What is a romantic comedy? Wikipedia states that they are stories with "light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals". I find that the contrary is the case more often than not, with most romantic comedies using romance as a comedic device, using the various situations one finds himself in when in love as humor rather than focusing on the love. This leads to half-assed romances whose only relevant factor is how enjoyable the humor was.
Considering all of this, Wa! is a romantic comedy. Yet it goes beyond most and executes it perfectly. Wa! focuses on the many crushes of the students of Takamanohara school and in particular this one string of crushes that makes a full circle. The comedy side of Wa! is not restricted to the humorous situations the seven students find themselves in pursuing their crushes but also from a few supporting characters and in particular two very good friends who, much like in Azumanga Daioh, make pop culture references and jokes that requires knowledge of the Japanese culture and language to understand (Or the kindness of the translators to explain them to you). Meanwhile, what makes the romance side of Wa! great is the closure we get. Yes, we get to see how their crushes develops and who ends up with who! Even the supporting characters gets some closure!
The characters are made to fit into archetypes we are now familiar with and thus into certain relationship archetypes we are familiar with. Yet their characteristics are so pronounced that it adds to the humor. The sheer amount of characters makes it easier for readers to identify with or fall in love with at least one of them and adds to the enjoyment. And though the characters are drawn to be somewhat moe, the art of Wa! is very impressive all things considered.
Overall, Wa! is a great manga and if you are a fan of comedy and are not averse to romance, I highly recommend you read it.
