I thought Hiyokoi was going to be another version of Strobe Edge. Not in a bad way since I loved Strobe Edge, and honestly manga like that are never a bad thing. But, after much thought I concluded that it’s actually just a combination of manga that make you all warm and fuzzy inside that equal Hiyokoi.

Hiyori was in an accident the first day of school (the details of said accident will make you shake your head) and because of it she missed the first few months of school. That’s not her biggest problem it seems. The one thing she’s self conscious about is her height. She is very short at 140 cm, like 4th grader short (that’s how they reference it). On her first day of class (not actually the first day) her introduction gets cut by Yuushin, the popular guy who is freakishly tall at 170 cm. He is extremely friendly to everyone and knowing of her shy nature tries to encourage her to smile more. This slice of life romance is the journey of Hiyori actually enjoying school life and making friends and something more.

Hiyokoi was slow at times, which is understandable consider our heroine is a “weird” one. A quiet, shy, and particularly short girl, who is used to being left out and unheard because of her introverted nature. When the person sitting beside her is none other than the extrovert Yuushin, she can’t help but be drawn to guy who is her polar opposite in almost every way. Hiyoki, who is nicknamed Hiyokin, decides she wants to be different and change things for herself with the help of her really good friends Riichan and Natsuki.
It has the same feel as Kimi ni Todoke and sometimes the heroine has the same innocence that is thestaple of shoujo manga everywhere. I did think it was progressing a little slower than it could have and it took me a while to actually get in the story.

The characters, for some reason I always find it harder to review the characters than the story itself. Because while I am ok with the plot having likeness with each other, I feel every character should be different. I mean if five people were put in the same scenario we’d all react differently to every situation.
That’s why even though I feel the plot is overdone in general, I do think the characters have a certain spice to them that make them memorable.

Yuushin is a classic bishie type of male lead. He is popular and loves to sleep in class. Other than random conversations he has with Hiyorin we don’t really know much about him at all in the first volume or so.
He has a sense of humor and is actually pretty charming in general, and unlike other male leads he isn’t the perfect male lead. If it wasn’t for his height he’d be an average manga guy, albeit a good looking one.

I really loved Hiyori’s friends, Riichan and Natsuki. Their personalities are fun and apart from the humor they are really good friends to Hiyorin. there are more characters that are popping in give the story a good atmosphere with their own personalities and sense of humor.

The art is easy on the eyes and delicate looking. It was drawn in a modern style of manga so if moe girls with big eyes isn’t your thing, stay away. I thought it was cute that Riichan looked so much like the Vocaloid Miku, drawn she was the most striking to me in appearance. I didn’t notice until I read the latest chapters that most 97% of the manga so far is in school or in school uniform and it amazed me I didn’t even notice at first.

All in all, it is a very nice read, the characters are funny and nice. Not a lot of drama, not really. It’s mostly sit back and get aggravated that someone could be so shy. Most short people I meet are assertive as hell. Throughout the manga you will have short stories and even characters side story that are not only funny but sweet. This mangaka has a very nice sense of humor that reflects on her work.