Kuzumi-kun, Kuuki Yometemasu ka?
Kuzumi-kun, Can't You Read the Room?

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I randomly stumbled across this while scrolling trough some Manga app and I fell in love with it. The story is rather simple and it had a lot of basic things like going to the beach and all that, but it is still really enjoyable and interesting. I immediately connected with Kuzumi, I've seen people (not here) saying that he is boring and he not speaking is frustrating, but as someone who doesn't talk much myself, I loved him. He is adorable and so relatable to me and the random stuff he always does is hilarious. Erika is a good character, too. Sometimes tsundere like, ... but she isn't annoying and only says that stuff because she doesn't understand what's going on inside Kuzumi and why she likes him so much. The only thing I was disappointed with was that we never got any information on why Kuzumi doesn't talk really, I mean, not everyone has to have a dramatic backstory, but at least something would have been nice. His dad said he's a bit shy, but I disagree with that, he doesn't act nervous at all. The art is so good. I love the character design, especially Kuzumi's. I'd read this again in a few months or years.

Story:
Basically about a really pretty and popular girl who sort of developed a liking to this weird kid that nobody even pays attention to. To be honest, it was tiring a bit because the whole plot was mostly about her crushing over this kid but in denial, cause he's a nobody and she's popular. And when she finally realizes she likes him, she tries to catch his attention and talk to him. But he always "ignores" her accidentally in every single situation he is in with her, and it becomes a running gag that happens OVER and OVER.

Art:
The was pretty good. I think ... Erika is cute but, my man Kuzumi, however, he looks like a frog and for me, he isn't that appealing. But he's not ugly, and he looks average, which I think suits him because he's supposed to be some nobody (not trying to be offensive but the offense probably has been taken already).

Character:
Kuzumi doesn't talk much in this manga, and when I say that, he doesn't. He only says one phrase after 10 chapters, and then 20-30 chapters later, he says something again. At some points, I was even considering that he just doesn't even know who the heck Erika is at all. And when he finally asks Erika out, I can't seem to find a reason why he likes her since he doesn't react that much around her. Even with his thoughts revealed near the end, still no clue. What I got from him was that he liked how she looked when she blushed at him. I mean, that's on me, I guess.

Erika, for me, she's a decent character. But her character is just based off of how she's really pretty, and I didn't learn much about her personally. Like, what are her hobbies and interests besides stalking Kuzumi?. I'm really surprised how she's that persistent. If I was that ignored for so long, I would've given up on that person already.

Enjoyment:
It was ok. Her awkwardness and denial towards her liking Kuzumi were entertaining.

Overall:
If you want to read a cute story, then this is for you. But if you can't stand the slow pacing, like me, this is probably not for you. Yea. I just didn't like how it took freaking a whole 40 chapters for the tea to actually happen.

ok bye now. Happy new years! 1/1/21

I felt compelled to review this in light of all the other glowing reviews that completely boggle me.

First, positives:
- Art was good to me.
- Sakura's character development was actually great and fun to follow, even though I don't approve of her x Kuzumi because there was zero justification for it.
- Haruna was the best character in this series & I found myself rooting for him and Yuuko more than any other characters.
- The premise gag is genuinely funny and entertaining at the beginning

Next, negatives:

... TL;DR:
Imagine: Kuzumi is mentally handicapped. (He's not really, this is just a hypothetical to help demonstrate my criticisms with this manga)
If that were the case, this story wouldn't need to change at all beyond the last few chapters. I mean at ALL. Kuzumi is silent and dazing off into space for 90% of this manga. He says nothing, his eyes are glazed over the majority of the time, he bird watches, listens to music, and wanders off on his own. These five things are essentially his entire character and everything he brings to the entire story until the last few chapters. Hoooo boy, if that doesn't get your romance ML interest piqued, I don't know what will.

--- expanded version:

Kuzumi says - more accurately: mumbles - 8 words (not exactly. I didn't count but I'd wager I'm close) throughout the entire series until the last 2 chapters time jumping to happy romance ending. The rest of the time, all of the other characters are just constantly making leaping assumptions about Kuzumi's intentions and actions. There is little-to-no reinforcement for those assumptions but the characters still take them in stride and think he's just the bee's knees. "Oh Kuzumi stole the role as the prince of the play because some nobody background character was going to confess! He did that to save me! I love him!", "Oh Kuzumi broke a window because I was being cornered into saying something I didn't want to say. My hero!"

...... maybe he's just a moron that jumped into the play? Maybe he's just a moron that broke a window? Maybe not, sure, but what's he done to earn all this credit and good will? These situations run rampant. Multiple times he's LITERALLY got snot running down his face like a child.

Look, I get the premise of a background character being the ML and that's actually why I picked this up. Anti-trope is a fun change of pace from the typical romcom fare, but you've got to be kidding me with how asinine the "progression" in this series is. Sakura had to be smoking some excellent stuff to be as into Kuzumi as she was. Like I said, he could have been genuinely mentally incapable the entire series & she'd have never even known and the story would not need to change at all.

Anti-trope is well and good, but there are questions I did not find sufficient answers to which negatively affected my enjoyment:

- Why would the most popular girl in school, constantly surrounded by friends and hot guys, be into a guy like Kuzumi? "that's the joke!" you might say, but the romance, progression of non-Kuzumi characters and the ending were not a joke, so how do the dots connect?
- Why does she fall for him? "He's always doing weird things! He makes me so mad!" for 60 chapters is insufficient for me.
- Why does he fall for her? Nooo idea. Even at the end when shoe-horning in his perspetive during climactic events there's little sense to be found.
- How do they get closer & eventually discover feelings? ???? anyone??? Everything is so "lol random feelings and plot conveniences just because". No sense of reality or real people. Like I said at the top, Sakura had some good character development, I really do think that. But the _relationship_ development in this _romance_ manga needs to also be as important as individual development. To me, at least.

The PREMISE for this series is genuinely fine by me. The manga is funny and entertaining at first, but it just doesn't hold water with how long the gag was kept up and enforced for with zero effort, words, or intelligible action from our ML.

"Oh, Kuzumi did that because he must have been the only person who realized the bind I was in! He really can't read the room but sometimes he really can!" ...orrrrrr maybe he's just a wandering, delusional, weirdo doing arbitrary crap? I mean, come on people.

Kuzumi has zero character development beyond - again - Sakura and others' assumptions about his actions, life goals, feelings, or that he's really into bird watching, etc... My god, for all they know, Kuzumi could genuinely believe he can talk to birds!

Ah, pardon: There IS some actual written character development for Kuzumi, but the problem is that the entirety of this happens within a single chapter that the author shoe-horns in near the very end of the manga that looks back at Kuzumi's perspective during the proceeding 60-whatever chapters to attempt to ribbon up all of my criticisms. That's all well and good, but it's so lazy and insufficient to me. I felt as though the author suddenly realized the same things I'm criticizing after nearing the end and thought "well crap, how do I make Kuzumi believable as a human being that people want to be around and that the most popular people in school adore and constantly root for???"

--

Most of my criticisms have surrounded the romance tag. The comedy aspect of this manga is OK & the majority my score. There's some funny events and situations, especially where Haruna is concerned. The side characters are likeable for the most part.

I kept going because I just kept thinking "any time now, Kuzumi will open his eyes & show that he can be a romance protag. any time now, the relationship development will get going". But nope. It does happen, but not until the VERY end when hope has already been lost and forgotten. The ending was pulled kicking-and-screaming by Sakura and it was wholly undeserved and entirely unfair to her character development as a whole.

Don't give me that canned romance ending for characters that haven't earned it. Sakura worked hard and deserved a LOT better. Ending her with Kuzumi like he was this greatest guy ever just cheapens anything the manga could have been. Should have taken out the romance tag and romantic events with Sakura eventually overcoming her one-sided crush in favor of friendship, and it would have been significantly more enjoyable to me.