5-ji kara 9-ji made
From five to nine

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Aihara Mikis 5-ji kara 9-ji made is one of those manga where you think it starts our pretty decent enough and then suddenly one scene or one action one of the characters commits, makes you question your love for the manga.

Sure, the story seems quite interesting for josei readers; a 27-years old private english teacher, who has plenty of guys to choose from. Be it a monk or a crossdressing high-school student.
She also doesn't appear to be stupid nor prudish. So readers, who have problems with their main characters having more than one serious love interest, then this manga is just not for you.
Besides the ... main female charater, there are two others as well, who happen to work at Junkos workplace too. These women have their own stories as well as love interests too, which makes the manga instantly more complex and interesting.
My main problem though, lies with the male protagonist, who doesn't see anything wrong with locking up the woman he supposedly loves in a room for days after fearing she might leave him. This might be seen as obsessive love and is 'oh so sexy' but is downright abusive.
What bothers me as well, is the main girls reaction to this, even though she tries to not get locked up again, she doesn't just break off all contact with him. Well maybe she loves him, she clearly doesn't know yet.

So far though, I actually enjoy the manga and as someone who loves josei manga, I take everything I can get and just hope for a decent outcome. I especially like the scenes including Arthur & Momoe (also her obsession with BL manga) and scenes with Yuki.
I just hope the mangaka won't play out the love triangles too long, as that might become tedious later on.

I'm writing this review after I've just finished reading the 19th chapter.
Reading "5-ji kara 9-ji made" the sentence "Bad love isn't better than none" constantly come to my mind. But first things first.

In the beginning the setting seemed interesting.
While I read the first chapters I had to laugh at the kind of "reverse harem" vibe the manga gave off, with so many love interests being available for Junko.
Junko seemed like a smart person, but I soon began to doubt that.
I don't want to spoil anything specific, but after some stuff the male protagonist pulled off, Junko still didn't cut ties with him. Even though that ... guy was clearly obsessive - not in a good way, but in a plain creepy "better call the cops" way.
How could anyone - even for a second - consider a relationship with someone who doesn't accept any boundaries and doesn't accept your dreams? Who instead wants you to "reflect" on yourself and change you to his kind of "ideal wife", which is highly delusional and oppressive behaviour?
The only thing that kept me going, were the side stories with the supporting characters, which were funny and entertaining, as well as the hope, that Junko would made a decent choice for once.
After reading 19 chapters I only feel annoyed about the main characters and that the story is going nowhere/in circles.

With that I conclude my review.
Kind of sad that I have to say that "5-ji kara 9-ji made" is one of the worst manga, and most certainly the worst Josei manga I've ever read.
But don't let this stop you from reading the manga.
Read it and create your own opinion.

I'm sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes - English isn't my native language.

This is the classic manga "if you know anyone like this, call the cops." there is no way it is or will be a good relationship.

This is also the lame type of plot that always is trying to convince you that love is the absolute answer and anything can be explain with... even crimes... a lot of crimes.

I kept reading (only found up to cap 22) because I thought it would get better, but I was wrong, they continue "omg, I think he does this horrible thing because he loves me!" and "I can't love him, but what he did before..." lame.

If someone prove me ... this changes to an epic story about people being arrested for being criminal, abusive and manipulative, I may read the rest.

This manga is wild. It's my favourite guilty pleasure read of all time. Technically speaking it's not a very good story, but if you shut your brain off this is the brightest, most brilliant dumpsterfire you'll ever see burning. This is it: Trash of the finest quality!

The characters act completely mind boggling. Nothing here is realistic. Obsessive and toxic behaviour is romanticised. And that means that this manga is utterly unpredictable in what it throws at you. I am so obsessed with this manga that I bought it twice - all 16 volumes - once in my native language and once in Japanese, together with ... the drama CDs, the fanbook and the spin-off. I'm not joking, I have been obsessed with this since the first volume released in Germany in 2016.

So. Moving on. What is from 5 to 9 actually about?

Junko-sensei is our female lead. She's an english teacher working at an evening school. Her dream is to go to the USA and she never wants to settle down, especially not with a husband, no.
Enter Takane: buddhist monk, son of a prominent family (the temple belongs to them), loaded af but there's one problem... he meets Junko one time and decides: Yepp, that's my future WAIFU. As in, wife. And "no" is not a word that exists in his vocabulary. He's an arrogant narcissist who is totally misunderstood, his toxic behaviour is completely fine. What do you mean, locking someone in a room overnight is creepy and not romantic?

There's more to the story. We have the young female office worker who wants nothing more than to get hitched asap. The former best friend from university who has a crush on Junko and is about to head to the USA. We have the co-workers: A foreigner and a fujoshi. And Junkos students: of course the one who is obsessed with Junko is also crossdressing as a girl.

It doesn't help that Junko is someone who casually sleeps around, and in true reverse-harem trope gives hope to the wrong people while staying oblivious to what's actually going on around her. This makes her fall deeper into the rabbit hole that is 'actually getting married to a monk' instead of fulfilling her own dream. But we all know that women belong in the shadow of their husbandos and this manga will try everything in it's power to make that happen (/s). And wow, does the story deliver: in the most stupid, convoluted way ever. And thankfully that is what makes it also incredibly entertaining to read.

The plot is a wild mix of fabricated drama. In fact, there even is a drama TV adaption of it. I personally haven't seen much of it besides some clips but if you prefer to check that out, it exists.

Follow Junko on her journey from being somewhat of a character to obedient housewife, with tropes like "I accidentally got engaged" to "whoops, I slept with my former best friend" to "my new love rival is my younger brother".

If you like trash romance, this is the absolute peak of it. I had the most fun of my life reading this and listening to the audio dramas. Don't take this seriously. Enjoy the ride, shut off your brain, and give in to the experience that is this insane manga.

trigger alert!
I couldn't even continue reading, extreme romanticization of abusive relationships.
In the first chapters, the protagonist is forcibly kept in the house of romantic interest against her will. Disgusting how some people find it cute!
Protagonist is also not the nicest person in the world. Just because it is not ok for a man to take advantage of a woman's feelings to sleep with her and then discard her does not mean that it is ok for a woman to do the same.
Seriously, what is the matter with these people? Are there people who think this is romantic? If you are the type you think, seek ... help. it's SERIOUS, you are probably vulnerable to abusive relationships!