14-sai no Koi
Love at Fourteen

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14-sai no Koi is a manga that revolves around two 14-year old childhood friends turned lovers, Kanata and Kazuki. Both respectively seem to possess an aura that prevents the opposite gender from approaching them, and admired by their friends as being "mature" for their age. Needless to say, when they're alone, they cast off their "personas" and reveal their true nature- and their actual relationship.

The story is light, comedic, and... it's really light. The situations aren't exactly unique, but the comedy doesn't make it feel cliché at all- the focus is on the blooming love, not so much on the whole "persona" thing IMO. My ... only comment is that I wish they would elaborate more into these little snippets we get- each chapter is roughly ~20 pages each, so I think this manga would be better read once all the chapters are released. Idk, waiting periodically just for 20 pages for this kind of a manga doesn't seem worth it :P.

Art-wise, I was honestly expecting more judging from the cover art I looked at prior to starting the actual story. However, as I read further, I began to appreciate it- it's clean, consistent, and cute. The facial expressions of the characters are well-drawn by the mangaka and I especially like cute little Nagai-kun! Haha.

As for the characters, I must say I'm impressed by some of these characters. They share traits I didn't quite expect to see in a manga based in a middle school setting. [Not to spoil anything] but... let's just say I was surprised who gets a rival! Also, these odd characters make everyday scenes entertaining.

Hmm... as for enjoyment, I enjoyed it. Do I need to elaborate on this further? It's a refreshing look at young love. I read it and I remember my childhood.

Anyways, I'm going to conclude by saying: stop reading my review and get to reading the manga !!

I just couldn't get into this manga. For starters, each chapter is pretty much a self contained story and each one is incredibly short which means not very much happens. Then there is the entire premise that for some reason these middle school students can't reveal that they are dating or that they like each other - unless there is a law against this or this is back in the early 90's in Japan, I don't see how anyone would really care. There's literally no reason ever explained in what I read that makes any sense here.

On top of that, there's no real overarching plot ... that draws you in. Each tiny chapter feels more like a chance to put up a few pages that supposedly leads to an "awwww" moment or something, but most of them are cutesy rather than romantic and few of them have any sort of emotional impact at all.

Honestly, I feel like this is the manga equivalent of girls looking at pictures of cute puppies or kittens on the internet and probably not worth wasting your time over unless you really enjoy that kind of stuff.

Sorry for my bad english, since this is my second review, so ... yoroshiku onegaishimasu :)

Actually i was looking for a funny manga when i accidentally saw this 14-sai no Koi's synopsis and noticed there's something wrong with the chapters.

But honestly, i kinda satisfied i found this manga, because it's really enjoyable to read and has its own fun parts. Well, this manga story is about a couple junior high school that forced themselves to act mature at school, Kanata and Kazuki. But at the time they're both alone, they showed their childish and weak side to each other.

At first, i thought the story would ... be focused at how they keep their act at public, but i was wrong. It dominantly told us about their romance story and how the story developed. The story is very light and seems to be enjoyable to be followed.

The unusual parts is, this manga has a lot chapters with decimal number. You know, like chapter 18.5 and 21.5 (i don't know what it is called) and this is what i was talking about when i said there's something wrong with the chapters (imagine this manga already had 54 chapters, when the main story's still reached chapter 23). Even with this odds, but i like it since they're funny and still told us about the main story.

Even though this story's premise is about a 'mature' couple at first, but the story is not always about them. It's also told us about some romantic development of other characters, like a delinquent who fell in love with a teacher, or a transfer student who put its attention to some beautiful stranger, etc. I gave the story 8.

The art is not bad, even though it isn't looked like nowadays mangas. I gave it 7 for the art, since it's still enjoyable.

The characters, like i said before, this manga isn't just focused on the MCs. I gave 8 for it, since almost all of the funny parts was because of the character's personality. And of course, i enjoy reading this manga.

Overall, i gave 8 out of 10 for this school romcom story. If you are looking for some school-life romantic scenes, i recommend this manga.

14-sai no koi was initially a very cute romance story involving two adolescent teens who genuinely love each other. At first it was very nice to see the two main characters just interact and try to hide their relationship (which they do not need to btw) however as the manga continues, it will start to concern many readers.

Let’s start off with the positives, the characters especially the main cast are great, and the best character is the first LGBTQ person we meet which started off as an obsessive lonely type then evolves as they must conflict with their own feelings and the feelings of the ... one, they love. All around they’re the best written character in the manga and reading their story was very entertaining, and keeps readers invested as their story is second only to the main couple's.

Now let's move on with my qualms about the manga, there are a few other side stories/relationships in this manga, and they involve age gaps that made me personally feel uncomfortable. Many of the relationships involve fourteen-year-olds and adults in their mid twenties that the manga tries to play off as cute but to many will just come off as creepy instead. If it were only a one side love of a 14-year-old having an unreciprocated crush on an adult that would be fine but some of the adults in this manga have romantic feelings for the teens and depending on your sense of morality many will be split on how they feel. Now if we ignore the underlying problems here the side stories present are quite good and can keep a reader invested in how certain character's relationships would turn out, your enjoyability in these stories will be based on your sense of morality and how you can separate fiction from reality. By the way many of these relationships are developed in these chapters all named "intermission" which are chapters that connect to the main story but don’t necessarily progress the main relationship all that much.

All in all, the main relationship will be enjoyable to most readers and the side characters are certainly enjoyable to see come to life on paper however how you view fiction and where you draw the line concerning age gaps in fiction will dictate whether you will enjoy the side relationships. Many readers are going to probably want to skip or skim through the intermission chapters where these types of relationships mostly progress.

Love at 14 looked like the type of manga I would love - I'm a sucker for a young romance where the couple gets to slowly explore the facets of a relationship and grow more comfortable with each other. And you know what, when it does focus on our two main characters, it is something I love. Love at 14 has an excellent start when it is focusing on Kazuki and Kanata. Their relationship is very earnest, realistic, and charming.

However, the weakness of this manga comes in the form of practically every other side couple explored throughout the series. I'm not against exploring other characters, ... rather I often do enjoy it in manga of this type. The issue in Love at 14 is the nature of these couples. Practically every couple besides our main one is between a student character and an adult character, whether that be a teacher or an adult on the bus. Some don't mind these types of relationships in manga and anime, but it is incredibly distracting when the main couple of the series are two young students with such a true romance. It also doesn't help that the teachers acknowledge it is wrong to return such feelings, that they can get in trouble. It doesn't even try to act like it's somewhat ok, rather it parades a message of "Age is just a number", which is something in my values I cannot agree with. It's an improper power dynamic and simply put, pedophilia. Again, these are characters and it is fiction, but it's just not enjoyable for me.

Truly this is a great read for the main couple, who do get the majority of the development. However, as you continue you will explore the others and it is then up to you if you enjoy reading about them. There are a few nice ones, like Kanata's female best friend who has a crush on her, or the 5th grade girl who dates one of their 7th grade male classmates, which isn't too bad. Though in my opinion their interactions are rather weak. The strongest couple besides the main one is the secondary protagonists of Nagai and the music teacher - but again it is a teacher student relationship, so there is some discomfort. Honestly speaking it's rather creepy at times. I truly mean it when I say their interactions would be very cute if between two people of the same age group, but with a grown adult woman and a scrawny 14 year old boy, the nature of the pure-hearted story of two young children meeting their first love gets diluted.

Love at 14 is enjoyable to read, but quickly deteriorates as its side characters become more distracting. The main story is quite heart warming, but the questionable nature of the other romances surrounding them is distracting and even uncomfortable at times.

14-sai no Koi is best described as spring. The art style, the story, and the characters all give off a warm, new, clean spring-like feeling.

The story gives the air of simplicity. There's not a lot of angst - which for romance lovers can be a breath of fresh air from the usual. It's heartwarming and it's tender. It's a young love that isn't just "kya! my first boyfriend! I'm too shy to even look at them!" It's two friends who really like each other and how their feelings for each other grow and evolve. It's also not a masterpiece. It's not the greatest love ... story of all time. But it's definitely enjoyable for a break from the angsty love triangles that many romances seem to have.

As for the art, I'm personally a huge fan. I think it suits the theme of the manga very well. It's minimalistic, but I've always said that less is more.
The faces are different but fresh. Once again, it reminds me of spring. It might take some getting used to since it's different from the norm, but the expressions that Fuka Mizutani draws are very good. (I love half closed eyes. Yoshikawa is so sweet ^^)

Which brings me to characters. There's no ground breaking character development, no real extremes one way or another. But the mains are likable, the side characters get developed alongside with the mains. I find the characters endearing. I'm cheering for each of them to find happiness. That in itself is good story telling I think.

In conclusion, although I love this manga series, I recognize that it's not going to be for everyone. I think it's the type of series to be most enjoyed by those who want a relaxed romance or something to comfort them after watching something heartbreaking or gruesome.

"Two dorks in love" – is, imo, how you could sum up the main love story between Yoshikawa and Tanaka. It is simple, honest, pure and overall really heart warming. Sure, the story is mainly as easy as that, but this manga doesn't aspire to be a complicated romantic drama, so no point in judging it as such.

A "deeper" topic in the story would be the struggle with social "masks" that are so important within the japanese society, namely keeping up the tiring act, being praised for one's fabricated character while musing, whether you could ever show your "true self" to anyone, all happening on ... the background of first love.

What I found more intriguing, however, was whatever it was going on between Nagai and Hinohara. Forbidden relationships are forbidden for a reason and this just didn't feel right on more than just one level. Even so, I ship it, I want it, it is my new otp and I can't wait to read the spin-off manga that follows their story.

This Manga shows the different aspects of love and presents in a really realistic way what problems 14 year olds face when they want to pursue love. Contrary to similar mangas, this one actually has compelling and interesting side characters that actually add something to the story and don't just try to buy time for the author to publish new content.

Sadly due to the manga having the premise of describing exactly that 14-year-old-timeframe, there is absolutely no progress in any of the love stories - neither the main one nor the side ones. This makes it so the relationship never grows and always feels like ... it's kinda in the balance of not exactly lovers but not friends either.

But all in all it's a good manga for in between!

How many chapters to "get" this manga: 2
This is one of those Josei stories that really requires the reader to have a level of nuance and apathy for characters and the situations they are put in. If you think everything in storytelling has to be 100% morally right, turn back now.

Overall: This manga is a good character and relationship study without a lot of the emphasis and glamour.

It revolves around a couple of teenagers growing up and the struggles and hardships they face as important figures in their social circles and how the ideals and expectations of said importance impacts them.

Not everything in this ... manga is wholesome and wonderful but its where there is darkness that light can shine the brightest, and this manga does a good job balancing this concept.

Characters are very well laid out as being real people with problems, aspirations, desires, pressure points, and pitfalls. The way the story is able to weave all these different types of people into being allies, enemies, rivals or peers is really beautiful to see unfold.

The story does a really good job at getting into most character's heads and describing their perspective and what they want out of everything. Since they are teenagers a lot of the time, things can be different and that conveyance is done in a really human fashion.

One thing you could consider a downside would be that in the world-building department, more is focused on characters and their progression and less on environments and the space the story takes place in if you are into spatial world-building.

I don't want to be rude or anything, but this is my first time being so disgusted by a manga.
The story tries to introduce us to the relationships and feelings of 14-year-old teenagers, where there is the discovery of new feelings and self-revelations.
The manga fails in everything it sets out to do, there is no story, there are characters with feelings and such, but there is no real development, either in the characters or in the narrative. The chapters are EXTREMELY short, the author couldn't even make a story interesting enough to fill a chapter, and had to make several very short “extra” chapters. This ... entire manga is so poor that it doesn't even support its main problem, which would be Kanata and Kazuki's secret relationship, but the manga doesn't even make a point of explaining why they hide it, like, are there any restrictions? Because it doesn't make any sense. It's exhausting to read this, but the length of the chapters or the lack of story wasn't what bothered me most, but rather the pedophilia present. It's not new that many manga have a huge age difference, and that has always bothered me a lot, but now seeing a manga dealing with the relationship between an adult woman and a 14-year-old boy in a normal way makes me sick. I don't want to accuse anyone, but this manga made me think that its author probably has some kind of pedophilia fetish, because it's not just one couple that this age difference occurs, in addition to the physiological difference, it happens in at least three couples from the manga. There are more extremely hideous couples with crazy age differences than there are normal couples. I understand that when we are young, at the beginning of puberty, we tend to be interested in older people, but everything changes when much older people become interested in teenagers who haven't even left elementary school. My reaction to this manga is disgust. There's no story, there's no development, there's no explanations, but there's a lot of pedophilia.

~Nine <3