Mayonaka Heart Tune
Tune In to the Midnight Heart

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8.4/10


There have not been many instances where the first chapter in a manga screams “star potential,” no less than a harem; however, this manga does just that due to its balance of characters, mystery, and the extremist comedy.

The plot is relatively basic; as all harem mangas go, there is an objective, and the mc accomplishing said objective gets the fmls to fall in love with him in the process. Eerily similar to “Quintessential Quintuplets” though, there’s a plot device of mystery that will last until the series’ end. With this manga’s well-written pacing and introduction, the anonymous search of the main character is much ... more engaging than other generic harem counterparts.

The characters are rather basic with their plot lines — redemption arc, shy girl that opens up, the overly kind girl that gets close, etc — however, they all have redeemable qualities and are distinct while not overpowering each other. So far, the author has balanced the screen time for each character decently well, further deepening the characters. The main character in this instance is the source of the “com” in romcom, with him being the bud of most jokes and humorous dialog. Though his character is somewhat well-written and developed, most of the jokes seem to be forced, which does add a certain “cringe factor” to the manga. Despite all the inducing cringe, his character is rather unique to the genre and is quite a rusher from the stuffy “blush at every sight” type of harem protagonist.

Whether or not this manga will be the greatest harem manga of all time is too early to tell, however, it does have the potential to be it — no matter how low the actual hurdle is. As of now, this is a well-written manga with a few plot hole “face-palm moments,” but it’s full of depth and intrigue.


Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

10/10 (9/10)

If this manga's cute art could nourish one's soul as much as one's stomach, then world hunger would become a myth. While art was the main pull for me, the story has certainly been no less entertaining (10 chapters in thus far).


Characters:
The best part of the characters in Mayonaka are that they don't lean fully into one archetype, making them funny, relatable (mostly), and endearing.

First, the MC: the personification of confidence, the person that seriously treats his sh!t seriously (seriously), the scion of the Yamabuki family. He could leave this manga and go start his own slice of life series and it would ... become a massive hit overnight. He would save truck-kun from being run over by a high school girl and then isekai both of them-

The MC truly brings the comedy to this manga, throwing off everyone else's pace and replacing theirs with his own. His confidence mixed with his sudden bouts of meekness balance out and create fun, bubbly interactions between him and the rest of the girls. He's neither too submissive nor too assertive, both humble yet confident, and dorkily adorable all the way. His personality is one that makes you want to root for him, and that makes reading this series that much more enjoyable.

I've already put a lot in the character section so I'll quickly go over the 4 FMCs. Describing each in one phrase, they would be: perfectly ditzy, smugly tsun(dere), confidently shy, and arms length friends. Let's ignore the last one (because she doesn't fit in my narrative :D). Like the MC, they never flip too hard onto one "side" of their personality, making it hard to predict how they'll react to the MC's antics and letting you cruise along the manga's happy fluffy vibe.


Plot:
Like another person has said, Mayonaka appears similar to Quintessential Quintuplets. MC is trying to find a girl from his past, only knows her from her voice, and finds four girls who all have voices and parts of mannerisms that parallel the girl he's searching for (Quadrassential Quadruplets!!). There are flash forward(s) of the girl he's trying to find, wedding photos, clues from school events; all that's missing is a paper that can rival the insanity of Yotsuba theory. It's a formula that worked for Quintuplets, and it doesn't falter for Mayonaka. The sense of mystery when each chapter changes who you think the mystery girl is, the gradual opening up of the girls to MC, and their growth and support for each other goad your finger towards that next chapter, then the next, then the next, until you've hit the end of currently released content.

Where it differs most from Quintuplets, however, is the characters' motivations. Whereas in Quintuplets the main motivations were their father and later, affections towards MC, Mayonaka puts more emphasis on each characters' dream careers/passions. Their dreams, even the MC's dreams, aren't just reasons for the characters to interact; they are genuine, core drivers of their character. It takes away focus from the romance aspect, which makes interactions natural and rewarding. Not only are they growing closer over time, they're also brilliantly working towrads their dreams, which always brings about happy and fuzzy feelings.

The plot might not be especially big brained or deep, but neither does it give you a sense of terror from second-hand embarassment, nor is any character being neglected both in romance and in passion. Its wonderfully relaxing and charming.


Art:
52/10, amazing, superb, sho cute, I want to gobble up the pages- The characters are expressive, dynamically posed, funnily panneled (panneled funnily?), and overall just a treat that blesses the eyes. Everything is so polished, so jubilant, even the onomatopoeia pop and flutter. Mmh, I think I've simped enough for the art now. Anyways, its amazing, incredible, fanta-gah!!


Recommend?:
*Cough*... Like I said at the start, just the art alone is enough to read this. But even if that's not one of your priorities, Mayonaka, following similar footsteps to Quintesential Quintuplets, has the potential to become a great in the romcom genre. Its characters, while not incredibly deep, are certainly not flat either, and have plenty of room to grow as the series continues. I can easily see myself coming back after it ends to cry, both because I'll miss the upbeat interactions and character relationships, and also because the girl I was rooting for didn't win (none of them have blue hair or like baking right?!).

If you're looking for a light, bubbly romcom with a side of mystery and passion for one's dreams, all glued together by amazing art, then Mayonaka is for you.
If you're looking for a rambunctious romcom after a long day, where you can unwind and escape from reality for a few moments, then Mayonaka is for you.
And if you don't know, then Mayonaka is DEFINITELY for you. Try it, you won't regret it. Cheers~!

"Goat MC" "epitome of peak character writing" "MC is down to earth"
"HE IS SIMPLY THAT GUY"
Is Arisu "GOAT" Yamabuki simply that guy? My verdict: FUCK NO
I would like to start out by saying that I genuinely understand why many will enjoy this manga and to definitely give it a shot. I just do not enjoy it.
After reading everyone's praises of this manga and the MC of the century, I set out to confirm these claims. I had no expectations other than that this MC was different from all the other harem MC's, and, well, he is certainty different. If I could praise two things ... about this manga, its that the MC is truly different and the art is pretty fantastic. Now why do I have these mixed feelings? 1. Different MC (In this case) ≠ GOAT MC (I will go into more detail in Characters section). 2. The harem aspect of this story has pretty much followed every other harem manga. MC helps one girl with her problems, then he goes and helps the next girl. I have read up to ch. 20 as of writing this and seems that this will be the general theme for the time being. We have so far gone through all four main heroines and their problems, and now we are cycling back through the girls, only their problems this time are a little more in depth. I don't think this is done in a bad way, I just don't think its done in a good way either.

Characters:

Arisu "GOAT" Yamabuki
Different MC (In this case) ≠ GOAT MC. Please, I only ask to give us a romance/harem manga with a normal mc. I thought that this was going to be the case with this manga, but my dreams were instantly shattered in the first chapter. Instead we were given and obnoxious annoying loser. Obnoxious: says the most outlandish things. Annoying: literally thinks he is the GOAT and makes sure everyone is aware of this. Loser: everyone hates his personality. I am pretty sure that the other review stating that this MC was "normal" and "logical" was just being sarcastic, at least I hope they were, because this MC is far from normal or logical. The MC from rent a girlfriend (idk know his name but he is pathetic) is more normal than this lunatic. I know that manga is fantasy and it's suppose to not be logical, but this is on another level. If anyone truly thinks the way the MC acts is cool/normal, I pray for your soul. The first few chapters are the worst since they mainly focus on the MC and this is when he says the most obnoxious things. I seriously considered dropping the manga but I endured the pain, and upon reading more, it slowly got better. After the first chapters, we start to hear less from the MC and more from the heroines, which is a nice break from his personality. Maybe I am the loser here and if the MC was a real person then everyone would be hopping on his dick as well.

Main Heriones
Not much to say. They are your pretty standard harem girls: tsundere, gamer girl, smart/outgoing girl, and the "normal" one. They are by no means bad characters, but they aren't 10/10 either. You can easily predict how they will act just by looking at their character design.

Art:
I really like the style of the art in this manga. It is definitely a notch higher than your typical harem manga. The school uniforms are rather interesting since they show midriff, so all the coomers can rejoice.

Comedy:
I could see this being funny if I liked the MC, but since I was constantly triggered by him I couldn't muster a smile at any of the jokes. I think I laughed once but I attribute that to me losing my sanity at 3am.

Overall:
6/10 (May bump up to 7/10 in the future)
I don't like the MC at all, but I understand why many would enjoy this manga. If the MC wasn't so annoying I would give this a solid 7/10 and it would have potential for an 8, but this is by no means perfect. Definitely check it out as I could see this getting adapted in the future.