I've got one more romance manga before the month of February ends, but fret not, as I have way more titles sitting in my library that will get their time in the future. BACKGROUND:
I'm not familiar with this one, and I'm reading this because it was a friend recommendation. SUMMARY: Natsuo Fujii has quite the crush on his teacher Hina Tachibana, but for obvious reasons, that's never going to pan out. Hoping to move on, he joins a mixer and meets Rui, a reserved girl from another high school. The two end up sneaking out of the party, and Rui (a virgin seeking to know what sex is like) ends up asking Natsuo (also a virgin) to have sex with her. He agrees, and the two basically have a one-night stand. The encounter doesn't really do much to help Natsuo, nor does Rui find the experience particularly profound. Natsuo's life is turned upside down when he learns that his dad he's going to remarry. Now, he's fine with that whole situation, but there's quite the twist waiting for him: his prospective stepmom has two daughters, and it's Hina and Rui. Not only is his longtime crush going to be his stepsister, it turns out that the girl he lost his virginity to is also going to be his stepsister. The rest of the volume sees Natsuo try to adjust to his new situation as he starts to live with his new stepsisters, wrestle with how to keep things under wraps at school, and get to know Hina and Rui better. Although there's an inherent awkwardness when crossing paths with Rui (who herself is so nonchalant despite the sexual encounter), Natsuo finds a way to get along with her and even helps her find friends at school despite her intimidating exterior. Dealing with Hina's presence is even more difficult, as it's quite obvious that Natsuo's feelings are far from resolved. Things get complicated when he learns that Hina is having relationship troubles (something that she is determined to keep to herself), and when he confronts Hina about it, things end on an intense note. The forbidden love angle is quite obvious here, not just with the stepsibling situation, but with the student-teacher dynamic between Natsuo and Hina, and the fact that Natsuo and Rui had sex (though that was obviously before the big reveal). There's definitely a good amount of spice if you're into this sort of thing given all the secrets that are being kept. Personally, this really isn't my kind of thing (even if there are a lot of factors that alleviate the inherent taboo aspect of everything), but I appreciate that the story isn't fixated on the sex/romance and sees Natsuo strive to be a good friend to Hina and Rui regardless of the situation. Although he's struggling a lot with his hopeless crush, Natsuo is more or less a decent guy. Interestingly, he has aspirations to become a writer, although this aspect of him is only relevant as the circumstance that leads him to connecting with Hina. Even before the whole stepsibling situation, he does his best to be considerate towards both Hina and Rui and tries to offer what help or comfort he can when he sees them struggling. I'm also just glad he isn't some sort of freak. I'm most curious about Hina as a character, as she appears to be the textbook "cheery on the outside, but going through hell on the inside" kind of person. At the very least, I would like to see her learn to trust Natsuo and get through her troubles, though I also have a morbid curiosity towards how she'll navigate this volume's ending and the possibility of learning that Natsuo and Rui have slept together. Rui is interesting in a different sense. I completely relate with her stoic, blunt personality and am amused by her completely nonchalant behavior towards things most people would be freaking out about. This volume doesn't reveal much else about her, but I really enjoyed the chapter where Natsuo helps her get friends as school after noticing no one talks to her. I would be interested to see how she grows as a character. There are also minor characters like Natsuo's dad and stepmom, as well as his best friend Fumiya to whom he shares his weird situation with. They obviously don't get as much focus as the main characters, but they have their brief character moments. The one that stood out to me was Natsuo's conversation with his dad over the remarriage, as it's made clear that their relationship is strong and that they still hold a lot of love for Natsuo's mom long after her passing. In terms of the art, the amount of detail is solid, and I found the strong contrast between the elements in black and the rest of the art quite striking. I also enjoyed the occasional goofy facial expression, but for the most part, the faces are drawn with plenty of detail (especially the eyes). The visuals get spicy as well, and while there's nothing wildly explicit, you will get your fair share of full-on nudity in some panels. VERDICT: Domestic Girlfriend Vol. 1 dials up the heat almost immediately with its tense premise, although as of now, the tension is focused squarely on the relationship between Natsuo and Hina. I appreciate that Natsuo, for all his struggles, does his best to not be a complete weirdo about his situation and tries to be there for his new stepsisters with no ulterior motive. I'm also interested to see more facets of Hina and Rui's respective characters, and I can only imagine how the intensity will ramp up once secrets are revealed and feelings are shared. Like I said, this kind of forbidden love stuff is not my cup of tea, but as far as this volume goes, the themes are being handled in a way that doesn't scream "living out a fantasy" or anything similarly off-putting. I can see myself reading more of this if it continues to maintain that mature tone, and if you want something that's trying to strike that balance between spicy romance and serious drama, this seems like that kind of manga. - end -
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