Kiss Him, Not Me 1

*Kiss Him, Not Me!* is a hilarious manga by a mangaka pen named Junko. Known more for her BL (boy's love) manga, this is the first major foray into a less niche and more main-stream genre/demographic. The story is a *shojo* "reverse-harem" (a group of guys going for a girl while harem series are the opposite) and slice-of-life story about a girl named Serinuma Kae.Kae is a chubby and cheerful *otaku* who is a major *fujoshi* or fan of stories about romantic boy on boy pairings. One day her favorite anime character dies in the story and she suddenly falls into a state of deep depression where she refuses to eat or leave her room for a week. When forced out of bed by her brother, she is suddenly a petite and pretty girl who guys are falling all over themselves to date.Of course, she is both flattered by this attention and frustrated, cause she is at first trying to keep her otaku side a secret and trying to enjoy the attention. In particular, the otaku stuff is not always looked at nicely in Japan, especially fujoshi. It ends up being subverted when the guys don't care, but oh well. However, this all is hilariously difficult for Kae when she keeps mentally pairing the boys up with each other due to interpreting the most mundane things in a unique manner.Yes, the premise is ridiculous, but it is fun and cute. Even though some of the guys are less endearing than others, they still act shy around Kae and her uncertainty about how to act in turn can be quite sweet. Also, they accept her for who she is. Granted, for some it's because she's "hot" now, but for some it is accepting her for real and that is really something I like seeing.The situations are drawn less "sexualized" and more "cute ", though for BL fans (or so I have read statements online that point this out) there are shout-outs amidst the cuteness to thus appeal to folks of more than one demographic.The art is very visually pleasing and fun to see and contributes greatly to the story. In fact, I'd say this is some of the better art I've seen. It captures the comedy and seriousness both of various scenes, quite well.There does seem to be some sort of negative idea at first that if you are pretty you are "better" or that "thin is better" and prettier than not, and other troubling cultural prejudices in Japan, but I hear the author subverts this later on to an extent, which I look forward to seeing.I have my idea of who she should be with eventually, as I think that certain folks, or one in particular, is more genuine in love for her. There is a female member of the harem to debut soon, I've read, which should make things interesting.Of course, there is a final issue to deal with, and that is the issue of her sudden, and *incredibly* unrealistic hotness/weight loss. In reality, starving yourself for a week will *hurt* you and when you lose massive weight you have stretch marks, and saggy skin and what not. Not a perfect, "hot" body. Don't copy this or you will have eating disorders and other health problems. Also, this is kinda irritating to have the negative "thin is better" idea at first, but as I said, it subverts it in the end, and it is just a zany way to introduce the plot.If one can't handle the beginning, that is fine. Nothing to be ashamed of there and I praise you for knowing what you can handle. I myself stay away from some tales due to issues with different stuff mentioned or what not. If you can hold your nose through the very beginning, you might find a sweet story that you like, one that actually subverts the negative stereotypes of overweight folks and otaku in Japan, and overweight folks elsewhere.Rating: 4.5/5 Stars. (Half a point for the negative messaging, though again I hear that such will get better and be subverted later on.)

~3.5-4/5"Who decided the prince should be with the princess?"First of all, I was a little wary of this book when I heard about the weight thing. That is an issue that’s not okay to handle badly, or too blasé like Let’s Dance a Waltz did. But in this book, it took a more comedic route, and it wasn’t ignored. Which, at least for me, made it okay (or at least standable).Especially since, while the boys weren’t flirting with her when she was bigger, at least she wasn’t being bullied over it. It was just part of who she was then. No big deal. Much like her otaku side, it’s just part of her.As soon as Serinuma gets smaller waisted, three boys in particular start clinging to her, plus one who’s just her friend. She doesn’t know how to handle it, especially since she just wants them to fall in love with each other, not her. But she agrees to go on a date with them all at once. Then some of them agree to help her practice soccer and study.I like how open Serinuma is. She doesn’t hide her otaku side, even when told she should. She doesn’t decide on one of them, she gives them all a shot when she can’t decide. When she finds out how out of shape she is, she still keeps practicing like crazy for soccer. She doesn’t hide who she is, and only makes the boys like her even more.I think I’ve already got a favorite, or two, out of the boys, but I’m still not sure who’s going to get closer to her. They’re all fighting pretty hard at this point. And I like the humor, the heroine, and the characterization so far. I’m looking forward to reading more.[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]

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I had watched the anime before and I loved it. I wanted to start reading the manga and I am glad that I did. This book is great if you like the romance/ funny type. I have already purchased the second book!

Main character is overweight and loses enough weight in one week to become unrecognizable, with no harmful side effects from starving herself. All of a sudden, EVERYONE finds her interesting and beautiful, with possibly only two people treating her as they did before - her best friend and a guy in one of her clubs. When she was fat, people did not seem to care if she got hurt and made fun of her. After? Someone who used to make fun of her is now almost drooling and chasing after her. I only really like one of the love interests, because it doesn’t seem like he views her any differently than before her drastic (and frankly, impossible to achieve safely in that time frame) weight loss. The art was pretty, but I don’t think it’s enough for me to justify continuing the series.

The story is cliché, but cute in a way. Story of a girl who is not everyone's cup of tea who suddenly becomes that cup of tea, at least for the four most popular guys in the school. Now she has her choice, but she wants the boys to be together, not with girls. Kind of amusing, since she is more than happy with her otaku self. My reason for a three rating is that she had to lost a bunch of weight for anyone to show an interest in her. Not exactly sending a good message to people who are not the perfect version of the perfect female. In other words, I'd not recommend this for teenagers, even though it is for them, but that is my personal opinion.

The whole story is just meh. I didn't care for it much.

I saw this reviewed on the Japanese Public Television station, NHK in a piece on upcoming animation. It is a madcap story. The mind of teenage girls...very funny. The young Japanese men in the story are much kinder than boys would be with the quirkiness of the main character. I am reading this on Kindle and am enjoying learning a little of Japanese pop culture.

So when I saw this cover I was a bit worried that this could be a manga that had women’s assets on display a lot, however the title had me intrigued so I read the description and here we are.Really enjoyed the story. Serinuma is quirky and sweet, the boys are so different in their ways to get closer to Serinuma, it was great having the one on one interactions, but even better was them as a group and seeing them clash and get used to having each other around.Slight negative which another reviewer mentioned was that Nanashima and Shinomiya are quite similar in looks so I got them confused a few times, however as I went on it got easier, one has narrower eyes and darker eyebrows. That being said I was happy with the art style.I do have a favourite guy that I want Serinuma to end up with, he’s probably an obvious choice, but, come on Mutsumi!Took me five years to find this but better late than never, looking forward to volume two.

I wish I found this manga earlier ㅠㅠ its really really amazing I was able to finish it in one night !! would recommend to people that like shojo and otaku-related mangas!! really great will be buying the next volumes 🤞

This manga is super cute and addresses a big issue, if we were skinnier would we be loved? The answer may surprise you but the journey to get there begins here

Daughter loves it and a good price for the money.

Bought this as a gift, arrived super quick and in great condition, also was very reasonably priced as far as manga goes, all in all great product