Tonari no Oneesan ga Suki follows the story of Tasuku, a young 13-year-old who becomes enamoured with an older girl in high school next door. He often goes to her place to watch movies as an excuse to spend time with her. Yet the premise here is not used to simply further a wholesome (as 'wholesome' as a premise like this can get) romantic/erotic escapade, or for comedic light-heartedness. Instead, the manga very maturely depicts a one-sided youthful love experienced by a younger individual who, although he likes the older girl, because of his social inexperience and position, is unable to understand her personal troubles, who she truly is as a person with the masks she puts on to interact with him, and even wrestling with his emotions and experiences in this circumstance, namely, are the feelings of longing for her even love? Does he like her for who she is or is it just the mystery of her?
Shia, the older sister-type character in the story, is rendered very 3-dimensionally. She doesn't exist to soothe the protagonist, but she has her own bundles of problems, things that she certainly does not want to open up to a younger kid about. Her interactions with the protagonist are very well written, often unveiling more layers to her character, perpetuating the mystery of herself in the eyes of the younger kid and the reader.
All in all, this was a surprisingly great read. While the story will likely head in a more optimistic direction, as it seems it will be doing, redeeming the protagonist's feelings of love as authentic and so on and so on, by capturing a young love and its complications so authentically, the manga's premise is elevated beyond the typical cliches and tropes. Will be looking forward to seeing how this one ends.
