I cannot stand her already. This is beyond low self-esteem. This is some kind of obsequious flattery to the higher classes/anyone who earns more than her mixed with self-degredation to an awkward and unconvincing point. This manga had better redeeem itself within the next 10-15 pages, or I'm looking elsewhere.
WTF quote of the day: "I apologize once again for breathing in the same air as you guys."
It's implied that she's somehow acting like this because she's poor. I hope her "low-self esteem" and general obsequiousness and misguidedness is a stereotype that will not be affixed onto the poor in Japan. Some parts of her thought processes (like wanting better clothes) make sense, but her speech is seriously irritating at times.
Below is a blow-by-blow account of the first chapter, to save you the time of deciding whether it's worth your time:
Page 14: Cue the blushing bishounen! And the super naive heroine who doesn't understand when to use CPR herself (the guy's talking, which means...you don't). Then her self-degradation saves her from doing it. Is it always going to be this pattern?
Page 16: Great, the male lead is stating what I thought two pages ago. Why so slow, people? And when talking to the guy, she's criticizing herself to a really, really sad point. There should be violins playing the saddest song in the world as her background. It should be raining non-stop. Please, someone save her from herself. Everyone has insecurities and things they don't like about themselves (I know I do), and though I can sympathize with her feelings of worthlessness, when they're all she thinks about (and her joy of attending school in a proper uniform), a therapist is recommended, not some smiles about how "pretty" she is. It's a miracle the girl hasn't been diagnosed as depressed already.
Page 19: Money is offered.
Page 22: Oh my god, they can't even shower? That...sucks. I understand her delusions.... :S I've been shoujo-fied. Money is rejected because oddly enough, she still has pride about that, even if she doesn't about herself. GLARING INCONSISTENCY.
Page 30: We find out that guy is injured. And she has to pay. No. Just. WHY?
Page 31: Boy guilts her to spend money on him to feed his stomach. The first thing heroine worries about is her socks (she has a sock-complex, dating back to an incident in middle school or something due to her lack of financial stability) when he asks her to go inside his apartment. Not whether the guy's prone to sexually assaulting her and faking the injury. She could just go to the convenience store and buy something, for god's sake.
Page 33: Convenience store shopping is mentioned. It is always going to be like this. The obvious is always 1-2 pages late.
Page 34: Boy jacks girl's lunch and she feels embarrassed. But not for him. For HER.
Page 42: Why does she
Page 43: Most hilarious page of the chapter yet. She's clutching the onigiri while it rains on it. Was the mangaka trying to poke fun at the genre. Parodying while playing it straight?
Page 44: Stalker boy finds sad!Heroine in a box in her most degrading moment. This was clearly written by a masochist.
Page 46: We find out that heroine = cat (i.e. she's worth as much as a cat).
Basically absent parent except to give out bad news is basically absent parent except when giving bad news.