A Side Character's Love Story

by Akane Tamura

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 160
Series: A Side Character's Love Story #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

Growing up, Nobuko Tanaka was always a "side character" standing off in the corner. Now in her 20s, she's fallen in love for the first time. While she isn't any good at being assertive, she will muster her courage bit by bit as she tries her best to close the distance between herself and her crush -- because even side characters fall in love. If you're tired of the same old romantic protagonists, this modest, refreshing love story is for you.

Akane Tamura’s A Side Character’s Love Story is a really cute series with a hecking slow burn. The main character feels herself to be nothing but a side character — but as the manga opens, she starts on the very first steps of a romance of her own, a story that’s just hers. This is a reread for me; now that I’m following the series as each new volume comes out (after bingeing the first ~14 volumes originally), I was starting to get hazy about some characters’ stories, so it felt like a good time to revisit.

As the volume starts, Nobuko is working part-time in a convenience store while finishing up her studies. She has a massive crush on a co-worker Irie Hiroki, who realises slowly that he’s interested in her too. And that’s about as far as we get in this volume!

One thing I’d forgotten somewhat was how painfully awkward Nobuko (and Hiroki!) can be. Such self-doubt and agonising! Some of it is just being young and having a crush for the first time, because it’s new to both of them; sometimes it’s a really accurate portrayal of Nobuko having anxiety (though this is never explicitly discussed as such, it’s all too recognisable). That smooths out later in the story, because the manga also follows Nobuko and Hiroki maturing and navigating various milestones, buuuut it’s very prominent here.

And for those less gifted at reading visuals: the art is simple and easy to follow, and the important characters have distinct enough designs to be able to follow who’s who.

Rating: 3/5