Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All

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This manga is so good, and this is not coming from a biased perspective. As someone who loves reading Gyaru x any girl here kind of GL, this one is done so tastefully and so cute. I started reading this manga when it started uploading through Twitter and I am more than elated to see it here, as well as starting to get its own physical copies. I recommend this GL to anyone looking for something light hearted but also feel good. It’s a “feet kicker” as I like to call it. Some of the moments you just have to squeal and roll around, because ... they’re so cute!!

The characters are a solid 10/10 for me. They have a depth to them that just keeps getting better every chapter, and the way two opposing opposites bond over something so meaningful to both of them is so cute!

Plot is done a lot, with a girl thinking another girl is a guy and then forming a crush on the masculine presenting girl, ultimately to figure out said guy was a girl since the start. I kind of love reading these tropes a lot lately, because though it’s a really done over plot, it doesn’t get old. Especially in this story. However, if you are tired of this kind of plot, I wouldn’t recommend this story for you.

Them bonding over music sort of reminds me a little of Given, just in a very much less tragic way. It’s sweeter and fluffier. Overall a solid 11/10. Please give this story some love!

It's not easy to be the first negative review for a series with such overwhelmingly positive reception, but I do believe I have a good reason to write this review.

First, let me say that the artwork at display is exceptional and is definetly a big part of why this series has become so popular. I can't deny that the series does look amazing. It's really unique and definetly stands out in the crowd of other GL manga.

However, I can't really recommend this manga in terms of the story. Every chapter is only 4 pages long which already makes it more difficult at telling complex stories, ... but I don't believe that to be the manga's biggest weakness. The pace of this manga is both extremely fast in smaller scale and extremely slow in the bigger scale at the same time. A lot of the chapters feel episodic and there isn't really a lot of arcs that would span multiple chapters. Because of this, every chapter is a little tidbit of the main characters' life. That is quite a good concept, but to get the point of the chapter across in just four pages, they have to rush a lot. Because of that, a lot of the chapters are over in a blink of an eye and the reader is left wondering what even happend in this chapter.

The dialogue can feel entirely disconnected and often becomes just a word salad that's vaguely related to any given subject. The series itself is also something one could consider a "slow burn". Because of that, and how rambly and fast the chapters are, this is a manga in which nothing ever happens and the little that is happening is often entirely incomprehensive. I honestly can't tell you much about the characters other that they are there. Their personalities are fairly standard in terms of what their archetypes are.

I can't deny that it has some cute moments and the general theme, of both characters growing closer together through their shared love of music is nice, it takes unbearably long to get off the ground. As the title implies, the main love interest, Aya, mistakes the protagonist, Koga, for a guy, and while the audience knows that Koga isn't a guy, it takes an extremely long time, for the women to be open with each other and for that misunderstanding to clear up. It's hard to call this a GL romance if it takes a good few dozen of chapters for the characters to even realize they are both women. In fairness, it's hard to call it romance at all, as they just enjoy each other's pressence but keep all the feelings bottled up and won't talk about being into each other, don't expect more than your standard GL "implied feelings" and "being extremely important for each other but never explicitly romantically".

I'm sure someone could come and say how realistic it is for people not to talk about their emotions because they are awkward, but in the year 2024, I'd love to finally see a series that isn't all about extremely awkward characters that are unable to voice their emotions as that's been plagueing the GL genre for years now. Koga and Aya are not blatantly toxic people, so that's at least a plus over a lot of the other GL series that would either be about unbalanced power dynamics, obssessions and jealousy, or just blatant abuse (the bar is on the floor!).

Ultimately I think this series has good vibes, but because of it's extremely slow pace, incomprehensive dialogue and tropey characters, I can't really recommend this to anybody who likes good romance stories. The GL community is somewhat infamous for hyping up everything that is born in this genre, because of how scarce good yuri is, but we do need to step up our standards in terms of the writing. If you do like cute pictures that you can turn off your brain to, you might enjoy it and I don't mean it in a derogatory way, just be sure you approach this series with the right mindset.

Adorable little manga that tastefully navigates a queer relationship in a very fun, comfy way. Though the trope used to drive the story isn't something particularly new, the musical element that drives the characters' attraction to each other is very compelling, and certain plot developments seem to point toward it becoming an even more important part of the main pairing's life. In a similar way to Bocchi the Rock, the music is not only there to kickstart the plot, as it also becomes the main thing around which the lives of the characters revolve. Characters who are, by the way, very well written and avoid ... some of my most hated stereotype in queer manga (Mitsuki's uncle is a sweetheart and I love him so much). The artwork is lovely, though some panel compositions suffer from what I imagine is a lack of experience from the mangaka. Nevertheless, the artstyle's natural charm and the way facial expressions are drawn often overshadow the mangaka's technical missteps.

Overall, it's a very cute and fluffy manga to read when you want something feel-good that also happens to include a sapphic relationship. My only real problem with this manga is how short chapters are! They always leave me wanting more.

This manga is so smooth and beautiful, is a simple story of love and friendship about two girls named Koga and Oosawa. It's so nice how these two great main characters interact with each other. Koga are shy and at the same time are so cool, and Oosawa are a nice girl, but near to Koga she gets embarrassed because of his crush on her.

Oh, and the side characters, they are awesome, the uncle of Koga are one of the best characters in this entire story, oh my god, and the plot, the plot of this two girls are absolutely incredible, how their feelings ... change as their relationship progresses. Everyone need to read this manga, serious, only read.

Every now and again you come across a manga that really feels like it breaks the mold, either in the art style that it uses, or the kind of story it wants to tell, or the way it wants to tell it. Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta seems intent on doing all three.

The art style is extremely distinctive - possibly even off-putting if the front cover is all you've got to go on - but it's really worth bearing with because it's actually beautifully drawn and suits the story perfectly. Characters are expressive and fluid, backgrounds are nicely detailed, the use of lime green ... highlights makes scenes pop (eyes especially), and the overall slightly chaotic layout really adds to the feel of what's going on. Our main pair are so well drawn, the visual storytelling from their expressions and movements is top notch.

Speaking of our main pair, they're both great characters. Aya is not your run-of-the-mill gyaru, and Mitsuki is not your run-of-the-mill introvert. Both have a lot of depth to them and feel like real, fleshed out people. I'm a big fan of gyaru x [otaku/neet/introvert/etc] stories in general, but this is a particularly good one. It feels more believable than usual because we're immediately given a good reason as to why Aya and Mitsuki would be drawn to each other, it's not some contrived situation where you have to just suspend your disbelief in order to accept the story. The tropes that you might expect in this kind of a story only ever serve as a starting point, and so in the end we get a good balance between the comfortable familiarity of tropes, and fresher, more innovative storytelling.

Watching the development of things between these two slightly awkward teens is really lovely, you can't help but root for them. Which just happens to be exactly how a lot of the supporting cast feel too. Uncle Joe and Narita are both fantastic supporting characters - Joe especially - who act as a great proxy for the reader in the way they do their best to help our MCs as they struggle to work out what's going on between them. The development doesn't feel rushed, but the 4 or 5 pages per chapter format means we get through quite a lot in a seemingly short space of time.

It's also very obvious that the mangaka is a big fan of the kind of music our characters both love. If your own musical tastes are the same then you either get to join in with them in nerding out over albums you love, or else you'll get some recommendations for things you might not have listened to before (I've had both experiences with this manga).

All in all this is a great manga that more people need to read. I don't think you have to be a yuri fan to enjoy it (though if it serves as your gateway to the world of yuri then all the better), and I would happily recommend it to anyone.

It's been super great so far, the drip of the other mc is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool! The drip in general in this series have been super cool, author has a fashion sense thats for sure. I have only little to complain about this series and even then, its not something i dislike about the series.

This is a slowburn type of romance and I mean SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW, like you'll be paranoid if this is going to be bait or not but no worries, I think i remember the author on twitter confirming that they don't fuck with that baiting shit. It might feel dragged out if you're not ... a fan of that type of romance but personally, it's awesome sauce

Well, I am a sucker both for music AND lesbians, so this is a perfect pick for anyone with similar tastes!

Let me start by saying I love, love, LOVE THE ARTSTYLE!!! I'm a huge fan of mangakas using one leading colour (like in Nagata Kabi's memoirs), it really captures your attention from the get-go. Character designs are also top-notch, I'm very pleased that I never encountered the oh-so-known problem of not being able to recognize even the main cast when presented with some new characters. All in all, I think it's one of the best looking GL's on the market to date, right next to ... How Do We Relationship.

The story is pretty simple, with the author going for quite a slow-burn when it comes to romance. Reading the manga online, in chapters consisting only of 4 pages, was fun and always left me wanting more! In a physical manga, though, the chapters did feel a bit disjointed at times. I hope that some day the author will switch to longer chapters, just to help the story and the characters breathe a little.

And I can't NOT mention one of my favourite quotes from this manga: "Radiohead... There's no way people here would know them...".
Yeah the alternative music talked about in here is quite entry-level, but I do appreciate it nonetheless :)

Review after 63 chapters

Story - very wholesome and cute story about building friendship and maybe, just maybe something more. I love also the theme- rock music is my favourite genre so i am biased.

7(+)/10

Art - it took me a while, but i started to like it, design of characters are superb, rest is average;

7/10

... Character(s) - Both MC are comedic duo and yes, they act stupid sometimes, but they are young and they mistakes are the result of them trying to be nice/not have enough confidence in themselves. Both of them started to change, so i have high hopes for next chapters

8/10

Overall - If you want something light, short (chapters are few pages each) with friendship-romance story i am sure, you will enjoy the ride. I am :)

8/10