read all the translated chapters (9) then ended up reading the rest with mtl and my god this is a sugar/fluff overload that once you get in to it you cant help but keep reading would recommend

I'm tired of the standard "unrealistically popular" girl who is "too popular for her own good" that is unfortunately common in light novels.

I know that this is practically a staple of high school anime but it really kills the mood that these type of romance series continuously emphasize that part of the female leads character, especially when the male lead's normie/loner status is continuously mentioned to highlight how "unobtainable" the female lead is by comparison.

Even if the trope is used to show that the female lead has "hidden depths" and... more>> is "secretly lonely" or (shocked gasp) "not perfect" it's still overdone and still tries to emphasize how "perfect" she is.

It's tiresome, overdone, and takes away from their relationship as it makes the pairing unbalanced.

Now, as for this series - its the same thing:

I'm only on the first chapters but I can already tell that the female lead asking the male lead out on a dare is going to be downplayed. She isn't going to be called out on insincerely calling the male lead out on a dare.

Its been mentioned a few times how she's in the wrong (to my amazement) but its being treated lightly by almost everyone including the main lead when, if this situation were reversed, the guy doing the dare would be looked at as a s*umbag. However, because the female lead is cute and "popular" it's somehow less wrong.

I already know the main pair are going to fall "hopelessly in love" and even if the female lead "regrets" what she's done the whole scenario is going to be swept under the rug while the main lead fends off "jealous male classmates" who only "like her for their body" for dating the "class angel."

He might be "dense" that she actually loves him for a while but he won't ever call her out as anything other than "perfect" or even force her to prove her sincerity or own up for what she did.

The usual double standard that goes both ways.

I like it when a main couple is balanced and on even terms with one another. When both the Main lead and female lead can both support each other, make mistakes, call each other out when one of them has done something wrong, and apologize/make amends. To be fair in my judgement, since most of the things I'm complaining about ARE in the summary and tags, I'll continue reading and hope I'm proven wrong but this isn't a good start to a main couple who are supposed to be the centerpiece of the novel. Maybe the fluff/diabetes that I hear comes later will help me raise my score. I do love a fluffy romance. <<less

This one doesn't contain very high sugar levels. My sensei sugar level meter is 6.5/10

this novel has high-speed relationship development, I'm pretty sure they gonna kiss in volume 2 or 3.

for me, FMC character design boost this novel likeability pretty much,

... more>> FMC is a semi-aggressive pseudo gal, she is a very simple and easy girl who wears Gal armor. She is innocent and this is her first time experiencing love,

a very typical fluffy character who doesn't good communicate with men (if she is not with her gal friend), distrust men because they always staring at her b**bs.

The reason why MC know FMC asked him out is

Spoiler

He is like a ninja, literally going inside the class coincidence listening to punishment game content and leaving the class without FMC and her friend noticing. Nahhh~ weak story, very forced coincidence development. /-0, 5 star for this novel/

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Spoiler

The Bucket accident just..... Nahhh~ weak story, very forced coincidence development. /-0, 5 star for this novel/

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I like this kind of FMC who is full of love, and actively want closer to MC, and she kinda regrets asking out MC only because the punishment game

MC (this one is just loner type, not the loser one)

MC is a typical low self-esteem character, "there is no reason she likes me because of that", " there's is no way she is going out with someone like me if not because punishment game", "it's only because of punishment game" all the time.

But.

this one is not the s*upid type of MC who likely trigger your anger with his s*upid loser action,

this guy character design is calm loner type, understand how to treat girl, have a masculine body,

kinda similar to Angel next door MC,

the only difference is this MC is normally looking + gamers + not rich + have an online gamers friend who is a sage: always give perfect advice in love to MC <<less

I've read in Japanese until the end of V1 LN.

One might say that the story is quite unrealistic with the various "coincidences", but if you over look that, it's a very enjoyable story. Despite the somewhat twisted beginning, it's a story about two people, with best intentions, trying to make each other happy and I like that kind of story. You can see, in a cute way, that the two are inexperienced from their interaction. It's a happy story with little drama but not too sugary that you get tired... more>> of it either. <<less

Its really cute and wholesome overall. If you just want a fluffy romcom to brighten your day, then read this

7.5/10

A sugary, cute and fluffy romcom. Basically, FMC is told to confess to MC as punishment for losing a game or something, then MC saves her from a dropping bucket while she's confessing and she falls for him. Pretty generic storyline, I know. The rest of the story up to where I've read seems to just be cute interactions between the two, which is fine by me. That's everything I've read up to for now, I'll edit if any major plot changes appear later on in the novel

Honestly I'm fully aware this series isn't amazing (if we are being objective it's like an 8 max) but for me it just hits all the right spots so it's one of my favorite romance series i've ever read.

The start is a bit iffy since the first 4 volumes are based on his "fake" relationship with Nanami, but the writing would genuinely make you think they're madly in love with eachother from like 2 days into their relationship. There is also alot of silly stuff early on like Misumai meeting... more>> Nanami's parents within the first week of their "fake" relationship and then being super cringe saying he will look after her and essentially proposing. It's honestly just pretty goofy sometimes, but I absolutely adore the chemistry between Misumai and Nanami. Alot of characters in the series point it out so it's pretty much an in-universe gag but they're super clingy with eachother without even realising it and its just so cute to read. The story is super simple, just generic school life with some dates but none of it is anything that interesting, essentially you just read it for the chemistry between Nanami and Misumai, which is peak.

Biggest complaint I have with the series is the side characters, the author will try and give Misumai friends and act like they're super close when Misumai literally never hangs out with anyone other than Nanami (which is fine but like why try to act like he has close friends). Also for some reason in the later volumes it feels like the author is trying to limit how close Nanami and Misumai are, they keep having characters say things like "please tone it down." etc, in volume 9 a teacher was telling them they had to be more careful and if they acted as normal during their school trip they'd be put in different groups. Personally I just think that kind of thing is silly considering the flirting and being super clingy is literally the whole appeal of ho*kup Hiccups, plus there is literally no reason to push them apart atp, it's not even like there is any drama, it's just simply "tone it down" which is cringe.

Overall mid story, mid side characters, mid writing... but Nanami and Misumai are perfect for eachother and it's just so fun to see them together so 9.5/10 <<less

The fluff is generally good, but most social situations are infuriating. MC treats FMC like a porcelain idol that cannot be blasphemed, instead of an actual person with wants and desires is the root of most issues I have with it. Maybe reiwa wave of romance made my expectations too high, but I really can't stomach some scenes, where they jump from serious talks about marriage to being too embarrassed to kiss.

Both characters care way too much about how everyone around them looks at them, and what they think, where... more>> the truth that totally escapes them is that most people don't give a sh*t about almost anything they worry about. They can be worried, sure. But they won't spend sleepless nights tormenting themselves with whatever our main couple is up to. Maybe that's a normal mindset in Japan, but in a few scenes, it comes off as really narcissistic.

It also has a weird approach to jealousy. Especially MC feels like he would not allow FMC to go anywhere on her own, because, god forbid, someone tries to hit on her. They could have played it off as him being protective due to her issues, but they didn't. Instead, it feels like there is no such thing as trust towards her, and the only way for her not to be "stolen" is to constantly protect her.

Volumes 1-4 were basically the plot of the story, with vol.5 (and I assume after that) feeling a bit like an afterthought born from the first 4 being popular. The first couple of chapters of vol.5 were almost unbearable, but it ended up decently.

What it does well, it does rather well. What it fails at, it fails at spectacularly. Luckily, it's mostly focused on fluff, so cringe has limited space to work with. Maybe 7/10. <<less

This has quickly become one of my favorite series.

It's sweet, wholesome, and fluffy.

You would think this kind of rom-com plot would be overplayed or cliche, but it feels pretty fresh for some reason.

... more>> At first, I thought the FMC would be a terrible person after reading the plot, but after finishing a few chapters, you realize that's definitely not the case.

The FMC is great, and the MC isn't some annoying, dense idiot (mostly) like in most of these loner protagonist stories, so I find myself wanting to read more.

10/10 Would recommend for a wholesome fluffy read. <<less