Pink and Habanero / ピンクとハバネロ, Volume 1 : Manga Review and Thoughts

Calling all fans of tsundere romance stories…

You can check out volume one of this series for yourself below!

Japanese

Canadian

American

Information About the Manga

Who wrote Pink and Habanero?

This manga was written by Mika Satonaka!

You can check out their X here.

You can check out their instagram here.

First Impressions and thoughts

As this is a high school romance, I was a little bit cautious when I tried out this volume. Usually I more or less tell whether I will enjoy a series prior to buying, and will buy the first few volumes together so I don’t have to wait to read on. This one though, I really couldn’t tell if I would like it or not, so I only bought the first volume to be safe.

I did end up enjoying this thankfully! While Mugi is not the type of protagonist I typically enjoy following, for some reason she just works in this manga. Her being forced into a very awkward situation due to learning about her classmates secret was an interesting twist, and I am excited to watch how it continues to affect both her and her classmates lives!

What’s it about?

Mugi, our protagonist, is going through a bit of a rough time. At her new high school, she isn’t friends with any of her classmates, and even worse, she doesn’t have a boyfriend. While she does have a popular best friend, she unfortunately goes to a different school.

Due to her being a little bit socially awkward, she hasn’t really been able to try and make new friends quite yet. As she’s reflecting on her lack of progress, she overheards one of her popular classmates, Kurose, getting confessed to. She also overhears his blunt rejection of the confession, and makes an aside to herself about how mean she thinks he is. He tells her “and that’s why you’re not popular”, and walks away.

To improve her mood after being called out like that, she decides to try out a new cafe after school. It’s a little bit out of the way, however it’ll be worth the trek, she believes. When she gets there, it turns out that the cafe she intended to go to had shut down, and a “knight cafe” opened in its place.

As she already traveled all the way there she decided to give it a try… But her waiter has a very familiar face – it’s the popular classmate who had just called her out, Kurose. Though his ever-present scowl was replaced by a very kind smile, there’s no question that he is her classmate.

He quickly pulls her out of the cafe, and forces her to promise to not tell anyone at school the fact that he’s working at this cafe.

Throughout the volume we come to learn that while Kurose has a rather sharp tongue, he’s actually a really kind person. He, in a roundabout way, helps Mugi make her first friend in the class! He also saves her from two different overbearing boys, and even gives her a piggyback when she hurts herself.

Just when Mugi starts to think that Kurose may actually be a kind person though, he switches right back to his mean nature.

My Favourites

Kurose’s flip flopping – I’m enjoying not knowing exactly what he’s going to do / say next.
Kurose’s little sister’s relationship with Mugi – They’re so cute together!!

My Least-Favourites

Mugi – She’s a tiny bit too naive for my liking, but it’s not a huge complaint.

Maddies Manga