Mayonaka Heart Tune
Tune In to the Midnight Heart

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Where do I even start? ARISU YAMABUKI IS THE GOAT!

The plot is good and all and so are the heroines of our story, but Arisu Yamabuki carries it so hard. The mangaka went so hard with writing this main character because HE IS SIMPLY THAT GUY. Going into the manga, I did not expect a lot. I found it on Reddit and I thought to myself, "It's 11 pm so I might as well just read brainrot." First chapter in, and I am already ASTOUNDED by Arisu Yamabuki. He is NOT your generic, romance main character. Not only is this guy bold as hell, he ... can BACK IT UP. Nineteen chapters later and I will NEVER stop praising him. He is the epitome of peak character writing. He should be an EXAMPLE to all other mangakas when it comes to writing character.

No more to generic, perverted and stupid main characters! Arisu Yamabuki is the model!

10/10 (9/10)

If this manga's cute art could nourish one's soul as much as one's stomach, then world hunger would become a myth. While art was the main pull for me, the story has certainly been no less entertaining (10 chapters in thus far).


Characters:
The best part of the characters in Mayonaka are that they don't lean fully into one archetype, making them funny, relatable (mostly), and endearing.

First, the MC: the personification of confidence, the person that seriously treats his sh!t seriously (seriously), the scion of the Yamabuki family. He could leave this manga and go start his own slice of life series and it would ... become a massive hit overnight. He would save truck-kun from being run over by a high school girl and then isekai both of them-

The MC truly brings the comedy to this manga, throwing off everyone else's pace and replacing theirs with his own. His confidence mixed with his sudden bouts of meekness balance out and create fun, bubbly interactions between him and the rest of the girls. He's neither too submissive nor too assertive, both humble yet confident, and dorkily adorable all the way. His personality is one that makes you want to root for him, and that makes reading this series that much more enjoyable.

I've already put a lot in the character section so I'll quickly go over the 4 FMCs. Describing each in one phrase, they would be: perfectly ditzy, smugly tsun(dere), confidently shy, and arms length friends. Let's ignore the last one (because she doesn't fit in my narrative :D). Like the MC, they never flip too hard onto one "side" of their personality, making it hard to predict how they'll react to the MC's antics and letting you cruise along the manga's happy fluffy vibe.


Plot:
Like another person has said, Mayonaka appears similar to Quintessential Quintuplets. MC is trying to find a girl from his past, only knows her from her voice, and finds four girls who all have voices and parts of mannerisms that parallel the girl he's searching for (Quadrassential Quadruplets!!). There are flash forward(s) of the girl he's trying to find, wedding photos, clues from school events; all that's missing is a paper that can rival the insanity of Yotsuba theory. It's a formula that worked for Quintuplets, and it doesn't falter for Mayonaka. The sense of mystery when each chapter changes who you think the mystery girl is, the gradual opening up of the girls to MC, and their growth and support for each other goad your finger towards that next chapter, then the next, then the next, until you've hit the end of currently released content.

Where it differs most from Quintuplets, however, is the characters' motivations. Whereas in Quintuplets the main motivations were their father and later, affections towards MC, Mayonaka puts more emphasis on each characters' dream careers/passions. Their dreams, even the MC's dreams, aren't just reasons for the characters to interact; they are genuine, core drivers of their character. It takes away focus from the romance aspect, which makes interactions natural and rewarding. Not only are they growing closer over time, they're also brilliantly working towrads their dreams, which always brings about happy and fuzzy feelings.

The plot might not be especially big brained or deep, but neither does it give you a sense of terror from second-hand embarassment, nor is any character being neglected both in romance and in passion. Its wonderfully relaxing and charming.


Art:
52/10, amazing, superb, sho cute, I want to gobble up the pages- The characters are expressive, dynamically posed, funnily panneled (panneled funnily?), and overall just a treat that blesses the eyes. Everything is so polished, so jubilant, even the onomatopoeia pop and flutter. Mmh, I think I've simped enough for the art now. Anyways, its amazing, incredible, fanta-gah!!


Recommend?:
*Cough*... Like I said at the start, just the art alone is enough to read this. But even if that's not one of your priorities, Mayonaka, following similar footsteps to Quintesential Quintuplets, has the potential to become a great in the romcom genre. Its characters, while not incredibly deep, are certainly not flat either, and have plenty of room to grow as the series continues. I can easily see myself coming back after it ends to cry, both because I'll miss the upbeat interactions and character relationships, and also because the girl I was rooting for didn't win (none of them have blue hair or like baking right?!).

If you're looking for a light, bubbly romcom with a side of mystery and passion for one's dreams, all glued together by amazing art, then Mayonaka is for you.
If you're looking for a rambunctious romcom after a long day, where you can unwind and escape from reality for a few moments, then Mayonaka is for you.
And if you don't know, then Mayonaka is DEFINITELY for you. Try it, you won't regret it. Cheers~!

8.9/10


There have not been many instances where the first chapter in a manga screams “star potential,” no less than a harem; however, this manga does just that due to its balance of characters, mystery, and the extremist comedy.

The plot is relatively basic; as all harem mangas go, there is an objective, and the mc accomplishing said objective gets the fmls to fall in love with him in the process. Eerily similar to “Quintessential Quintuplets” though, there’s a plot device of mystery that will last until the series’ end. With this manga’s well-written pacing and introduction, the anonymous search of the main character is much ... more engaging than other generic harem counterparts.

The characters are rather basic with their plot lines — redemption arc, shy girl that opens up, the overly kind girl that gets close, etc — however, they all have redeemable qualities and are distinct while not overpowering each other. So far, the author has balanced the screen time for each character decently well, further deepening the characters. The main character in this instance is the source of the “com” in romcom, with him being the bud of most jokes and humorous dialog. Though his character is somewhat well-written and developed, most of the jokes seem to be forced, which does add a certain “cringe factor” to the manga. Despite all the inducing cringe, his character is rather unique to the genre and is quite a rusher from the stuffy “blush at every sight” type of harem protagonist.

Whether or not this manga will be the greatest harem manga of all time is too early to tell, however, it does have the potential to be it — no matter how low the actual hurdle is. As of now, this is a well-written manga with a few plot hole “face-palm moments,” but it’s full of depth and intrigue.

…
31 chapters in, this is even better than I thought, and it is actually the best harem of all time. Yup, I’m gonna die on this hill. Every character is just .. perfect. There’s no wrong options, and the author still leaves so much intrigue and mystery with each girl while developing them. Seriously, Uzuki may be one of the best written characters in a harem I’ve seen, along with the mc.

Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

When first reading this manga through browsing around Kondansha site, I had zero expectations whatsoever.

After giving a shot around 3 chapter I'm ready to roast it to death but when I re-read it again it manage to capture my little hope.

How to start this review because I don't know how to properly describe this manga. The first panel I thought the manga is about "My sister is among them" 2.0 remake but it wasn't the case for this and definitely not remake of Hanayome stuf. The manga to put it simply, trying to overcome what you're think it's impossible and trying your best ... as it is.

The main character or should I say the main harem protagonist in this particular story, he wasn't annoying or dead brained guy. He just your normal person with logical thinking and action throughout his speech, and he wasn't wrong in term of society perse.

Anyway, the manga charm was on the perspective real people struggle and how to dealt with in simple yet very manga way making it very memorable.

You can say that this is definitely a rhythm game with actual protagonist Producers and personality type guy

Honestly, my favorite romance. The MC, Arisu Yamabuki. He's a member of the Yamabuki group, a pretty wealthy group, and that causes him to be drowning in women 24/7. He gets asked out on like page 3 of chapter 1, but here's why he's a good main character; he said no without getting all flustered. He acts like an ass sometimes, but he's not actually an ass. He's just overly confident and determined. He goes asking girls if they love him more than once in the story (reminder: 37 chapters as of writing this. This is NOT normal MC RomCom behavior). He's realistically smart and ... has actual flaws (i.e. being cocky). It's also shown that he's unreasonably fast. Like the story makes sure you know Arisu can run really fast for no reason. But what makes it better is that it's not a plot point in the story, or that girls will gawk upon him even more because of it, it's just something that was pointed out (he was also carrying two girls while running and was still a speed demon).

Story? The overall plot is pretty good. I mean, guy is trying to find the first girl he told that he loved her, but only remembers her voice. One day at a new school, he hears her voice on the intercom so he rushes to the announcement club to find her. Problem is, every girl in there sounds like her. So he promptly joins the club and vows to get to know all the girls to find out who is his first love. BUT... The arcs are pretty mid. Doesn't really take away from anything, it's still great, but I found some of the plots and reasonings a bit boring.

Now for the part you probably came here for... The girls. Kinda stereotypical but ARISU is the reason we're reading this, not them.

Nene: Annoying Tsundere type that likes hitting MC. I'm pretty sure she scored lowest on the popularity tests but she's been getting a lot of attention recently, so that's nice. (whole ass arc about her rn)

Iko: She's shy and a VTuber, but somehow Arisu is also able to help her with confidence and stuff and well, it's romance, of course she falls for him. She serves as the "shy girl that actually has way more going on than you'd think" of the group.

Rikka: She says "I love you" chapter one as a joke to mess with him. She's probably the most "realistic" out of the group. Plays the guitar, she's the only one that actually has issues with Arisu, but she's also the most, how do I say this, openly affectionate. Yeah no, she ain't scared of what other people think. You'll see what I mean.

Lemon: she the goat fr fr. whenever lemon drunk it's a peak chapter guaranteed fr fr no cap straight bussin on god.

Shinobu: My personal favorite. She's pretty typical but she's cute. She get's flustered easy. Overworked, intelligent (but not when it comes to people), and a hard worker. She's portrayed as kinda like the caretaker of the whole ass school. Class president or sm high ranking student role, everyone puts their worries on her. But then Arisu comes in and it's clear she at least likes him to a certain extent when no one else did (besides Rikka, but they met prior to the group meeting him). Arisu helps her with her work, convinces her to stop working so hard, and they become like official friends. Arisu's a goat.

All in all. 100% recommend. r/TuneInToTheMidnight has all chapters posted there, so go read it. NOW. I'm not recommending anymore, go read it. If not for me, do it for Arisu. Author also wrote "Senryuu Shoujo" which I myself haven't read but I heard it was really good. Might go read it.

9/10 so far.

First time writing a review so bear with me a little bit if I'm not clear on something.
I read up to chapter 11 and its very good unlike other generic harem school manga. The art is like a normal shounen manga with some exceptional scenes which fit the story pretty well. Very light hearted and fun to read without the frustration of the character's wishywashyness unlike other romance manga (I'm looking at you Rent a Girl friend >:( ). I say this manga got potential to be really good.
Have good potential so I'll keep an eye on this manga until ... later chapters.

I first read this manga because of the recommendation by Kito Senpai, honestly all of his manga recommendations for this kind of genre really let me feel undoubtedly fine and I could enjoy it as a "minor" story along with some of other mangas or animes. My first impression was rather not expecting too much about this manga, I thought it was just a normal harem and romcom manga that other mangas such as the Gotoubun no Hanayome or Bokuyaiba can do much better, and indeed, it is. But that doesn't mean this is a bad manga, if you want ... to have it a try, I will definitely recommend you to do that. Here are some reasons that can, hopefully help you take this manga for the next shot:

- Storytelling, plot: 7/10, decent. Although with the new (or not new) theme which is mainly about broadcasting and voice-needing careers, all the concepts are the same, no shocking twists, no complicated flashbacks or incomprehensible details, but again the plot is predictable but also not so boring. The story is quite like Gotoubun somehow in my opinion, but it has a lot of interesting things following up as well.

- Characters: 7.5/10, quite solid. All the thing that you would expect: waifus, tsunderes, danderes, etc. And also harem with a pretty cool protagonist. I have a good impression on his characteristics actually, quite smart, conscientious towards the dream and always want to help all the girls be better (at least he has a brain). And the most interesting part of this story is "all the girls are the same like the one that I've always wanted to meet again", though we could guess the destined girl could be the first girl he met :)).

- Art: 8.5/10, good. It's clear for me to say that the art is better than some of the good mangas in this genre, though not the best ofc. The girls are way more cuter, and the main, very generously I'll say he's enough, just normal. In general, the art gives a pretty sweet vibe, much sweeter than Roshidere but also not too sweet to enjoy all along.

In conclusion, I gotta say one thing: this manga really has a strong influence from Gotoubun no Hanayome, but it doesn't mean this manga is so boring. In fact, if you want to follow a new flavor of romcom or harem (because there are a lot of flavors out there that you can choose), this manga could definitely be on your list. It's not the best manga, but it doesn't have a weird plot like the Medaka one. Definitely you need to read it.

Tune in to the midnight heart is genuinely a genre defining romance manga, the cast is likeable, the art style is incredibly punchy with a unique feel that feels almost "animated" or that the art is living and breathing while being very high quality, but if there's one take away from this manga it'd be the main character, Yamabuki, who's almost a polar opposite of the typical romcom protagonist. He is self assured, capable, and doesn't play into typical tropes, making him a very refreshing MC to follow throughout the story. The stylistic choices of the chapter title drops along with the very balanced amount ... of development time for each of the girls makes this manga essentially flawless as a romcom in my eyes. Highly recommended to read at least 5 chapters

Take nisekoi and give it a modern twist and you get this. 8/10

The protagonist is a modern-day gentleman is trying to rizz all the girls.

Who will be the winner, find out probably at the very last chapter. (this isnt 100 kanojo)

Vtubers, singers, announcers, and voice actors, and isnt this ultimately just a voice fetish..!

If you are not interested yet, then you just might not like harem or intrested in "voices", and so this is not really for you.

So, in conclusion if you like boys (legal ofc...) who has that modern gofer (someone whose job involves running various errands) rizz, and some cute girls with aspiring ... careers (not just onlyfan careers) then you'll just might like this series as it is heartwarming and CUTE.

I randomly recognized some of the previous works of the artist and gave it a shot.

I consider this title one of the top competitors for its completely unique take on the "harem" category.
The story is just about a capable MC who seeks to find his old "love" from the long past from one of the girls.
Setup-wise, it is already unique and it gets better.
There are no bland or pale characters, as this is a common flaw with most "harem" titles.

Each girl has a unique personality with their own values, goals, and standards which they abide by.
Pair this great concept with an MC who is impressively ... confident.
He walks the act, takes action for what is considered good and accounts for everything else.