Defying Kurosaki-kun

Kurosaki-Kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai is an experience for me. A story to be told. A journey to the past that takes me back to a different time where the world was a lot smaller to me. 2019. Among the few thousands of non-Japanese speaking people that have read through this manga to the end I must be in the even fewer that aren't actually into this type genre. Run-of-the-mill Shoujo manga, Why would I ever read this? Simping, of course. I was chasing someone, and heard this was what she was reading, and you bet I tore through the 40 chapters available at thetime. It stood out to me, but perhaps for reasons that are nothing new to this genre and target audience. Two guys after the one girl? A bully male lead who is somewhat... Abusive, to say the least? And why is the girl into it? I was not getting it- I still, don't quite get it. Like my frontiers haven't been quite expanded on exactly why it's the case that people would read that kind of thing for fun. I was puzzled by what this person I had feelings for was reading, but I was willing to sit it out, and wait and see if there was really something. And, as luck would have it, Kurosaki-kun no Iinari Nante Naranai pleasantly surprised me. The characters that stayed bland in the beginning acquired depth and development as time went on, and though things were creepy in the beginning, the romance between Yuu and Haruto eventually became something enjoyable to read, as it didn't feel as if the author was just getting off on these boundary-pushing fantasies, but a dynamic that just feel grounded in this reality. They were fun and cute to read, and the manga even regained my respect as Yuu stopped being Haruto's mere "toy" and "stupid dog" to become her very own person that sought after her own goals regardless of the male lead- I don't know if this is something groundbreaking in shoujo manga, but boy for me did it make me happy that (unlike Haou Airen) the female lead became a person and not just some kind of toy for the dude to play with. That, is just great, and I love it. Haruto and Takumi had basically joint character arcs that worked off eachother as they're the other two protagonists of this story, mainly centered around Haruto, who is obviously going to get the most of the spotlight as Takumi rots in his simp pit of complete perdition (No offense, white prince team). I don't understand the two-boys trope, but Takumi even felt like kind of a slump anytime he was around Yuu simply because everyone knew how it was going to turn out for him since the beginning. Haruto wins, and his best friend can only do as much as cry about it. A lot. Of course, the characters rising above the dreadful first 20 chapters didn't mean the overall story did. Boring tropes were executed, and boy they weren't fun to read. The manga ran into some dangerous dead-ends it escaped by using the same ridiculous writing that had gotten it in those places to begin with. Good save, but those mistakes shouldn't have happened to begin with. Utilitarian characters that pop in and out are commonplace and the side cast does it's job alright if they stick around. The art was never anything close to sublime and did it's functional job. A lot of cut corners were made even for a monthly release as photos are clearly used in almost if not all chapters, and if there's any hand drawn backgrounds they're extremely bland. The characters have the classical Shoujo manga appearance that makes them just as bland as the scenery around them, which really undermines how these bland-looking characters have actually decent stories around them. So, in conclusion? It's okay. I don't read these kind of things (And I won't plan to do so) but this manga in particular caught my attention and keep me on hooked even after my original goal reading it just completely expired- It took me about a year after the manga ended to write this review, but the person I had started reading this "for" I haven't talked to in years. It's a personal journey for me, and perhaps that's what makes this manga more special to me than it should be. Should you read this? It honestly depends. I wouldn't say it's a diamond in the rough, far from it, it's just a cute read past a certain arc we'd all like to forget about (wink). So if a creepy bad start is something you're willing to sit through, then enjoy the adventures of Yuu and Haruto as they make their way to their very own ending, on their very own terms. And that's honestly awesome.