So I am so sick of reading those reverse harem or love traingle mangas where the girl ALWAYS ends up with the bad boy who pretends to hate her or be indifferent at first and always has darker hair than the nice, sweet boy whose in love with her too(which I find entertaining). Don't get me wrong, I love bad boys, I really do....but it gets so repetitve, and sometimes I do like the sweet boy better than the bad boy...but just because he's a bad boy with a mysterious past, suddenly everything's centered around him! I don't know, it just really really bugs me. So I want to know if there are any reverse harem or love triangle manga where the main character ends up with the nice sweet boy instead of the bad boy or at least someone who doesn't fit that damn archetype...If I read another manga where the love interest acts troubled and mean then pretends indifference towards the main character to 'protect' then, I'll rip out my hair, then cry because it hurt and ripped it too short!

Or

I would like to read a manga where the main character is indifferent or apathetic, even if it's just at first like Heptagon. I don't know what else to say for this one so yeah

sexual content is fine good, i'm also alright with yuri/shojo ai

Last edited by DorkFishOK at 11:21 pm, Oct 20 2010

PERFECT-O

amen! I completely agree.

For your first request, try Obaka-chan, Koigatariki

I'm not sure who she ends up with yet, but either way I think this one will be a refreshing break from the kind of love triangles you are talking about.

There's a sweet guy and a mean guy, but the mean guy isn't the moody, disturbed kind of character you are talking about. He's actually really mean, not like in the "fake mean but i actually like you" way, but in the "i'm gonna pretend to be nice to you so i can manipulate you oh you thought i was good person? aren't you stupid" kind of way.

and like i said before, i can easily imagine the main character ending up with either of the two prospects.

Penguin Revolution

This one has the more generic love triangle that you are talking about. Once again, not sure who she ends up with, but it's way more likely to be the nice guy than the moody one.

Ouran High School Host Club

In this one it's so obvious who she's gonna end up with that it's not a real great love triangle, but she does end up with the "nice guy" as opposed to the "bad boy"

As for stoic characters, my #1 suggestion would be Akuma to Love Song

The main character is very stoic, but just so you know, she's probably gonna end up with the moody guy, not the nice guy.

Another one you could try would be Flowers of Evil

The main character is definitely stoic-ish, although that's not the emphasis of the story. Personally I like this one much better than Akuma to Love song, but you have to be able to deal with Incest and tragedy. This is not a happy manga.

oh, for the sweet guy over bad guy thing, you could also try Billion Princess.

That one definitely qualifies, although it's a little bit more complicated than a simple love triangle.

Last edited by unusuallove at 9:50 pm, Oct 20 2010

YAY!!! I will try Obaka-Chan!!! I'm excited! I read Penguin Evolution...the ending is very vague, lol but I loved that manga too I've read Ouran high school host club too and I love Tamaki, so sweet and adorable, ah! It's still very refreshing
It's funny that you mentioned Akuma to Love Song, that's actually one of the main reasons I made this post lol because I LOVE love Maria, she's way stellar but I LOVE yuusuke who she's obviously not going to end up with...ah so upsetting oh well, Meguro is pretty nice, except for the whole thing about not being with her because if her holds her she'll remember her mom's suicide which I think is so not cool, I think he should tell her and then be with her. Ignorance doesn't constitute happiness, and it would be less devasting to hear about something like that than later on in life. Plus if he tells her, sure she'll be REALLY upset, like comatose upset, but I think Maria loves everyone so much she'll begin healing and then he can help her heal and everything would be wonderful! yep
I've never really read an incest manga before and it's silly but I'm kind of afraid too. I started reading this book called Flowers in the Attic which is LOTS of incest and it freaked me the hell out. Guess it's because I have a brother my age. Anyways, thank you!

That's fine as long as it isn't the bad boy archetype. Thank you!

Try to avoid double-posting please~
Thank you.

The thing is, the 'sweet boy' stereotype almost always turn out to be the less interesting, especially the ones that follow you around like a lovesick puppy, proclaiming their love till the end of time. I understand where you're coming from with the bad boy stereotype, they can be repetitive and some of them are even despicable beyond imagination (Shinjo Mayu).

On the other hand, I feel like many people simply hate a title because of this cliche, regardless of how brilliantly it's pulled off. Look at Strobe Edge : even though the male lead is shown to have a very distinctive personality and is NOWHERE near the bad boy label, fans simply called him as such, just because he has dark hair. It's like a trigger or something, and everything good about the guy flies over their head.

Most of the time, manga sweet guys don't really have interesting personalities or backstories; 90% of their screentime is occupied with feeling sorry for themselves and falling over the heroine, and readers going 'poor guy!' They do outrageous things, from proclaiming their everlasting love to a floozy who's barely fresh out of high school to slitting their wrists to prove they're manly. I'm not interested in reading about the visualization of the ultimate female fantasy.

I think it all boils down to what constitutes a good story. If I want a sweet, adoring guy, then I'd much rather spend time and hook up with a boyfriend who does this in real life than read about it, really! But if I want to read about intrigue and suspense, the anticipation of a love story, I'll stick with the characters who have conflict and struggles, who go through emotional and physical problems, who have dysfunctional traits and isn't afraid to treat a woman as his equal, as opposed to fragile porcelain.

(It just so happens that most of them have dark hair lol.)

EDIT: By the way, here's a title to fit your request.

Oniichan to Issho : I have... no words to describe this. None at all. This goes beyond the 'sweet guy' archtype, there is only one person in manga existence that's able to match up to his caliber, and it's the notorious Morita-sempai from Honey and Clover.

Last edited by jadey at 1:16 am, Oct 23 2010

________________
My Other Manga Threads
Search for these threads as links would kill my sig limit.

- Middle School Heroine Love Stories
- Older, Gentle Male Love Interests
- Romance with Capable Women/Heroines
- Wise Male Mentor x [DECENT] Heroine
- Gangster/Physically Strong Main Heroines
- Romance with Stubble Chinned Guys Because It's Sexy
- Love Triangles Involving Male Teachers

My threads are as specific as they can; it's good if they can help you out!

That's true, especially with the whole dark hair thing. It's just that it bothers me that characters have to have some horrible past to have a complex and interesting personality. Sure, I mean experience has a lot to do with who you are but not having a horrible past doesn't mean that character is any less interesting or has less conflict in life

I recommend: Uwasa no Midori-kun and Suki desu Suzuki-kun. In both books, the girl ends up with the "sweet guy".





Everyone has their tastes, but I do not see the problem in reading a story with a sweet guy.

In manga shojos, the guys are always quite protective (they are good guys, mysterious guys or bad guys, all are protective). The "sweet guy" is closer to treating the girl as his equal (they are quite respectful), the "bad guy" is horrible to the girl. Another thing, the mysterious guys and the bad guys also represent the feminine ideal.

Anyway, maybe our definition of "sweet guy" is different. I consider Ren (Strobe Edge) as a "sweet guy". I do not know who I can consider him a "bad boy" (Andou're closer to that term)

I recommend two other mangas: Obaka-chan koigatariki and Tonari no Atashi.

Last edited by lambchopsil at 12:07 am, Sep 14 2012