I'm going to make this review in two separate parts, a non-spoiler section and a spoiler section.
(I also compare this manga to different anime as of my lack of experience in reading manga. Sorry!!)
After reading through the reviews that other people have made on domestic girlfriend I can't help but think people are being extremely harsh on this manga.
Domestic girlfriend suffers from the same thing many other manga and anime also suffer from and that is a poorly written ending. The ending is bad, like Erased level bad, however I don't think that justifies ratings as low as 1-2/10.
I first found out about domestic
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girlfriend through the anime series that came out in 2019. This anime was notorious for being a complete mess of an anime with terrible pacing, a lack of likability in the characters and an obscene plot that that was put together awfully. I ended up watching it (pretty much just because of the op) and as bad as it was, I couldn't help myself but continuing with it. Once i finished it i found something that made me want to continue the story so i picked up my first ever manga in the form of Domestic Girlfriend.
Now that's out of the way I want to talk about what I really enjoy in this manga. Firstly, the main characters of Natsuo, Hina and Rui are very well written. As of the length of this manga you really get to see these characters be fully fleshed out, which makes them all very enjoyable. I'm usually not a fan of the main male protagonist in the romance genre as they are often irritating, for example, I cannot stand Kazuya from Rent-a-Girlfriend, I found him incredibly unrealistic and repulsive (I guess it's a slightly different genre of romance but still.) However, with Natsuo he comes across as a realistic and likeable guy. As for Hina she is also very likeable, especially in later chapters of the story. Dialogue between Natsuo and her feel very pragmatic and I see why people are big fans of her, however, Rui is clearly best girl. I found the relationship between Rui and Natsuo really engaging and they were probably my favourite moments in the manga. Rui is just adorable, that's all their is to say really, she is a joy to watch. As the story progresses you see her slowly change from stubborn and cold to a loving sweetheart of a character who helps Natsuo through the struggles of his life. As for the supporting cast of characters I personally think their is too many of them. So many in fact that I forgot about a lot of them as the story progressed. As this story shows the life of these three characters it is only natural for some of them to come and go, however, there is a ridiculous amount. As I am writing this there are so many characters who are in this manga who never show up again after their small amount of time under the spotlight. For example, nobody remembers characters such as Hibiki, Kazumi or Mao Kinashi as they are all underwritten and pretty unimportant to the plot, in fact, the three characters I just mentioned were really only potential love interests to Natsuo, which were blatantly never going to happen. My favourite set of supporting characters were the Literature club group. All of them were unique and added different twists to the plot. However, as the story progressed they all ended up drifting further away from the story and really only returned to please the readers and to give a small update in what has happened in their lives.
I'll quickly mention the art. There isn't much to say other than it's brilliant. I especially like the scenes where a character shows great emotion such as crying with joy. I also think the pages where a image takes up the whole page look absolutely stunning.
As for the story, it is the greatest strength as well as the greatest downfall of the manga. As previously mentioned, the story follows the lives of Natsuo, Hina and Rui as they all have to deal with love, aspirations, heartbreak and failure. The first 150 chapters are excellent, absolutely zero complaints. The main reason behind this is that other then the harem type plot the story is very realistic. Compared to other anime that I've seen in the romance genre Domestic Girlfriend really shines in encapsulating you in a very believable story. Instead of waiting 5 years for the couple to have their first kiss like your usual romance anime Domestic Girlfriend hurries up the relationships of characters quickly (I mean the very first scene is of Natsuo losing his virginity.) This is what made me really engrossed in the manga as it felt like circumstances that would happen in real life nowadays. However, this really starts to change from this point forward, from the point that Natsuo starts to go to college. From around about chapter 150-160 to the end of the manga it feels like the writer was trying to ram in every possible twist and piece of drama. For example, these are a few random themes that are messily thrown into the story: kidnapping, attempted murder, stalking, prostitution, moving to America, pointless breakups, drug selling, a very forced run at acting, , etc, etc,etc. I have no idea what made the writer decide to just throw every possible scenario in her head into this manga but she did, and sadly all it does is make the story stray further and further away from the great realism it had. All the scenarios that i mentioned barely happen in real life so it made me start to lose interest with the story. While all this is happening the plot feels like it's repeating itself. All that happens is that Natsuo plays the nice guy and helps random characters out of the bad life choices or terrible situations that they get themselves in. I read this story to see the progression of Natsuo, Hina and Rui but through the later chapters or the 'college arcs' it feels like the writer just kind of ran out of ideas which is a shame. I will talk about the ending (chapter 260-275) further down as i want to split it from the non-spoiler section but let me mention this as i did at the start. It is dreadful.
My overall enjoyment was that i really enjoyed this manga. I could of given this a 9 or 10/10 if it continued to proceed like it did in the first 150 chapters but from the lack of originality, weird plot choices and the awful ending ended up making my review rather negative. I Still thoroughly enjoyed this manga but maybe over time I might realise that it isn't is good as i think it is. I would still recommend this manga, especially to anyone who found enjoyment out of the anime. Or If you are a guy who literally watches things to see nudity or sex scenes (no judging) then you also will definitely enjoy this manga as well.
SPOILERS----------------------------------------------
Man what on earth was the writer thinking with the ending. This might be possibly the worst ending I have ever seen in anything. The first major problem was Rui getting pregnant. This was the most pointless, random twist that again was only put in to cause shock. Secondly, the whole of the Tanabe's return arc was just atrocious. Tanabe is a terrible villain in this story and he does even less then he did the first time. This time they speed-run introduce a new journalist character and he ends up running over Hina, putting her into a coma. Then Rui and Natsuo decide to split up to take care of Hina as well as their baby. We then get a fast forward 5 years into the future where their baby is born and Hina is still in a coma. Rui convinces Natsuo to marry Hina as that should be destiny. Rui put up a attitude of 'I guess I have lost' which really sways away from her normal attitude which is usually strong. Hina and Natsuo end up getting married (There literally is no dialogue between these two in the end) and everyone 'lives happily ever after.' I can't stand this ending. I don't know why we had to have a happy ending in this manga as it isn't a cute slice-of-life romance story. I feel like the writer tried to make everyone happy with the ending but it really shouldn't have been handled that way. Of course I was a bit annoyed the Rui ended up 2nd place but that wasn't the problem. The problem was the terrible pacing of the ending (it was literally over 3 chapters) and the pointless tone switch at the end to make the manga feel like a fairy tale. With all honesty I am a quite annoyed at how it ended as it just felt really half-assed.
PS: Don't send any hate towards the writer, it's just unnecessary
Mar 8, 2021
Domestic na Kanojo
(Manga)
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I'm going to make this review in two separate parts, a non-spoiler section and a spoiler section.
(I also compare this manga to different anime as of my lack of experience in reading manga. Sorry!!) After reading through the reviews that other people have made on domestic girlfriend I can't help but think people are being extremely harsh on this manga. Domestic girlfriend suffers from the same thing many other manga and anime also suffer from and that is a poorly written ending. The ending is bad, like Erased level bad, however I don't think that justifies ratings as low as 1-2/10. I first found out about domestic ... |
