Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru
When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

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Shogi Club/ School Romance

*Warning: diabete-causing manga

If you like "Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san", you will most likely (99% chance) appreciate this one since both mangas are from the same author. Think of "Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san" as a cup of regular coffee (15~20 pg per chapter), "Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru" is a shot of espresso (5~10 pg per chapter).


*Minor Spoiler:
Story: 8 (I love how they treat or imply tactics of shogi on the topic of love. You won't learn a lot about the shoji; rather, it is a medium to bring out the most sweetness from the story)
Art: 8 (Even though Yamamoto San may ... not have the most crazy skill of drawing, his simple style of depicting character's face expressions is soothing)
Character: 8 (one male (Tanaka), one female (Yaotome), not an official relationship...yet..., attack & defense on shoji of love -> blushes)
Enjoyment: 10 (whenever you need a small but lethal amount of sugar, read this manga.)
Overall: 8 (As it is new, -1 for potential error and -1 for similar style; however, the quality of this manga should be around the same like that of "Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san".)


If you don't appreciate the dialogues in Chapter 3 Page 6. This manga is not for you (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

Hi, I was the proofreader for this series for the past 4 years; from chapter 2 till the end (I'm checking Vol. 16 extra as of writing this) If you've read this in any unlicensed site, I was the one to check the translation before it got typeset. So, since I've been with this manga for so long, I thought I'd give me thoughts about it.

This is a light-hearted Yamamoto SoL. Meaning, mostly one-off chapters, generic romance manga tropes, superficial characters interacting by means of standard manga humor, and big foreheads. If you've read Takagi, you've read this one. Do not come into it ... expecting anything else than a cutesy high school slice of life with some romance tints. And I say tints because the premise is deceiving, there's almost no progression nor it has anything interesting to say about romance when it gets down to its "serious" parts.

Speaking of progression, not only are almost all chapters standalone, you can read the first few, skip straight to the end and not miss anything too crucial in terms of plot. Yamamoto just set the scene and let it ran loose till he didn't want to anymore, and ended it. I'd argue this could've been condensed into two or three volumes, but of course that wasn't going to finance Yamamoto's monk lifestyle. (It's a running joke in the scanlation group that he ended all his series to fuck off to the middle of the woods and live like a hermit swimming in manga money)

Having said that, if you like the characters, and enjoy watching them fucking around in various situations with classic Yamamoto romantic teasing comedy, then you'll have a sweet sweet time. I know I did while checking every script.

In conclusion, that's pretty much it. There's not a whole lot more to this one. You can finish it in a couple days if you really wanted to, but I personally think it's best enjoyed in small bits, otherwise it's just gonna get repetitive fast.

The word “Ayumu” in Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru refers to two things. It can refer to the lead male character – a hapless novice when it comes to Shogi (Japanese variant of Chess), or it could refer to the Soldier/Pawn piece in the game of Shogi. As in Chess, if the Pawn (Ayumu) safely reaches the far side of the board – it converts into a powerful piece like the Bishop or Rook.

Ayumu, similar to the Ayumu piece in Shogi, wishes to convert himself into a powerful Shogi player and defeat the Shogi club president (Urushi, whom he is in love with). Once he ... has done so, he thinks he would be 'worthy' enough to confess his love to her. While the premise can feel as if it comes out of some sports manga, the series is anything but. It comes from the pen of Souichirou Yamamoto (the writer of Karakai Jouzo no Takagi-san) and if you have read/seen Takagi-san, it proceeds similarly. Most chapters are 8-10 pages long and are typically self-contained short comic skits in which Ayumu, despite being the weaker Shogi player, relentlessly conjures up situations in which Urushi ends up blushing or squirming. Most chapters simply end with a reset with limited plot continuity and can be read in 2-3 minutes making the series very easy to read and enjoyable. I think it would have taken me around 2-3 hours to finish all the 71 chapters that have come out so far.

An oft-repeated refrain that one hears from the readers of Takagi-san is their wish for Nishikata (the lead male) to win against Takagi (the lead female) at least once. Well, those readers ought to read this series because this series is exactly what they have been asking for. It is exactly like Takagi-san, only this time, it is Urushi who despite being a cunning strategist when it comes to Shogi is weak to Ayumu's 'verbal attacks' and ends up 'losing'. The art style too is similar and at a casual glance, viewers could be forgiven to mistake Ayumu and Urushi as Nishikata and Takagi's elder siblings.

In certain respects though, this is a superior work to most teasing sub-genre works (like Takagi-san or Uzaki-chan etc.) I say this because unlike those works where we see the world purely from the lens of the "teased" (e.g. Nishikata in Takagi-san), the same is not true here. There are chapters here that are shown purely through the lens of Ayumu, some other from Urushi's POV and even a few chapters from the viewpoint of side characters. This makes the jokes much more dynamic (unlike Takagi-san where readers can sense the punch line halfway through a chapter). It also makes this series much more readable and binge-able because the jokes no longer seem stale even after having read 30 chapters in a single sitting.

Of course, if you are picking up this series, don’t expect any major drama or heightened romance. Also, and if you disliked Takagi-san - this is clearly not for you. This is the equivalent to eating a pack of potato chips or French fries. You read this manga for a bunch of “lol” moments, to satisfy your cravings for some romantic-fluff and then simply put it down. Like Takagi-san, it is a brilliant palate-cleanser to lighten up the mood. Expect anything else, and you are bound to end up disappointed.

To make a long story short, this should have been a 4-koma. This story honestly doesn't go anywhere. Every chapter, you start essentially at the same point the last chapter began with. I'm not finding any development in terms of romance, characters, plot... It's sort of like watching reruns of the same show. Sure they get into different conversations and situations, but after 20 chapters, the story still hasn't gotten off the ground. It feels like I'm reading pre-chapter manga pages before a real chapter starts. But hey, it's cute, sure, but it's not something that's developing into something serious (at least not within the ... first 20 chapters)... I'm going to keep reading in hopes that changes, but this could easily be forgotten.

Easy-to-read romantic slice-of-life comedy with cute (but generic) characters. It has become a formula for many mangas, although, this one tries to give it a spin with the shogi angle. It doesn't succeed most of the time.

The main thing I can truly criticise is the length - 17 volumes for this kind of story is way too much - and in top of that, there is not much development of many of the characters (even the main couple).

Another point, it became quite repetitive towards the end - however it kept a fast pace (at least in the last two volumes) and the ending was ... satisfying enough.

Mild recommendation, if you looking for something light, also the artwork is very appealing.

Soredemo Ayumu is a manga that some may criticize for its lack of progression. I believe that a series should be judged as a function of the goals that it sets for itself, how effective it is at achieving those goals, how worthy the goals are in the first place, and comparison to other series with similar goals. Soredemo Ayumu follows in the footsteps of series like Kaguya-sama: Love is War and Teasing Master Takagi where conventional progression is subverted in favor of an emphasis on character interactions. With these types of series there are two goals: getting the other person to confess their ... love first and successfully making the other party feel embarrassed. It is obvious from the start that once the goal is achieved, the story is over (unless there is something to indicate otherwise). So, in lieu of a large amount of romantic progression, we get small bits of romantic progression and a more episodic approach to storytelling. I say all of this to let you know what to expect from the series.

Story: 7/10

Soredemo Ayumu takes a simple premise and executes it beautifully. It is a series in which our protagonist Tanaka Ayumu is in love with his senpai Yaotome Urushi who is a master shouji player and "president" of the shouji "club". Tanaka wants to confess his feelings to Yaotome but has made a pact with himself that he will only do so after he beats her in a game of shouji. As the audience, we get to see Tanaka be completely direct about how much he likes Yaotome without saying "I'm in love with you" while they play shouji together and go through their daily lives. Because of Tanaka's directness, Yaotome has a pretty strong suspicion about his feelings for her and often tries to get him to confess but usually ends up flustered by how smooth Tanaka is.

Art: 7/10

The art in this series is pretty decent. There is not much attention given to backgrounds, but the facial expressions are really well done. The style is pretty simplistic overall which really fits this series.

Characters: 10/10

This is where the series really shines. Unlike many other protagonists in these types of series, Tanaka is very direct and quick on his feet when it comes to flirting, making it seem natural, and not drawing any attention to it himself. Yaotome is adorable when she gets flustered and there are actually moments where she is able to make Tanaka flustered himself. It is basically a role reversal when compared to Teasing Master Takagi except in this case, both characters are very perceptive. It is really refreshing to see how direct Tanaka is about his feelings. He consistently spells it out (i.e. "the men of this world must be lacking to have overlooked your charm" or "you're good at shouji, you're so smart, not to mention super cute and...") without directly saying that he is in love with her. From the audience's perspective it is obvious that Yaotome also has feelings for Tanaka but she is embarrassed and sometimes wonders if he's just flirting to mess with her. The dynamic is a truly fun time. There are also two supporting characters who are Tanaka's friends and it is obvious that they are in love with each other as well. The chapters that focus on the two of them are always wholesome and fun.

Enjoyment: 10/10

If it isn't obvious, I really enjoy this series. It is ongoing and has had a high re-read value for me. It is essentially a similar dynamic to Kaguya and Shirogane from Kaguya-sama: Love is war but less intense in terms of the mind games. Perfect combination of wholesome and funny.

Overall: 9/10

Well executed slice of life romance that draws upon the conventions of a particular niche within those genres and puts its own spin on it. If you are expecting a big overarching narrative you will be disappointed. The character interactions are what drive this series so if you aren't a fan of the characters or the premise, you won't enjoy this series.

My personal rating for this series is a 9/10 but even outside of my personal enjoyment I think this series deserves a 7.5/10 to an 8/10.

To put it simply, Soredemo is a much more entertaining version of Souichirou Yamamoto's more popular series Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. While it keeps a pretty similar formula, small changes here and there allow it to not feel nearly as tedious or frustrating.

Story: To elaborate, my biggest flaw with Takagi-san was how its repetitive nature highlighted the incompetence of its main character and left the readers frustrated at the end result being the exact same thing every single time. Soredemo similarly spins its wheels with little romantic progress being made, however it is not nearly as bad here. Both of it's main characters are more ... or less aware of each other's feelings and the only thing halting a confession is a feeling of honor and pride. This helps the reader to feel more content to enjoy the reading rather than scream at the manga panels about how dense everyone is.

I think one of the biggest flaw with Soredemo is still it's length. It probably would have been better suited to the form of a 4-Koma, though the shorter weekly chapters are not outright bad. Beyond that, while I praised it in comparison to its sibling series, Soredemo still lacks a lot of forward momentum. Since we know the main character won't confess till he reaches his goal, this leaves the readers waiting till he eventually does it. There aren't a lot of twists and the direction of the series remains pretty predictable because of it. How enjoyable it still ends up being all depends on the reader and how much mileage they get out of the interactions.

Art: There is little to actually say about the art here. Takagi-san already looked great and Soredemo is no exception. Yamamoto has perfected a great cutesy artstyle that really pops. It has developed a lot since their earleir works like Fudatsuki no Kyouko-chan.

Characters: There isn't much to say here either. Both of the main characters are interesting enough and have a great dynamic, but not so much that I'll actually bother remembering their names. The two side characters have a decent mini romance going on as well, though they aren't really anything special.

I really like this series, probably more than I should. How much anyone else would enjoy it depends a lot on what they value in their romcoms.

This is one of those mangas where it's so sweet that you'll probably contract diabetes and throw up rainbows.
But in all seriousness, this manga is just about misunderstandings and how they can cause cute situations. You do not need to care about shogi in the slightest to like this manga.

The art is always professional and clean, making the manga panels always nice to look at.

The characters are done really well, I turned the chapters thinking I'd never like a character, and maybe 10 chapters later I'm already calling them cute and caring about them. Each character follows a certain trope and never betrays it.


This ... manga is really enjoyable, probably one of my favourite fluff romance manga I've read. The manga really delivers on cute moments and will probably leave you smiling/giggling rather than bored.


Don't force yourself to read all of it, but I would definitely recommend to at least start this manga.

So the story, as the title of the manga suggests, is when will ayumu make his move. This manga is not in any way a story intensive manga, just a chill, cute, and wholesome manga. So if you're someone who only looks at the bigger picture and not appreciate the small details, this manga is not for you. I came from karakai jouzu no moto takagi-san and I gotta say I really missed the art style a lot. Despite the story barely having any plot at all, I really enjoyed my read. I rate a manga based on how much I enjoyed it, so I ... shall give this one a solid 9.

The story is beautiful at the beginning, until it reached chapter 30, I started to feel bored, but I continued reading, and this is the worst thing I have ever done in my life.
Not worth
The story is very ordinary and does not deserve more than 100 chapters
The narration in the story is acceptable
The feelings between the characters are incredibly stupid. They deal with normal situations as if they were stupid or robots. I don't know why.
Do I recommend its cows? no
Why ? Because there is nothing logical about the events
Read anything other than this. This is my advice to you