To avoid a crazy stalker-ex boyfriend, and to learn how girls really want to be treated, two acquaintances end up living together. Two birds, one stone?
Before we start the review…
What’s the Japanese level?
I rate this as an intermediate series. To see my reasonings for my rankings, please click here!
Who wrote this manga?
This was written by Fujishiro Kasumi. You can check out their X here.
Info about the series
- There are eight volumes published in Japanese – this is a Dessert series.
- There is currently no English version.
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What happens in chapter one?
All Maho wants is a serious boyfriend. For some strange reason though, all any man seems to want from her is a one-night stand. She’s gotten rather good at reading these types of men by now, and has learnt to avoid them when she goes to mixers. But, still. It’s quite literally only these types of men who go for her. The one time she actually did find herself in a relationship with a seemingly nice man, she ended up being the other woman.
She laments her problems to some of her acquaintances at her local bar, where we meet one such playboy, Ritsu. While he actually has the very respectable job of lawyer, he has absolutely no idea how to properly treat a woman. So, he lends Maho his somewhat twisted perspective when it comes to dating.
At another mixer, Maho finally meets a man who seems to be serious about her. They go out on a date, he asks her to be his girlfriend, and she accepts! Things slowly but surely start to sour between them unfortunately—while he’s not a playboy, he has his own issues.
He asks her not to smile at men besides him, calls her repeatedly until she picks up, and worst of all, strangles her during sex. When she calls him out on the last one, he tells her to think of the marks it left as a collar proving that she belongs to him only.
So, naturally, she breaks up with him. And naturally, as a crazy person does, he rejects her rejection. He comes to find her at her local bar one day, and it isn’t until Ritsu steps in that he is able to momentarily calm down. Things quickly become heated again, and when the ex-boyfriend finally leaves, Ritsu proposes that Maho temporarily move in with him. He tells Maho that the ex is most likely the stalker type (he is), and that it would be much safer for her to live with a man. She eventually accepts, and moves in with him.
There is one other part to Ritsu’s request to Maho—he wants her to be in a pretend relationship with him while she’s living with him. As he wants to learn more about how women want to be treated, and she needs protection from a scary ex, it’s a win-win scenario, right?
My thoughts on this chapter
I love a good pretend relationship story, and this was actually the very first non-high school one I’ve come across! I really like Maho’s take-no-crap personality, and that she taught herself the signs of a playboy rather quickly. I feel for her when it comes to her struggles in the dating world—it really is tough out there.
I think she and Ritsu are going to have a fun dynamic, and I’m looking forward to seeing them interact more as the series goes on! While she’s a little bit serious, he’s a little bit too playful. I think they’ll do a good job of rounding each other out.
I will definitely be continuing this series, but I think this is one I’ll read digitally.
Maddies Manga 
Leave a comment