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At the time of writing there are no other reviews for this manga and considering the experience I had reading it I ought to write one.
I randomly founnd this series while browsing the young jump website looking for something new, and had no idea what it was about. The synopsis on mal is not really clear so here is the general structure: The main character (guy) is in high school and has a fetish for violence/seeing girls hurt, embarassed, or suffering (especially a girl he likes in his class)... to fuel this perversion he writes a doujinshi and publishes it online, where he gains ... a significant following. Of course, his life could start to fall apart if someone were to find out...

Story 8+
The overall narrative is not that complex, looking from a distance it looks like your run of the mill romance/lovetriangle manga. However, it has a heavy psychological aspect to it which is the most interesting, on top of a constant feel of uncertainty, and suspense as to what will happen next. The pacing was really good overall and kept me wanting for more, and I ended up finishing the whole thing in 24 hours.

Art 10-
The art carries across the message of the story perfectly, on top of looking great in its own right. It reminds me a bit of oyasumi punpun (and so does the overall vibe of the manga). Some pages made me feel genuinely uncomfortable, just as much as the characters were supposed to be.

Character 10
This is what makes this manga special in my opinion. I am yet to see a piece of fiction investigate fetishes from the character's point of view, especially at the age where you try to accept and understand yourself like genki-kun. Genki is aware of his fetish, and that it's fucked up, he should never act on it, and despises this part of himself. But he can't do without it, and through the internet and going to conventions he realises there are 1000s of people sharing that same fetish and taste. Without spoiling the story has genki kun fluctuate between accepting, rejecting, nurturing, fighting his perversion and urges; while he is on the boundary between sexual arousal and being disgusted.
The other 2-3 characters (this story has very few, which is the right choice considering the length of the overall story) are also well written, they also have their fetishes, insecurities and are flawed.
This is another point, everyone in this story has a very flawed personality, in different ways, with very marginal redeeming qualities. This is not a manga about glorifying violence, or bdsm, or trying to guilt people into fighting their subconscious. It is a coming of age psychological story, dealing with sexual urges and misery, and from this perspective the characters fulfil their role perfectly. You might hate all of them, like all of them in a way, but it's hard to pick a favourite as they all make you feel uncomfortable in the way they were meant to.

Enjoyment 9+
Reading this was a unique experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as you may have figured out already. However it made me feel uncomfortable a number of times, so it was not pure, unadulterated, pleasure. So I am knocking a mark off there.

Overall thoughts
If you want a great romance story, or the manga adaptation of 50 shades... this is not quite it. If you enjoyed oyasumi punpun this story will probably suck you in. The manga covers a difficult, interesting topic from a refreshing angle, and is very unique. Please give it a shot especially if you like a heavy psychological element... or somehwat depressing coming of age stories.

Thanks for reading :)

Short review for Kubo-san. I started reading this because I've got a soft spot for teasing+romance manga, and it came out of young jump so it looked like it would be a good time. Now caught up to the latest chapter (68 at time of writing).

Story: 7-
It's ok nothing we've not seen before, the "twist" being that the guy MC is invisible to everyone except Kubo-san (girl MC). There are developments regarding that but I won't spoil.
Otherwise it's the usual, a mix of flirting teasing and wholesomeness overall :). Actually, the wholesomeness might be the story's strongest point, every chapter is either super cute ... or super wholesome or both!
Story developments seem to happen at a reasonable pace so far, so that's a plus (but it's not safe from ending up into endless filler later, I may update this review if it all gets a lot worse or a lot better).

Art 9+
The strongest point for me, it has a fairly unique art style, or at least distinctive. it reminds me a lot of Mengo sensei. Everyone looks really good, there are even chapters dedicated to character art. However there was no moment where the art blew me away completely, so not quite a 10.

Character 8
They're all likeable, no one is annoying just to serve the plot or whatever, or hateful for the sake of comedy... The best way to put it would be, all the character interactions and attention are super enjoyable. Once again though, they're nothing we haven't seen before, and there is no mind blowing character development.

Enjoyment 8-
It's a (very) good time. Still early days somewhat, few are the manga where the first 5 volumes were absolutely amazing (in my view), considering that I still enjoyed every chapter basically, though it wasn't frantic reading...

Final verdict: 8
It's really good to read, I still prefer Nagatoro (lol) but that one already has twice as many volumes out and more time for story and character development.
If you're already thinking of reading it, give it shot, you'll almost surely like it. I would put it this way, compared to similar series: Takagi san is innocence, Nagatoro is spicy banter, uzaki chan is ecchi, Kubo San is wholesomeness.
Otherwise if you're not into that genre, not sure it will be super enjoyable.
It wouldn't be surprising if it gets adapted in the next year or so (please!).

I can see a few conflicting reviews, presumably because the start of this manga (around the first 5 volumes) is quite weak, enjoyable enough but nothing special.

But let me tell you, I was almost shocked at how much it improved. At the start I just started reading it from vol 1, having seen the anime, and wanting to improve japanese reading. Without spoiling anything, the story really picked up after that (especially around volume 10), much further than the initial gag and awkward situation. I have just finished volume 19, and once again I went from laughing to almost crying, on more than one ... occasion. I have almost never gotten invested like that in a book of any sort. So why is this?

Story: 9

I was talking about a great story, but it's still not a 10. It has it flaws, especially an average start, with a filler chapter here and there. I can't really detail the later developments, but a major arc between vol. 11 and 18 approximately really made the story for me. It's all the more satisfying considering the premise of a gag fake-romantic comedy didn't leave much room for interesting story telling. But the author still made it happen, which is an achievement in itself. This manga is not just jokes, misunderstandings and a MC jerking off to random girls, the themes do get a lot heavier at times which gives everything more depth while not forgetting where the story comes from.

Art 10

Once again an area of great improvement. it was good at the beginning, the artist got a lot better as the story went on especially on smaller panels. We are also blessed with many beautiful double page illustrations. But the strongest point is the effort put in transcribing emotions, these faces are definitely human faces feeling very happy, extremely sad, in love, angry... They really feel as if they could start moving on their own. In a recent volume, the author did not hesitate to draw 4 pages of a slowly changing facial expression, and that changed the impact of the scene completely, from slightly sad to heartbreaking.

Character 10

Easily the strongest point of the manga. Are you not tired of romance or other manga where characters look like they come from a different universe, beyond cultural differences? Finally salvation has come, because (depending on how old you are and your experiences), you are likely to have met all the girls and some of the guys in this manga (especially in university). This changes the experience completely, they are all flawed in different ways, and have their qualities, obviously with some exaggeration, it's still a manga, butt they do feel much more real than usual.

MC/Kazuya: He is (or starts off as) a pretty despicable character, spending his time squandering his money and jerking off and not getting anything done in his life or at uni, and generally enjoying his turbo virgin life (lol). But (especially later on), an aspect of his personality becomes more prominent, he can actually get good things done when the time calls for it, though his limits are still there, I think many of us in the 18-22 range have had ups and downs, fuck-ups, shitty moments, but also the occasional achievement we're proud of and which pushed us a bit further in a busy period of life. And this is represented well with him. Though he is frustrating to watch at times but so are you!

MC/Mizuhara (Chizuru): Probably everyone's favourite character, once again a type that most of us have met, almost too nice for her own good, but with a strong personality regardless. Definitely a good example of a strong girl character without resorting to being rude, violent, or just a pain the ass (looking at you Hori-san). Once again representing everyone at that age, with dreams which can become plans, or plans which can be reality, all in the short term, but which need luck and hard work to pull off. Dealing with the difficulty of facing the reality of your ambition, feeling like you deserve something which gets taken away, while having inexplicable success and luck in unexpected ways. Not knowing what next year is really gonna look like, not being sure who you can or should rely on. Not knowing if your heart or your mind is guiding your kindness and your actions. Fighting emotions in certain time because you feel like you need to get things done and not realising where you are in the end.... The author is writing a lovable character (as in, you could fall in love with her), without resorting to cheap tricks like "no personality but huge boobs and she just wants to suck MC's dick!' or "Does everything perfectly and for no reason whatsoever falls in love with unremarkable guy where she then makes sure to not be herself".

Ruka: once again, simple character on the outside, annoying and over-attached, and providing some comic relief, but her personality evolves or is shown off more as the story progresses. Probably my least favourite of all, but it's in a way that the author certainly planned for. Once again, I've certainly met her (type) in real life before !

Mami: If you want to write a bitch character, this is the gold standard! Hateful, full of hate, and hated. Once again no overly cheap trick like being excessively violent with words or actions, just fake and manipulative personality (if you're a guy you've probably broken up with her type before lol). She takes a bit more of back seat later on but I'm sure the author still has her in mind.

Sumi Chan: Undoubtedly here for the "cute relief" and adorable moments, she takes on a more and more important role, not so much in terms of screen time but in her influence on other characters despite her difficulties to communicate. It's like Komi san got teleported into a world where romance actually happens. She also has her own (average) spinoff, though I've only read vol.1, which deepens her character a bit. You will probably love her still.

The grandmas: Great success, funny and modern while still fulfilling the role you'd expect in the story, limited screen time but enormous influence on the story (for the better, usually....).

Honestly there is no bad character in there. Even those I haven't mentioned like friends etc. are good and play the correct role. When you're angry or you hate a character's personality it means they really make you feel something, which is a lot better than forgettable characters of some series.

Enjoyment: 10

Pretty much, you get the picture, huge laughs, ridiculous moments, serious moments, tearjerker scenes, I'm waiting for the next volume eagerly. If you stick with it (if you watched the anime you can start at vol. 6) you will definitely enjoy it.

Overall 10

I wouldn't really give out a 10 so easily, not that the manga can't be improved, but it fulfilled me when I read it, in every way, with no major criticism I can make... the characters are great as I said, and there are many other stories with the fake relationship idea, or love triangles but they're all mediocre, because their characters are so god damn forgettable, and the story to go with it. Plus it takes place in university which is refreshing especially in shonen genre. It doesn't feel as if it's been written with fulfilling fantasies, fetishes in mind, or if the author has only read about men/women/young adults/relationships in a book and written about it. Whatever it tries, it does well, everything contributes to the manga overall, and it manages to feel refreshing in a mostly overdone genre, so I give it 10.
There's probably a fair bit of the story left to go, 10-15 volumes, and it should end on a high - but not necessarily happy - note, so looking forward to that.

Unfortunately not a lot of it has been officially translated yet (04/2021) but there's surely some way to read it somehwere if you don't know japanese. Please do check it out, especially if you are in uni, or have recently finished, it will be up your street for sure.

Thank you for reading!!

This is my first review, and i can't be bothered to write an introduction so let's get right into it. Myapologies if it's a bit disorganised, also possible small to medium spoilers ahaead.

Story/Characters: 7/8
To be fair, I am quite disappointed by the turn this manga has taken (or lack thereof). I randomly picked it up at a store because it was on discount (lol) and the premise seemed interesting. I really enjoyed the first 10-12 or so volumes, and it shot up in my esteem to a high 9/10, and couldn't really understand the less enthusiastic reviews.
I promptly ordered the 10 next volumes ... from japan but it did not really live up to its start.
I thought the initial overall cast of characters was really good, somehow all their "gags" or exaggerated personality traits worked well, even the annoying ones were likeable in their own way.

By the way, all of their names are (Japanese) puns on their personalities/character traits, which wasn't mentioned in the english translation - many jokes were also taken out for not always obvious reasons, sometimes it really felt as if the translators were too lazy to do a proper job (or underpaid, unfortunately). Maybe the fan scans are better. If you have any ability to read the raw/original version please do that instead, but I digress.

Back to the characters, the "Mr Everybody" MC idea was pretty cool, many manga use this trick presumably to make them relatable but this one is fully self aware and uses the excessively normal aspect to decent comedic effect. The contrast with the absolutely perfect but unable to make friends girl MC probably helped, somewhat reversing the usual dynamic. All the initial group of friends was also sweet.
The development of all the characters felt pretty good, up until volume 10-11, where it feels like the author started to put one filler chapter after the other, and/or forgot which story he was trying to write. from chapter 1 it's pretty clear that there's gonna be some sort of romance between both MCs, however the storyline is set to be Komi making 100 friends. It seemed quite sensible, even if a bit stereotypical, male MC helps Komi grow into being more social, and she probably will end up liking him through these interactions. Which is what mostly happens for the current first half of the manga, and really gets you into the flow of story, with relatable, slightly shameful moments, funny misunderstandings and the like. However past that point we only get chapters where either literally nothing happens, or just a rehash of something that happened 6 months ago in the manga's universe. Occasionally (I'd say on average around 5% of the time... yes...) there is a "significant" plot development which leaves you wanting for more, followed by nothing. Very frustrating.

I don't mind having a mix of drama and slower chapters, they can complement each other by building up tension, peaking, and then relieving it in a cyclic manner. Kaguya does that extremely well. But in Komi san, the gap is so big that it makes progression meaningless (because it just means that nothing will happen for the next 20 chapters), or can even make you forget what happened the last time. The author seems to have completely given up on the 100 friends story line as of march 2021, I don't even know at which number they stopped, it makes me sad when I think about it. To be fair at a certain point it felt as if forgettable characters were introduced in massive amounts all the time, to grow the list and make more puns, which eclipsed the earlier good likeable characters.

...But fear not, as now the story is more akin to a love triangle romance where nothing happens, with heavy focus on 3 of the characters. But nothing happens, once again (I don't know how many times I've written that now...), and it's just bad. With the sadness of seeing the manga get worse as a bonus. Honestly I can really enjoy romance manga, even the not so great ones, so this is really saying something. The most eventful moments are "I probably like X and they probably like me, right? NO! NO WAY!" followed by an obvious setup for something to actually happen, where nothing happens. Obviously, this kind of thing can happen especially at that age, but the whole point of making up a story is for it to be similar, but just a bit more enthralling than, real daily life no? I feel like I could make a manga from my random boring life and it'd be more "action packed"...
Then there are flashback chapters (about random characters that you likely won't care about), random "funny" chapters (which will only get a nose exhale out of you), or a pseudo arc where they all take a trip somewhere which is the occasion for nothing special to happen apart from making what we knew more obvious in terms of character dynamics, or maybe a bit more self-cock-blockery from the trio. The characters seem to only change suddenly so these slower moments don't really add anything. it really is just filler that will make you feel sadder the more you liked the earlier story. Stuff from volume 8 could happen now and it would make as much (or more ...) sense.

At this point, you get a good idea of where it's headed, otherwise I'd just be repeating myself. Overall i'm giving a low 7 to the story for slowly going from 9 to a 5, and 8 for the characters which are still pretty good overall.

Art: 6
It's fine, not that great actually for the most part but big page illustrations look really good. The author really likes to draw Komi, which is good.

Enjoyment: 7
I can't pretend I didn't like the first half or so, just because it became meh now. It's also a linear decline, so once again (9+5)/2=7. They really made it easy to mark eh?

Overall 7, it turns out everything also averages to 7 which probably makes sense and what I wanted to give initially. I am not sure the manga can really recover, it lost its momentum for the most part, there is still time (?? I know mangaka have it rough) but it feels like watching your favourite team desperately trying to score a goal for 60 minutes and failing, they won't pull it off in injury time either. If you haven't tried it, read the first few volumes or more (maybe even up to chap 100 or so), there is definitely fun to be had I think. Just don't expect the story to (ever?) become what you want unless you like to be bored.

If you haven't read Kaguya yet, though, just read that instead... more happened in 50 chapters of that than almost 300 of Komi San (the reason I keep comparing them is the premise and vibe would I think entertain the same sort of people).