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Just by looking at the cover picture, you can tell it is another "Romeo and Juliet", "Delinquent and smart girl" cliche slapped together. However, the mangaka is able to turn these overused tropes into something amazing and wholesome that other mangas with the same plot simply could not accomplish.

The plot is simple: we start of from the perspective of a delinquent guy, our male lead Tsumugi Rintaro from a low-ranked public high school, coincidentally meeting with a petite girl, our female lead Kaoruko Waguri from a prestigious all-girls high school, at a cake shop owned by Rintaro's mom. Both schools are also coincidentally next to ... each other with a unfathomable hatred of each other. It is without a doubt both leads would need to navigate their relationship within the web of animosity between their schools and friends.

What changes the progression and pacing of this plot lies entirely with the characters, and the mangaka sure does know how to write good characters. Tsumugi, who is portrayed as a scary person on the outside, is soft and kind on the inside. He is able to learn quickly from and correct mistakes he made, intentionally or unintentionally progressing the relationship between him and Kaoruko. Kaoruko, who saw past Tsumugi's scary appearance and a love of cake, naturally opened up to him at his family's cake shop (for reasons that would probably be explained in the future). What is truly refreshing is that these two main leads are not shy of expressing their feelings and are able to face the obstacles head on whether it be from objections of their social standing or their classmates. The main leads and side character's honesty and respect for their values makes this manga enjoyable to read as they develop.

The art is nothing to be scoffed at considering the mangaka's first published work. Every character's facial expressions are extremely detailed and can invoke heavy emotions, whether they be upset, crying, blushing, or joyful. Every character is also unique and as a reader can easily distinguish who is who. In addition, the backgrounds of each scene are meticulously drawn to give an adequate sense of the setting of each event.

Within the first 10 chapters, there has been more meaningful progression between the relationship of Tsumugi and Kaoruko than other mainstream romance mangas. Although it is easy to see the general gist to what the ending is, I am excited to see how the mangaka will lead the plot to that ending as every chapter has been full of twists and turns, and heavy emotions that is hard to replicate after reading hundreds of the same genre.

If you are a fan of this type of romance genre, I highly suggest you give it a try. Even if you are tired of other mangas overusing these cliches, I would still recommend you try the first two chapters as it sets a solid foundation of what the rest of the manga will be like.

Disclaimer: This review is based on both the manga and the LN, with the LN up to volume 5, chapter 138.

On the surface, Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu, seems to bring yet another generic Otome Isekei genre into the hundreds that have existed. Yet, the prose and execution is near perfection. The story will force a wide range of emotions, from anger, indignation, disgust, pity to anticipation, joy and satisfaction. You will feel anger from the setting that the characters have been put into, the indignation, or more aptly, desire for justice to those who are "evil". You will feel the ... disgust of the unfortunate circumstances that has befell the MC. Yet, you will also pity some of those "evil", antagonists with reasonable cause, that has done harm on the MC. You will feel more than enough satisfaction how the author has delivered the hand of justice to those who have done harm to the MC. Finally you will feel the joy how the MC has made it out of his predicament in the end of each arc, albeit be it as a blessing or a curse, the game must continue and the MC must trudge through a seemingly endless journey.

The story and setting itself is rather simple, the MC "Leon Foe Bartford", was a former Japanese salary man who died from overplaying an otome game that his younger sister blackmailed him to play. However, he reincarnated into the same otome game he was playing as the second son of a countryside feudal lord in the Hohlfahrt Kingdom, the country that the otome game's setting is in. Yet, one major thing is that Leon was quick to realize is the country he lives in is an unfair matriarchal hierarchy, with women dominating the social order and men unable to defy this order. Through this setting, we see Leon navigate the treacherous waters of a society where women, at every angle, takes the chance to abuse the male nobility.

As a self declared "mob" character to live a peaceful life, Leon sets out to complete the objective of the unbalanced otome game, to get the female protagonist, Olivia or 'Livia', to declare their love for one or all of the five male capture targets. To fail this objective would mean a world-ending scenario as the monsters and evilness would destroy everything, and ruin the hopes of Leon's so called "peaceful life".

However, this work is not as simple as it seems, as the author's unexpected twists would not make everything as easy as it seems, especially for a reincarnated who already completed the game. From the inevitable setting of the game, Leon will face multiple moments of despair, a forlorn future that Leon has to make it through. But from the wits, experience, and reliance of his cheat item Luxion, Leon will make it through the smallest slither of success even when the reader believes all hope is lost. For those who have done evil, karma will be delivered more satisfactory than the reader can imagine. Because of these points, Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu, is an amazing piece of work that encapsulate all these feelings.

As a work that is centered around an "otome game", there isn't as much emphasis on romance as one might expect. From my understanding, the author focuses way more attention on world building, drama, and relationship building (not just romantically but more specifically on a range of the different types of relations from political disputes, diplomacy, to sibling and parental disputes). As a manga-reader who primary reads romance, if one were to look for romance here, the author gives just enough to satisfy ones desire for this development. One should also expect drama to occur as this is not a completely happy and fluffy life that Leon will experience.

The story, the lowest score I have given, has one downside: it may feel that the author is rushing the story without fleshing out some of the points. This is most apparent in the first otome game as the reader is thrown all the details of the world. The plot advances relatively quickly compared to other similar genres, and one might be very confused at first. However after finishing the two arcs, I believe this is necessary as, rather than to add in non-consequential "fillers" to the story, readers will forget the major plot points early on in the arc that will be necessary to understand the conclusion of each arc.

[For the manga] The art is very nicely drawn with a large amounts of details give to backgrounds, which is important in creating a sci-fi otome game. The characters are also drawn exceptionally also with great details to their facial expression to understand how they feel. Although the LN directly states the feelings of what some of these characters feel, it is important to have that indirectly expressed in manga, which this artist does.

In the end I give a 10/10 enjoyment, which I do not give unless it fits the requirement of a "masterpiece". Although I may give more generous scores than other reviewers, I guarantee that this work will not disappoint you if you are interested in an isekei/romance-ish/harem/sci-fi battles/comedy/drama genre.

Of course, one of the unique hidden messages that is largely left out of other similar genres is that: harems are bad mkay.

Genre rating (I will be giving a score of the genres in this manga for potential readers to expect, rating from "little to none (1)" to "mostly consist of (5)"):
Comedy (3) This manga is not intended to be "funny" in any sense but it has a lighthearted mood rather than a serious one.
Romance (5) This manga is solely focused on romance.
Slice of life (1) There is little to none slice of life element and no fillers besides the side stories.
Drama (2) There is very little drama in the first few chapters while only becoming prevalent towards the end.


~mild spoiler~


Toshishita no Otokonoko brings nothing new or ... game changing to the shoujo romance scene. It follows the generic formula of girl meets guy, feelings develop, rival-kun comes in to stir up drama, and they conclude by resolving their thoughts and emotions. However, the first 9 chapters is absolutely adorable in terms of how Mihoro and Chiel came together. It is unfortunate that the story diverts from the beginning for the sake of drama (perhaps to make Chiel realize what is most important to him).


Story (6): Toshishita no Otokonoko starts off strong with the introduction of Mihoro, who acts like a motherly figure, and her coincidental meeting with Chiel. The flags set up perfectly between the two until it reaches the climax of a so called "mood-killer confession". It is rather confusing to me why author-san would take this route as it really came out of nowhere. To put insult on this injury, author-san threw in rival-kun's arrival for the sake of completing the shoujo formula. As a result, the later chapters becomes lackluster to the adorableness until Chiel finally realizes his feelings. I would rate the beginning a solid 9 while the later chapters drop down to a 5 solely because of the poor introduction of rival-kun.

Art (8): The art style is one of the many good quirks presented in this manga. The art is neatly drawn with few inconsistencies. The facial drawings also accurately portray the character's emotions. Some of the scenic shots are also very well drawn. Although it might be similar to other shoujo mangas, author-san does not fail to deliver this consistent quality throughout the manga.

Characters (8): Unlike traditional shoujo genres, the characters in Toshishita no Otokonoko are likable and understandable from the viewers perspective. Despite the forced drama in the later chapters, it is easy to empathize with both Mihoro and Chiel: their daily activities and school but most importantly their desires and wishes. The main hero, Chiel, is not shy or perverted. He knows what he wants and he does not spend a number of chapters anguishing over his emotions. Except the part of the "mood-killer confession", one cannot find much fault in Chiel. On the other hand, Mihoro is also a likeable main heroine. Although she is shy and dense at times, we are able to see how her feelings develop to the end of the manga. Out of all the characters, she is the one who changes the most in facing her emotions by confronting rival-kun and ultimately Chiel.

To prevent myself from giving a higher score, what brought this down to an 8 is the experience of rival-kun. He ultimately did not bring much to the table in terms of shaking the feelings of Mihoro as her denseness creates a wall stronger than friendzone. We can tell the sole purpose of rival-kun is to make Chiel realize his stubbornness is only holding him back ever since the "mood-killer confession".

Enjoyment (8): To those who enjoy the formulaic shoujo genre, this is quick read that is worth your time. The fluffiness displayed between the main hero and heroine is beyond what one might expect in the early chapters of shoujo mangas. The lackluster introduction of rival-kun, however, is not much of an obstacle to the main characters. Rather I do not think it should discourage anyone who enjoys lighthearted romance presented in Toshishita no Otokonoko.