Feb 24, 2024
'Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san' is not for everyone, at least that was my initial rection to the first couple of volumes. The beginning is harsh and will rub some people the wrong way. We start off with a shy and insecure protagonist in Naoto Hachiouji, who gets embarrassed and pretty humiliatingly teased by our female protagonist in Hayase Nagatoro. The scene is probably the most extreme of the whole series and results in our protagonist crying and initially leaving me with the taste of cruel bullying. Nagatoro plays a mix between a Tsundere/Sadodere initially and when you combine that with Nanashi's background, you may start to think
...
this is some sort of softcore fetish manga.
However, as you read past the opening chapters and you start to get into a routine and know the characters there is a switch. It subverts any negative expectations set up and becomes surprisingly wholesome. Nagatoro is not a Sadodere, she is not really a Tsundere and this is the creativity Nanahsi uses to develop her. Nagatoro makes mistakes on a few occasions her teasing goes too far and she clearly shows immediate remorse. Sometimes it even backfires on her and she becomes embarrassed. So we have to come to why does Nagatoro tease our protagonist, well we get some answers, we get her struggles, her progress as a character and what she wants in their relationship. Just keeping a base level of teasing. It becomes wholesome, as we see both her and Naoto push each other onwards and become closer and closer. Naoto even admits he was changed by Nagatoro and we see how his life has changed, been improved and made more confident by his relationship with Nagatoro.
This is the core of 'Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san', its a young teenage romcom where teasing becomes their love language, sure slightly more dominant on one side than the other, but their relationship is mutual. It develops in tandem with one another, their goals and aspirations, they build upon one another. That's the core message, it comes off as harsh at first, but develops and changes. Rom coms are generally not my foray, if I enjoy Romance its largely in the veins of 'Clannad: After Story', with real emotion, challenges and not just will they get together. I am pleased to say we see this actually develop in their pre-official relationship and from the looks of where the Manga is going it might not end at them becoming official.
This to me is why this Manga holds a special place in my heart, it actually has meaning and wants to showcase itself as something more than a RomCom serialisation. Its actually progressing and moving to something greater for the characters. Personally, it relates to me strongly. I was never in a relationship quite like Naoto/Hayase, but the mutual teasing, angst and anxiety of a teenage relationship, the conflict of trying to meet your academic goals and holding a relationship. That's the core of this Manga and despite not being perfect holds strongly in my heart.
Lastly, I want to note some minor complaints, like all things in Manga/Anime, some side characters are over the top and sometimes just ruin the moment. The biggest one is the Art Club president Sara, sure she is hot, but I don't need to see her naked body every page she is in and she doesn't really serve a purpose past her initial arch. Her sister Hana serves her progressive purpose well enough. Sara was introduced as a strict personality and a foil to their relationship, but now just remains imho pure fanservice. I think the story would be much better is she either remined a foil, didn't reappear or just didn't have that gratuitous level of fanservice. Basically this is the only complaint I have when reading, and this is personal taste and relatively minor. All the other side characters serve their purpose well enough, and some are quite interesting themselves.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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