Koiseyo Mayakashi Tenshi-domo
Fall in Love, You False Angels

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[Gifted a copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]
TW: Grooming, Attempted Assault

Fall in Love, You False Angels by Coco Uzuki is a sugary sweet take on some classic tropes in this first volume.

Uzuki’s gorgeous illustrations (the heavy lifting of the works’ charm with its lovely lines and silly expressions) tell the tale of Otogi and Toki, class presidents, local heartthrobs, and all around too good to be true model students. The catch is, of course, that they are too good to be true and a chance encounter has them revealing their true faces to one another. From there, the two are naturally drawn ... in as their inner lives become a shared secret. Otogi and Toki, I should clarify, aren’t secretly horrible people. They’re just much more blunt and vulgar than their school personas suggest. I really hope the series leans more into why they both chose to put on such masks. The romance is really cute but in its early stages for now. Otogi’s pretty gone, poor girl, on Toki and he seems relatively charmed by her.

This was a really strong opening to what could be a really well done tale of secret romance, being true to yourself, and what people do in the name of politeness. I am eager to see where it goes!

Koiseyo Mayakashi Tenshidomo is a manga I was really looking forward to. It's becoming increasingly popular and I was starting to hear about it on a regular basis. This is author Coco Uzuki's first series. The two protagonists are particularly handsome, making you want to frame every other frame because they're so beautiful, and the character designs are delicate and pretty. The drawings are really the strong point of this shōjo.
The dynamic of the double hidden face is funny and we can sense a struggle to see who will crack first, a bit like Kaguya-sama. The story's central idea of maintaining a facade and finding ... someone who loves you for your true self is a good one. However, said hidden sides aren't all that shocking. They don't let on when they get mugged in the street... so far so shocking apart from the borderline language which is a lot less stilted. It would be interesting to see WHY they don't act naturally in public (even if the pressure of other people's gaze and the conformism of Japanese society seem obvious). It lacks a bit of development, especially of the secondary characters. I hope the sequel doesn't just have Otogi crushing on the prince, but continues to have its little narcissistic phases.