Masamune-kun no Revenge
Masamune-kun's Revenge

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Your Enemy-to-Lover School-Life romcom, where the "prince" is seeking revenge after the "princess" fueled by a decade-old grudge, after drastically changing his appearance! (he was just a bit chubby, somehow the FMC doesn't recognize him...)

The manga starts off like a typical romcom where many problems could be resolved if only one of the characters were honest or spoke up, which, in my opinion, is one of the biggest red flags for this genre of manga. Many situations are reminiscent of Nisekoi, where just when you think the plot can finally move forward, a new character arrives and stalls the story for several chapters.
However, the manga ... manages to quickly break free from this terrible pattern, and the side characters, initially slowing down the story, eventually become essential drivers, which is very enjoyable.

Nonetheless, the plot remains interesting, even though the manga drags and tries to buy time at the beginning. Once the first step is taken, everything starts to unravel. The characters, now established, face more difficult choices, and we can see that everything cannot be resolved so easily and the characters do their best to move forward.

The basic plot is interesting and promising, and despite the frustrating start, I highly recommend this manga to romcom fans. The artwork is very enjoyable throughout the whole story, and the plot is more complex than it initially appears.

SPOILER FREE.
How hard can it be to write a decent story with a decent ending. Up until the last 5-10 chapters. I would’ve given this manga a solid 7 maybe an 8 out of 10. This is my first review and I just need to express my disappointment.
The story starts out with an interesting unique premise in romcoms, a story of revenge. The MC starts out seeking revenge on the FMC who humiliated him long ago when they were children. Now an unrecognizable attractive high schooler he seeks out the FMC and wants to cause her the same pain she caused him, but ... as he spends more time in his quest of revenge he builds real friendships with the students around him.
This is pretty much where the uniqueness ends, the situations and scenarios the characters find themselves in feel pretty generic. Despite being generic, the manga managed to hold my interest as new details were revealed about the past. New love rivals are introduced, and the MC is forced to confront his conflicting feelings of seeking revenge and accepting the new relationships he’s built.
Everything seems to be going well, although it feels very rushed, progress is being made in the story and then BAM! Big twist in the plot right towards the end. I was completely caught off guard, “What ? No way the author would do that!” This twist was not something I wanted, but it is something I welcomed. Right as the story was getting boring he managed to surprise me and hold my interest. I was looking forward to where he was going with this sudden twist and then BAM! Two chapters later and he takes it back.
Why even tease the readers with the sudden revelation and then take it back ? The author makes it seem like our MC will take this new road no one knew existed and then closes it once again. It makes no sense how these characters flip flop between their feelings. One chapter they feel a certain way then the next they feel completely opposite with no context to explain it.
I enjoyed this manga but the ending feels rushed and characters have no explanation for the decisions they make.

I originally wanted to type "what" and be done with this review, but since there's apparently guidelines to follow, I suppose I'll elaborate.

I'm a big fan of romantic comedies. Dish them with an original concept, cute art, and a side of enemies to lovers; I'm sold. Masamune-kun had all of these factors, but after reading the first few chapters, I didn't feel particularly satisfied. The stars were closely aligned, but outside metaphoric language, all that spells is an astronomical disaster. The first sign of warning was the cast. Each is fueled by their own enigmatic and conflicting motivations, with potential for development and overlapping histories. ... However, the author never seems to know what to do with them. In an attempt to create a multifaceted lineup, the author routinely creates miniature twists in the place of character development. This isn't necessarily an issue in itself, but the constant resets between chapters and anticlimatic plotlines leave the cast feeling inconsistently depicted. Although I left with a sigh of disappointment, I begrudgingly continued on. At the very least, I was enjoying the upbeat art design, and I still held partial hope that my favourite tropes would become realised. Unfortunately, these inconsistencies were only a sign of the overarching direction that followed.

It's difficult to explain why the narrative is frustratingly poor while avoiding spoilers, but I'll begin by noting that all of those minor criticisms become larger and more prominent as the series progresses. The author never seems to be able to make up his mind on where the plot and cast will progress. Characters with hidden identities and mysterious motives are introduced one by one; each exchanging references to dark pasts soon to be revealed. But amongst those that aren't immediately sidelined or removed entirely, rarely do these threads add up to anything. The main 'antagonist' has their ploys unraveled by the lead in a two-page gag; the rivals immediately give up; and most commonly, the manga pulls a double twist. Credit to the writer, some of these narrative turns are both unexpected and exciting, but almost all of them are followed by a character denouncing their truth. As soon as a plot point is introduced, it is immediately invalidated. Perhaps most egregiously, the final few arcs retcon development in exchange for longevity.

Towards the conclusion of the manga, there are four points where one might expect the story to stop. The 'defeat' of the rival antagonist, the confession, the twist, and the retcon double twist. The story continues on. When I opened my review with "what" I was referring to the experience of reading past the logical ending. What was the point? Each of the final arcs leads to the exact same conclusion, so the story effectively meanders around for 15-20 chapters. The exception here is in the character twist prior to the conclusion, which for what it's worth, at-least justifies the hesitation. Unfortunately, as per previous examples, it is immediately and groundlessly ignored - this time, off-screen. By the time the final arc arrives, there is little payoff or excitement; just repetition and confusion: a single "what," if you will. For whatever reason, whether it be indecision; magazine influence; popularity; or minor loose-ends, the manga continues on. Even after the narrative has technically concluded, extra chapters are thrown in with last-second gags, side-character 'arcs,' and a minor time-skip where the heroine's personality 180s.

I didn't enjoy Masamune-kun. After initial disappointment, I expected to eat popcorn and blush to a pretty trope bag of mediocrity. Instead, I was left confused as the story plot threads consistently led no-where, weekly retcons muddled an almost entirely linear arc, characters were introduced and immediately sidelined; and the narrative refused to end. The question of why I felt so inclined to write my first MAL review at 5AM was then because I was baffled and disappointed. The writer has genuinely interesting ideas, but a lack of will or ability to follow-through with them. I'm optimistically excited to read their other work, if only in the hope that those ideas shine through more thoroughly.