Okay, so the whole 'rivals become lovers' thing has been done to death, but I'm looking something for a bit more specific. I'm looking for a genuine rivalry romance where two characters are genuinely competing against each other for whatever reason - be it school work, sport, a career. To often than not, it is only one side which sees the other as a rival, often the girl, while the guy is just 'playing along' and it is made pretty clear she dosent stand a chance against the other party she views as a 'rival'. This is pretty damn obvious in shoujo romance mangas such as Special A. While it can be the other way round this is less common. Either way, I would love it if the two had a genuine chance of beating the other in whatever they are competing each other against, not just that the other party 'lets' them win (be it male or female). Any genre is fine, shoujo, shounen, seinen, josei - so long as it has romance, and that the two protagonists have a genuine rivalry, not just that one party is only 'imagining' a rivalry with the other. Hope that makes sense and thanks!

If you manage to find this, please let me know xD
Iv been looking for something similar with no luck.

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me too ^_^ (i know it's been a while though)

Maybe Basara?

well.. really, that's quite hard..
I also suggest Basara.

There's also Zettai Heiwa Daisakusen, they have some kind of rivalry, you could check it out, but I belive it isn't yet what you're looking for....

Maybe Red Lion, the MC it's really physically strong and theres lot of guys trying to defeat her (but it's been a while since I read so I don't remember very well)

Ah! Beauty Pop, she is really talented and there's this guy who trys really hard to beat her..

what reminds me, Skip Beat - I didn't read the manga because still ongoing, but I saw the anime, the whole plot revolves around her trying to be better than him - but she has the talent to do so

well.. for now that's all I can think about...

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"The Cinderella witch does not use her magic on herself because she knows the emptiness that follows when the spell breaks"

I think Beauty Pop has imagined rivalry on the guy's end though

Seconding Basara cuz it's a must read.

I agree that it's hard to give recs for this topic because it seems like in most rivalries, the pairings aren't evenly matched

Well I don't want to repeat suggestions so maybe
Himitsu no Ai-chan

Last Game
Kaichou wa Maid-sama!
Penguin Brothers


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