Ranmaru has had his eye on Momoko’s virginity since day one. So far, she’s managed to hang on to it by the skin of her teeth, but now she might have found herself in a pinch she can’t get out of! Will this be her first time? Things start to heat up in volume three of this vulgar romantic comedy.
Is this series perfect? No. Do I thoroughly enjoy it? YES! My smutty soul really enjoys this story! Each volume of this story gets better to me. It still feels like a Shoujo with a smutty twist, but we all know this is SO MY BRAND!!!
So, the thing with this series is that it's put under the "smutty shoujo" category when in actuality, the heroine and the smut comes from the lurid yet hilarious descriptions of coitus that the heroine writes in her erotic novels. "Dripping honey pot" and "southern fields" are a couple of the choice phrases that they've used in this manga so far.
As you can tell, I'm definitely continuing to read this for the lols. Momo, the ero-novel writer, is kind of cute in her nerdy cluelessness and the boy, Ranmaru, does the thing that manga boys think is charming when they act like the girl's protector but at the same time try to get into her pants as well. He's so problematic; it's hilarious 'cause it's in fiction but a real-life guy like him would be creepy af.
I have to read this book in private - because otherwise I'd make a spectacle of myself laughing uproariously at all of the sexual metaphors Momoko comes up with for her novels. "His offering to her shrine was a log?!" I love the sheer ridiculousness of it.
So much about this volume actually pissed me off, from the mean-spirited homewrecker we meet in chapter 1, all the way to Ranmaru admitting to having feelings for Momoko then sleeping with some random chick five times in one night, and then bragging about it! Don't get me wrong, I still find some of the scenarios funny and amusing, and for the most part I really like our MC, but Ranamru as a character is irritating. He goes from being actually likable and really sweet and thoughtful, to being just a sex driven pig obsessed with taking Momoko's virginity, it's like two different people in one, and I despise one of them (not that I'd mind some smutty scenes, but it just isn't working for me here). There have been manga (and other types of stories too) with a playboy who changes his ways when he falls in love, because he wants to have an actual relationship with the girl he has feelings for, and I love that trope when it's done well, but so far this is not done well, it just makes me want to pull my hair out. There's so much potential for this story to be amazing, I just don't know if it'll ever get there, and I'm wondering if it's worth wasting my time to find out.
I am getting more attached to the characters as the story progresses. Granted I wouldn't have the same ideology issues that Momoko has at time, but I am starting to see their relationship develop more and it's becoming an interesting read.
It's still not a very original read, but I like the way it's written and the story's art is really cute.
Ranmaru is showing a lot more emotion, in his own little and quiet way, but I think he's my favorite character in the series. And from what I can tell, his harlot like qualities and his quick temper seems to be a defense mechanism. This too is not an original concept, but the way it's written shows the true nature of the character better than other stories that I have read.
Momoko isn't a bad character, working hard to help her family and dealing with Ranmaru, who can be quite frustrating. But she's starting to see him for who he really is and is beginning to develop and evolve as a character - learning that life can't always be ideal the way she'd like. Learning that fantasies usually can't come true (either grades wise or virginity wise).
All in all I'm really beginning to enjoy this series.
(I don't normally consider Manga to count towards a goal of reading so many books a year, but don't worry. There are a lot of novels that I am going to be able to add soon. I'll keep a separate tally on my profile page for those who want to see how many Manga's verses how many Novels I have read in the year, and previous years as well.)