The Spring 2025 Manga Guide

Not So Shoujo Love Story

What's It About? 

Rei Chan's quest for the perfect high school romance looks more like a comedy of errors when her would-be rival confesses to her instead!

School delinquent and manga superfan Rei is ready for her perfect love story to begin, and she knows just who it'll be with: Hansum, the most popular boy in school. But her plans are derailed when her main rival for Hansum's affections, star classmate Hanna, suddenly confesses her feelings for Rei instead!

Rei mistakes Hanna's confession for a declaration of war—but Hanna is determined to break through and prove that her feelings are genuine. Will their bumpy start on a comedic roller coaster of basketball brawls, corn-chip competitions, and the occasional alien sighting ultimately lead to a romance fit for a shoujo manga?

Not So Shoujo Love Story has a story and art by Curryuku. This volume was lettered by Miranda Mundt. Published by Viz Media LLC (May 13, 2025). Rated T.

Is It Worth Reading?

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

Have you ever read a story that felt like it was trying too hard to be funny? That's how I feel about Not So Shoujo Love Story. I love shoujo romances and comedies that try to make fun of shoujo romances. However, this feels like a story that wants to make fun of romances without knowing how. We have a classic love triangle between a brutish tomboy, the perfect pretty girl, and the eccentric popular boy. Still, even with those basic descriptors, I barely have a read on how any of these characters feel about each other by the end of the first volume.

At first, it feels like the story is setting up to be about our two female leads, and the popular boy is just going to be in the background. But then he has a sudden character shift in the middle of the volume and contributes to our female leads getting along. At least…that's what I think he's doing. It's hard to tell because the story tries to play him up as this eccentric oddity to the point where I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to take him seriously as a character. He's even designed differently from everybody else, constantly joking about how pointy his chin is and talking like an alien. You can definitely have a serious story with a funny art style, but this story felt like it wasn't sure how seriously it wanted me to take things.

Our two leads do have some genuinely introspective moments throughout this volume about feeling lonely and isolated. There's a conversation here about how sometimes love can be our escape from feeling that sense of loneliness, even if those affections aren't returned. But it feels like the story doesn't know what it wants to do because no one can properly communicate what they want to say. You can argue that's maybe the point since they're all teenagers, but I don't know if this is supposed to be part of the joke or an actual serious narrative decision. It also doesn't help that the humor was either just too bizarre or mean-spirited to the point where I wasn't laughing as much as I was just waiting to see what the point was. In terms of wacky comedies that make fun of romance tropes, I think you're better off just watching or reading something like School Rumble.

Lauren Orsini
Rating:

Before I cracked open this volume, I was already a huge fan of Not So Shoujo Love Story. I'd been reading this oddball GL story from its 2020 launch to its thrilling conclusion in 2024. With barely considered names like Rei Chan and a Dorito-chinned hero who can (and does) stab people with his pointy face, plus an ensemble of wacky side characters, this comic feels like a low effort shitpost that took on a life of its own. Even though its premise is especially goofy, there's real heart in this comedy love story that will strike a chord with shojo fans everywhere.

Ever since she was a little girl, Rei Chan has dreamed of being a romantic heroine just like in one of her Japanese animes. So she sets her sights on Hansum, the lethally-chinned hottest guy in school (citation needed). When model student Hanna tells her to back off, Rei assumes it's just like a typical shojo love story—she's the heroine, of course, and Hanna is surely her romantic rival for Hansum's affections. Imagine her surprise when Hanna flips the script: it's Rei she's in love with! Their romantic tension is immediately broken by a series of hijinks any anime fan will recognize. Rei and Hanna go toe-to-toe on the volleyball court in a sports anime spinoff. A team of mob characters attempts to make Rei's life a living hell. Rei makes a LOT of childish poop jokes. Hansum turns out to be an alien who periodically needs to photosynthesize. OK, maybe these story beats aren't typical anime tropes. But what makes this story special is its ability to spin the most classic of shojo anime tropes into something completely original.

Since I've read Not So Shoujo Love Story to its conclusion, I have the benefit of foresight—this comic only gets better from here. From its art style to its increasingly absurd riffs on familiar tropes to some truly fantastic supporting characters who have yet to be introduced, the best is yet to come. Its beginning is a bit unpolished; for example, we still don't know why Hanna is so sweet on Rei, and whether Rei could ever return her feelings. For GL comedy targeted directly at people who've read too many shojo love stories, look no further.