It is, for the most part, your typical high school rom-com spliced with a gimmick to make it stand out a bit. And it works really well for the majority of the series.

The monster/youkai girls are all like-able and even funny at times. They don't fall squarely into the stereotypes that are currently being abused by manga authors, ex: tsundere, yandere, delinquent, gyaru, though I have seen people describe them as having tom-boyish qualities, which I can kind of see. Personally, that's a bonus for me. Their tom-boyishness means that they're not quite as oblivious and sensitive as some other manga characters and call each other out on some bullshit, like when Ichijou calls both Kanoi and Itsuki out on their blatant feelings for each other. However, this doesn't mean that they are completely un-oblivious. Kanoi is probably the most oblivious and hesistant about pursuing her relationship with Itsuki. On the other hand, Itsuki, though also oblivious, can be surprisingly forward with his affection for Kanoi, which is incredibly refreshing for a manga of this type.

Kanoi and Itsuki have a good dynamic when they're in scenes together. Unlike other romance manga where two characters are supposed to be "childhood friends" but feel and act like incompatible strangers, the MCs in this story joke around with each other easily and can have comfortable conversations. The mangaka also doesn't shove the "childhood friend dynamic" in your face every five seconds. I've read so many manga where the only reason you even know that two characters are childhood friends is because one or both of them constantly remind the reader, "Oh yeah this is exactly like what happened ten years ago! You know because we're totally CHILDHOOD FRIENDS!!!" every chapter. In this manga, backstory shit like that is limited to flashbacks, which is a good thing in my book.

There will be SPOILERS from here on out, so skip to the conclusion if you don't want to see them.


So everything sounds good right, even if it's a bit boilerplate? It was good, and could've been really good, if the ending didn't fuck things up. Maybe the manga was unexpectedly cancelled, or maybe the mangaka wanted to move onto another project; I don't know, and I don't really care enough to look into it. All I know is that things were progressing at a great pace, until the last few chapters brought in the unnecessary drama of Itsuki's mom coming to drag him off to another city. In the midst of this drama, the mangaka teases a confession, only to have the manga end on a cliffhanger that resolves nothing and doesn't tell the reader shit about what will happen to any of the characters in the future. I'm inclined to believe that the manga was cancelled as that's the only reason I could think of an ending being this rushed and sloppy. It really fucks up what could have been an incredibly satisfying moment of reconciliation between Itsuki and Kanoi.


CONCLUSION: Entertaining characters, a few funny moments, good relationship between female and male MC, doesn't get too hung up on its gimmick. Unfortunately, all of this good stuff is damaged by an ending that is completely unsatisfying. Still, the first 75 percent of this manga stands far above most of the rom-com manga that I've read recently, which have been such absolute shit that I won't even bothered logging them in my MAL account. Give it a try if you don't mind a story that ends in the middle of an arc and leaves you with no closure.