Namaikizakari.
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To start off, here are the things that makes this Shoujo manga special
1. Really unique MC, not a wimp like 90% of you YES I'M TALKING TO YOU TOO RAKU ICHIJOOU
2. Senpaii, older girl which is in my opinion a kuudere?, but really likeable
3. A heartwarming story

^Art
The art is great, not the best but definitely one of the better ones.
Detailed characters

^Story & Characters
... The story is original, it makes you want to read more and more until you see that there are no chapters left and you start crying
Jokes aside, great characters, great art, rather light hearted, not so much drama

Recommended!

Namaikizakari can be the favourite shoujo manga for those, who are fed up with the following elements:
- waiting 30 chapters for the first eye contact,
- annoying male/female friends with unnecessary advices,
- created comedy or drama and fillers,
- cat/dog or any other pet,
- the annual school events (cultural festival...)

The list could go on, but one thing is sure: Namaikizakari is one of the most entertaining and exciting shoujo manga, that I've ever read. And it can be all thanked to the frame given by basketball, the characters who are acting like normal people and especially to the main male character, Naruse, who is not gonna wait ... 30 chapters :)

Story (no spoilers): The main characters are the members of the basketball team (Naruse is a player and Yuki sempai is the manager of the team). But basketball is not just a cool background. You can see their effort, how they share their happy and sad moments connecting to sport and how they learn to support each other. During that time, not just their team and their skills are developing, but their relationship as well.

Characters: The characters are just great; their personalities seem to be simple (Naruse, the dashing guy and Yuki is the cold, tsundere type). But they are much more complex and thanks to each other they are developing and learning about themselves. There are only a few supporting characters, but there is no need: the inner monologues of Yuki are really entertaining and Naruse always says whatever he wants :)

Artwork: The artwork is really expressive and unique, the sport scenes are especially outstanding.

As an overall evaluation I can say that it is a highly recommended manga for all shoujo fans and for anyone else, who is interested in an entertaining story without any cliches.

(This review may contain minor spoilers on events that happen in further chapters. Please proceed reading, with the risk that there are spoilers)

Namaikizakari took most of what would be considered a sports manga and somehow made it into a shoujo-sports manga. But I`d have to say that I loved it! It had all the concepts needed to please the readers (without being so cliché); the romance (It was sweet, the way how Yuki found herself falling in love with Shou), the sports, , and the comedy (I found myself laughing at one part, looking at the screen and laughing again).

The story of Namaikizakari starts ... off with pretty rocky between the two main characters. But as the story and the characters developed, I found myself wanting the next chapter already. The real point that made the story so beautiful was that it took most clichés that happen in shoujo manga, and twisted it so it was unique in its own way.

But Namaikizakari is a sports manga, that`s for sure. This is probably one of the biggest elements that many other shoujo-sports manga fail at capturing. But as I read Namaikizakari, I knew that this was one that would not fail at capturing those moments. It showed me what it means to lose, but not to give up as well, which to me, is the true meaning of a sports manga.

Character Development. Something that not a lot of mangas succeed at, some pass barely at, and some just majorly fail at. Reading 15 chapters lead me thinking about their development, which was pretty big, thinking about how they started. Naruse Shou started off as just a perverted first year (later second year) that was good at playing basketball (but Yuki describes him as a cocky, self-indulgent, obnoxious, brazen, and younger kouhai). But after falling for Yuki, he changed. He has a sweet side, like when he attempted to cheer her up when she found out that her love interest (former love interest now) got a girlfriend.

Yuki is the manager of the basketball team. She is a person that rarely expresses her feeling and is really strong female character that's hardworking and strong willed when it comes to the basketball team. At first she was in love with the former captain of the basketball team, but Shou somewhat forced his way into her heart. The romance between her and Shou is really sweet, as Shou forcefully tries to play moves on her and her strong resistance against his actions. In the end, of course Shou gets his way. I really love how the author shaped this character to not be like the generic shoujo heroine.

The art of Namaikizakari is beautiful on all aspects- such as the romance scenes and the sports scenes. I also really loved the author's previous works, so the art really got me here.

I really enjoyed reading Namaikizakari. It had all the aspects a shoujo-sports manga should have- maybe even more! This manga really deserved the overall score I gave (which is a 9). I hope to read more of this manga in the future.

(I might edit this review as it goes along)

I dont really care about how good my review is and i dont really care if this makes you mad cause its ur favorite manga
but this is what i gotta say so hear me out.

From the first chapter, i knew how cliche this was going to be, and how right i was. I honestly couldn't even make it through most of the manga, and ended up dropping it out of frustration.

Ok let us start with the art, the only thing i actually liked.
The art was actually quite nice and tolerable, the mangakas art style is actually quite unique so you can tell if ... it is their manga which is cool.

Its so sad cause thats the only nice thing i can say about this manga lmao.


ANYWAYS.... LETS GET ONTO THE ACTUAL THING ( i will not try to put spoilers incase you wanna still try this out and see how bad it is for yourself)


Story:

The most repetitive, cliche, horrible, piece of plot IVE EVER FUCKING SEEN IN MY ENITRE LIFE GOSH
Its basically fight and make up with like sex like every chapter, and the development of the relationship gets blown away each time cause of some cliche shit i dont even know at this point
i dont think ive ever read something more cliche

Character

imagine usui but rougher and more annoying
This dude is so possessive and rough and annoying, i mean do i even have to say anything he literally groped the yuki girl the first chapter

Yuki is an example where a bunch of female mcs in shoujos have such great potential to be a strong heroine, and have good character development, but alas this gets blown off all because she becomes extremely submissive to naruse. I mean you can see this same thing in maid sama which i can tell a lot of people compare these two mangas with anyway. Yuki's character has become reduced to a cold tsundere who becomes helpless under a posessive male, basically every wattpad troupe ever honestly. This is another example of how cliche this manga was written honestly.

I dont know how people see character development like the slightest development gets thrown off by another stupid cliche issue that happens.

Enjoyment

Have you ever saw something that wanted to make you rip out your hair, rip out your finger nails, smash your head against the wall three times, stub your toe, hit your shin, get hit in the breast, and lastly, cringe as hard as you can?
Well then this manga is the right one for you!

100+ chapters of allyoucandoiscringe buffet, served with an extra side of frustration

but be careful, this buffet is known to accelerate your blood pressure!


Overall

i dont really have anything to say but yeah dont read this

This is my first Manga to EVER read and this is my first Manga review, (DUH!). So here goes. So far, there are only 4 chapters and I have went from screaming like a 5 YO who got a new doll to going "AWWW~!!!" and to wanting to throw my laptop out of the window. I absolutely LOVE how Naruse is so open about his love and Yuki is so confused about her feelings and tries to push Naruse away but that only makes Naruse like her more. And whenever Naruse says, "Yuki-senpai" I picture him saying it like this, "Yu-ki-sen-pai." and I also like ... how Yuki is a year OLDER than Naruse, but in the adult world age doesn't matter. All in All, I LOVE this Manga and I will continue to read it till the end.

10/10
Made my heart skip bruh
Loved it because romance sucks but this makes me wanna get into it
Naruse best boy 9/10 in looks so hot
Main girl was a bit annoying but she's fine as heck too
The misunderstandings were the worst got me jumping on my bed and rolling down the wall
I hope they make this an anime lol
imo Shou is hot hot hot
I simp
Ion wanna write more. Fine.
Hated how it got dragged on to after high school and hated the fact they introduced the worst kind of "boys" I also hated the fact they made them all fall for the main girl like nooo ... leave some for me.
The other girls were a bit annoying plus main girl shouldn't be so worked up over everything just let him kiss your lucky @ss.

Do you enjoy people looking mad all the time? Fierce competition over a woman who should be strong and outspoken (because she is in everything else) but just fully becomes submissive when placed near men? Like basketball but not too much? This may be the anime for you, but it wasn't for me.

Really, the reason I'm dropping this manga at chapter 24 is because I just don't like any of the characters. I don't care about them. I'm tired of people looking angry and upset all the time. I don't see how a healthy relationship can develop with so many people who don't seem ... to respect or trust the people around them. All of which are things I can deal with in mangas where there are other redeemable qualities. I just don't see enough here to bother continuing.

Why I have mixed feelings about this one? Well let's start with the good part.
- Good part: Naruse is a good ML who is persistent even after all the backlashes from FL. The author has shown some really good moments, good comedy, good intimate scenes and the way they grow up together since high school. It tries to entail all hardships that a couple goes through and get out of them.
- Bad part: The author did not develop FL character throughout the manga. She never learns from here mistakes, does stupid things and is frustrating a lot of times. There are times when author ... forced difficulties in their relationship where it was not at all needed.

It is a good read but gets a bit repetitive over time. Really liked the side couples in the story.

Unfortunately, Namaikizakari (the manga from now on) suffers from what I like to call 'shoujo syndrome'. Translated in terms of the world, it's too freaking long. Every shoujo story focused solely on romance/friendship that goes past 5 or so volumes is bound to eventually suck. Ah, no, that might be biased of me, but that's certainly the case with this manga right here.

Shoujo syndrome had reared its ugly head as early as 25~th or so chapter. It wasn't hard to recognize that the manga was getting fairly popular by this point and, by simple extension of logic, I could see the future and, indeed, ... the future was grim. Story in this manga is your standard shoujo fair; boy meets girl, boy falls in love with the girl, cliches ensue. While, at the start, it was nothing groundbreaking, it had sensible flow and pace and remained grounded, letting its main cast of (what used to be fairly interesting) characters lead the way. However, somewhere along the line, it became the standard fair of 'how long can I make this story'. Pace and flow break abruptly, and we're left in the lovely land where nothing moves forward. Mangaka attempts to give the illusion of it by keeping up a fairly quick flow of time (in terms of manga time, that is). In these 50 chapters I've read, I believe 2 or so years have passed since ch1, so it's fairly quick on that side, I suppose.

Nonetheless, story is a standard mess that employs standard shoujo cliches you've seen in every shoujo manga ever: Valentine days, birthdays, cold days, christmas days, all kinds of days. Although I gave the story 2, I never really minded it that much throughout reading this series. It's just that it's nothing new, with the side dish of not being executed well, in addition to giving characters excuse to suck ass. That's all.

Art is pretty good, although not that outstanding. Fairly handsome dudes, some cute chicks, decent paneling, easy on the eyes, minimalistic backgrounds, some cool 'actiony' scenes... all in all, it improves the overall readability of the manga, hence the score on the higher scale.

Hello characters, my old friends. Aah, this manga started off with fairly interesting characters. Both appeared to have deadpan-like personalities (but yeah, no), both seemed straightforward, and I felt it was refreshing. Main girl didn't seem dense and damsel-like crybaby, main guy didn't seem like a boring 'I have no life outside this chick' guy (heh), and the setup was fairly good. Here you've got two people that share same interest (basketball), both are good-looking, let the romance commence. Romance, indeed, commences at one point. Eh, I suppose it does. I don't really know.

So, remember how I said that main girl seemed straightforward and not dense? Yet, throw that one out of the window. That's a bait. Even 50 chapters in, she's at best less dense than she's used to be. She's as straightforward as a curved penis, decisive as that guy in Infinite StARSE, and as interesting as a symposium on teenagers. The best trait she showcased in the 50 chapters is that she isn't swayed easily by the side dude (or any other dude, I suppose) and that's all. She's the queen of push-and-pull game, even when they start dating, which is just another evil of the 'shoujo syndrome'. One of the main characters has to be like this, otherwise the story would move too quickly. She starts as a geniunely interesting character and a breath of fresh air in shoujo mangas only to end up as a byproduct of 'shoujo syndrome'.

Now, we have our main guy. Handsome, tall, younger, good at sports, popular, seemingly deadpan, you standard-issue prince character. In the first few chapters, just like with the main girl, I liked him. I liked that straightforward nature, decisiveness, bluntness. He was a part of a comedy duo that was funny, and it worked. Then he suffers from a different kind of a shoujo illness; you see, shoujo stories are aimed at teenage girls. And teenage girls aren't always confident. Now, how can we make them confident? Well, let's have a handsome standard-issue prince basically become jealousy machine with a side-dish of possessive and outright creepy. 50 chapters of this folks. 50 chapters and the main girl still didn't call cops.

Both characters are extremely petty, yet outright refuse to talk about it when it matters. They're both jealous, with one being more open about it (well, rather than MORE open, just plain open) and the other more on the passive-aggressive side of things. They dated for like a year already, and they have 0 trust in each other. Aah, woe is me~~

Overall, Namaikizakari is your standard-issue shoujo manga that starts of strong only to fall apart at some point. It has everything every other shoujo manga has, but mixes in some 'novelty' elements as to disguise its basic core. It never pulls an emotional punch (not for the lack of trying, trust me), it never tries to break from the mold past first 10 or so chapters, and while it gives a false sense of progression, don't be fooled so easily.

Still, for a shoujo manga, it's not bad. Again, it has fairly good art, pretty decent comedy (even at ch 50 mark) and considerably good start. Still, that ranking of 8+ seems to put it above some other shoujo manga, and I just feel as though it doesn't deserve it. Another manga that fell to the 'shoujo syndrome'. Let us all weep in silence.

So late on this manga but I finished it yesterday and absolutely loved it! The artwork is nice and progressively gets better, I loved how fast pace the story was. usually, we need to wait a bit longer for the romance to begin but the ML was straightforward about it. Need a bit of patience with the FL as she can have some very annoying moments, but the whole point is their growth development and them navigating their relationship all through high school :) some moments were frustrating but overall the story is sooooo cute and I'd die to have a boyfriend like Naruse :3 ... <3 so excited to read the last few chapters releasing this March!

Yo, I ain’t a reviewer and I have never reviewed a manga before but this manga pissed me off so much that I had to write about it.
First of all, Yuki, (the female protagonist) doesn’t take any of Naruse’s (the male protagonist) feelings in consideration.
Let’s say if you had a partner, and a friend of the opposite sex just kissed her or hugged her. How would you feel? How would you feel if your partner talks about things that they should be talking about with you to that friend. How would you feel if that friend has conveyed their feelings to your partner ... and your partner is still in contact with them? Every chapter is always the same shit but it gets worse. First someone hugs her, then someone kisses her. In the end, the male protagonist doesn’t do anything about it and Yuki continues to give that “friend” attention. Along with this comes with a sense that Yuki thinks she’s “changing”. I may be speaking from personal experience, I may be insecure and have trust issues. But Yuki annoys me so much. Naruse deserves better. If she saw Naruse get hugged, or even kissed by another girl. How would she feel? Terrible right? So why can’t Yuki put herself in Naruse’s shoes and try and understand what all these things make him feel. If you wanna read this manga, get ready for a terribly written, but sometimes wholesome manga. Also, if you have had past relationships like this, I completely understand.

2021 review: (this contains minor spoilers)

INITIAL THOUGHTS:
okay so i recently just saw bunch of tikoks recommending this manga, so i decided to start reading it. let me tell you, i was very much binge reading it through for like four days straight, it was great. i thought that the female lead, Yuki was very much like misaki; headstrong, responsible, reliable, helpful etc. i especially liked how she wasn't easy to give into any men (how i was wrong..), how humble yet hard working she was.. basically i thought she was a better version of misaki.

(my opinions) THE PROBLEMS.. :
Great, so this might ... be a whole essay so be prepared. there are so many things wrong with this manga that i believe isn't addressed enough. it was good to start off with mainly because it hooks the audience right in with naruse and yuki's intimate relationship with their main common interest of basketball. but then to be honest, looking back on when i was reading it; i believe that the main problem started when yuki started to avoid naruse's confession. don't get me wrong, it's normal to give some thought over it when someone like naruse decides to confess to you.. but it's the fact that yuki left it out for so long to the point where naruse just kept messing with her (including literally sexually harassing her.. ?); that part just didn't sit right with me. i honestly thought that part was just annoying, i thought that naruse constantly kissing and annoying yuki would make her want to pull back even more from him, but your cliche generic shoujo head strong main lead girl just becomes damn submissive.
i know its a common troupe to come across, but i was just honestly looking for something a bit more refreshing. unlike maid sama, who had misaki fall in love with usui due to the amount of times he had also rescued and helped her, naruse didn't do any of those things really. he kind of just was there, stalking and sexually harassing her. i didn't like how yuki was so submissive, i'll say that again sorry.
i just think that their relationship to start off with went way to quickly, which resulted in their official boyfriend/girlfriend relationship seem too rushed and problematic. i mean, let's literally talk about how cold yuki would always be towards naruse. i would of liked to see her kind of have a soft spot for him, and nobody else.. but it just felt like she would always be passive aggressive and over think things, when in reality; all she needed to do was show a bit of communication skills with him.
that brings me to another point; the LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN NARUSE AND YUKI. it bugs me so much to this day, i know its a common thing in the shoujo world; but it felt like they just took it to a whole new level. i just got so fustrated when yuki would just overthink everything and anything about naruse, it would of been nice to have a few perspectives of naruse's thinking too i guess.


this review may not make any sense, since im literally just ranting randomly at this point... but i hope you get the point.

**SUMMARY**:

- Yuki got NO character development (other than being able to show a couple more feelings towards naruse)

- The lack of communication

- How Yuki would always become submissive towards naruse, even after being CLEARLY SEXUALLY HARASSED MULTIPLE TIMES..



anyways, thank you for looking at this. and if you are planning on reading this, i recommend you read the first like 20 chapters before deciding if you REALLY TRULLY LIKE IT OR NOT.

Argh! Yuki is one of those main characters that just drives me up the wall. I absolutely can't stand her. She has such a bad and frankly over repetitive attitude (now's not the time to talk about it, don't need to bother, misunderstandings like crazy), and even after being in a relationship for over a year, she freaks out over simple hand holding and can't be bothered to give her boyfriend affection or even the light of day. A normal person would realize they weren't being properly appreciated and would have broke up long ago (and no, yelling at an occasional basketball game doesn't cut ... it). I seriously am thinking of dropping this manga and it sucks because I have no problem with the other characters...except Yuki who just makes me want to pull my hair out.

The top reviews for this manga rave about its plot, the MC and tout 10 stars, which convinced me that it would be a good read. So, I started reading... And dropped it around Chapter 41. (I did, skim the rest of the chapters; it's up to 97 currently.)

Namaikizakari does remind me of Maid-sama!, there's no doubt. EXCEPT, I found Misaki-chan a lot more likeable. While Yuki is relatable, strong, and even admirable in the beginning chapters, her lack of growth and honesty really began to irk me as the plot progressed. I don't think it's a good habit of judging characters while reading manga, ... but it's kind of hard to forgive all of her faults because she's just that "oblivious" or "naive". I think the problem was, the writer did such a good job writing Naruse-kun that you can't really help but empathize with him and his genuine love for the MC. Even the love rivals that appear in the plot are all beautiful and lovable, so when the MC is as weak (some even call her "stupid") as Yuki is, it's annoying.

Pros: Beautiful art. I've already mentioned this, but not just Naruse... They are ALL good looking. =) That goes for the girls too. They're all beautiful. Secondary characters, rivals, even the old teacher advisor. Bonus!

Cons: Weak MC amidst such strong wonderful opposites.

Final words: Its pluses are as strong as its weaknesses. So, give it a try if you're looking for a true "dramatic romance" with a reverse harem vibe. It's meant to be a romance (and there are definitely romantic bits), but the way the plot unrolls, it's a thin line away from a reverse harem.

I finished all 113 chapters and spent 3 days reading all of them. I’m still on high after reading, so here are my thoughts about this manga.

The plot hasn’t worn me out yet. I’ve been reading a lot of shoujo manga and some of them have women leads who always resort to crying and pushing away their partners before they realise they love the other person. Although Namaikizakari started off that way, the author didn’t consume so many chapters just for Machida to realize her feelings for Naruse. I didn’t reach that point where I get frustrated with the main lead, which usually happens ... when reading/watching other manga/anime.

I also appreciate that the author doesn’t linger on some issues for too long, to the point where you might be pulling your hair due to frustration. For the most parts, she allots a healthy amount of chapters for each issue, and wraps it up quite nicely (except, maybe, for the love triangle lol). Her pacing of the story is also nice. It’s my first time to read a shoujo manga where their love story is taken on university-level. Usually, the ones I read only circulate on their high school lives, but Namaikizakari is different.

It’s also a breath of fresh air to see a strong main lead. She doesn’t cry all the time (which other main leads do a lot)! There may be times when she’s struggling to understand her and other people’s feelings, but she eventually reaches a realization and acts upon it to make things right. For some people, I believe, her character development is slow, but for me, she’s still tolerable. Haha.

I also like the other characters especially Usami. If she were real, then it would have been great to have her as a friend. She’s always there to support anyone—to a fault, perhaps—and perceptive of other people’s feelings, as opposed to Machida lol. Her face is so expressive, so I find her reactions so comical. Both Naruse and Machida’s families are also adorable in their ways. Even their friends and/or teammates are funny, too.

One thing that people might find annoying, though, is Hakamada. If you read it, you might end up hating him for his hard-headedness. At this point, it seems like the author still hasn’t figured out what to do with him.

Overall, I enjoy the manga. I find myself laughing so hard because of the characters. I find the plot realistic, and I very much appreciate that the author doesn’t add unnecessary twists and turns to make the manga dramatic. It’s an easy read, so I suggest people to try it out.

out of all manga that i could read, i cant believe i read a shoujo manga and really got obsessed with it.

maybe it's just that i have a big guy's body with a little girl's heart. but enough with that, lets just get straight in with the review.

i cant really compare to any manga due to the fact that i think its my first time reading shoujo manga. well i can compare it with the anime Maid sama though. both of them really put on some similar vibes.
but what differs them is that amount of insecurities that i got while reading this manga. its ... just so intense to see those 2 rivals. and with that, they have really made this manga a ton of blast. though its not over yet.
im just craving for some more omg.
a side from all of that, this manga really shows you want a relationship really is between two lovers. just the amount of realisticness that they have put into it made it so relatable to the real world. i just cant stop smiling or grinning to my self when they managed to find some solutions in their relationship problems and doing all of that kiss and make up stuff.
damn i love this manga so much. well theres some part that i dont really like such as shizuka being a little bitch. well i think that's what makes this manga special. that amount of uneasiness that they left to the viewer so that they are craving for more chapters.

for story wise, they really know how to make slice of life really enjoyable. im just happy that they manage to balance the comedy with romance. tbh the story really makes me sad, i feel like i want to go back to highschool lol. god please revive me to another world so that i can live my highschool life again.

for art, well nothing special i guess. i love how they manage to portray all of the characters expression.

for characters, well since it's a slice of life romance, the amount of character development that they have done is just remarkable. its just that you really feel proud of them because you know what they all have been through. i just love it so much.

for enjoyment, well i dont need to say anything other than the fact that i didn't sleep for a day even though i have class (i didnt sleep literally for 30 hours just to read this).

overall, i enjoy it from top to bottom and looking forward for what this manga has to offer more. seriously though, if you are reading this review and you haven't read the manga, i can assure you that you will have a good time reading this.

I haven't finished this manga but I feel like I need to give my opinion on it as I am rigth now in the middle of it.
Namaikizakari is a decent manga. But there is'nt anything outstanding about it or really special according to me. Even though some argue that the manga has special features which are not present within the usual shoujo genre. Since the heroine has a different personality than most shoujo heroines. She doesn't have that appaling heroine personality and isn't "cheery go lucky". It's refreshing I agree, but there needs to be a character development for her. When it comes ... to her relationship with Naruse. She keeps on distancing herself from him and that angers me.

I could see how the relationship between the two would work though. Since Naruse finds the struggle to get her enjoyable, but it's not that intresting to read a manga where the one of the characters give more than the other. But maybe the manga will develop their relationship to the next level later on (i dont think so sadly). Even if that's the case i still think it's a bit too late. But I still think this manga will be enjoyable for some. Personally I should stick to more passionate shoujo romances. Those who just feel the thirst for some classical shoujo should read this.

If you’re looking for romantic manga with a flat face-adorable character who can make you laugh hard, furious and flushed at the same time, you should try read this manga!

Story: 10/10
well...I'm not gonna blabbering the story here because you can see that at synopsis. And if you want to know more....just read the manga directly.
However this manga is about kouhai-senpai "romantic-relationship" in basketball club.
I think the story and the plot are awesome! When I started read the first chapter, I feel like…wow! The opening story is really interesting and reading next chapter just make me want some more.

Art: 10/10
Good job Miyuki sensei! The art is ... beautiful and great! It’s really suit to the dialogue and the situation.

Character: 10/10
The most awesome in this manga is the character itself. I can’t withstand with Naruse (kouhai). I mean…how can he teased Yuki (senpai) so many times with a flat face like that? He’s just funny, romantic, adorable, badass, and also a lovable character. And Yuki…I like the way she doing a monologue. It’s so entertaining.

Over all: 10/10
I really love and enjoyed this manga. It’s worth to read and I think I’m gonna re-read this next time.

Story (8/10)
I'm a sucker for the premise itself, but the story itself is absolutely hilarious and fluffy. If you're up for a feelsy story, then yeah, this will make you squeal with joy and happiness (although sometimes you may end up pounding your fists on the table... like I do).

In the midst of all the fluff, there are some pretty enlightening messages too. Besides, I really like how the basketball matches here are pretty realistic (especially after having watched Kuroko no Basket... don't get me wrong by the way I love Kuroko no Basket a lot). The only thing that bothers me is the ... conflicts are kinda contrived, and some scenes are pretty typical so you'll get this deja vu feel, but well that's pretty normal for a shoujo manga and the things that happen here aren't as ridiculous as some other shoujo manga I've read, so I'm all right xD

Flow-wise, it's actually paced well, even if some things are dragged out a little (like the whole relationship... oh god...) but well, I'm not very surprised.

At least, I'm happy that no one's a secret child from America or London or has a super tragic family background. Yet. Please don't disappoint me, Namai...


Characters (9/10)
General
It's basically Naruse and Yuki's show lol- Jkjk there are some side characters who actually stand out to me a lot. But generally the characters have pretty good chemistry and I find myself loving them all, even if we may not know every single character individually. The good thing is that Namaikizakari doesn't have the typical 'bad guy' or 'bad girl' (like we totally have enough of those), but those fangirls are really annoying. Like I get Naruse is hot, but seriously? Stalking him 24/7? It's as if normal female high school students don't have anything to do with their lives... But well, this is a shoujo manga, so I'll put away my excessive realism xD

Yuki
Yuki is like a mix of a tsundere and a kuudere. More on the kuudere side, but she shows more emotions than a normal kuudere. But at least, she has a reason for being 'tsun' as we call it. I find her pretty relatable, because she kinda reminds me of me somehow (except I'm less smart and reliable... /sobs sobs), but she's the kind of person who can't multitask. She also shoulders a lot of burden on herself. The refreshing thing about Yuki is that even though she dragged the saying-I-like-you-to-Naruse part, she admitted it to herself (in her head), which is not what normal tsunderes do. She acknowledges her feelings, but she's just really bad at expressing them, and chooses to run away instead. Yeah, it gets annoying, but then I'll probably do that if I were her so I kinda forgive her for that... lol.

Still, she's a pretty admirable character, because she always works behind-the-scenes, and is always determined to reach her goals. She's always selfless even if she doesn't show it in front of others. Also, the story really portrays that manager-basketball club relationship well, because I totally imagine Yuki being like the older sister of a bunch of kids. HOW I WANT AN OLDER SISTER LIKE YUKIII

Also, her family is absolutely adorbs. ; u ;

Naruse
Naruse is that popular guy who's handsome but is pretty much a jerk blahblah. If you read Kaichou wa Maid sama, he reminds me a lot of Usui (perverted, smart blabla), in my opinion, except that Naruse is a lot more clingy and stuck-up. Because I swear Naruse and Yuki kiss like every. single. chapter. Lol the skinship is just overwhelming. But what he has which Usui kind of lacks (sorry Usui, I still love you) is development. He really does change for the better. From someone who didn't give a damn about anyone at the past, he starts to care for his teammates, even the feelings of the girls who confessed to him etc, and it's really heartwarming to see. Heck, he even showed a really mature side to him later on, which is really evident when you compare his interactions with Yuki now vs then.

At the same time, he retains everything that's unique to him, like him being blunt and forgetting things easily, even if they mean a lot to the other person... But well, it's Naruse-style. So it's okay. xD

Hakamada
I'm okay with him, although I think the story exaggerated his girl-phobia a lot. But he does remind me of Yuki, with how passionate he is for basketball and determined to complete his goals. That makes me admire him a lot.

Arisa
Arisa surprised me a lot, because I thought she would be that typical stuck-up girl but she's actually really nice and easygoing. A girl who likes the main guy but isn't painted out to be a horrid person! What a miracle! Special shoutout to Rina too, who's nothing but lovable with Kido ; u ;

Himeno
She's a pretty late addition but I love how she is not afraid to face her fears. Like Yuki, she kinda reminds me of me but she takes advice better than I can (sadly...)

Relationships
Naruse and Yuki's relationship is basically a Tom-and-Jerry relationship, with Naruse being Tom and Yuki being Jerry. Their chemistry is the bomb, although sometimes I do feel like smacking both of them (particularly Yuki) for being so stupid. I guess that's the joy of young love... I do wish their relationship will be able to develop on a more mature level someday, even though it's really fun to see them be jealous at each other like two idiots xP I also particularly like Yuki and Himeno's relationship, because Yuki is like being such a supportive senior to her junior and it's just- cute. :D


Art (9/10)
I really like Namai's art style. The characters are drawn very cleanly(?) and the cutting isn't too confusing. Naruse is especially eye-catching (though I guess that's a given...) The other characters are also drawn with pretty distinctive traits, so it's easy to recognise them.


Enjoyment (9/10)
THUMBS UP! It's just so fluffy and fun, although I do wish they would take a break from all that kissing lol (maybe I'm light-hearted ~.~) and that Yuki would be 'nicer' to Naruse for once lmao. But still it's her wacky charm. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it and the fact that I marathoned 58 chapters in 2 days despite having some work going on kinda show that.


Overall (9/10)

Recommended for:
; Relatable but fun characters
; Tom-and-Jerry relationship
; Flufffff
; The occasional meaningful messages
; Finally, the main character isn't stupid... Finally, no more tragic backstories... Finally, no solely evil characters...
; Kisses

Not recommended for:
; Yuki being such a wimp most of the time. But to cut her off some slack, she did have a reason and she's progressing a little now xD

Overall, this is a really good shoujo manga so if you love reading shoujo mangas, then yeah this is probably the one for you! :D

This manga deserves a little bit more attention. 8/10

I personally view this to be a little bit focused on the romance more than the basketball aspect but they are similarly cliche in the romance plot and basketball rivalry part.

But what stood out in this manga is the character progress and also the enjoyment I felt reading through it and relating with the characters.

Story: 8/10 Art: 9/10
This manga is basically a coach-ace player kind of relationship. Although there's a lot of cliche, the progress is fast and the scenes still deliver the exciting romance feels~

Character: 9/10
And this is what I would like to ... focus on.

The most interesting part of this manga is on the smooth progression of the characters in terms of relating with all those happening around them - love, family, basketball, rivalry - and in that process, the flaws of each character are presented and what I like the most is the characters action to answer those flaws they discovered

Despite the iron-will and independent persona, Yuki is aware that she has to change and improve on herself to add Shou in her life that's already filled with responsibilities. Aside from this, I found Yuki's tsundere moments a bit cute and not disastrous, because it's evident that she is trying to become more honest but sometimes, she just can't lol

Shou is still an intriguing character for me because although he looks almost perfect (looks, grades, coolness, ability), he's just not and again for the same reason that the story presented the character's awareness of their flaws. As for the character progress, I found his patience to be the most freaking adorable in this manga because he was a playboy and technically speaking, he will lose a lot of time with Yuki once she graduates. Aside from that, I think there's still more to see with Shou's character on how Yuki got his attention and on his motivation towards basketball.

Enjoyment: 9/10
So for the reason above, I really enjoyed this manga and I'm even rereading this when I'm lazy to start a new one. The romance feels are still spot on and the main characters are still adorable throughout the drama, comedy and romance in this manga.