Love Is Strange and Troublesome

Koi wa Inamono Komarimono has a pretty average plot. Takeda is a very serious and hard-working student while Fukamachi seems to be more of the laid-back and carefree type. Regardless of that, however, Fukamachi always tops Takeda on everything, be it looks, athletics or grades. Takeda then starts seeing Fukamachi as his rival, or even enemy, but things get shaky when he receives a love confession from Fukamachi. Despite Fukamachi's somewhat pushy attempts to close the distance between them, Takeda manages to stand his ground and keep him at arm's length. But as they grow closer and start to get more involved with each other's life,Takeda starts to waver. It's a funny story and an easy read. It may feel a bit slow since Takeda takes a while to open up for Fukamachi but when he does, the development is smooth and relatively natural. Overall: 7/10 The volume also includes an one-shot called Sashinomi, centered around Nishijima and his junior in their company, Fuji. The whole story happens during a dinner where the usually quiet Fuji gets the easygoing but secretive Nishijima to actually show and talk about his feelings. They feel like an awkward pair, you can't really tell if there's something going on or not. Maybe it would be more interesting if it were not only an one-shot. Overall: 4/10