8.9/10
There have not been many instances where the first chapter in a manga screams “star potential,” no less than a harem; however, this manga does just that due to its balance of characters, mystery, and the extremist comedy.
The plot is relatively basic; as all harem mangas go, there is an objective, and the mc accomplishing said objective gets the fmls to fall in love with him in the process. Eerily similar to “Quintessential Quintuplets” though, there’s a plot device of mystery that will last until the series’ end. With this manga’s well-written pacing and introduction, the anonymous search of the main character is much more engaging than other generic harem counterparts.
The characters are rather basic with their plot lines — redemption arc, shy girl that opens up, the overly kind girl that gets close, etc — however, they all have redeemable qualities and are distinct while not overpowering each other. So far, the author has balanced the screen time for each character decently well, further deepening the characters. The main character in this instance is the source of the “com” in romcom, with him being the bud of most jokes and humorous dialog. Though his character is somewhat well-written and developed, most of the jokes seem to be forced, which does add a certain “cringe factor” to the manga. Despite all the inducing cringe, his character is rather unique to the genre and is quite a rusher from the stuffy “blush at every sight” type of harem protagonist.
Whether or not this manga will be the greatest harem manga of all time is too early to tell, however, it does have the potential to be it — no matter how low the actual hurdle is. As of now, this is a well-written manga with a few plot hole “face-palm moments,” but it’s full of depth and intrigue.
…
31 chapters in, this is even better than I thought, and it is actually the best harem of all time. Yup, I’m gonna die on this hill. Every character is just .. perfect. There’s no wrong options, and the author still leaves so much intrigue and mystery with each girl while developing them. Seriously, Uzuki may be one of the best written characters in a harem I’ve seen, along with the mc.
Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”