Reiroukan Kenzainariya

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I actually don't remember what brought me to this series, but if I had the opportunity to tell myself to not waste my time on this Manga, I would.

The premise of Reiroukan Kenzai Nariya is genuinely a good one. Simple but charming in a way that only the Japanese seem to nail consistently. The artwork immediately reminded me of 70s era Manga and Anime, which the mangaka Tomi Akihito deserves full props for.

However, that is all the props he and this Manga deserve. The story is awful because it decides, without warning or reason, to dive-bomb right into the ground. In chapter 9, Mikoto becomes completely infatuated with Genta (the main character), and begins sneaking into his bedroom to sleep beside him. Toyama (Genta's roommate) and Midori (Mikoto's friend) find out and catch her, forcing her to admit that she's in love with Genta. Genta then kisses her…and there the Manga effectively ends.

The reason why is Genta already has a girlfriend, thus him kissing Mikoto means he's cheating on her. So naturally, the following chapter has Genta, in an absurdly over the top and emotionless manner, break up with his girlfriend, Ayano; a very nice and respectable young woman. And for the record, by "over the top", I mean samurai imagery and demonic aura. This quickly moves onto Genta and Mikoto moving out of Reiroukan, meeting their respective families, getting engaged, and moving into their own apartment together. Ayano is never mentioned, and Genta's family seem to have no idea that she ever existed.

This is so emotionless and tasteless, that I was left speechless after reading it. I don't know if it was Akihito's plan for Genta and Mikoto to get together down the line, but from what was presented, Genta is the clear villain, and a rather gross person. This isn't a total surprise as the other couple in the series, Suzu and her underage(?) boyfriend, Hiroto, who's a creepy nerd and a student she's tutoring, is also out of the blue, hollow, and quite creepy.

I'm fully aware that when series fail to gain enough of a readership and they get the axe, that mangaka are given only a few chapters to wrap their story up. I'm equally aware that it's impossible to do it in any form that can satisfy both the creator and the readers. But this is SO terrible, that I wonder how much planning Akihito put into it before submitting the first draft to his editor or the editor-in-chief.

A small and inconsequential series it may be, but nevertheless deserves to be reviewed and rated properly. And since it was outrageously rated a 7 out of 10 on this website, it tipped me over the edge and speared me to write this review. 2/10 is all that it gets. There are plenty of other series to read, so don't waste your lunch break on this one.