If you thought having an established couple meant comparatively better romantic progress than its peers then you will be disappointed. Izumi kisses Shikimori (Izumi motions towards Shikimori and then their faces are obscured) after a school trip and despite all the time they spend together and how much they wax poetic about how great their lives are and how nice everyone is, Shikimori blushes and the two of them spaz out mildly the next day. Izumi remembering the kiss, says it was a crazy thing to do and he was just caught up in the heat of the moment. This is chapter 100 (ONE HUNDRED - ONE FUCKING HUNDRED). Shikimori while essentially being the man in the relationship turns into a pure maiden when the romance attempts physicality because her character's appeal is a careful balancing act. She's cool and assertive enough to make a move (and have it backfire to score 'gap moe' points) but also innocent and cute enough to melt at the slightest bit of intimacy.
Characters attract with gimmicks before working backwards to show how the gimmick isn't actually their whole personality. Izumi's life is full of bad luck like tree branches falling on him or a baseball ball hitting him. He has scars to prove his misfortune. Shikimori remarks, in a conversation with Izumi's mother, that Izumi has not let the occurrences of such bad luck make him feel sorry for himself. The manga here is patting itself on the back, no shit, everyone in this manga is sickly sweet. It's almost commendable how unabashedly lazy Izumi's bad luck shtick is. It's only purpose is to service how mushy gushy everything is. If Izumi was hit by a car, he would likely apologize for being in the car's way. Shikimori also says 'Izumi knows pain more than anyone else,' coming from a 15 year old that has no knowledge of the world, I can let this slide but damn, it is a ridiculous line.
Characters too good to be true have one hang-up that makes them totally-not-perfect, throw in a personality quirk, follow the schedule for high school and you got yourself another happy-happy-fun-times at anime school story. I'm not asking for drama but if the manga is going to address topics like how past misfortunes may harm your self-esteem or frustration at school regulations, I'd rather it not bring it up at all because all I'm left with is another gold star to reward these dorks comforted by their vapid solipsistic setting. In the latest chapters, there's talk of what to do in the future. I think this is silly because Shikimori and Izumi could just form a business where they tell people 'just be yourself' and watch the money pile up.
Moderation simply does not exist in this universe. There's barely a chapter they have together where they actually just talk about random things or let the moment speak for itself and maybe end off with a simple 'I love you' plus kiss because they're incessantly complimenting each other and saying generic fluffy quotes like 'I'll always protect you,' or 'I'll always be there for you,' etc. One of the corniest lines is 'when I'm with you, even the time waiting in line is super fun!' This is said seriously, I am not kidding. Fluff dialed up to 11.
I could forgive the manga for its masturbatory 'relationship goals' selling point if it actually did something with the relationship. Going back to my earlier point about the repetition I think the reason the characters need to repeatedly vocalize their love and togetherness is that without it Izumi just looks like Shikimori's token gay friend. Rarely the setting becomes aware of the premise and side or background characters say things like 'why won't Shikimori date someone cooler' or 'you have the best kind of youth.' Unfortunately, it doubles down on the premise so Shikimori and Izumi are not are just a perfect couple but perfect friends to others, and two people that selflessly help fellow students. Kindness employed here is so smug and conceited. It's not enough for the well-meaning characters to help others and imply support, the poor fucks that need the unlimited compassion of the main couple have to present themselves as enlightened and forever grateful to be blessed by such robotic benevolence.
I prefer my slice-of-life to have quiet that balances dialogue but that's not here. A calm panel teases peacefulness before Izumi monologues about how great his life is at the moment. Regarding the romance, having Izumi and Shikimori already be a couple at the start precludes will-they-won't-they tension but it's just as put-on and circular as the average romcom duo, whether or not the duo began the story as a couple doesn't matter. Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal is referenced in a panel and that was funny. Nothing else made me laugh in this romcom. The art is great when presenting full bodies and clothing.
'Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san' is a gross display of fluff. There's zero charm. It's carried hard by the role reversal relationship dynamic that is admittedly a nice change of pace but it also wants to play with real-life problems injecting them when convenient pretending to be anything more than a family-friendly version of a fantasy for guys that want their girlfriend to call them 'good boy' after cumming.
