I wasn’t too sure what this manga was going to be about, but was quite interested simply because of how flashy the cover art looks. Since VIZ had a free preview and a manga trailer for it, I decided to check out the first 20 pages given and see if it caught my attention.
I’ll post the trailer, and beneath it I’ll give my impressions of the preview of the manga. While I usually do my impressions over the trailer itself, it’s nothing but flashes of what’s already contained within the manga (albeit a few extra scenes). Just keep that in mind for this article and other preview articles like it going forward.
I find this manga interesting only because of the “perfect student” trope many anime and manga have. Here, we have what appears to be the origin story for one such character; she’s beautiful, amazing grades, good at sports, and is admired by everyone around here. What’s interesting here, is that Tenka Momose was originally someone who didn’t mind being a loner and was quite content with her place as the unapproachable social outcast. However, the persistence of a boy who absolutely refused to be put-off by her anti-social behavior turns into inspiration to be “worthy” of him. Harumi being the center of attention, reliable, and a social butterfly caused Momose to change.
We see her cutting her long hair (often signifying change in for Japanese girls), getting good grades, and excelling in both sports and her looks. These are all things that Harumi originally wondered why she did not let other see, now she’s leaning into them for the expressed purpose of being worthy of him. In Tenka’s words she says, “I’ll be cool” and the first chapter is titled “The Epitome of Cool”.
This seems like a classic story of how affection for someone often brings out the best within us; though, it could lead to a whole host of other problems considering that Momose has a troubled childhood due to her mother’s affair and her attitude from before her transformation. Seems like a good story, so I’ll be keeping an eye out!
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