Manga Review: Onidere

Title: Onidere
Author: Crystal na Yousuke
Release: Weekly
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Shonen
Art: C
Originality: A
Story: B
Characters: B
Humor: B
Action: C

Impression: Onidere is about the secret love between a young soft-spoken boy, Tadashi and his Tsundere type II delinquent girlfriend, Saya. By that I mean she acts like a delinquent around others but is incredibly lovestruck when alone with Tadashi which is the main source of jokes in this manga. At first the art style would deserve a D from my ratings but gradually it develops into a C , especially when Saya and her rival are involved. The same can be said for the humor and story until the student council characters come in because up till then, the jokes are basically the same thing over and over again. After their introduction we really get to see a more natural flow of humor rather than the forced feeling you get from the earlier chapters. In terms of romance, the manga actually does it quite well for a love comedy. Every once in a while, the author throws in a fluff moment between Saya and Tadashi and while simplistic these moments are, they also convey the mood perfectly. No resets typical of the genre and the main couple make progress in such a way that you want to cheer them on and watch them get even closer. It really helps that Saya is quite adorable when she goes Dere Dere and given her background, there’s a lot of potential for the jokes. My favorite characters here are the President and Saya. Tadashi doesn’t stick out much for the main character but he is quite likeable. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading light stuff as the characters would easily bring a smile to your face as you read it.