Day #3: Absolute Boyfriend

30 Days of Manga - Day #3

Book name: "Absolute Boyfriend"

Story & Art: "Yuu Watase"

Genre: Shoujo/Romance

Volumes: 6 books (34 chapters)

Dates: March 2003 to February 2005

Status: OOP

Anime Adaptation: No - live action drama (2008)

Artbook: No

Trigger Warnings ⚠️: No

Synopsis: Riiko Izawa is a young woman that has never had a boyfriend and she has been rejected by every boy she has ever had a crush on. When she returns a lost cell phone to an oddly dressed salesman, she mentions wanting a boyfriend. To thank her for the kindness, he directs her to his company's website, Kronos Heaven. When she visits the site, Riiko finds it's a site to create your own lover. Thinking it is simply a game, she customizes a lover and accidentally clicks order. The next day, her new lover arrives. Following the instruction manual, she kisses him to wake him up and configure him to be in love with only her. She names him "Night." Three days later, she is shocked to learn that she only had him for a free trial for 72 hours. The salesman, Gaku Namikiri, tells her that she must now pay 100,000,000 yen for Night, however, they will waive the fee if she helps them to collect data about how women think and feel to help perfect their future models. Riiko must now keep Night's true nature a secret from everyone around her. She also soon finds herself in a love triangle between Night and her childhood friend Soshi.

Controversy: There is slight controversy surrounding this manga, mostly due to the suggestive situations and themes involved.

My review: Riika is a young woman that just about any young woman can relate to at some point in their life. She is awkward, trying to figure out her body and also find where her place is out in the world. Themes of maturity, rejection, self-worth and loneliness surface for the main character who is both imperfect and lovable. Her relationship is very unconventional but is still easy to follow along and cheer on. Riika slowly learns to love herself more and more by the end of the story. This series has an over the top style of storytelling and the art to go along with it. Those cartoon faces that come at the emotional points of the story, litter the pages of this series, lending to the immersion of the story. You aren’t creating the world in your head like you do reading a fiction book. Instead, the story plays out in the art and the words, and those crazy comic faces lend so much to the emotions of the characters. This is totally a series I would recommend for anyone wanting a short and funny romance story full of emotion.

My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

#manga #mangarecommendation #mangacollection #mangareview #mangabook #fullmoon #fullmoonosagashite #shoujo #shojo