Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai

This may be the best manga I've ever read, and it's really a shame that more people have not read this. I've been putting off writing this review for a while, but I really need to be able to say something more substantial than "oh it's an amazing series you should read it because (insert generic reasons)." Since this is a recommendation to read this series rather than reminiscing about how good this series was, spoilers will be minimal (though I recommend you don't read this review, or any review, and just knock the whole thing out first).

The characters in this series are oddly human, despite the how exaggerated the behavior of Yugami might seem at first. You will sympathize with, laugh at, be disgusted by, and wish the best for all of these characters. Nobody here is perfect; from the insensitivity and self-absorption of the titular Yugami, to the lengths that Chihiro goes to please people and the crude, egotistical behavior of Momose, each character has enough flaws that would normally make you at least annoyed by them. But this manga does the opposite; because each character is flawed and imperfect, it makes the times when they shine all the better. And the wonderful thing is that these "flaws" are not seen as bad things to be fixed; they are part of who the characters are and why they are so charming. Yugami's way of doing whatever he wants ends up making him a curious and unburdened character with astonishing personal growth, and Chihiro's social position makes her uniquely suited to give Yugami some space to be understood and defuse conflicts.

The characters and their relations are dynamic. Too often in a slice of life a character will do something in chapter 100 that she would have done in chapter 1, which ends up failing because static characters are only compelling if they are contrasted with a dynamic world. But in Yugami-kun we see the progression of Yugami and Chihiro's odd friendship, how their interactions cause both of them to grow as people, and how stubbornly clinging to outdated ideals or notions can prevent people from moving forwards. The litmus test for character development is if a character would be willing to do something he did near the end of the story in the beginning, and the answer is a resounding yes. Since the actions the characters take are grounded in the story and consistent with who they are, the moments that they step up are heartwarming and believable, not frustrating or confusing.

Not all conflicts are resolved with people learning lessons or becoming a better person. Sometimes, the winds of fate favor the selfish, the egocentric, and the obsessed. "Virtues" such as honesty, reading the mood, and obedience to parents are not beat into people's heads, as is often the case with even some more nuanced works; instead, this manga masterfully portrays that sometimes the easy way out is really that: the easiest way to resolve a situation, despite the negative effects that it may have on other people. In reality people are often lazy or tired, and don't have or want to spend the energy to deal with other people. Sometimes this sort of behavior has resounding consequences, but often times it just gives the overall situation a little nudge; these subtle nudges are, in the end, why people really change, and how human relations develop and sour over time.

Yugami-kun is a subtle and deeply psychological manga, but the events are simple and relatable enough to make this a quite easy read. And while I'm usually skeptical of people saying that a work of fiction is life-changing, the little nudge in perspective that this manga offers is, as the story of the growth of our lovable hero Yugami shows, often enough to be the start of something wonderful.

I'll say this out straight : This manga is an underrated masterpiece within its own genre.
Do you like well written characters? And do you dislike clishés? If you answered yes, you are definitely missing out on this story.

What really makes this manga so great are the characters, character interactions and how different storylines intertwine. And the most awesome of it all - the main protagonist Yugami Yuuji. Heck, I really like this guy. It's so nice to have a reassurance that it's okay to do things your own way, whatever everyone else says. Therefore, I am so glad I found this manga in my life.

"It's fine since I have myself with me. I am my own ally." - Yugami Yuuji

STORY (10) – While the manga at first leaves an impression of being a high school comedy story about a loner guy and one confused girl who ends up sitting next to him, underneath it has a lot of aspects to it that can be contemplated about.

The main idea is about being accepted by other people. Having "friends" so to speak. Perhaps that is most of our goal in life as well? At least this is the main goal of the heroine Chihiro when she goes to the new school. I think she relates to us as readers the most (at least in my case) because when you enter a new environment creating good connections with people should be obvious. But this can come with a cost.
One could think that to be accepted (and liked) by someone means following someone else's orders or tastes. But is this all really necessary?

Here we have the main protagonist Yugami, who refuses all of this "bootlicking". Be your own self. Do things your way. If you do things the same way as everyone else just to be liked by them... aren't you forgetting yourself in the process? Viewing Yugami as a character and the way he acts makes you ask the question "WHY?" Why is somebody sucking up to someone else?
If I am my own ally, I don't need any of this stuff. Therefore, I don't need friends. Right? Right?

Hmm.. No. Because life is more complicated than that! But he makes decisions himself and that's what's important. Yugami is a character that stays true to himself. And that can be inspirational.
However, as readers we can see that even Yugami's approach is not always the best approach. Sometimes he makes things better, sometimes he makes things worse. I think that's natural. That is life!
And this is why I really like the mangaka who has written this. They have written very relatable life like characters.

CHARACTERS(10) – As readers we see very different sides and thoughts of different characters. Yugami, who refuses to have friends and therefore depends only on himself. Chihiro, who understands others and wants to be liked by others. Kadota, who wants everyone to get along, and often sees the world in a self-centered way. XX, who was a lone wolf but realised she needs friends. Manager (and some other classmates), who show us that people like Yugami can be bothersome, etc.

We don't get a clear answer of how to approach people: I think that's up to the reader to decide how to communicate with others in their lives. Instead, we get many different interactions, the story progresses, we get to know characters better.
There is a lot of character growth as well, especially for Chihiro, who at first doesn't understand Yugami at all, and later on basically becomes main translator for the people who want to understand Yugami. And at one point she starts to inspire Yugami as well. And that is really nice development. This will happen in the later chapters (so have some patience!) but once you arrive there the feeling of "wholesomeness" just follows you because it's such a satisfying read.

Many things happen during this story. And after all, it's a comedy manga as well. We fall in love with the story and characters. We get this daily dose of happiness and amazing plot/interactions. I am not going to retell the story - read that up yourself! As you read this manga, there are a lot of life lessons to be acquired. From small to some bigger lessons. That's why my ENJOYMENT for this series is a 10.

The ART(7-9) improves over the chapters greatly. Fun fact: This manga was intended to only have 5 chapters at first, which turned into 81. So the first chapters look simpler and by the middle of the series you can notice a lot more detail to the characters. The art basically grows with the story.

So of course, OVERALL (10). It's an amazing series that definitely should have a bigger following. A masterpiece SoL manga with loads of fun moments, great cast and life lessons. Perfect for me. And perhaps you will really like it, too.


--Update after reading chapters 66+
Beyond that chapter this manga reaches another level. That’s why I kept myself from writing any further until I finish this series. This was such an amazing manga to read and I am really glad I did.

Yugami is one of the best anime/manga characters I have come across just because how he sees his own value. And he deals with it. It’s just how he is. He can stand on his own pretty well. However, as it was described by one of the characters – if he had someone like Chihiro with him he could grow many times stronger. Chihiro had great character development: from someone who doesn’t understand any logic behind Yugami’s actions into someone who can be by his side and stand up for him.

I would gladly read Yugami’s and Chihiro’s interactions if there were more. This series really was a SLICE of life – these characters keep on living. And this is one of the rarest times in my life that I WISH I knew these characters in real life. One can keep on dreaming, eh? :)

Reading this manga was an amazing experience!

Overall impression:
At first it gives a vibe of a pure comedy, but it has a surprisingly deep serious part to it. While it is written in the humorous style with no trace of a dramatic atmosphere, the characters and the problems they face are actually quite realistic and sympathetic.

I usually don't read comedies, but this one got me hooked. I wish it was written in a more serious style, but that's just my preferences.

On the objective side:
The general quality of manga is quite good, story is well-paced and not too cliche, humor is on a decent level and doesn't get too stupid or exaggerated, characters behave naturally, true to their personalities.

Disclaimer: I'm gonna start reviewing manga from now on. This is my first PROPER review in English, it may be bad, but I want to learn reviewing from now on.

Yuuji Yugami, that weird geniuses from your class. He looks boring and weird, but turns out he's an interesting one.

STORY 8/10: The story is basically your usual slice of life high school manga. But what made this manga different, is the character interaction. But I will write my opinion on the character on the character rating. Oh, and if you're here just for the "Romance", just don't. I've friends that read this for the romance and he's disappointed (but for me, their romance is satisfying enough). Anyway, just like another slice of life manga, the story is just random daily life on the point of view of our main character, Chihiro, the transfer student. The time is progressing as the chapter, so it's not stagnating on one time only.

ART 9/10: I love it. It's simple, beautiful, and cute. Befitting of slice of life genre. Of course you won't find something like Murata's OPM here, it doesn't suit slice of life genre anyway (and he's just a league on his own, too). It just fit nicely there. I like how the expression fleshes out too.

CHARACTER 10/10: Oh, damn. This is why I love this manga. The character writing is just outstanding. It feels human. Every character interaction is very good, and they've their own unique personality too. The characters relationship develops as the manga progresses, and the development also doesn't feel too "positives" neither too "negatives". It just perfect.

ENJOYMENT 9/10: I really like this manga, I finished the whole 16 volumes only for a week. Seeing how Yuuji and Chihiro relationship is really fun and entertaining. And Chihiro personality also resonate with me tbh. There are sometime annoying cliche like that "relationship misunderstanding" thanks to Kadota, but it's his own fault for not being frank to Yugami but it's still fun.

OVERALL 9/10: "Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai" is a hidden gem, I even didn't know this manga exist before someone opens a thread on Reddit. Thanks to him I got to read this wholesome manga. Reading this is really fun. I recommended it.

Just an incredibly relatable manga. I personally related to Yugami because of the overall "emotionlessness" of his character but there is a lot of people to relate to in this manga. Everyone is fleshed out and even though they sometimes fall into usual archetypes it still does not subtract from their character.

What makes this manga work is it is also a baseball manga but it hides this under the slice of life disguise. This helps to flesh out characters more because it gives them a reason to overcome hardship. But being a slice of life manga it never shifts the focus away from the characters and strikes a nice balance between the two.

It is a very enjoyable story and very laid back. It is also finished publishing so you can start reading without fearing any hiatus whatsoever.

I finished this manga several months ago, but I can still recall it vividly and remember how I was elated whenever a new chapter was translated.
I found it on a random reddit thread and binged some 60 chapters in a day, since the plot simply hooked me.

Story: 9/10, the premise was interesting, and the plot never really got old. [SPOILER] I was wishing that Chihiro would get together with Yugami the entire time but still felt great even after they friendzoned each other.

Art: 9/10, in the earlier chapters it was simple, but I found it charming and it didn't really negatively affect my view of it. The art got better later.

Character: 10/10, the introduction and then development of each character's personality was very interesting, especially since the entire plot of the story revolves around Yugami's personality. Solid 10/10.

Enjoyment: It was a very fun slice of life, and probably one of the most enjoyable I've read. I was hooked the entire time and the humor was also pretty nice.

Overall: 10/10, I loved it for its plot, its lovable characters, its fun humor, and it's overall very solid and interesting. Fits great in the slice-of-life genre, the sports genre, and it does contain some romance, which really spices up the plot a bit.

A second-year transfer student, Watanuki Chihiro struggles to make friends but eventually finds connections to her classmates through her seat neighbor, Yugami Yuuji. With an atypical yet likeable cast of characters this manga captures the fleeting memories of high school life and subverts the norm of the slice-of-life genre.

A true slice-of-life to the core with a touch of sports and subtle suggestions at romance, this series was relaxing to read and brightened my day. I'm thankful that the manga was motivated to progress at a moderate pace and not overstuffed with filler chapters and moreover that the manga was allowed to come to a natural conclusion. Even in the most trivial of moments, I felt like there was a clear intention behind every panel. If you're looking for a romantic, rose-colored life I don't think that this series is for you, however, I do think that this manga is very realistic and relatable and there's a romance in that.

tl:dr I highly recommend this series.

This manga has one of the best endings I have ever seen. Most mangas are either not good or starts good but get worse over time.
And we rarely get mangas with great endings.
BUT this one starts average and keeps getting better. The 2nd half (Ch 45+) is way better than the 1st half(which is good too).

Let's discuss about the characters-
Characters: 10++ This is the area where the manga just shines, it is beyond outstanding.

If you want to see an open-minded MC, you are in the right place. If you want to see the development of true friendship you are in the right place. If you want to see a realistic take on how this society is dumb, you are in the right place. If you want to see how society discourages independent thinking (calling them unsocialistic etc..), you are at the right place. What are you waiting for?? Just read this manga.

Another thing, this manga just keeps getting better, ch 67+ is pure gold!!

Spoilers Ahead (Minor, they will not spoil much)
Many people might fail to realize but Yugami(MC) is a really open-minded individual (like take palm reading), he does not reject the possibilities, collect raw information, make good predictions(mostly correct). Most other individuals just accept or reject something without a second thought, it takes guts to accept that there are many possibilities, and to then analyze them is something else. If seen this way it becomes obvious that Yugami is kind-of a genius.

This review is heavily based on personal opinion and is heavily biased because of the human nature, feel free to agree or disagree.

Story: 9/10
The core of Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai is that it's a character-driven Slice of Life manga and honestly.. it's kind of weird, I say that because I haven't seen anything quite like this before and the author did a great job of writing the story and ending it in a really satisfying way that probably won't work in any other Slice of Life stories.

Art: 7.5/10
The art is good, It's definitely not in the same level as Boichi and Yusuke Murata's breathtaking details or Ishida Sui's really artistic art style, but the author definitely knows what they are doing. So far after my 2nd reread, I haven't noticed any mistake in terms of perspective, anatomy, etc etc. It also helps that it doesn't fall into the "generic-looking" folder in my brain, so it gets an extra half point.

Character: 10/10
As I said before, this is the core of Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai, character writing. Every single character, the interaction between them, and how they reacts to events happening in the manga are well-thought out and good, probably too well-thought out in fact for just a Slice of Life manga.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I love this manga, I really do. Seeing Yugami's relationships with other characters grow, Chihiro's journey on making friends, Kadota (and pretty much anyone that's involved with Yugami in some way)'s reaction to whatever Yugami is doing, and the most enjoyable of all, Yugami's relationship with Chihiro. I have both laughed and and had my heart broken just because of how immersed I am and how much I enjoy this manga.

Overall: 10/10
Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai is a hidden gem that's hidden within the many titles of Slice of Life manga or just stories in general. Anyone that wants well-written character that is just about people's normal, everyday life should definitely try this one out. Reading this has been a journey, and even though I'm a really forgetful person, when I remember this manga, I will definitely.. cherish it.

There is a lot of mediocre slice of life manga out there, but when you find something good, let me tell you all, it's something special.

I've just finished reading the last chapter. What a journey. Too many great slice of life gets repetitive, because they are generally stuck in some gimmick. The characters never evolve and even in comedies this can get really frustrating.

"Yugami-kun Doesn't Need Any Friends" is not one of those. It's actually probably my favorite slice of life of all time.

Yugami and Chihiro development throughout the series is amazing. Both themselves as characters and especially their relationship. I really care for them as characters. There is a moment down the line that Yugami heard about some bad news from a blog and the moment really made me upset for her. In the next page, I laughed out loud with her reaction. "Yugami-kun [...]" is that type of manga: I get worried because I care about the characters, I laugh because I understand their situation.

Of course, the main duo is the best thing about the manga, but they also had an amazing cast of lovable, quirky characters that left a strong impression on me. They are among the most endearing casts I've ever seen in a long, long time. The kind that makes you wish you could read more and more about their lives. They are also incredibly funny.

Talking about the humor, this manga is really funny. Yugami's straightforwardness and Chihiro's kindness are used in a way that never gets old. I loved two scenes that explore those character traits: one, which involves Yugami as a baby; other, which involves Yugami and Kadota imagining the interaction between Chihiro and another character.

The baseball scenes are also great. This is coming from a Brazilian guy that barely understands how you even score on baseball. And the baseball is the means to get one great scene between the two main characters that I think about all the time.

The strengths of the manga are the characters, the plot and the humor. The art is not out of this world, but it does have a certain charm. The designs are simple yet remarkable, with Chihiro's derp-y faces taking the cake. The art evolves a lot during the run, something that I always find fascinating to see.

Jun Sakura's manga was supposed to run for just one volume at first. It ended up with 16 volumes. I will be looking forward to whatever they write next, if it has half the charm of "Yugami-kun [...]", it will be already worth the time.