Tonari no Kashiwagi-san

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Okay while the art isn't terrible everything else about this story is. The story is boring with the only real tension coming from the hidden identity. Everything else is really slice of life but with no possible twists this story becomes very bland. The love aspect makes me want to gag. The only character that the story even focuses on past the superficial is Kashiwagi and only enough to know that she loves to draw, is socially awkward, and is afraid of being unpopular (despite fact she is only shown to have two friends). The main thing that upsets me is the protagonist. The protagonist ... should be one of the most interesting and developed character in any work. This protagonist is a sycophantic, apologetic, loser. It seems his only purpose is to pine after and support Kashiwagi. In real life this guy would be considered creepy in any format. Either way I read this on a whim because the synopsis seemed interesting but I was wrong. Don't waste your time.

This manga is a waste of time. The art is very well done, but that is the only thing it has going for it. Instead of breaking the review down into several full, developed paragraphs, I'm just going to give each section a couple of sentences, because there really is nothing to review in this.

The story is non-existent. It advances a little bit in the first few chapters, then the main characters make absolutely no progress the final 67 or so chapters. Two of the side character's story progress, but I'm not going to give it credit when the main story arc does nothing ... over the majority of the 70 chapters. I shouldn't have to read garbage after garbage chapter to see a couple of pages of side story advancement. The ending of chapter 70 feels incredibly unsatisfying, and nothing ever really happened.

The art is great: the attention to detail, the facial expressions, just everything. If you want to see expertly drawn characters, just flip through the manga and ignore everything.

The main characters are terrible. The male MC is whiny, and borderline creepy. In real life he wouldn't be friendless because he's an otaku, it would be because he's an idiot who makes people feel uncomfortable. He talks about becoming a better person several times, but up until the most recent (and final?) chapter he is still literally the same whiny creep, with no development. The female lead is also stale. She develops a lot in a few chapters, then never again. While the male MC is creeping on her hardcore, she never really learns what it means to be in love, and she never learns to accept herself for what she is. The entire time she is afraid of being disliked for being an otaku, and losing her friends (though I'd like to reference another reviewer here who cleverly points out she's never shown having more friends than the male MC and her best friend). By the end, I was thinking as creepy as the male MC is, he deserves better than someone who would rather be cold to him in public than revel her otaku status. The side characters actually aren't that bad, especially the side female. The really show development, and are likable, but likewise with the story they don't redeem the manga as you have to read through page after page of garbage to get to anything with them.

The enjoyment is there a couple of times, but because the manga repeats the same few things over and over, anything enjoyable or funny gets old fast. Also, there's several scenes where the male MC is being so weird or creepy, you kinda feel awkward in real life. It's hard to enjoy something when you feel like the guy talking should just shut up, leave everyone alone, or grow up.

Overall, the manga isn't worth reading. It's 70 chapters of mostly nothing with terrible characters. No amount of good art can redeem that.