No Longer Heroine

Like any other shoujo manga, the story is about the love story of the heroine, Hatori, and her unrequited love for her childhood friend, Rita. Hatori believes that Rita is the perfect hero.. so she has to be the perfect heroine for him! Hatori is in love with Rita for almost five years. And since Rita treats her special because they are childhood friends, Hatori believes that she is the perfect match for him. But now, for the first time, Rita is having a serious relationship with his girlfriend. Should Hatori be supportive and try her best to move on? Or she would keep on lovingRita and make him fall in love with her instead? "Heroine Shikkaku", by Koda Momoko, reveals a heartbreaking experience of a long term unrequited love. Hatori is a wimpy girl who will cry in the background while watching her prince getting all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend. This girl is bratty, spoiled, self-centered, mean, and just stupidly selfish. Hatori, the main heroine, stands from what she believes in throughout the story. People may find her annoying, rebellious and some kind of a bitch. But who cares? She's in love and she's experiencing the pain of a lifetime! The thing about the manga is that it's not covered with sugar-coating, but shows the bitterness of being left out-- of finding your long term crush happy with someone else. You'll witness the wasted efforts of every characters and feel sad like they were. Also, another thing that you'll love is that the story isn't that deep for it to be hard to picture yourself in the characters' shoes. It gives you the ability to think over the character’s actions and think about it like if you were them. Rita lacks of understanding and communication and that drives our heroine in confusion and circles. It might be annoying that he's not being straightforward, but if you were in his shoes, you may find his actions a little bit reasonable. Isn't it hard to gamble your friendship over romantic love? He has been friends with Hatori for so long and maybe he just can't afford to lose her. The art was neutral. It's not displeasing to the eyes yet not that good either. But I love how the artist tends to make funny facial expressions of the heroine. Hatori's reactions are always the best and I find myself looking for more funny faces of her. Finishing the manga was like breath of fresh air-- it is unlike any other. And after reading this, you may change your perspective about being a "rival". The casts were all charming and you'll hope to read for more of them. The manga might be full of cliches, but Koda Momoko had found a way to make it more exciting and thrilling. "Heroine Shikkaku" by Koda Momoko, a heartwarming, heartbreaking, laugh-triggering story that you'll ever read.

I read this manga hoping to forget about another manga that I also didn't enjoy. Now, I feel like I might return to Gakuen Alice because nothing can be as much as a trainwreck as this manga. I will admit, the premise was intriguing. The idea of a humorous parody of shoujo manga was what drew me in, and then the actual story ruined all hopes of finding a decent manga. The drama was just so dumb, and the conflict was so confusing. I could never get a read on anyone's true emotions; the plot felt so illogical; the characters have little to no substance. Everythingrevolves around the worst romantic leads I have ever had the misfortune of coming across. If you have any sense of self-respect, do yourself a favor and read something else. First off, Hatori. She was insanely obnoxious. It's nice to have a persistent character who does her best, but she never understood the mood. She kept on butting into other people's relationship, getting hurt, and crying about to either Hiromitsu or Nakajima. She never receives any real consequences, instead, she is rewarded at the expense of other people. Her character is always overdramatic and up to ridiculous antics, and I don't find her endearing enough to really enjoy those supposedly 'humorous" moments. She is the most selfish and self-serving character with one exception, Rita. Rita, oh Rita, where do I start with you? For a guy who's so popular with the ladies, you'd figure that he'd have some likable trait, like... his self-absorption? That's right ladies, get yourself a guy who can only focus on his own feelings, hurting the females around him. He's just as reckless and selfish as Hatori, except what distinguishes him is that he's a coward. Honestly, I have no idea why he's the romantic lead when Hiromitsu is way better. Parody is no excuse for lousy writing. And while we're on the topic of Rita, let's take a moment to acknowledge the real victim of the manga, Adachi. She solely existed to create tension between Rita and Hatori, and her character never got the proper arc that she deserved. She could have had a great ending, but no, we have to focus on our two leads. Same thing with Hiromitsu. He created tension between the two leads, and then when he was no longer useful, he got an unfulfilling conclusion. Also, Nakajima was literally the most useless character ever. You could replace her with literally anybody else, and the story would be just the same.

You can just skip to the end if you want to. Characters (I don't hate the heroine) If you're like me the thing that's making you hesitate are the characters. You read this in the other reviews before "the main characters are so annoying and I hate them". I can see where their coming from but guess what. I don't actually hate the heroine. Feel free to double check that you read it correctly. I was very reluctant to give this manga a try because I heard such bad things about her but honestly I found her to be an interesting character. It's refreshing tosee such a selfish character in a manga and I really liked her dynamic with Adachi (The girlfriend of the guy she likes). Interesting and ironic when your telling your rival your trying to steal her guy so stand up and fight back otherwise you will take him away. If there is anyone you should hate it is with no doubt Rita. I swear he repeatedly he keeps leading the girls on, cheating, and is so indecisive. I hate him more then I hate Makato (school days). Because at least school days know that their character is trash and he's meant to be. But Rita nooooo what are you talking about he was always a good guy. No he wasn't. And I hate this manga for even making him seem like that in the end. Like he can do no wrong and just plays hero. I don't blame the heroine when Rita is giving her such mixed signals and playing with her. All in all the answers to your question "is this worth a read ?" My answer is if you like drama or feeling frustration. Yeah knock yourself out. A good well plot romance?? stay away. Far away. It's worth a read if you want to see an interesting dynamic between the two rival girls and how they deal with each other. It's not sugar coated. It's not meant for sweet lovey dovey stuff. And that's why I liked it cuz it was a refreshing change from the shoujo I read. The characters don't have the whole "misunderstanding" nope the drama is meant to happen. created from the characters themselves. purposely. and their well aware of that. "I still don't know if I should read it " Read a couple chapters if you hate the characters that much you'll finish soon. If your still okay you might survive till the end. I'm gonna say here the only regrets I have of reading this manga is the end. Probably the worst ending I ever read tbh. I would have actually not much to complain about and so would other people if the ending was different. And yes I did find the manga alright. And there were things I enjoyed. Otherwise I would not have let myself sit through torture reading it all. I hoped my review helped you.