My heart actually fluttered a few times. After years of reading shoujo, it's hard for a manga to accomplish that feat for me. There have been manga about step siblings/fauxest love but I really like how the author made this one very unique and by taking a different angle. Not only is the romance between the otp is being developed, the heroine has to avoid getting caught by Tooru and everyone around her. Her web of lies tangles with reality as she has to juggles a double life.

The heroine's character is well developed and Tooru's character feels deep; his character will not be fully developed until a secret is revealed. The author is slowly unwrapping his personality and past.

Here's my theory about that secret: Tooru fell in love with the heroine when they were kids and so when he had to be her step brother in middle school, he forced himself to distance away from her to maintain traditional expectations and started his womanizing ways to distract himself from her. (His somewhat early onset of sexual activity was probably spurred by the frustrations he had to endure while living with the one he likes.) So when he met someone who looks like her, it's like he just got his wish granted. He doesn't have to worry about being a brother to the one he likes anymore.

This is a very interesting and unique shoujo.

The siblings' romance (not their personalities) is a lot like Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (Novel) with the roles reversed. Essentially, the premise is that were closer when they were younger, but the little brother started to act cold (and also, sleep around with random women... but in a self-abandoning sort of way, not feeling anything for them) toward his sister, the protagonist. She formed a bad opinion of him in return, and stopped trying to interact with him. But then one day by chance, she discovered an unusual side to him, which triggered them reconnecting. Just like in Oreimo, there's a lot of subtle characterization (like the protagonist's obsession with cleanliness) which makes you realize there's a hidden aspect to the siblings' history.

It's gold up through volume 3. The pacing is especially impressive in volumes 1 and 2. The romantic interactions are so cute and endearing, defying cliches and continually surprising you. It's impressive how the romance can be serious and engaging without ever feeling melodramatic. I mean, there's incest (not the kind that's played for laughs), secret identities, love triangles, but no melodrama...? I compared it to Oreimo, but it has none of the relationship angst that Oreimo exhibited at times. All I can say is that I'm so glad I read this manga.

The pacing has slowed down in recent chapters, though. Side characters have been more prominent, and the author is arranging for various characters to clash. I have faith that the author will let it take the story somewhere positive, but I have to say I prefer the earlier rapid and refreshing developments to these typical "build up to forceful resolution" style developments. Because the protagonist ends up being more indecisive and making more stupid decisions to facilitate that. She's usually smart and proactive (and cute!). Anyway, I expect the series to wrap up in a few more volumes, unless the story expands in scope (I hope it does! I'd like to see more happy flirting, but I fear the rest of the manga will just consist of resolving the main relationship...). To be clear, the manga remains very enjoyable.

... Last updated on March 10th, 2015, 6:02am

I agree with the previous reviewer - don't get fooled by the cover. It may look like a typical, ugly art shoujo... but OH GOD IT ISN'T. The art inside is so stylish and CUUUTE. The expressions are hilarious, and the story is the sweetest thing ever so far. I want to know what happens next so bad.

This is not a typical shoujo manga about step-brother and step-sister. Most of the time you have the step-brother who is an absolute jerk and the main character girl, for all of one chapter, dislikes him. And then falls head over heels for him while he treats her bad. NOT IN THIS ONE. The main character girl is so cute and funny, and I love how it's opposite - the brother is crazy about her, and she finds him a bit annoying. It's hard to describe. All I can say is, READ IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

You know what my whole post is a spoiler well if you really consider it one not that you need a spoiler for this
and that kinda irritates me a little.

The inside looks much nicer! The art is also clean, cute^^ and pretty to look at.

Soo, romance between two step-siblings is nothing new in the manga world but the way the author executes her plot, the quirky characters and the twist she included make this a sweet, worthwhile read nonetheless^^

... Last updated on February 26th, 2011, 3:29am

I like all the characters Minato, Tooru, and the other guy. I am not a fan of step sibling romances, but this is cute. It is not ecchi, nor does it have that famous "we aren't really related so it is ok" line. Instead it is a story about a lie gone wrong and on too long. I am not sure how the Mangka will end this series with out it being super cliche, but it will be fun to find out. So if you like funny, slice of life shoujo then this is a good series to read.

In general, stories that are lie-based usually don't end or progress well because of such deep-rooted conflict and honestly, it bugs me that the characters get themselves so deep into their mistakes. However, this story has conflict but it's less intense and more comical/casual about it. I kind of like where things are going. Though there does appear to be more hope that the main character could fix things in the end, I'm still a bit skeptical on what's going to happen. I'll just have to hope things wont go to flames and chaos completely... Fingers crossed it will turn out well.

Edit:

For now, I'd say give it a shot!

... Last updated on February 27th, 2013, 5:19pm

the sister
but then there wouldn't be a series.

as for the series it self i didn't really enjoy each chapter i felt it's annoying every set of 5 chapters or sth felt similar and i am reading to know how the story is developing, so in my opinion its better to begin this series when it's "completed".

at first i thought it was just going to be another manga full of cliches but after reading the first chapter, i realized that this one is very refreshing. the way the situation of "step-siblings and lovers" here is different from others. it definitely made my day when i discovered this. the artwork is cute and fits the story. definitely made me laugh even though the main character, Minato, is being stressed out because of her uncommon predicament. i give this manga a 10/10 (for now) because the balance of the story is perfect. it's not too comedic that it's stupid, neither is it too serious that it's annoying. i hope more people will start to read this.

Her plan seems to make a little sense until you realise that when they break up he'll probably completely relapse
It's quite a funny series though with a decent premise that it hasn't failed to live up to so far.

edit: 9 years later and I finally finished this. STarted reading in 2012, stopped reading most manga in 2014. 2023 now. And tbh I laughed less (I started reading from ch 1 again) than my above comment implies I did tha first time around. Mostly I was thinking 'man what a mess this girl is getting into'. I guess that's cos I was 18 when I first started and I'm...29 now?
So, yeah, it's less funny. She does bad things, and she acknowledges just how bad they are. But she also grows and her intentions/heart is almost ALWAYS good.
But it's still quite a cute series. And it has a nice resolution, I think I quite enjoyed it overall. I'd say 7.5-ish? My initial rating at ch 9 was 8/10

Oh also: THERE'S A SPOILER for Taiyou no Ie (House of the Sun) in th evolume...8 or 9 extra (It tells you it's a cross-over when you read it, but NOT that there's a spoiler. So that kind of annoyed me because Taiyou no Ie was legit one of my favourite shoujo (it's amazing) but as I said, I stopped reading manga and so I was spoiled.

... Last updated on March 17th, 2023, 11:58am