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I am going to keep this very simple: this series should suck. Just looking at the tropes used, this should suck. It's got it all; time loops, harems, all the different female love interest tropes, transported to another world, all that. By all rights this should not be a good series. The reason this series actually manages to be the exception to this rule is simple; unlike practically every other series that uses these tropes, the author isn't a talentless hack just throwing tropes at his story in an attempt to cater to one audience, he actually puts some thought into making everything work within ... the story he set up. To use a comparison, I came into this series expecting to get the Asterisk Wars, but I instead got Chivalry of a Failed Knight. 7/10 worth the read.

This series is good. Like, really good. 8/10. Not quite top 20 manga like the ranking suggests, but arguably top 50 and certainly top 100. Amazing story, characters, atmosphere, and romance. However, before I glaze it, I need to give 2 complaints.

1st Complaint: The Flashbacks.
This series features A LOT of flashbacks. Funnily enough, the issue with these flashbacks isn't that they're repetitive or poorly written, but more often than not they completely slash up the pacing of the story. The way the story is paced, we are given essentially the cliff notes on who and what the characters are early on. As it ... continues, the main characters wander from place to place, encountering issues to solve. Usually, resolving these issues triggers a flashback that expands on how they got to that point. The issue is, these flashbacks are so detailed and have so much story, more often than not when the flashback ends you have completely forgotten what was happening and have to refresh yourself. If that only happened once it would be fine, but it happened all of 6 or 7 times for me and got really annoying. It is by far the biggest issue with this series.
2nd Complaint: The Epilogue stories.
This is definitely a more personal complaint of mine. Once the main story is concluded, there are a series of epilogue stories that are essentially like side quests. They aren't bad, just a noticeable downgrade from the start, and there are like 30-40 chapters worth of them, so they definitely overstay their welcome. Also, there was one specific scene between two characters involving the hilt of a sword that I thought was pretty uncomfortable and definitely felt like the the author was just feeling really horny one day, but there are people who will like that and they are married by that point so I can't really criticize it too much.

Ok, now for the good stuff. I'll keep it brief to avoid spoilers, because the twists in this story go crazy.
The Story:
Holy hell, this is one multilayered and complicated story. It is full of betrayal, political intrigue, and spans over years worth of conflicts. I don't want to risk spoiling it, but if I had to compare it to something I would probably say it is similar to Game of Thrones, only Chinese and with a more central storytelling process and a far less serious protagonist. And more magic. A lot more magic
The Characters:
They're great. Really great. They are almost all slow burn characters; you rarely know much about a character just from their first meeting; they are heavily fleshed out over several arcs, and this includes the main characters. This means you will only get more and more attached to a character as the story goes on. There characterization is all really consistent. Even if a character does something dumb, it almost always feels like it is something they would do. The romance is really good as well. I should probably mention that is is a yaoi series; the main characters are in love with each other, and a lot of the other dudes act really fruity, even if they are straight. This series is absolutely made to cater to the female gaze. However, that detracts nothing from the characters or story, as they are written well enough that you forget this is supposed to be appealing to a specific audience because you are so engrossed in the story. And the romance is actually really well written. It's not perfect, there are a couple scenes where characters are drunk that lead to some interactions of dubious consent, but 90% of interactions between the main pair feel really good, and I would probably say this is the story with the best written gay couple I have read (ironic, considering this is a Chinese series, and China ain't exactly a very progressive country) and one of the better romantic couples in general. Overall, the characters are just really good all the way around. They definitely take some warming up to, but once the series gets going you will really enjoy you time with them

So yeah. If that sounds interesting, definitely give it a shot, it is worth your time.

Ok, let's jump right into it; this is a series that can best be described as a "palette cleanser". In a world chalk-full of harems, isekais, and high school romances where you literally can't go 3 chapters without either a panty flash, a character turning beet-red and running straight into the sun, and a loud "Baaaaaaaakaaa!!!!" followed by a literal slap from God (usually all of the above) this series is a wonderful breath of fresh air. Let's break it down.

Story: A-
The premise of this story is really nothing special, school for rowdy kids parked right next to an elite all-girls school, delinquent-looking boy ... and model student fall in love, very Romeo and Juliet. The think that makes me rate the story so highly is the way it handles the drama that the premise creates. While at the moment the schools haven't really been given much focus, they haven't been ignored and still feel present, giving the interactions main characters a slight sense of worry, especially in public, but never enough to ruin the mood of the story. Drama that is normally stretched out into 20-chapter arcs is wrapped up much quicker and yet it never feels like it was rushed or handled poorly either. It loses a few points simply because due to the unoriginality of the premise, but overall, there is absolutely nothing to complain about here.

Characters: A+/S- (it's toeing the line)
Ok, here we are. I have the character rating so high not because they are the most unique, trope-defying characters of all time, but because they are some of the most believable characters that I've read in a Japanese romance series. Each of the character is both appropriately teenage, but also appropriately mature; they react to situations in ways I can honestly believe a real-life teenager of their personality type would do, with absolutely minimal anime bullshit going on. On top of that, the way they are written makes them incredibly lovable, like you just want to give them a hug or something. Now, I'm not going to claim these characters are even remotely on the level of the likes of Berserk, Monster, or any of the best of the best series out there, that'd just be straight up disrespectful to them. However, within the romance genre, especially those written by the Japanese, you will very rarely find more lovable or relatable characters in the medium and are the best part about the series.

Romance: A+
A lot of what can be said here is related to the character section, but to sum it up, the chemistry between characters is fantastic. It never feels forced, the progression feels natural, and most importantly, no random anime bullshit has popped up to create drama between them; the friend group is self-aware enough not to interrupt the juiciest moments or make them weird, and all points that might have created a rift between them in any other mange are quickly shot down with surprising maturity on the characters' behalf. I particularly enjoyed how they took care of the overprotective friend trope without making anything feeling annoying or forced in the process. It also doesn't fall into the pitfall of dragging out things forever, and usually gets straight to the next milestone in 5-ish chapters. The only reason I'm not rating it higher is due to a lack of development, but the series is only on chapter 42 and shows no sign of ending soon, so there isn't much worrying needed here.

Comedy: C+
The weakest area of the series. Now, not to say the comedy is bad or anything. It's perfectly acceptable as a matter of fact; it never intrudes in the story for the sake of a cheap laugh. It's just not that great; while you won't be groaning at any of the jokes, don't expect to get anything more than a light chuckle out of it; no belly laughs found here.

Art: S-
The art style is freaking amazing, but it's also tough to describe. Just flip through a couple of the pages, check it out for yourself. It falls under that category of art style that is somehow both unique and familiar at the same time, similar to Marimashita, Iruma-kun! In particular, the characters' expressions are always a sight to behold, in a very shoujo-esque way.

Overall: A+
What's more to be said? Read it, I've said everything I can, the rest is up for you to discover yourself. Read it!


For perspective, here is my ranking for Horimyia:
Story: A+
Characters: A+
Romance: A+/S-
Comedy: B
Art: B
Overall: A+