Sore wa Rei no Shiwaza desu

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This is a tame romantic comedy with a slight twist. The gimmick for this manga is that the male lead (Torii Nozomu) can see a spirit following the female lead (Kirishima Kyouko). This manga is a quick read from XXX mangaka Noise. This is the first non-XXX manga by Noise. The current genres and themes are misleading. I would remove "Romantic Subtext" and add "Ecchi" and "Romance." The genre "Harem" could also be added, as half the chapters have a plethora of females when compared to males.

My expectations going into this manga were that it would be the same as Mieruko Chan (anime). Though differing ... by a lack of ecchi, to which I was surprised wasn't the case. However, and I hate to compare the two, but Sore wa Rei no Shiwaza desu didn't have the same repeated circumstance like Mieruko Chan (anime) did.

The plot is nothing new; it's been done before. The plot may seem aimless at the start of the manga, but it picks up the flaws and corrects them later on. Few cliches are relied upon to develop the relationships in the manga. There are arcs within the manga that follow what almost every romcom manga does nowadays. The formula of putting certain events in a romcom works for a reason, and it's done properly in this manga. There is a side plot involving supporting characters to look forward to.

The characters don't feel forced and mostly don't follow a character archetype (kuudere, tsundere, etc). The depth of their character is a bit shallow; you don't learn much about who they are throughout the story. The overarching plot of the ghost and the romance between Nozomu and Kirishima Kyouko is stagnant at first but blends later in the story.

Overall, my opinion of the manga is that it is funny, thought-provoking, and plausible. Supposing someone could actually see a ghost, this story could come true. There aren't many strings pulling the plot or characters along. The target audience is for anyone who likes romcoms and can tolerate (or likes) fanservice.

Day of writing this review:
Score - 7.09 (4,000+ ratings)
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Another rendition of the “possessed by ghost romance" trope. I think what’s interesting about this take on it is that the ghost actively assists the male lead with his romantic pursuits.

Some may find Torii’s reluctance to intervene with the ghost early on in the story problematic. This is focused on around Chapter 21. I won’t spoil what happens, but the issue on intervening is addressed somewhat.

This manga is best appreciated by individuals who don’t think too deeply about what establishes and maintains a romantic relationship between characters (besides the obvious “love/like at first sight”). Rather, the tension of “will they or won’t they” and the ... antics that move both characters along this continuum is what will sustain interest in the series. Personally, I find that this manga moves forward at a steady pace and furthers the romance between its main characters sufficiently well.

If I had any complaints though, I would say that the characters are lacking. These kind of stories are reliant upon the romance between the leads and, consequently, tend to have a weak supporting cast. Additionally, the leads themselves are seldom developed beyond their initial archetypes. The school setting and age help to minimize this issue by justifying this lack of development as “being limited by the inexperience of youth” (a subconscious supposition by readers), but I find this justification lacking; there have been plenty of school stories that have featured deep, meaningful young characters. For those looking for something substantial out of this story beyond its romance, look elsewhere.

Other than that, and for what it is, it’s pretty entertaining. Good if you want to kill some time.

Right, so initially I was going to write this down as just another mediocre rom-com that I'd drop, give a 5 and then move on. But I really need to address some seriously problematic aspects of the characters in this, especially the main protagonist. I will focus EXCLUSIVELY on them here, the art is fine and the plot is a semi-lewd rom-com, you connect the dots on that. It's average on every other account.

The protagonist is despicable, honestly. He seems kinda like your average rom-com protagonist, but the thing about him that I can't stand is how he very clearly takes advantage of a situation ... that the heroine is completely unaware of, and seemingly does not seem to have any intention of rectifying it.

The main gimmick of this manga is that the heroine is possessed by a ghost. The thing is, both the heroine and the ghost are both (through rom-com protagonist magic) interested in the protagonist. The ghost does things to "entice" the protagonist that are just plain criminal. The most egregious example is sending nude pictures of the heroine to the protagonists phone, without the heroines knowledge.

Now, the protagonist never, not even after this, addresses the ghost possessing the heroine to the heroine. I'm dropping this at chapter 15, so if he does so later, apologies, but in my opinion it'd be way too late anyway. This guy is basically being assisted by an otherworldly entity to pick up a chick, and he doesn't even have the decency to disclose this to the person he allegedly "loves". I can't accept that you'd be willing to let an entity like this lift up the skirt of this "loved one" so you can get a glimpse of her panties, without at all considering stopping this ghost for the sake of the girl.

At that point it's just taking advantage of an awful situation, have some damned backbone man.

Honestly, this wouldn't be that bad if the rest of the manga was better, but it's not. It's fan-service fiesta, and there's not much else to come for. Honestly, this just obviously isn't for me. If the above doesn't discourage you, give it a try, as I'm sure the quality of the ecchi is decent if you're into that kinda thing. But the core of the manga is pretty lackluster.