Let me be clear with you: This is my favorite ongoing romance manga and possibly my favorite romance manga ever - I'd be giving it a ten (it definitely has that on my list) if I didn't have to acknowledge objective flaws - so I'm probably going to be biased as hell writing this, but let me at least try to explain to you why I love it so much.

Tooru and Minato are the sweetest couple ever. They made me believe in love. At first this is hard to tell; all the shenanigans in the beginning are kind of distracting, but honestly, that's worth it, too. I started reading this because its premise is so absolutely ridiculous that my mind went "I have to see this trainwreck," and let me tell you: It was worth it.

As a comedy, this series is fantastic, from the incredibly oblivious but lovesick Tooru and his misunderstandings to Minato who, goddamn, is trying her fucking best. Of course there are points where you'll have to suspend your disbelief - like when Minato, who has never had a boyfriend in her life, only meets a boy who's into her right when she's stuck in the most complicated pseudo-relationship with her stepbrother - but it's comedy; we suspend our disbelief for the joke. And because it's comedy, that means that all the stupid drama that happens is exactly that: stupid drama. Most of every crazy situation is tongue-in-cheek, and almost dramatic situation that has to potential to become annoying ends up quitting while it's ahead, making it a really funny, enjoyable ride.

Somewhere along the way, though, the comedy stops being the main focus (though it never leaves, so don't worry about that) and gives way to completely unexpected emotional depth. Tooru really loves her, and while that leads to a lot of funny, ridiculous things, like Tooru forcing his family to eat donuts for a week straight so he can give her a punchcard prize, Tooru /really loves her/. And that gets to you just as bad as it gets to Minato, and it gets even worse when Mina and Tooru starts becoming less a crazy, hilarious hole and more two stepsiblings who used be close really talking to each other for the first time in years.

Re: the stepsibling thing, take it or leave it. This is something with the potential for squick, because they've been living together since they were kids, but because of the way they stop talking really early on, it can kind of be argued they don't really have a stepsibling relationship. But again, they have been living in the same house. Do with their situation what you will.

Back on topic, the emotional depth really does get worse as you find out their backstory, which I'd love to talk about because it is a huge part of the reason I love the series so much but will refrain from doing in the interest of letting you find out on your own. But all the pain turns out to be worth it as the plot progresses and lies give way to truth. Honestly, this series is nothing like what I expected, and it's absolutely worth the journey.

Tooru and Minato's relationship is one of the purest and cutest I've read; it's so sweet, to see two people love each other this much, and that is what sold me completely on this. That's not it, though; this kind of sweetness pervades throughout the manga, for all its stupid drama. It's got a wealth of dumb, endearing side characters with their own quirks, an optimistic take on everything, and a cute, simple art style.

So, if you ever get tired of crazy drama or every girl character in romance manga being a hidden bitch, read Liar x Liar. If you ever get tired of good-for-nothing guys or girls think they can't do better than assholes, read Liar x Liar. If you're person, read Liar x Liar. I love this manga so much, and I'm also crying as I type this.

(Note: For the first ten or so chapters, the Liar x Liar scanlations are not ideal. No disrespect to the scanlators, by the way, because they're reason I can cry about this series, but please get past this. I promise you this series is worth it.)