The manga is labeled as a shoujo, but it definitely doesn't feel like one. 99% of the shoujos today are drama-heavy, but not Nijiiro Days.
Nijiiro days is a nice lighthearted & romantic story about 4 friends. Each being completely different in personality, yet their interactions are so natural and friendly.
The story follows their friendship as well as their love lives, with Natsuki's being the most prominent.
It's nothing new, but that's what makes it so perfect. We don't need a shoujo manga trying to be creative by thinking up a new way to create drama. Romance may be like that in real life, but we already got plenty of those stories, so why can't we just have a nice refreshing story about the positives of love and friendship rather than the negatives?
There may be some drama here and there, but it’s always short-lived. You might even forget that there was drama in the first place because of how sweet the manga is.
Nijiiro days is just a simple yet heart-warming story about friendship and love without all of the unnecessary drama.
Art: 9
The art is good, but in shoujo standards, it’s freaking amazing. Unlike most shoujo manga, the female protagonist’s eyes aren’t drawn to be as circular as possible. The men are handsome and the women are beautiful. You could probably even pass this off as a shounen. The art is so good, you barely see a trace of shoujo.
Characters: 9
The 4 main male characters are portrayed in a way that each of them are supposed to be the different kind of guys, we tend to see as protagonists.
Our first character is Natsuki, he’s actually quite the opposite of the shoujo protagonists, we see today. Instead of being a narcissistic douche-bag, he’s a kind and naive boy with a maiden’s heart. Put a wig on him and bam, he’s your run of the mill shoujo female lead. He’s much more adorable and less irritable though.
Next, we got his 3 best friends, Tsuyoshi Naoe a.k.a Tsuyo-pon, Keiichi Katakura, & Tomoya Matsunaga.
Tsuyo-pun is an intelligent otaku with a frank personality. Despite being an otaku, he doesn’t look dorky and he gives off a cool vibe not a creepy nerdy vibe. At times, he serves as comic relief as he can never sense the atmosphere.
Keiichi, like Natsuki, is just looking for someone to love. Sadly for him, not many girls wanna date a sadist. His sadism is more of a hobby rather than a personality issue. He’s not sadistic 24/7, only when he’s role-playing with the girl he likes. With that being said, he’s really a good kid that just has a common fetish.
The last friend is Tomoya Matsunaga, a handsome playboy. I tend to hate characters like him, but he’s different. He may be a playboy, but he truly is a nice guy. Not to mention, out of all the characters, I’d say Matsunaga has gone through the most character development. Early on, he already starts seeing past his play boy ways and develops a genuine affection for someone. Now, we see Matsunaga only trying to get closer to that girl.
As for the female side, we got Anna Kobayakawa as our main female protagonist. This girl is a goddess. She doesn’t act like a typical shoujo female lead. She’s not boy crazy nor is she a drama queen. She’s just a sweet and caring girl who wants nothing more than to get along with everyone. Her only drawback is, she’s a bit dense. But worry not! There is actual romantic progression within the first 30 chapters, you’ll just have to be patient.
Her best friend, on the other hand, is arguably one of the worst parts of the story. Tsutsui Mari hates boys and doesn’t want any guy getting close to Anna because she has a love for her that she deems as beyond friendship. These characters always scream “annoying” and unfortunately, Mari isn’t an exception. You could say she’s part of the reason for slow romantic development. She really has nothing better to do than cock-block Natsuki and cling to Anna. Thanks to the other characters though, she’s slowly becoming less and less of an insufferable person. I can tell that eventually she’ll grow to be a likable person, we’ll just have to wait for the guys to break more and more of her shell.
The rest of the cast is likable too. They’re all cute in their own way. We got Tsuyo-pon’s cosplay loving girlfriend, Yukiko Asai, and Keiichi’s older brother who is a teacher and happens to be just as sadistic as Keiichi. I’m sure as time goes on, we will be introduced to even more characters we can come to love.
Overall: 9
Are you perhaps depressed due to a previous manga or just looking for a manga to fill up the hole in your heart? If so, then I prescribe you Nijiiro Days as a remedy. Nijiiro Days is a ray of sunshine in a field of exaggerated drama, angsty female leads, and arrogant male leads. This manga will not fail to put a smile on your face and leave you all fuzzy and warm inside.
