I'm in Love with the Older Girl Next Door

The first 20 chapters are a lot funnier than they have any business being, and are worth reading for just the comedy. There are quite a number of laugh-out-loud moments from unexpectedly deadpan punchlines, such as when the young protagonist puts up bare-chested posters of Tom Holland and Chris Evans in his room to remind himself of who he’s competing against, after the heroine casually remarks about finding them muscular. However, as the relationship develops, the comedic moments become muted and farther between, and the rom side of the rom-com is uninteresting. Considering her other work is also a school romance, Fujichika Koume should trywriting something different for her next series. It seems like a waste of her talents, as she appears to be one of the funnier mangaka around, with a distinct style for set up and delivery.

A completely self-centered and dense 13yo boy falls in love with his 16yo neighbor, a film enthusiast. We watch him grow up, both physically and mentally, doing whatever it takes to be with her, all while they are both chasing their own dreams. This manga speaks to us about chasing our dreams, learning self-worth, and bettering ourselves every day. It shows how, through willpower—in this case, driven by love—we can change and broaden our horizons in order to mature and truly understand what it means to love. It is a solid coming-of-age story where we witness the MC's development. He does everything for his beloved Shio, giving herthe courage and confidence she needs to pursue her dreams. This growth is portrayed subtly, such as when the main character starts learning more kanji just to be able to read and better understand his neighbor's writing—since she sees feelings reflected in movies that the MC doesn't even grasp yet. It’s a short, heartwarming read that invites deep reflection, marking another worthy addition to the world of rom-coms.

I put this at mixed feelings not because I think that it is poorly written, but because it's a bit strange- for a romance manga. If you seen the author's other works, most notably "The Girl I like Forgot Her Glasses", and you liked that and wanted something like it, then stop and go read something else. This is very different from that, I'm not sure if the author usually writes in this way, because, I only saw the anime for the first title (haven't gotten around to finishing the manga). However, the character writing in this actually surprised me. In a lot of romancesthe characters can be a bit stagnant at times. I think for a cute romance it isn't a necessity have really deep characters, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much the two main characters grow in this, especially the ML. That said, overall the story had a more "realistic" tone. I don't usually like when stories try to be as realistic as possible, because it is often at the expense of the story, yet I think the character writing and dynamic between the two leads saved it a bit for me. As a warning, I will say the ending made me feel a bit conflicted- a tad bittersweet. But it didn't go the full mile of making a needlessly sad ending and I felt left their relationship at a promising note. Meaning I don't think that their was a "goodbye" mentality, if you get what I mean.

First of all, I don't really like writing my reviews on here because it's quite a tedious process, I like to keep things simple and straight forward when writing my reviews on other platforms (Letterboxd), but every once in a while I get to read manga that gets me hooked so I have no choice but to write it on here even if I'm not a fan of essay-type reviews. I Love The Older Girl Next Door, not only is this 51-Chaptered manga funny but it's also a bit witty. I love the main characters in this show, Ta-Kun & Shia-San, the incredible chemistry they havefuels the whole manga, yes Shia doesn't exactly know how to express her feelings and so she runs away, and Ta-Kun initially doesn't understand Hoshino Shia's love for film and is only hanging out with her because he likes her, but that whole complicated nature is what makes this so fun, and you can't help but want to keep spending time with them as they come to realize their feelings towards eachother, that whole experience is bliss and I personally can't get enough of. I mentioned I love the main protagonists the most but I also can't ignore the other supporting characters that also elevate the amazement of this manga, Ta-Kun's brother and sister, his classmates, his basketball teammates, Shia's friends, all of of which add a great value to this manga and it wouldn't be the same without these characters. What did I think of the ending? I love the ending, and the epilogue as well is great, I personally felt there was alot of payoff of things set up with the characters for example Ta-Kun's height and the final film end up watching spring break. All in all, this was a great read and I personally wouldn't be surprised if re-read it again, part of the reason this resonates with me so well is because I also have a love for filmmaking, so I guess it's no surprise that I also really liked Shia and all the convos about screenwriting and films in general. Final words, I would love for this to get a 24-episode anime adaption, and I don't think I'm crazy for wanting this, It all depends on all the love and appreciation we give it, fingers crossed.