw of the story so far is in that it's ... not trying to be complicated. The couple starts dating right at the start, and it follows them as they go through this journey of discovering love together.

The characters are interesting, good people, not perfect of course - it's quickly evident they are not the best at dealing with people issues - but they're both sensible and considerate and try to make things work.

I must repeat this - the main characters are sensible, considerate, and communicate properly! This is surprisingly rare in a lot of manga, where somehow the feelings just don't get across until the end of the manga, and then it suddenly ends and we're left pretty dissatisfied by the end of it. No, they already start dating here so we're past that horrible stage, and now's the time for a cute couple to get to know each other and give us diabetes and whatnot.

Feelings are dealt with realistically and sensibly in the manga, at least so far. From the way things are going I also do not expect weird inconsistencies nor expect characters to suddenly make questionable decisions that cause readers to wonder if the characters suddenly did a 180 and became ridiculously stupid. I feel that even if issues do come up for our little couple down the road, it will be resolved satisfactorily.

Finally, for a (so far) simple lighthearted story about a young couple learning about each other, it has sufficient exciting moments that shoujo romance lovers will be grateful for. What's more, it's not just BAM! kabedon out of nowhere! or just really out of place/forced things, but properly sweet and natural actions that make it all the better.

Proper romance + heartwarming cuteness + heartracing moments at times, without too much annoying sidetracking (since it focuses mainly on the couple so far) - what more can a romance lover want?

honestly, i just keep cringing at how clingy the ML is. because, yeah while moments can be cute, don't forget that the ML kind of forces the FL to be in a relationship without him. I haven't read too far yet but this just gives me borderline Stockholm syndrome vibes.

mild spoilers:
-the ML refuses to have any sort of other kind of relationship with the FL, blatantly telling her that if she doesn't like him back she will never see him again

-the ML constantly makes the FL uncomfortable by putting himself in harms way for absolutely no reason other than "seeing her smile."

-he gets jealous ... of any male friends, and therefore creates a secondhand rift even though she has constantly told him she has never felt any sort of interest in love.
>>to add onto that, he goes to her work often, creating moreso of a toxic environment.

-when he does get her to like him back, it feels incredibly forced and i feel like she only likes him because she had no other choice, hence the stockholm vibes.

-ML claims to be "odd." No. The oddness is just him being a clingy creep because this chick looked his way once and he decided he had to be her boyfriend.

along with many other things.


it totally could have been a fluffy, amazing manga with the style, but everything else is just completely off putting and therefore makes the experience subpar.

To be honest, I kinda have a love-hate relationship with this manga. It's adorable and cute, but one thing that always puts me off is Hananoi-kun.

He's very suspicious and to some extent, gives of "yandere-ish" vibes. We do get to learn later on how he sort of became like that but it still makes me feel weird. At some point, I feel like rooting for the other guy though I don't want any more drama in this series.

Other than that, I really love this story and they're sooo cute! I still enjoy reading it nonetheless.

Also, I love Hananoi's blushy face hahah :)

I'm 17 chapters in and I really love this manga! It's a cute premise with their "trial run relationship" and their contrasting personailites make them a really enjoyable couple. Hotaru is ignorant to love and Hananoi is almost dedicated to the idea of it, and together they help teach each other how to be a good partner. As someone on the aromantic spectrum Hotaru is extremely relatable and it just makes her scenes with Hananoi carry a much bigger punch. They are a very cute and accepting couple, communicating with each other their feelings and loving each other for who they are. Whenever ... there is an issue between them they always work together to come to an understanding or improoved for each other. It's very cute seeing their puppy love story play out. A must read for any arospec people and a high tier recommendation to all shojo lovers!!