Rating: 5 out of 5

Genre: 5 Stars, Manga, Series

People who should read this: People who love over the top stories like Ouran High School Host Club, situational comedy, and romance. 

It’s official! I’ve finished my second manga series. With COVID-19, I’m just flying through the books. They’re one of the few things giving me solace. That and reality TV but that’s a whole different story. 

Per usual with my Manga reviews, I’ll be reviewing the entire series without spoilers… at least I’ll try. 

Absolute Boyfriend is about a girl… ha ha ha. Okay, but it really is about a young woman that I think a lot of young women will relate to. She’s in that awkward time when she’s trying to figure out her body and where her place is in the world. It’s a struggle as she sees only the quickly maturing girls getting all of the attention. The negative thoughts are solidified when Riko is rejected by the boy she likes. Living alone and feeling totally unworthy, she heads down a path to meeting Night. A very unconventional relationship. 

Here’s the thing… she learns to love herself more by the end though. 

First off, Absolute Boyfriend was one of the first mangas that I read and I fell in love immediately. It’s manga at its finest. Or I should say, the type of manga that I like at its finest. What drew me into the genre was the 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. 

I was warned from the start that the ending was going to be rough. Well… it was that and more. I wasn’t ready for the outcome, though I knew there really could be no other way. Riko got the growth that she needed during a time it’s hard to be a young woman. Overall though, maybe a few of the plot points were weird at the ending. I would have also liked to see a bit more into the future. I can guess what’s going to happen but I need to see the happy ending. 

Absolute Boyfriend is short and sweet and right to the point (the series only has six books compared to From Far Away with 14 books). Part of the time I felt rushed from one point to another with weird side stories filling the pages. Kronos Heaven isn’t touched on more than a creepy business run by a not so ready board - you’ll understand when you read it. The plot point of trying to hide Night from being discovered as a figure could have been played out a little bit more. Instead, it rushed into this love triangle. A love triangle that I could have lived without for the first two books at least. Six might be a magic number though since I see a few series consisting of the same. But it would have been nice to take the series a little slower to enjoy the story and the characters.

What I’m trying to say in that insanely long paragraph - I guess I’m in a rambling mood today - is that I just wanted to read more. I loved the story that much. It’s cute and sweet and perfect. 

Not that I think my husband will like the whole series, I’m going to make him read the first book. You never know though, he might just get hooked. 

I would love to review this technically for you like I do all my other reviews, but I don’t know enough about manga to give my two sense. I’ll leave it to the experts. Just know that from a purely entertaining factor, I highly recommend Absolute Boyfriend. At least if you like sappy love stories… love triangles… comedies…. You get the idea.

Happy Reading

Love Kait

Reading Challenge: 68/175