Hitomi-chan wa Hitomishiri
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers

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Hitomi-chan wa Hitomishiri is just like any other good slice-of-life + school + romance manga. Doesn't sounds appealing? Yup, it doesn't but I guarantee you, the manga itself is really captivating, so let's go into some more detailed description.

Just like any other manga in such setup it consists of all the cliche events - valentines day, white day, school festival, umbrella sharing etc. But they weren't introduced in such a manner that you'd say 'of course, I knew this was coming'. The way these events were presented was rather pleasant and in my opinion far better than in most of mangas from such genres. In ... short this manga follows the well-known path for a school romance in a good way.

At the beginning it relies mostly on the comedy part, but it slowly introduces romance and develops it in a straight, not-disturbed manner. In every chapter you feel the progress (no matter how small it is) and this progress is not denied next thing in the following chapter (I won't point mangas that keep doing such villain things). Author build it slowly, but surely so you don't feel frustrated. The gags and various weird situations are amusing, so you wouldn't be bored. The only con I could point at this stage is mixing in a lot of fan service dependant humour, people who doesn't like fan service might feel intimidated (unfortunately, the further in the story, the more fanservice not only for the Hitomi but other female characters).

But putting aside the ecchi-related fan service. In my opinion the most wholesome part of this manga and well the true fan service in my opinion is hand holding. Oh boi, I have never knew how brilliant 'plain' hand holding could be. These moments were the most heart warming during my current journey (caught up on chap 86).

Let's talk about characters. I will say rather general things here than going into details. Throughout the manga characters are developing in satisfying manner, each of them, even the secondary characters has their own traits so they are not dull, but they aren't ocean deep. It's light manga so the amount of character uniqueness is balanced enough I'd say. The most important thing is that main characters are developing in a satisfying manner.

To summarize: Setup for this story is just like in any school + romance + slice-of-life manga, but it is not the bad point as it is well handled by author. It's light story full of gags and funny situations, romance is progressing slowly but surely, you can see progress between main characters growing with each chapter. Characters are simple, yet not dull/plain so the story keeps its lightness and simplicity. Romance is satisfying and wholesome (Remember: holding hands)

My overall rating: 9

Story:

The story follows Takano Hitomi (the titular MC-female) and her senpai Usami-Yuu (MC-male). Takano is a freshmen in highschool after recently moving into the area with her much older brother. She's always had trouble socializing and making friends because of her scary face and (somewhat) asocial attitude. Despite that she's a good girl at heart, very athletic but a little dumb (academic wise). Yuu on the other hand is a short, unathletic sophomore who happened to meet Takano by virtue of them taking the same public transport together. The two become fast friends as Yuu shows Takano around the city.

Story: 7/10 - Good - There ... is room for growth. At the moment the manga is a slice-of-life/comedy but is hinting at evolving into a romance. If handled well that could make the story much better.


Art:

Nothing overly special about the artwork. The author seems to love drawing tomboys and girls with scary faces - putting much more work into their character (specifically their bodies) than the other character.

This is fine, but I feel like the design of our male MC and his sister (who is the most frequent side-character to date, bordering on MC status) lack attention.

5/10 - average


Character:

Takano and Yuu are both likable if simple characters. Neither are very deep, nor do they have any hidden secrets or pasts (which is fine). Additionally, the side characters introduced so far are a mixed bag. Yuu's sister and Takano's brother are both strong and worthy of being MCs along with their siblings. However, the several delinquents Takano accidentally befriends are weak and seem to only exist to hint at yuuri for fanservice.

character 6/10 - fine - If the siblings are developed and utilized more a strong cast of characters could be made, bringing this up to and 8. If they are ignored for more side characters the ranking will stay the same.


Enjoyment:

I enjoyed the 23 chapters released so far. I will enjoy it more if a more focused story develops and a romance is formed between Yuu and Takano rather than just constantly hinted at. It's funny and sweet as is.

7/10 - Good

Overall:

It's worth a read, although I doubt it will make your top of all time list. If the author continues treading water I can see the manga continuing being enjoyable to come back to every few months to catch up on chapters. If they handle the romance well and develop their cast of characters properly this is a manga I can see myself eagerly waiting for the release of.

7/10 - Good

*Rapid Review*

As of chapter 120:

It's a high 4/10. It's extremely slow and nothing much happens, even in romantic moments. But it is wholesome, and if you like Big women, particularly big, muscular women with abs (and big boobs) who loves food and has shark teeth, then give it a shot. It's really
asbolutely nothing special and the art is decent to meh.

The fact that I have so very little to say after 125 chapters goes to show how unimpactful and mediocre this manga is. You are not missing out on anything by not reading this, unless you like girls with shark teeth.

I'm NOT a ... contrarian, and if your opinion differs, be civil. Your opinion is as valid as mine. Don't rate this as "confusing" just because you disagree with my view, instead, criticise the actual writing of the review. That's what it's there for. Don't be a child. Thank you for reading my rapid review, have a nice day/night!