Aho-Girl: Clueless Girl

This is a manga with a lot of good parts that’s bogged down by some irreconcilably bad parts. The story is extremely simple but passable and the art is very good. What simultaneously makes and breaks Aho Girl are the characters. The side characters are enjoyable, likable, and quirky. Nothing revolutionary, but they’re all pretty fun. The male protagonist is unconventional for a romcom. He's a loner who is pretty disinterested in the people around him and just wants to study, which works better in this story than that description might lead you to believe. The main thing bogging down this manga is the titularcharacter. She manages to be so annoying and unlivable that it’s actually shocking this manga has any good parts. I get that the author likely wanted to make her annoying, but my god, she sucks the enjoyment out of every scene she’s in. By the end of the manga, I get the feeling you were supposed to like her somewhat, but I just wished she wasn’t there. Her jokes are overused by chapter 2, her personality is annoying and never gets even the slightest bit better, and she's never gone from the story as long as you'd want her to be. The only other big negative is the ending. Without getting into spoilers, the ending is very inconclusive and forced, with no closure at all. If you want a satisfying conclusion, romantically or otherwise, do not read this. It’s also worth mentioning there’s a lot of physical violence where the main guy hits the stupid girl, which might be a big turn off for some. In my opinion, however, it’s more like extreme slapstick than real violence. In the end, this is a mediocre romcom that could’ve been so much better with a few changes. If it sounds like your thing, I’d recommend giving this a try, especially if after the first few chapters you can tolerate the main girl.

I haven't touch the manga in quite a while, but it is the first manga that I actually read from beginning to end which makes me feel weird but whatever. The reasoning for this is mainly due to how I read Aho-Girl. It was during rest between sets of weightlifting to distract me from thinking about the next set I was about to push my way through. I truly believe that that is the best way to get through this manga; when it used to get through a minute or two of wait time. This is because Aho-Girl lacks any real substance to it. Itis just about a really dumb girl who is annoying and loves bananas. She is so annoying that she gets beat up all the time by the MC and no one even cares. This joke is pretty funny in the beginning of the story, but it doesn't stay consistently funny. It is a gag that gets really repetitive really quickly, but the manga is able to bring in several side characters that are genuinely interesting and spark up the humor the manga first had. One character (a particularly sheltered monitor) is quite fun, with some level of character development and interesting plot lines. She was more memorable than Yoshiko Hanabatake which is the manga's biggest issue. Yoshiko is an interesting twist on genki girl: she isn't shy, ashamed, or cutesy. She is just really stupid and annoying, and that is why its funny to watch her get slapped around so much. she gets punch in the face and is too dumb to stop herself from getting punched again, but she is so annoying that you want to see her get one to the face. However, that's why this character doesn't work. She is dumb and annoying; what exactly do I root for here? What is the character's intention? what is their goal? Bananas and sleeping...well that isn't that memorable. Which is why Aho-Girl works so well when doing reps at the gym. When you have a minute to spare for a fun distraction and quick laugh Aho-Girl is a good time. But it is purely a quick laugh.

It's a silly, stupid comedy that goes all out with over the top reactions and absolute dipshit characters. Sometimes you might think that a character has a brain but NO, they are just as stupid as the rest of the cast. Yoshiko manages to be annoying but in a charming way. She's just so highly energetic and constantly gets up no matter how many times she gets beat down (literally) by Akkun. There were certain characters that I wish could've gotten more screentime or perhaps SOME sort of development, since there actually are some storylines that get a conclusion, but overall I think the authormanaged to squeeze a ton out of the initially simple line up. A negative I could give is...the same face syndrome. Now, personally I think there is nothing too wrong about finding a specific face and using it multiple times on different characters. Sometimes it can work by giving them small tweaks such as different eyelashes or unique pupils/iris. Heck, if you change the hair and body up enough it can also work. But...many times the characters will have very similar expressions. THAT same expression. Over and over and over whenever they are reacting to something ridiculous. It got a little annoying. Overall though, it's a really funny manga and I hope it can get a sequel of sorts someday!