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I feel like I was so generous with my scores...

Having recently re-read Heroine Shikkaku, I can safely confirm that it is the most frustrating shoujo manga that I have ever read. The actual plot is not bad, in fact it is quite generic, but what ruins it for me are the characters. Since shoujo manga revolve so heavily around the hero and heroine, those two characters need to be somewhat likeable.

Hatori and Rita, the "hero" and "heroine" (note quotation marks for sarcasm) in this manga, do not fit that requirement. Hatori is selfish, obnoxious, dramatic, and most annoyingly, hypocritical. Rita is more bearable, but ... he is still oblivious and frustrating in his inability to make decisions. If their characters were even the tiniest bit likeable, this manga would have been decent.

The only reason my scores are as high as they are is because of the story, and a few characters that absolutely saved this train wreck of a manga. Like I said, the story is quite generic, you can read the synopsis. So it's not bad, just similar to other shoujo manga. The characters that saved this manga for me are Hiromitsu-kun and Nakajima (I only re-read this manga because of them). They are the voice of common sense in this manga. Everything you want to scream at Hatori and Rita, Nakajima and Hiromitsu say for you. They are truly lovely characters. I won't say any more because of spoilers.

Another plus about this manga is the art. I think it's quite nice. The few times I did laugh while reading this was because of the art lol. Also, I can't deny that Rita is handsome. I mean, come on.

Obviously, you should read this manga for yourself because you might like it. However, I will not be surprised if you can't get to the end because of Hatori's dumbfounding hypocrisy. I'm serious, she's annoying lol. But good luck. x

**WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGHOUT**

I started reading this manga because of a post MangaFox made about it on their FB page. In the comments, tons of people were criticizing the manga, particularly the characters and story. Generally, I don't like to take people's opinions towards a manga or anime as law. Anime and manga tastes are extremely subjective, and just because someone says a particular series sucks does not mean that you will share that same view point. So I decided to read the manga, rather than watch the anime, to see if it really was that bad. Now that I am fully caught ... up I can confirm that this is one of my favourite shoujo mangas *cue gasps*.

~Story~ 10
I gave the story a 10 because this is one of the few shoujo mangas I have read, in which every arc is interesting and relevant to the overall plot. A funny thing shoujo mangas like to do is throw in these random arcs that are over within 2 chapters and do absolutely nothing to progress the plot or develop the characters. I hate that (looking at you Koukou Debut >.>). It's understandable that once the hero and heroine inevitably end up together you have to throw in a random character or two to spice things up, but it's important for these characters or plot twists to have some kind of impact! An excellent example of a brilliant arc Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji introduced involved having Erika (the heroine) unexpectedly run into her childhood friend, Terapon, at her new workplace. As mentioned before, introducing new, potential love interests is a shoujo classic. However, why I've specifically mentioned Terapon is because of how his character was portrayed; unlike being a completely one-dimensional character like Kusakabe, a darker side of Terapon's character is revealed later on in the arc, making his impact much more relevant than it would have been, and allowing Sata to be portrayed as a knight in shining armour (come on, I know that gave you chills ^^). Good arcs = good story.

~Art~ 8
I'm not an art fanatic, so I can't say much. All I will say is that Sata is hot as hell, and this is why I've given the manga an 8. All the other characters were drawn okay (special shoutout to Kamiya), but it was Sata who rocked my world in almost every panel. His EYES. Okay, enough about that.

~Character~ 9
I'll talk about the two mains to shorten this.

First of all, we have Sata, the hero, and probably the most disliked character by everyone who has read/watched this. Sata is definitely an acquired taste and I can understand why people would be revolted by his behaviour, but I also have to argue that not every hero can be Prince fucking Charming. That's an overdone archetype. Bring in the badasses, the assholes, the too-cool-for-school types. That's what we need, and this is my personal opinion, of course. I like Sata because he's different. He's mean and a jerk most times, but I think that just makes the moments when he's genuinely nice even sweeter. In addition, he's the one person who'll call out everyone's bullshit, and literally not give a fuck when other characters over exaggerate situations. For instance, when he accidentally kissed Sanda, and Erika started overreacting, he just did not care. LOL. I fell in love with him even more then, because I hate it when the heroine turns little problems into big problems, and I was glad to finally have a hero who didn't let her get away with that. Besides, despite all his pride, at the end of the day he has a weak spot for Erika and his friends, and if you're not awed by that then please sit down (jk).

Then we have the heroine, Erika. I'm not sure what to say about her. She's not that different from most of the other heroines I've seen in other shoujo mangas. I guess the main difference is that she somehow fell in love with the rudest guy ever, lol. She's likeable really, and adorable at times too. Some people may find her pathetic for allowing herself to be treated badly by Sata, but everyone has a type, and you can't judge Erika for falling in love with Sata's type. Girls like her do exist, and surprise surprise, the guys do change. I applaud Erika for sticking with Sata until the end, she's a deary.

~Overall~ 9
So, what more can I say? Just read the manga. I'll reassert my earlier point; you can't trust other people's opinions. Who cares what anyone says about this manga? Heck, who cares about what I say? Read it for yourself and make your own judgement. I thought I would hate it because a lot of other people did, but I ended up loving it.