The Spring 2022 Manga Guide

Nighttime for Just Us Two

What's It About? 

Our heroine, whose name no one in school can remember, can't decide what's weirder—that the most popular guy in school, Koga-kun, wants to be her friend...or that he insists he's an alien. But one thing's for sure—he knows her name, and doesn't seem ready to let her go through high school anonymous!

Nighttime for Just Us Two has story and art by Maki Miyoshi with English translation by Deborah Fu. Kodansha Comics released its first volume digitally for $10.99.

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Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Despite some of its issues, I really enjoyed Maki Miyoshi's previous series to get an English release, My Boy in Blue, so I was delighted when a second series was announced. Nighttime for Just Us Two actually isn't all that much harder to swallow in terms of plot, either – if I could buy into a policeman in his twenties thinking that the best way to solve the problem of having a thing for a high school girl was to marry her, why not an alien hijacking a teenage boy's body while he sleeps? And like how My Boy in Blue overcame its plot limitations, it doesn't take long for Nighttime for Just Us Two to leave any issues of contrivance behind, quickly becoming a story that's both funny and painfully relatable at the same time.

It also raises the question of whether or not Koga-kun really is possessed by an alien named Chiro-chan who takes over his body when he's asleep. Certainly there are some factors that point to that being the actual case; the boy can glow like a Stephanie Meyer vampire when he wants to, for one thing. But it also seems very possible that “Chiro” is just a second personality living inside of Koga-kun rather than being an alien possessing him. He's definitely aware of things that a parasitic being might not be, like Nikaido's name and the very probable fact that Koga's got a thing for her. Since Koga himself isn't all that comfortable expressing his real feelings in any situation, it feels possible that he created Chiro to say and do what he can't; Chiro is his emotionally honest side personified, and his memory loss where Chiro is concerned is a matter of self-protection.

Whichever the case, the fact remains that he's the only person who truly sees heroine Miyako Nikaido. Even her younger sister barely registers her presence, and in class absolutely no one remembers her name; the closest they come is calling her a name with “ichi” in it, presumably because they recall that her name involves a number. Every so often they try to be nice to her, but that's usually just because they feel they're supposed to, or they really just want to get closer to Koga, who is something of a class heartthrob. The worst part is the way that Nikaido is just so used to this; she expects to be forgotten. It still clearly hurts, as we see in the scene where Koga is praised for something she's been doing regularly, but she feels trapped. That's why it almost doesn't matter whether Chiro is a completely separate entity from Koga-kun or if he's a part of him: the important thing is that someone sees her. Maybe even two someones. Whatever the answer, this is looking like a keeper, a story that's by turns sweet and funny and definitely has its heart in the right place.

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Christopher Farris

Rating:

Much like the bodily-possessed boy that is the basis of its gimmick, Nighttime for Just Us Two has a couple of noticeably different sides to it. The first half of this introductory volume, focusing on main girl Nikaido getting to know the alternate alien personality piloting her classmate and coming out of her solitude-induced shell in the process, is an extremely charming, cute little story. It's entirely rooted in the simple pleasures of watching the awkward Nikaido forge a friendship with the being who comes to be known as Chiro-chan, and some of the more sputter-worthy instances and in-school misunderstandings that result from that. A fair amount of the atmosphere and humor is predicated on the ol' 'secondhand embarrassment', but if you, like me, have a healthy tolerance/appreciation for this kind of adorable awkwardness, it'll absolutely be your jam. The simple conversations between Nikaido and Chiro as they get to know each other drive the story forward in a pleasant way, taking us along on questions of our own identities, and how those let us reach milestones of familiarity, of 'knowing' people.

That said, as with any situation of getting to know someone better, it's not going to be all light pleasantries. The heavier-handed half of Nighttime for Just Us Two, perhaps appropriately, is handled by the initial tenant of the body Chiro has moved into, Koga. He at first seems mostly like a listless vehicle for that aforementioned misunderstanding-based humor between Chiro and Nikaido, but then a lot of the incidental questions regarding the actual mechanics of Chiro piloting Koga's body while he's asleep end up relevant as the latter moves into the story as a proper character. The result is a more direct conflict between him and Nikaido regarding her attachment to his uninvited guest, and while a lot of Koga's concerns and arguments regarding Chiro's nature are technically sound, his articulation of them come off perhaps more coarse than needed. It creates a sense of frustration, since we can certainly see how Koga's stress from this situation might drive him to act this way, but he can feel downright mean in a way that clashes with the easier tone of the volume's first half.

That does mean Nighttime for Just Us Two has developed a more concrete plot by the end of this opening entry. It's almost impressive to see the story enter into an alien-body-possession-split-personality-fake-dating storyline at this point, and reaching that is the result of demonstrating that Koga might actually be trying in his own way, beneath all his brusqueness. It's an interesting flavor for a book that communicates its unique situational awkwardness well, with the characters prone to cute reactions (Chiro in particular is an adorably good boy, and the way the art instantly differentiates him and Koga is simple, but still impressive). Like Nikaido watching her cute dog videos, I might have just gotten a kick out of watching these awkward kids interact in their odd ways. But while the shift to the more potentially dramatic can feel like a swerve at times, it does seem like it's something Maki Miyoshi genuinely thought out, so I'm still quite curious as to where it will go.

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Jean-Karlo Lemus

Rating:

Miyako Nikaido has a lot of problems: she's a highschool freshman that nobody can notice, nobody remembers her name, and now she's friends with an alien possessing the body of the most popular boy in class, Koga. The mood expertly swings between enjoyable extremes: Nikaido's scenes with the alien Chiro-chan are cute and fluffy, as Chiro wants nothing more than to be friends with people and keep Koga safe. Meanwhile, Nikaido's interactions with Koga are tense and suspenseful: not only does he not take too kindly to being possessed by an alien, he doesn't trust Chiro's intentions and strongarms Nikaido into watching over him. Nikaido herself is an engaging protagonist, being an introvert who nevertheless wishes for friends and finds a kindred spirit with Chiro. In contrast, Koga makes for a fantastic antagonist: while his suspicions and fears towards Chiro are justified, it's perversely enjoyable to see the difference between his popular forward-facing persona and the manipulative face he only shows Nikaido.

The art is simple but charming and engaging; it's difficult to dislike Nikaido and her cute smile, and fantastic work is done to differentiate Koga and Chiro even with them sharing the same face. Chiro is utterly disarming, while Koga is not unlike a beautiful predatory snake. I am particularly enamored of the shots of Nikaido sitting on a hill in her neighborhood in the small hours of the morning – they almost make me want to take early morning hikes. Nighttime Just For Us Two is definitely a series to watch out for.