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Saikyou Yuusha Party wa Ai ga Shiritai suffers the same issues that many oneshots-turned-serializations have. Namely, its inexperienced author who had no overarching plot in mind when making the oneshot struggles to conjure up a compelling story to match the tone and interest of the first chapters. Failing to abide by the First Law of Holes, the mangaka instead dug deeper and made it all super explicitly lewd. Yes the oneshot has dirty jokes. But boy does the serialization really put it out on the page. By the time I dropped this series, the work had turned from a really interesting concept (a bashful mage ... wanting to leave the hero's party because the hero is too attractive and draws all the attention, while the hero is actually a woman in love with the mage) into the most confusing, horny, ad-hoc manga I've read in a really long time. I mean, nothing made sense anymore. I'm not kidding when I say that the whole work is barely a step away from being a hentai. I won't bother you with spoilers but I wow does it get into what I can only describe is shitpost-level territory. Now, I'm not saying there can't be good or at least readable erotic manga. But the way this mangaka goes about it often feels tasteless and unplanned rather than well-written and thoughtful.

Characters -- 5/10
At least the members of the adventuring party are compelling enough to want to know them better at times. Other times, members like the "hermaphrodite" (not my words) or the childlike-looking nun (a guy) are really only there for punchlines or innuendos. Yes, sometimes there's hints of a backstory or character traits that would make them actually worth reading about. But the mangaka struggles to piece enough of them together or hold on to that interest for more than a panel or two before hitting you with some gross, sexual joke for it to mean much

Story -- 0/10
I mean, I never knew what in the hell was going on. Where are they going? What are the players in the narrative? What's the big threat they must overcome? The romance between the leads is absurdly written and devolves from the mystique and will-they-won't-they-find-out of the oneshot into just the female lead relentlessly flirting and teasing the male lead. Genuinely disappointed in how they're written out. The party mostly just meanders around. I've watched Cereal ads that served as more satisfying isekais than this. I've watched soap operas with better mystery reveals. A stunningly bad story.

Art -- 7/10
Yeah it's alright. The character design is pretty nice, especially within the adventuring party. Nothing to go out of your way to read for, though.

Overall: Stunning fumble of one of my favorite oneshots I read last year. Shocking how one can throw out a concept in such a way that makes it seem like it was all a scam so the mangaka could publish his unrestricted fetishes in the sheep's clothing of a romcom isekai. Speechless, really.

What originally starts as a great premise ends up being a very underwhelming workplace yuri romance. None of the characters are particularly compelling, except for Kyoko's rival who is somewhat interesting even if I can never remember her name. The manga only explores the characters' relations with each other at a surface level and leaves many questions unanswered. What do the main characters really think of each other? Is Kyoko really not going to get over her trauma concerning marriage? Will the random kouhai whose name I can't even remember confess to Kyoko? Is Komori ever going to go steady with someone? Are the ... conversations ever going to be interesting? TBH this would be much better if you could at least see the plot progressing anywhere but the only thing that really happens is that Kyoko gets promoted (very out of nowhere in the 24th chapter to give the series /some/ resolution before it ends abruptly). Shame, since the first two chapters really piqued my interest.

This is the funniest, most terrible 3/10 manga you will ever read. It's so dog and at the same time you'll want to read every single chapter. I can't even explain why. The characters are disgusting. The situations absurd. There's way too much text in every single page it's almost like reading a novel. There is like, zero redeeming this monstrosity. On the plus side you do learn a lot about yuri history, the art is not bad at all, and there's plenty of funny reactions. If you've read a lot of yuri this might be worth an afternoon but to any other person ... it isn't worth reading at all.

3/10 would read again.

Sometimes one wants to read mangas that are hundreds of chapters that follow an epic storyline. Sometimes one wants to read oneshots that present us with unique situations. Jun to Kaoru finds itself somewhere in the middle as a manga you can read for a short while and feel just a bit happier than before. It is a slice-of-life manga that follows two childhood friends and neighbors that change sexes with each other every midnight as they crush on each other and interact throughout their school life.

The beauty of Jun to Kaoru comes from its simplicity. It doesn't look for grandiose scenes or heart-wrenching moments. ... There's no big confession nor is the reader belittled. There's little, quiet moments throughout the pages which coat the whole work in a soft atmosphere that makes for really comfortable reading.

Both characters are adorable, the art is soft and vague, and the stakes are non-existent. It feels more like a meditation or a break than a work that has something important to say. And it knows that. That's what makes it so good.

8/10