Magokoro Scramble! (Magokoro Scramble! What Lies in Your Heart?)

Feb 26, 2025

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (17/17 chp)

Weekly Shounen Jump is probably one of the most cutthroat manga magazines there are out there. If you’re unable to keep readers engaged for each chapter you release of your manga to the magazine, you could be faced with an early cancellation. Its digital counterpart, Shounen Jump+, is the same way; many manga on this app/website have had their final chapters published when they haven’t even been publishing for a year. One such manga is the subject of today’s review, Magokoro Scramble, which ended today after first being released in October of last year. When I found out Magokoro Scramble was being cut short, I ... figured I might as well take the opportunity to read through it while I could; it’s not like I can read much else on Manga Plus, given the fact that I cancelled my subscription for its subscription service after Oshi no Ko ended and have no intention of resubscribing any time soon. Why was Magokoro Scramble cut off so soon, and just how much was its story affected by the 17-chapter length? Can’t hurt to find out!

Magokoro Scramble, subtitled “What Lies In Your Heart?” in its English version, is a romantic comedy about Koharu Sanada and Yuki Yatsutase, two high school students from very different bloodlines. Koharu’s bloodline carries the trait of reading minds, which has been a source of grief for our scary-faced hero; it has even led to him swearing off love. Everything changes one day, however, when he meets Yuki after saving her from a group of thugs. Yuki may seem like a quiet girl, but she is very excitable inside of her mind; as a result, when she inevitably falls in love with Koharu, he can hear her internal declarations of love loud and clear! From there, although Koharu initially decides to make Yuki hate him, it only leads to him getting more entangled with her and other people who come from bloodlines that have their own unique abilities that come with them.

In my opinion, the biggest piece of missed potential that Magokoro Scramble displays is the whole “bloodline” thing. Honestly, I feel like the only character whose bloodline power is fully established is Koharu’s. His mind-reading ability is, of course, an integral part of the story that is used for both comedy and drama; plus, although it’s not important to the overarching story, it’s established in the first chapter that his father can also read minds, proving that it is, indeed, a bloodline thing. With other characters and their bloodline-related abilities, however, they’re all either not explored as much as they could be or just plain pointless. There is one character whose bloodline allows him to see the weights of objects and people just by looking at them, but it didn’t really feel like there was much of a point to it other than to give an excuse for why this character does something the way he does. Honestly, even if the shortness of the manga didn’t allow for much exploration of the bloodline abilities, that one is just plain stupid.

Before all of that, though, Magokoro Scramble is a romantic comedy, as I have mentioned. How are the two romantic leads, though? Eh….not too bad, but not terribly engaging, either. Koharu is kind of a typical “delinquent-looking dude who isn’t actually that bad of a guy” character who wasn’t a particularly engaging protagonist. I did kind of like Yuki, although that’s just because of how amusing her internal thoughts can be, especially when compared to her outer personality; otherwise, she’s not that much more engaging. However, I can at least appreciate the character development Koharu goes through because of his encounter with Yuki, eventually being able to open up to her at least a little bit. While the two ending up together was a foregone conclusion, it’s at least a little satisfying when they do.

As for the art….well, it is the kind of art you would expect from a newbie manga artist submitting something to Shounen Jump+ for the first time. Not too bad, but not particularly great, either. I wasn’t entirely sure about the way Koharu’s face was drawn, but if he’s supposed to have a scary-looking face, I suppose Satoshi Taninaka drew it pretty well. I do think the way he draws Yuki in her more energetic inner thoughts is quite cute, though. Yeah, I don’t think I have much else to say about the art.

Overall, Magokoro Scramble may not be the most satisfying of manga out there, but it’s not that bad, either. I’d recommend it if you have Manga Plus and want a quick rom-com to read on it. It may get you interested in whatever Satoshi Taninaka’s next work may be; hopefully, he’ll be able to flesh things out more!

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Nov 30, 2024

JayTCU

Recommended

Preliminary (6/17 chp)

Magokoro Scramble. Magokoro Scramble. Magokoro Scramble. Sorry, I could say that name all day. Rolls off the tongue and it sounds sick as hell, anyway.

Don’t let the “🤨” you’re about to see from this sway what you think of the manga itself. Im not sure about MAL, but the majority of threads I’ve seen elsewhere really hate chapter 6 specifically, but I’ll explain why it’s not a big deal (spoiler-free explanation) and why the premise and execution of this manga will determine how great it can be long term.

First though I’ll briefly cover the premise even though the summary does it pretty well. We have ... the MC Koharu Sanada; who has Telepathy, though emotions, and can basically read anyones true intentions. This has caused unpleasantness in past relationships (girlfriend) and he decides to shied himself from love going forward. Then you have Yuki Yatsutase who appears stone faced at first glance but underneath is your typical shoujo female protag. This will cause shoujo-like moments where she needs to be rescued every chapter, but it’s explained away in a not so meaningful way and as i'm not generally a fan of "damsels in distress" it does concern me what happens with her character development.

Second is the tone. It to me sits somewhere between goofy comedy and mysterious supernatural drama. That may seem vague but honestly we're about 6 chapters in and by this point in reading I usually have a good feeling for the vibe a manga gives. I really liked the interactions between the two MCs and even the small cast of side characters presented so far. The dynamic between them all has differed from carefree, or awkward, or protective, or silly.

Third is the art. I usually find this a poor attempt by manga reviewers to pad out length but it actually suprised me how much i liked the mix of the supernatural specific artstyles and base art of the manga. That is to say the art itself doesn't look jaw dropping or anything but how it was utilized was very impressive.

PSA: before i wrap this up, be aware that you might be tricked into thinking this manga contains "NTR" which is kryptonite for romance anime fans. However that's not accurate here. The supernatural abilities are not exclusive to MC Sunada and lets just say many use their abilities disgracefully. There is no shock value here, but I do see why what happened upset many who read it that way.

Do I recommend this manga. Hell yes. Of course you can never tell how good something will be long term. You can read 10 volumes and think somethings sick then the rug is pulled out from under you when it goes to shit. I think the idea and premise is fun and with the right execution the elements of supernatural abilities won't hinder that otherwise goofy feeling this manga gives off.

Edit: Yeah and as predicted it didn't end well. The overall problem with wsj strikes here as welll. Also @shutcardboard stop being a pussy and call me out directly😂

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Mar 7, 2025

star-mayhem

Mixed Feelings

The rating is only this high because I did wholeheartedly enjoyed this series despite its massive flaws. It had so much potential, and I really think this could've been such a cute, funky manga if it wasn't obvious how it was already on the chopping block by like the fifth chapter. They really forgot the initial premise to rush into the romance and other important character arcs that was at least subtly hinted upon in the pilot chapter. I did stay delusional until the end, just hoping that it wouldn't meet its end but alas.

I really loved Koharu and Yuki, and their dynamic was so ...

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Feb 26, 2025

shutcardboard

Not Recommended

Preliminary (17/17 chp)

Magokoro Scramble. I initially dropped this after ch16 but here we are, finished just one chapter later- and I am not surprised.

First off, about another "review" mentioning the "unfounded ch6 hate", it is more of an incredibly premature, biased and plain wrong official PR management damage control move. The author did use actual mindbreak NTR to heavily mentally torture a traumatised MC and it continually ruined pretty much everything that the manga had going for it. You can not explain and excuse that away because "I liked the first 5 ch" and "trust me bro". It was most probably the author's own choice.
The hate around ... that chapter was more than appropriate, deserved even. Also, saying that "the chapter isn't a big deal" is not only disingenuous but a plain hurtful lie. 8 of the remaining 10 chapters are negatively impacted by that one mistake (is what I would call it).

What said mistake was? Trying to shoehorn a massive trend into this series that, if done somewhat properly, easily brings in different kinds of readers- NTR.
Usually not a big deal for me personally, this pretty much free and popular but cheap way of creating drama and baiting readers is a noob trap- and this author fell in head first. I would rate it worse than the Tsumiki-san fiasco solely because of the fact that the author here tried to run with it.

Now, about what made this manga highly enjoyable and how everything was ruined. Both MCs and their interactions were the best part, straight up. I would rate their dynamic a sweet 9/10.. for the first 5 chapters. Wacky panels, facial expressions and shenanigans. The tone was rather light-hearted with some serious moments mixed in here and there which struck a nice balance.
Ch6 introduces an incredibly harsh tonal shift, pretty much out of nowhere. Not a fan to say the least and in story it just wasn't enjoyable at all. Not because of the contents, mind you but because of all circumstances around it.
After the ch6 there is a time skip of 2 months. Their relationship during that time (short 1 panel explanation) and almost whole remainder of the series is cringe, annoying and uncomfortable. Yes, clearly intended after what transpired but it is done so incredibly poorly. It dragged for the majority of the manga and introduced multiple plot holes. Time skips are another noob trap and this is a perfect example of how and why not to go for it.
It did try to resolve in an organic way.. until the author just gave up to quickly finish and end with that artistic? idea they had (further shitting on any reader invested in both of them). She conveniently turns braindead and something so utterly disgusting and stupid happens just to loop back to the introduction scene and resolve everything in a single scene. It sucks. It reads like a teen's first fanfic and they sit there, satisfied look on their face, going "this is epic!".

Everything else falls flat. The bloodlines/powers? Obsolete next to the overpowering god brainwasher. The mindreading enabled the exceptional dynamic but that was taken away when the characters fully regressed for 8 out of 10 chapters.
The op final boss that was teased? Drops in, fucks around hard to get away scot free and have infinite agency over the whole cast while not only being allowed but engaged with without any repercussion.
And it keeps going but I won't go ham here because (pretty sure?) of this being the author's first serialization.

I did try to give credit where it is due but, man, this was a disappointment through and through. Yeah, it does feel like a short series and the loop back to the introduction scene makes it look like it wasn't axed but that in turn makes me think "why would I recommend this at all then? It ain't worth it even with only 17 ch". I just can't.

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