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'Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san' ('Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie') follows Shikimori and Izumi who have been seeing each other for over a year but haven't done anything more than a kiss. Fine, there's no rush because these types of stories operate under the pretense that the main couple is going to be together forever so they have the rest of their lives to visit pound town. But you might assume these characters have one year left to live with how many times they feel compelled to reiterate their undying love for each other and how they will always be together. It's not just what ... is said but how it is said because putting thoughts into words opens up another dimension to be aware of like if you stutter or hear how ridiculously melodramatic you sound but here the teens engage in grandiose dialogue like they're in a play by Shakespeare.

If you thought having an established couple meant comparatively better romantic progress than its peers then you will be disappointed. Izumi kisses Shikimori (Izumi motions towards Shikimori and then their faces are obscured) after a school trip and despite all the time they spend together and how much they wax poetic about how great their lives are and how nice everyone is, Shikimori blushes and the two of them spaz out mildly the next day. Izumi remembering the kiss, says it was a crazy thing to do and he was just caught up in the heat of the moment. This is chapter 100 (ONE HUNDRED - ONE FUCKING HUNDRED). Shikimori while essentially being the man in the relationship turns into a pure maiden when the romance attempts physicality because her character's appeal is a careful balancing act. She's cool and assertive enough to make a move (and have it backfire to score 'gap moe' points) but also innocent and cute enough to melt at the slightest bit of intimacy.

Characters attract with gimmicks before working backwards to show how the gimmick isn't actually their whole personality. Izumi's life is full of bad luck like tree branches falling on him or a baseball ball hitting him. He has scars to prove his misfortune. Shikimori remarks, in a conversation with Izumi's mother, that Izumi has not let the occurrences of such bad luck make him feel sorry for himself. The manga here is patting itself on the back, no shit, everyone in this manga is sickly sweet. It's almost commendable how unabashedly lazy Izumi's bad luck shtick is. It's only purpose is to service how mushy gushy everything is. If Izumi was hit by a car, he would likely apologize for being in the car's way. Shikimori also says 'Izumi knows pain more than anyone else,' coming from a 15 year old that has no knowledge of the world, I can let this slide but damn, it is a ridiculous line.

Characters too good to be true have one hang-up that makes them totally-not-perfect, throw in a personality quirk, follow the schedule for high school and you got yourself another happy-happy-fun-times at anime school story. I'm not asking for drama but if the manga is going to address topics like how past misfortunes may harm your self-esteem or frustration at school regulations, I'd rather it not bring it up at all because all I'm left with is another gold star to reward these dorks comforted by their vapid solipsistic setting. In the latest chapters, there's talk of what to do in the future. I think this is silly because Shikimori and Izumi could just form a business where they tell people 'just be yourself' and watch the money pile up.

Moderation simply does not exist in this universe. There's barely a chapter they have together where they actually just talk about random things or let the moment speak for itself and maybe end off with a simple 'I love you' plus kiss because they're incessantly complimenting each other and saying generic fluffy quotes like 'I'll always protect you,' or 'I'll always be there for you,' etc. One of the corniest lines is 'when I'm with you, even the time waiting in line is super fun!' This is said seriously, I am not kidding. Fluff dialed up to 11.

I could forgive the manga for its masturbatory 'relationship goals' selling point if it actually did something with the relationship. Going back to my earlier point about the repetition I think the reason the characters need to repeatedly vocalize their love and togetherness is that without it Izumi just looks like Shikimori's token gay friend. Rarely the setting becomes aware of the premise and side or background characters say things like 'why won't Shikimori date someone cooler' or 'you have the best kind of youth.' Unfortunately, it doubles down on the premise so Shikimori and Izumi are not are just a perfect couple but perfect friends to others, and two people that selflessly help fellow students. Kindness employed here is so smug and conceited. It's not enough for the well-meaning characters to help others and imply support, the poor fucks that need the unlimited compassion of the main couple have to present themselves as enlightened and forever grateful to be blessed by such robotic benevolence.

I prefer my slice-of-life to have quiet that balances dialogue but that's not here. A calm panel teases peacefulness before Izumi monologues about how great his life is at the moment. Regarding the romance, having Izumi and Shikimori already be a couple at the start precludes will-they-won't-they tension but it's just as put-on and circular as the average romcom duo, whether or not the duo began the story as a couple doesn't matter. Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal is referenced in a panel and that was funny. Nothing else made me laugh in this romcom. The art is great when presenting full bodies and clothing.

'Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori-san' is a gross display of fluff. There's zero charm. It's carried hard by the role reversal relationship dynamic that is admittedly a nice change of pace but it also wants to play with real-life problems injecting them when convenient pretending to be anything more than a family-friendly version of a fantasy for guys that want their girlfriend to call them 'good boy' after cumming.

SPOILER WARNING for those watching the anime or not caught up with the manga.

Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru (My Dress-Up Darling) is a series I had mixed feelings about. It started off strong but almost as if it were scared of commitment, it falls back to formula. After thinking over what happens (or doesn't happen) in the manga, I found under its pretty exterior very little worth and I thought less and less of 'Sono Bisque Doll.'

My main complaint with 'Sono Bisque Doll' is that it's not aware of what it wants to be. If it is aware then it fails to ... keep each part of itself consistent because its at the whims of a mangaka desperately trying to appeal with no regard to integrity. It flip-flops on sexuality often and I wager only the most elite romcom fans could perform the mental gymnastics necessary to comprehend the dissonance. Marin's panties are regularly seen by Gojou and everyone else for that matter since her skirt is worn very high. For whatever reason, Marin's ass in panties isn't sexualized and she isn't aware of them showing anyways (until one time it's brought up when she wears a bunny suit) - even though the series, mostly through Gojou, IS aware that sexualization exists. Later as the two get close, Marin does some Nagatoro-lite teasing in one scene but instead of continuing, she mistakenly assumes Gojou to be angry when he was really just hiding his boner. It has to tease the actual teasing and cuts off with a misunderstanding, it's vacant. Most egregious example has to be when the two of them are in a love hotel. How absent-minded of Marin to book a room at a love hotel for a photoshoot! The two settle in, Marin wearing one of her skimpiest cosplays, and they enter THE ZONE and feel zero attraction to one another until they hear moaning through the walls and simultaneously realize what position they're in (Marin is straddling Gojou) and the place. How adorably silly, closeness between the two is so sparse that 30 chapters later Marin remembers this single incident and blushes.

If it wants to be both innocent and ecchi then the simplest way the manga could be better is if it removed the 'be yourself' and 'enjoy your hobbies' shtick, it comes off as self-congratulatory because every little success is a given. Gojou's backstory is a cheap excuse for creating yet another loner male character that will experience character development through the adoration (and later romantic feelings) of a girl and wonders of youth for the nth time. His uphill battle towards being comfortable within his classroom and society in general is a crutch used for lazy character writing. He merely needs to accept the offer, and he does because chapter after chapter, as Gojou himself realizes, the world he's been avoiding is actually one of acceptance and comfort. The entire school festival arc is the rest of the class fellating Gojou. He doesn't want to let them down and he doesn't because we don't do that here. His internal conflict is relegated to a couple panels here and there, often flashing back to that one moment in his life when he was scolded for liking Hina dolls, before someone steps in and reassures him that he's not weird for liking dolls or makeup. And why would it be weird? His skills are those of a professional. Maybe it would be weird if he sucked at what he's doing.

The emotional high points between Gojou and Marin are weak because they’re not totally reciprocal. Early on Gojou says that Marin looks beautiful - a word that he only says if he means it from the bottom of his heart. Touching moment, right? Except he said it while falling asleep and on his part, it hasn't been acknowledged. This sets off Marin's attraction towards Gojou as more than a friend. It's explicitly shown to us that she's in love with Gojou through monologue the very next chapter (15). In chapter 39, she says 'I love you' on the phone to Gojou after remembering all the sweet moments they shared in the prior months. Another touching moment, right? Except Gojou was asleep, again. It could be that Gojou is only capable of romance nocturnally but the fact is, this is teasing you, the reader, as a way to retain readership. To make sure you really get it the chapter (39) ends with a POV shot of Marin looking at you. The characters aren't as scared as the mangaka in making their relationship progress. Evidenced by the chapters after Marin's confession having nothing to do with her verbalizing her feelings. Instead we're treated to four chapters of a crossdresser with a throwaway sob story further cementing how precious our two cinnamon rolls are as they conclude crossdressing isn't gross. Similarly during the school festival performance, Gojou looks at Marin and feels the same way he did when he first saw a Hina doll. Instead of continuing with Gojou trying to process his feelings, we're sidetracked once again. It's classic bait-and-switch revealing a noncommittal style that undermines each bit of authenticity 'Sono Bisque Doll' could potentially excel at.

The relationship dynamic is uneven, tedious and begins to lose what charm it had in the early chapters after Marin's phone confession. Relying on its setting, 'Sono Bisque Doll' uses the romcom handbook for creating key relationship moments. You get a fireworks scene, white knight saving his girl, school festival, etc. My favourite one is the dreaded Japanese cold. When Marin gets sick, good guy Gojou skips class to get her back to health. For some reason, when Gojou got sick afterwards we're not given a chapter of Marin helping him. Marin sometimes gets to fill the role of 'mommy gf' as she takes Gojou shopping and raises her teenage baby into a normal human being. It's her end of the relationship as Gojou not only creates the best cosplay but he cooks and will lend an ear to Marin's rambling and he also helps with homework. Marin gained weight? No problem for the always inoffensive Gojou, who says clothes are meant to resized. The accusations that the (female) mangaka created Gojou as a surrogate for a real life perfect boyfriend ring true.

'Perfect' is what's ultimately keeping 'Sono Bisque Doll' at an awkward place of showing you the joy of the world while being nearly fantastical. Perfect are the character designs - Marin is a model by profession in a world full of models, even Gojou is handsome and tall, he's well above average, their personalities are agreeable, it acts coy projecting Marin's 'pure slut' character as the tone of the series. Milquetoast interactions means hardly any banter. Gojou blushing while ditzy perfect-body Marin has her ass hanging out in a cosplay stopped being funny after the first time it happened. You have to believe Marin knows what it's like for Gojou to be in that situation and if she is teasing, then are we really going to expect Gojou to grab her and do something? No, just enjoy the tits, you idiot. There's not an engaging element to their romantic relationship unless you like seeing a girl crushing on a boy who is oblivious to romance. In all fairness Marin is too, as it is her first boyfriend. There's no risks taken though. A slip up on Marin's part telling Gojou that what they just did was a date or a read by Gojou as he tries to one-up Marin's teasing even if it's done awkwardly. It's lacking spice. They'll get together undoubtedly so it's always been about when will Gojou realize what the two of them are.

In a story like 'Koe no Katachi,' Shouko's bullying means something. It has weight. It's not by choice, she can't just settle to be an observer of her environment. Her struggle is palpable and the emotive beats of her character arc resonate with many viewers. Gojou's history is a single flashback and feels like it was improvised to provide "depth" but we're expected to believe it's done much harm to him even though his years of loneliness have not made him cold and edgy. (Also, his parents are dead but a girl telling him he's disgusting for playing with dolls had a greater effect on him). His awkwardness is meant to be adorable. His meeting with Marin begins a snowball effect towards positivity. The tiniest bit of insecurity is glanced over in their initial meeting when he thinks Marin is just fooling around talking about her favourite hentai game. The rest of the series is something you've seen before unless this is literally your first romcom, the guy doesn't think he's good enough for the girl. It's obnoxious since Marin IS in love with him so any alone time the two of them have together is like watching two magnets closely repelling each other. I can only take so much internal gushing over a character before I start getting impatient. A series like 'Kaguya-sama' made that exact thing its premise and realizing the fruitless nature of characters perpetually stuck in their own minds, it ran with the idea wholeheartedly creating a story confident in itself to produce an organic relationship.

Now I just said Marin IS in love with Gojou and will spaz and squirm in a rush of hormones often but there is something that bugs me with those moments more than others. Marin in the first chapter (first episode in the anime) tells Gojou to speak up about how he truly feels. Imagine if Marin took her own advice. Imagine if Marin had the self-awareness to realize she doesn't take her own advice. The time Gojou denies he's dating Marin could have been the perfect time for Marin to take initiative and say something. It's a cosplay manga until its not. It's a romcom but actually about cosplay despite having chapters nearly entirely dedicated towards Marin and Gojou just shooting the shit. It's actually about self-confidence or whatever other fill-in-the-blanks character development theme it tries to implement only to ironically make the whole thing feel even more shallow due to how heavily it relies on surface level appeal. Again, these wouldn't even be in the story if it had any awareness.

I'm asking for what's on the cover. The relationship as something recognized from both sides will happen in time but bait after bait has not made me lose hope, it's sapped the enjoyment out of it. Now I'm just waiting for it to happen. I don't care for the series but 'Nagatoro' at least has the excuse that it's based on the gimmick of Nagatoro's insecurities projecting onto Senpai. Marin on the other hand has done a 'confession,' 'kissed,' teased, unwittingly rubbed her crotch on Gojou's, invited him out or to her house, they have dinner at Gojou's regularly. By chapter 60 (around there) she's pretty much sleeping with Gojou by proxy through the plushie he won for her. Trying to navigate her 'pure slut' character begs for lobotomy. Her love for Gojou being introduced so early on and so strongly was a blessing and a curse. It was nice that it happened so soon but in retrospect maybe it happened too soon. 'Sono Bisque Doll' is as much a romance as me walking into my backyard is an adventure. The comedy blows, as mentioned before the lewd cosplay photoshoots get stale very quick. Gojou making a serious face to something silly said by Marin is pretty much the height of the comedy here. The rest is standard fare school setting boy and girl shenanigans.

The cosplay aspect is treated with respect and goes into great detail and in an extra chapter, the mangaka mentions going to an event to learn more. Admittedly, nothing about the cosplays keeps me interested beyond characters wearing them. If you showed me the Shizuku-tan cosplay from the early chapters and the bunny suit from chapter 45, I wouldn't be able to discern any technical progress between the two. Of course there is a difference, the bunny suit needed special parts to not slip off, which Gojou learns and puts to use quickly. There's no brooding here and failure, like the romance, is only teased. Gojou starts off strong so the learning curve is minimal, he's adept and studious. His grandpa remarks that Gojou's skills pertaining to Hina dolls has improved due to him getting more life experience. His Hina dolls, despite being a defining feature of his character, rarely get highlighted. Marin is like a force sucking in all the attention - at times it's cringeworthy, compliments from strangers are heard 'she's an angel' or 'I wish I could date her' during her modelling gigs and walking in the school hallway.

'Sono Bisque Doll' is a series at odds with itself. A romcom with a cosplay theme played straight would have been fine but it's trying to be greater than it could possibly be. It approaches decent topics like not being secure in your strengths but the overly protective setting neuters the point. Instead it puts up hurdles a toddler could step over and we're supposed to feel like there's something in their guaranteed victory. Sad to say one of the redeeming features of 'Sono Bisque Doll' is that Gojou masturbates. That's how low the bar is. It fails to juggle its elements, it's too shortsighted and fumbles its basic bitch message. If it owned up to being full of itself, I could appreciate the honesty and respect the series for its saccharine tendencies.

---------- Just something I want to add ----------
If you're wondering how I could dislike a series that is 'wholesome' then I'll explain. I do not care about takes on 'Death of the Author.' I'm only bringing this up because all that I had assumed to be true was confirmed by the author in an interview she did. I feel bad though. It's like I was picking on a retard. 'Hey, that was stupid. What are you, a retard? Oh... sorry.'

>Author: I do my best to make sure anyone can enjoy reading this manga regardless of gender. But with Marin, I tried to fulfill the dreams of men who previously thought 'I wanted to date a cosplayer' or 'I wanted to date a girl like this in high school.'

This speaks for itself. Marin is crafted to be a perfect girl. It's no wonder her stripping to a bikini in Gojou's room became something to argue over because one side of the viewers / readers deluded themselves into believing this could actually happen while the other side saw through her transparent waifubait appeal.

>Author: In the initial setting, Wakana actually also had other friends but then if he had any problems preparing the outfits, he would unfortunately end up consulting his friends instead of Marin. Thus since it ended up being a situation where I had to do something to make sure they could cooperate with just the 2 of them and work it out, I got rid of both his friends and parents in order to corner Wakana.

I wish I was fucking joking. Gojou initially had parents and friends but the author had no idea how a boy and girl could organically become friends so she axes everyone that might get in the way. I knew there was something grossly dishonest about this series. I read somewhere in an attempt to grasp what attracted people to the series and its characters that Gojou losing his parents had a part in the state of his being at the beginning of the series. He brings up his parents ONE time during dinner to explain why he can cook. He's either very good at bottling up what he feels about his parents' passing or the author knows no one gives a shit.

Reading the interview and watching the anime cemented all my feelings towards 'Sono Bisque Doll.' Nothing in or around this manga feels genuine. Juju appears in the manga correlating to her presence in the anime. Now instead of there being anything explored about Akira and her dislike of Marin, we get romcom shenanigans (chapter 74) for the recently ended anime.