TL;DR: Hatsukoi Zombie is without a doubt worth the read if you're willing to invest into it. It seemed to me like a generic high school ecchi romcom at a glance, but I was completely wrong - It instead functions as a near perfect genre deconstruction, and has far exceeded any expectations I had going in. I highly recommend it as one of the best romance stories I've read in recent years.

From this point on this review will contain spoilers to the premise, mood, themes, and (to a minor extent) the plot of Hatsukoi Zombie. If you wish to find out for yourself what lurks beneath the surface of this manga, I would recommend stopping here, but be prepared to commit: it takes some time before it starts to show through, but when it does... it's worth it.

I don't think I can do the premise justice without spoiling anything major, so please bear with me as I sell it in a manner no less deceptive than Hatsukoi Zombie appears:

Hatsukoi Zombie follows the story of a high schooler by the name of Tarou who encounters a being personifying his first love, Eve, in a manner also representing his ideal figure. The catch is that no one else is able to see her or hear her: a delusion of Tarou's own creation. Unable to realize his own first love, Tarou and Eve work together fulfilling the first loves of others and removing the burdens from within their hearts. During this time, Tarou and Eve both realize that they too must one day confront their own love: a can of worms that neither of them wish to open. But as the saying goes: all that glitters is not gold.

Hatsukoi Zombie's premise is pretty unique, even though it may not seem like it based on my description of it. It pulls a few twists and turns in the beginning that amount to nothing other than serving to hook you in long enough for it to set up what it needs to pull off what it does later on when you reach the climax of the story. It sticks quite heavily to the tropes and cliches of its genre and does a pretty good job of it as well. However, this changes quite abruptly once the characters and setting are all introduced and given some time to marinate.

The trick to Hatsukoi Zombie's story, and the reason why I will give it so much praise, is that it addresses the problem that you should begin to ask yourself after only a few chapters:

How can this illusory, contrived love between Tarou and the delusion of Eve ever work?

Simply put - it just can't. Rather than pandering to fanservice and pretending that it can, the author chooses to tackle this problem head on in a perfect deconstruction of the tropes and genre it had played up until this point. It completely changes the tone of the story from a lighthearted romance story to a bittersweet Romeo and Juliet style tragedy. The author pulls this off effectively by spending an incredibly large portion of time just building the characters through exploring trivial events in their day-to-day lives in the standard romcom style fashion.

The characters themselves start as blank slates: Their personalities are made visible through their actions and words rather than being explicitly stated, and rarely do they adhere to any specific tropes. They all act in a believable manner and rarely in a way that is excessive without some kind of rationality behind it, even if that rationale seems silly from an outside perspective. The personality of Eve is probably one of the most complex I've come across recently to the point where she feels about as real as it gets despite being a delusion of Tarou's creation - a kind of cruel, twisted irony in a way.

The art of Hatsukoi Zombie is also incredibly solid. While it isn't anything special, being neither extremely detailed or experimental in style, it does the one thing it has to do to make the story work - it flawlessly shows emotion through the facial expressions and body language of the characters. The expressions of the characters give away more than their words as to their inner thoughts and emotion. It hurts when you see a character talking in a relatively positive, upbeat manner only to see a major disconnect in their facial expression and body language at the same time that shows that they don't actually feel that way: that they're putting on a front for others.

All of this combines together into what I would consider a near-perfectly executed genre deconstruction and tragedy. Why? Because it doesn't simply throw it on you like some series do. Instead it waits until after you've gotten invested in the characters and only hints at it until the author knows that the investment is there to make it work and feel organic. If you are willing to take the time to get attached to the characters through a relatively slow-paced buildup, it is well worth it.

As of the point I've read up to as of the time writing this review, It's probably fair to say that I love Hatsukoi Zombie - I love the story, I love the art, and I love the characters. It's fulfilling and fun, albeit slow to develop (which I personally prefer). Every chapter left me desiring more and every chapter only served to enhance my passion for the story and characters. Sandwiched within the farce of a cheery, lighthearted romance manga came a remarkably well-written story of love and heartbreak that has stood out as one of the best I've ever come across and probably ever will. I'm glad I gave Hatsukoi Zombie a chance and chose to read it on a whim over the rest of my backlog - it is a true hidden gem among hidden gems. I highly recommend Hatsukoi Zombie to anyone who is willing to give it a chance.

DISCLAIMER/AFTERWORD: I'm neither an expert in writing reviews nor deep analysis of literature and art - someone more skilled than me can probably easily point out flaws with Hatsukoi Zombie that I might've glossed over. Regardless, I hope I have provided a good idea of an "average reader" sort of analysis.