This is the prequel to the more famous sequel, so I’ll give it some room.
- FMC is an absolute BAMF. She’s great, really. One reviewer mentioned that the mangaka overemphasized her “different” qualities too much, and honestly I agree with that. It does get a little tiring, but she always blows me away in the end.
- Tsubaki is your average shoujo “cool guy”. He obviously likes Kanoko, finds her interesting, and enjoys talking to her. But he doesn’t “show” it, per se. Usually I would have a problem with stereotypical cool guys, but I forgive it because he treats Kanoko with respect (and teasing, but respect mostly).
- Side characters were very forgettable, but that’s only because of the episodic nature of this manga.
- Speaking of, the manga is episodic to a fault. Like, a lot of its plot development is sacrificed in order to contain everything needed in a few panels. It reads like a one-shot for every chapter, which I originally thought it was.
- However, interestingly enough, the romantic development is mostly just unchanged and really just one-sided.
- Character development isn’t really very obvious, either, but it is short so I’ll forgive small shortcomings.
- Art is okay, average, could be better.
- Avoids cliches by being the outside viewer watching cliches, which was interesting. The only major cliche was the MMC.
- The premise, however, was deeply interesting.

TL;DR: It’s alright, nothing fancy. The development is sluggish because of the manga being episodic, overall a little cliche, average art, forgettable side characters, but very interesting premise and even more interesting FMC. Therefore, 6/10.

A unique story and wish there were more characters like her, I'm sooo glad there is a sequel and spin-off story to this manga. This focuses mostly on the main character as the sequel is more romance wise but it is very interesting and unique to read as the main character transfers to different schools as each has their own stories with her caught up in the middle even though she doesn't want to be.

... Last updated on August 29th, 2019, 12:40pm

Well I like the fact that I got to know the many personalities a human being has thanks to this manga, and the constant moving oh my I finally understand why in the last few chapters, that's all great. But I wish the romance part could have developed more before it ended, the length of this manga is also a bit tooooo long, however when I think back, it needed to be many moving and many occurrence of Tsubaki, thus we can see this guy is serious about her, I just wished it was more love-orientated, sigh...good to read this as life lessons or something along that line.
...realized there's a sequel! Maybe there will be romance? Hmm...hope so...

... Last updated on August 27th, 2014, 2:27pm

I subscribe to every good thing that has been said about this manga.

Maybe the nicest thing about it of all is that it can still be found as published in the USA! As of January 2014 it's available at TheRightStuf under the title "Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko". I was relieved to find it, as the scanlation turned out to contain a very unsatisfying translation toward the end.

... Last updated on January 15th, 2014, 8:10am

Despite the fact that there wasn't a major conclussive romance scene (only not so subtle hints lol) it was a great manga. The main chick was brilliant!! I loved her personality and she had me laughing throughout the entire series hahaha defenitly a must read!

... Last updated on January 20th, 2014, 4:38am

I can't... How many times does the manga has to hammer across that Kanoko is an observer before it becomes a textbook case of telling not showing? There's also no subtlety at all, especially in characters' facial expressions, especially in close-ups, so so grating.

like this is the best shoujo manga i ever read , the plot and the art . also i never accepted it the ending >< its just Awesome :l i really love it ^o^ wish if i can find good manga like this
oh but why when they went to high school , hr face become ugly ? she was cute when younger -_-' also her hair didn't grow been a year already .. small things , but had to say it anyway its cool xD ^^

... Last updated on July 12th, 2013, 9:32pm

I quite enjoyed this manga, the characters were funny and the romance wasn't cliche (in my opinion anyways) and,

Had a nice ending in my opinion

... Last updated on December 25th, 2012, 4:21am

To be honest, the main lead reminded me a bit of Kyoko from Skip Beat. Not because she was at all similar to Kyoko, but because they both have totally unique personalities (within the shoujo genre, and probably within manga in general).
This is a manga which focuses around the original idea: an observer of the class. Although the episodic nature of the series meant it did feel disjointed, it was really the only way the author could continue the manga past a oneshot.
Although I really liked this manga, I did not find it exceptional. It's good - don't get me wrong - but it's not what I would rate as a 10. Each to his own though, and this is a manga series you would definately not want to overlook.