Sometimes you just want to read a little bit of fluff. No story, no conflict — just a cute little story that you can enjoy at a superficial level.

There’s nothing much outside of the main baseline. It’s about a boy gushing over his adorable girlfriend. It’s sweet to watch them interact and to see how much they love each other, but you have to be patient. If you’re not into slice of life then this is not for you. While you can read this and enjoy the lovely art and relationship, it can get very repetitive and frustrating. Our main character keeps gushing over how cute his girlfriend is, she does something cute, then she shows a side that suggests she’s more ruthless then she lets on, and he gushes over that as well. It can get tiring.

Don’t go into this expecting a grand story, but it’s a nice segment of mini stories to enjoy mindlessly.

2.5 stars if I'm generous

I made it 48 pages (so around chapter 8, I think) before I couldn't take this anymore. It is the most repetitive thing I've ever experienced. <i>Groundhog Day</i> has less repetition than this story. Every chapter includes the guy saying or thinking about his girlfriend "She's so cute" or some variation. It feels copy-pasted from each chapter to the next. The chapters are strung out and it feels like there's no plot. Which would make you think this is a character-focused story, right?

Wrong.

I can't tell you anything about these people other than the guy has bad luck and dark hair and the girl has like superpowers and sometimes a menacing face and also looks cute every time she does stuff.

Huh?

Don't bother unless you're really bored.

This was such a cute, funny manga.
i loved it. the art style was very adorable. can't wait to read the rest.
thank you Netgalley for providing the Arc. <3

A reversal of shoujo tropes, Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie has a practically cursed teen boy, Izumi, who has the coolest seeming girlfriend ever. Izumi, whose daily life has him stumbling and crashing like a shoujo manga's female protagonist, finds himself in situations where his girlfriend, Shikimori, saves him a la shoujo manga tsundere love interest style, making him exclaim about how cool she is. Shikimori seems like a typical cute shy girl, but she is also quite smooth, impressing Izumi whenever she saves him from something falling on him, or protecting him from flying newspapers or something. Izumi, while also being adoring about his cool girlfriend, who his classmates think is out of his league BTW, sometimes feels he needs to be more 'manly' or something. However, he forgets about that whenever she manages to impress him again. The artwork style is cute, and the situations are more 4-koma style in a slice-of-life tone, so as for plot, it doesn't have much. It is typically something happens -> Shikimori does something cool -> cue Izumi's gushing, which can get repetitive after some time. But I can't deny that I love a good protagonist drinking his 'respect girlfriend' juice, so it is quite fun to read, too!

This manga book has been on my TBR list since I found out about it on a manga forum. I couldn't believe my luck when it was availble to request an advanced copy!
I was over the moon when I was accepted to read it!
This was a cute story. I feel like Shikimori has some sort of hidden agenda. Why does she stick around with such liability of a boyfriend? I think that she likes to feel needed. I don't think she has a family of her own, or much of one anyway.
The images were cute and the translation was well done.
Excited to see what the next installment has in for us!

This manga was so adorable! This is definitely heartwarming and humorous as we follow Izumi and his girlfriend Shikimori. To the general populace Shikimori is seen as a very cute girl, but she has a side to her that is more 'cool' as the manga says. Her boyfriend often sees this side of her when she protect him from different things. This was a super fast read that left me both smiling and laughing at their antics. They both want to do things for each other and Izumi is always floored by how Shikimori acts. If you're looking for a cute pick me up that will make you laugh this is a great start.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kodansha Comics, and Keigo Maki for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

With the subtlety of the description and the cover where the girl looks a bit masculine, I thought part of the character's secret would be that she's a crossdressing dude. No dice.

Why am I giving this a 2/5? Because it is just a bunch of VERY short stories (I think 14 different chapters) with no overarching story or conflict, which was also unexpected and a bit disappointing. I couldn't really find myself caring about the characters at all.

Izumi is "jinxed" with bad luck, and his girlfriend protects him through different issues. That's it.

Shikimori is an adorable girl who is actually really cool and strong and protective of her boyfriend, that continuously almost dies due to his terrible luck and things happening around him. There's not much to say beyond this - the volume is very short, with multiple very short chapters with small scenes of their daily lives, from their first meeting to their dates and walks to school together.

It's very light, a nice, short and quick read, to lighten up the heart after so long dealing with real life issues. The art is very cute and Shikimori and Izumi's relationship is very cute too, with them getting flustered so easily around each other.

There's a little hint at some development? or possible plot? but besides that it wasn't anything too special from other cute shoujos, so I hope future volumes go deeper than just the surface of Izumi almost gets hurt -> Shikimori helps him -> he thinks she's super cool -> he calls her cute and they both blush. It's cute, but not for a whole volume.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!


I really liked this. This was not like anything I've ever read before! i thought it was very fun and kinda cute at the same time. Even though you're supposed to hate Shikimori, or at least I think you are because she is quite the asshole, I thought she had her charm and she was the one who kept the story as interesting as it was.
The art style is the typical manga art style if you know what I mean and there is nothing significant when it comes to the art, however it's very easy to read through.
The story itself is very good. It's definitely not a deep going story and is more comedy related however I think that it was a very fun story to read through and I was very curious to more at the end of reading this. I think I'll keep my eyes out for the second volume when the time comes and read that too.

I definitely recommend this!

ARC Copy...to be honest it has the rom-com humor but it just felt choppy and messy due to Shikimori's rapid fire mood swings and why is the guy staying with her?

This was adorable!! I had a great time reading this book. It was full of a bunch of short stories about our two main characters, one of which is extremely unlucky and the other is there to keep the other safe. Everything in here was absolutely heartwarming. However, it is all very surface level in just about every aspect. This is fine if you just want some nice sweet reading but be aware that you won't be having any deep thoughts while reading.

This was a really cute read!

Though in the beginning, I honestly didn’t know what my thoughts would be on it. But as I continued reading, I was totally caught off guard by the extremely small chapters. I mean, the first chapter alone was four pages and was shocked by that!

But once I got into a “rhythm” when reading (and ignoring how many times Izunami says “My girlfriend is a real cutie.”), I enjoyed it quite a bit. They are an ADORABLE couple and I found the mix of a boy with insanely bad luck and a cute girl who can turn “the coolest” in a heartbeat was fun!

Despite that the chapters are short and more episodic like (though I found I enjoyed that because it made it a fast read), there is a continuous story and I loved seeing their romance bloom as the story progresses. My favorite chapter was number fifteen because seeing Shikimori drop her guard was so stinking cute! Also, the family scene was really touching.

I might have been uncertain how I would feel about this story in the beginning, but I am already looking forward to book two! It’s a fun story that in my opinion flips some of the “tropes” in manga I’ve read and definitely want to see what happens next!

I thought this manga was absolutely adorable and funny. I would definitely recommend it for my teens.

I very much wanted to like this book. It looked like a very sweet little high school romance...and as it turns out, that's not only what it is, it's <i>too much</i> of what it is. Basically it's the equivalent of candy corn: cute and sweet, but too much will make you feel sick and it all sort of turns to a same-tasting sludge in your stomach. Without the garbled metaphors, that means that it's too sweet and each chapter is too similar to really work as a full volume. Taken chapter-by-chapter on a weekly basis, I suspect it works much better.

There are good moments here. I love that it essentially swaps Shikimori's and Izumi's gender roles, making her the protector and him the protected without any other commentary. They both like each other for their personalities, so who does what is the icing on the cake for them. It's not Making a Point, it's just who they are, and that doesn't happen enough. This may get more interesting in later volumes (the last chapter does imply that it could), but only those looking for total sweetness and little plot are likely to enjoy this right now. But it's 2020 - there are worse things!

This was a very enjoyable, cute manga. It is about high school students and the way they interact with each other. While the high school students I am used to show show much more affection towards each other. This romance seemed to be very stoic and static, except for the girl friend always saving him. I wish they would smooch or show more affection towards each other. The couple met when they were both transferred to the same school. They became friends and studied together. They walk to school with each other and i think they held hands one time. The hero, Izumi is a klutz. He is always trying to dodge some catastrophe or flying debris and his girlfriend, Shikimori, is always there to save him. I liked the flirtiness of how they talk to each other and I got very happy when she was going to snuggle with him in the nurses bed at school, but she was kidding. They were close to kissing, but they don't even use each other's first names. His is Yu and hers is Michon or Micochon (they were both used). Irregardless of the lack of affection, this was one of the best drawn, best translated and complete Manga I have read. And I have been enjoying Manga for about 30 years. I just wish there was a little more affection, a buss on a cheek (a kiss on a cheek), holding hands, putting arms around each other, hugging, snuggling, all the cutsie stuff couples do, but that could be a cultural thing. I give it 5 stars, and can't wait for the next volume. I recommend reading this cute, loving Manga story.

A cute story about a boy who is prone to accidents and a girl who wants to protect him! The chapters in this series are like short stories.
I can see this being a nice light read when you don’t feel like reading something super deep.

I give this a 3/5 stars!


I just reviewed Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie 1 by Keigo Maki. #ShikimorisNotJustaCutie1 #NetGalley

**I was given a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

"Shikimori's Not Just a Cutie" is a collection of a bunch of small stories centered around Shikimori and her boyfriend Izumi. I absolutely love graphic novels/comics/manga that are in this sort of Slice of Life-esque style. This breaks down nicely into segments that readers can enjoy even if their days are busy. The art style is beautiful, and the artist has perfectly captured the characters in a way that makes them seem all the more likable. I can hardly wait to read volume 2! This was an awesome short read, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie is a high-school romance that is a fast and cute diversion from the world these days. It reads like a series of slice-of-life vignettes that are easy to pick up and read through, and sweet enough to reread. Volume 1 is mainly about how Izumi is a klutz with bad luck and Shikimori is a protective girlfriend. She finds ways to keep him near and protect him every chapter. Although one could argue how much bad luck can Izumi have if he has Shikimori by his side. He’s pretty lucky indeed.

Izumi and Shikimori are adorable to read about. I'm glad this is done in a medium where we get to see all these situations drawn out. Even the art style is very cute and pleasing to look at and goes well with the tone of the stories.

Definitely give it a try if you want something lighthearted and wholesome.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

The artwork is really good but the stories, though amusing were just not for me. Having said this I think there are plenty of readers who will enjoy this.

In exchange of an honest review, I got this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. Thank you.

It was so funny , I liked it so much. That made me laugh many times. Shikimuri is like Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but she only wants to protect Izumi-kun and to look like the perfect girlfriend in front of him. That's true when you see what girls do just to look beautiful and perfect for their boyfriends. Anyway, Izumi is so crazy in love with her that whatever she does or wears, he just sees her as the cutest and the coolest girl he ever met.

I was thinking that it's going to be about a psycho kind of girlfriend's story but it was not. It's absolutely amazing as a slice of life, shojo kind of manga is something new and crazy funny and so much cute. I just loved it and I want more of this couple.