Koi Dano Ai Dano is the non-episodic sequel to the great episodic series Warau Kanoko. In the previous series, Kanoko finally transferred schools for the 108th time, and decided that was enough; now we follow her attempt at becoming a more refreshing kind of character in high school, together with the main romantic lead of WK, Tsubaki.
Warau Kanoko really hit many of my sweet spots: a clever, strong female protagonist who uses her mind to fix things, and not too much romance. Kanoko is a great lead, and now that the story in Koi Dano is more serial, and concentrated in a single school, let the mind games begin!
Fans of Skip Beat! might like to know that romantically, Kanoko and Tsubaki are quite alike to Kyoko and Ren; Kanoko is very dense when it comes to herself (in things like friendship and romance), while Tsubaki is a cool, hyper-competent romantic lead who is extremely possessive and jealous, bordering and often dipping into outright childishness. It is through the eyes of Tsubaki that we get to see Kanoko's cuter sides, while other times we get to see her at work as a political mastermind fighting in the wars of the Three Kingdoms of Takara no Tani high school.
The writing and direction is clever, and bears well under repeated rereads. Different plotpoints are woven well together, and the past is not an unknown country, but one that is often alluded to.
It is also funny, though not in a slapstick or absurdist way. Most of the comedy grows from the interactions of characters, and a panel in a previous chapter might well bloom into a punchline in the next one. The humour isn't laugh-out-loud, but more of that constant, unstoppable maniacal grinning you get when you can't just stop, and have to continue.
This series is much recommended to everyone.