Kieta Hatsukoi
My Love Mix-Up!

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What a great manga!
If you want something similar to Ao no Flag, but funnier, with less drama and more fluffiness, this is the one! This work made me get back to reading manga and started my whole interest in LGBTQIA+ manga as well. This was my heartstopper lol.
It has a pretty solid plot, character development, nice art, and nothing feels out of place or doesn't have plot holes, I would say. This is one of the few romance mangas that I've read when the main couple actually talks things out. At first, we have that whole misunderstanding trope, but little by little the characters start ... to develop and change, becoming more mature. Also, all the protagonists are so lovely and captivating, they're that type of character that you just want to protect because they're so precious!
And, even tho sexualities are never mentioned in this manga, it does show a lot of things that queer people have to deal with such as homophobia, and coming out, so I think this is a pretty good LGBTQIA+ rep. Honestly, reading this manga was a journey, it almost felt like they were my kids or something and I was watching them grow up (I'm not that old, I'm not even in my 30s yet). But anyway, this was great, I enjoyed so much.

Kieta Hatsukoi is what all modern shounen-ai should aim for. This throws all the usual BL tropes out the window and only leaves room for a genuinely amazing romance, that just happens to be BL. It has a hilariously creative set-up, a realistic and emotionally gripping story and seriously well-written and developed characters. This is easily my favourite shounen-ai of all time and I feel compelled to write a review lol.

STORY: 10
So the story begins with the protagonist Aoki, borrowing an eraser from his crush, Hashimoto, only to discover that she's written the name of another one of their classmates, Ida, on it. And of ... course, he accidentally drops it and Ida picks it up and assumes that Aoki has a crush on him. With balls of steel, Aoki takes one for the team and decides to commit to it and confess to Ida to hide Hashimoto's feelings for him. And if you don't think this has been shenanigans enough - it only gets better from here. Small spoiler; the main couple gets together around 2/3 into the story so it covers a lot of their relationship, between being afraid of coming out to friends and family, to first kiss and their first time. But it's not this grandiose drama that fetishises their relationship - it's literally just two teenagers falling in love and it's fucking adorable. There is a perfect balance of shoujo tropes, with it being slow-paced but also not making the audience feel like hand-holding is a drop of water in the middle of a desert. Although it is a shoujo BL, Kieta Hatsukoi rejects all of the stale tropes associated with both genres, and it's so rare to find something this refreshing. I'm ngl, at one point I got very upset because I thought they were pulling an amnesia plot (which is actually the fucking WORST) but even then, IT WAS A BAIT N' SWITCH! The mangaka seriously dangled how shit it could've been in front of me before reminding me that there's no way they're that low.

ART: 10
The art is generally very cute and bright, but my favourite aspect by far is the facial expressions. Not only do they convey specific emotions seamlessly, it's also the reason why the comedy lands so well. Aoki's expressions in every situation just brings out the humour in a usually dramatic situation, and it hits just right. Moreover, it just feels relatable, like that's how an actual person would react to that, which is surprisingly uncommon in most manga. The character design is also gorgeous, general teenage archetypes but with individual flare to all of them that express a bit about their character.

CHARACTERS: 10
Not only are Aoki and Ida fantastically developed and interesting characters on their own, but their chemistry and genuine growing affection for one another is so well-written it's palpable. Also, Hashimoto and Aoki's best friend, Aida, are just as great; they each bring their own personality and comedy to the situation and are actually just great friends to Aoki. At one point, there's a misunderstanding between Aoki and Ida, and as soon as Aoki confides in Aida, he just says the exact right thing, no judgement, just seamless advice. I love all of these characters with my entire being.

ENJOYMENT: 1000
This is consistently engaging and I got extremely attached to the characters, probably more than I should have, so it's safe to say that I really, really enjoyed it.

OVERALL: Masterpiece
I love Kieta Hatsukoi. I will never stop thinking about Kieta Hatsukoi, and I literally could not recommend Kieta Hatsukoi enough to anyone reading this right now if you haven't already read it. Do yourself a favour, especially if you're looking for something fresh in either the BL or shoujo genres, because this is the absolute best of both worlds.

While this manga is funny and does not have any particular downsides it just feels like a soulless feel-good manga trying to tell kids to be more confident. None of the characters felt like they had much drive or development, they just did what the story dictated they do with some funny stuff thrown in. The romance did not hit that sweet spot of believability that separates the good romances from the bad romances either. The main couple had very little meaningful inner conflict that made me believe what they had was true love instead of a high school fixation.
Overall, it was pulp fiction ... with an extra tag to sell it to modern audiences. Best part was the art by Aruko.