Manga Review – Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 1 by Naoshi Komi (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Manga/Contemporary Ficiton
Length: 192 pages
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
Release Date: January 7, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-1421557991
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Nisekoi: False Love series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Love triangle! Comedic antics!! Gang warfare?! You won’t want to miss out on Weekly Shonen Jump’s laugh-out-loud feel-good manga series!
It’s hate at first sight… Rather, a knee-to-the-head at first sight when Raku Ichijo meets Chitoge Kirisaki! Unfortunately, Raku’s gangster father arranges a false love match with their rival’s daughter—who just so happens to be Chitoge! However, Raku’s searching for his childhood sweetheart from ten years ago, with a pendant around his neck as a memento, but he can’t even remember her name or face!”
This is the first book in the Nesekoi:False Love series. It ended up being a lot cuter and funnier than I expected. I picked this up on a whim at the library, I was looking for another manga series to read. The illustration and story are very well done, although I have to admit this wasn’t really my thing.
Raku is the gentle-wants-everyone-to-get-along son of a gangster. Chitoge is the half-American daughter of a gangster. Their fathers decide that having them pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend will bridge the two gangs and result in peace. Only issue with this is that they hate each other. To further complicate matters Raku has a mysterious locket he received from his childhood sweetheart and he wants to track down the girl with the key to it…a girl who is most definitely not Chitoge.
I enjoyed how silly and fun the gangs were. I also enjoyed the somewhat reversed gender stereotypes between Raku and Chitoge. However, by the end of the book I was getting a bit sick of the “I hate you!”….”NO, I hate you” going on between Chitoge and Raku.
The illustration is very well done and the story was easy to follow. I found myself chuckling a few times at humours parts. However, in the end this series really isn’t for me. There just wasn’t enough action, or magic, or just something…well…more than typical teen angst to fill out the story.
Overall this is a great start to a well done manga. Unfortunately this type of manga just isn’t for me. If you like cute and humorous manga set in a high school setting (with a bit of a twist) you will probably enjoy this. The main story is about a love triangle and two gangs trying to stay friendly.
