The scenario of this manga is not itself unique - "loner attracts bunch of oddball companions" is pretty much a staple theme for almost every shounen manga in existence. However, the way it handles the theme, is. Other mangas rarely approaches the issue of being a loner as being a major problem, whereas this manga makes it the main theme.

As meosnelsity below stated, being a loner in asian culture is pretty much being seen as a failure. While I have no idea how Japanese culture works, Chinese folks place a lot of importance on having a large social pool. The whole analogy of "having a 100 superficial friends, or a single important one" is very interesting in this case, since your typical Chinese would probably prefer the former (even if they probably wouldn't admit it). And no, I'm not being racist here (it'd be pretty strange if I was, given that I'm Chinese myself), its simply the truth. Even in fiction, the only loners are villains or antiheroes, and any heroes that start off as loners are quickly "fixed" as the plot progresses.

That said, while I'm rather pleased that the mangaka chose to tackle the theme from such a unique angle, I'm also slightly disappointed with the pacing. It seems to suffer from what I call "Instant Nakama syndrome" - characters who only met for a few seconds immediately treat each other like they've been pals for years. Yozora and Sena immediately fall into the roles of "friendly" rivals, Yukimura instantly treats Kodaka like he's some karate sensei, Sena and Yozora both treat Kodaka like he's been a mock-slave to them for years, etc. This is the kind of thing that's easily forgiveable for a shounen manga, but not overlookable for this seinen manga, since the main theme is "making friends".

Still, the art is good, and the slapstick comedy scenes are pretty funny. If you're looking for a deep manga series that tackles the issue of being a loner realistically, you won't find it here. But if you just wanna read a fun manga for a change, this series if for you.

As of the time this comment is being posted, the manga is still only in its 10th (translated) chapter, so I won't rate it for now.

Like in so many Japanese manga that, at least some point in their story, deal with a character who initially is alone but makes a bunch of different friends as the story moves on. The reality in East Asian countries is that the school life (not university or prep school) for kids is not really, rather, about finding their mate or preparing for their future but making a "group" of friends just like what this manga puts primarily for its main topic. Most asian kids become more nervous when they don't belong to some group of something unlike that many weirdos you frequently encounter in America. Although I personally lack knowledge of recent trends, I did have similar experience before, and I think everyone does at some point in their life - if you haven't, that means you are lucky or, maybe, naive.

I don't know why I got so serious and wrote the previous paragraph, but probably I reacted too much from the previous comment. Anyway, I had a good time reading this one. If you had read my comment too seriously, here's a pitfall prevention: the actual manga content is NOT that serious about making friends nor serious about psychology (although I can't really judge at this early stage), it's a mere joke, a lovely dovey manga.

Recently, many new manga have joined my hardrive, and this one was the last one I checked today. They were all really fun to read like Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Emu Emu, Fortune Arterial, Amagami - Precious Diary, Isuca, Dead Soul Revolver, Lotte no Omocha!, Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, and Sankarea to name few. Well, hell yeah, I prefer those kind of drawings with ecchi romance or fantasy combo. If you have liked this one, you would probably want to check those I mentioned here though some of them recently become popular already.

... Last updated on January 23rd, 2011, 1:27am

Cute, funny and fairly original in terms of execution if not setup, this is a quality comedy. It touches on students who are ostracized but it does not dwell long on the negatives. Though much of their trouble finding friends can be attributed to straight out prejudice, especially in the case of the half blooded protagonist, the manga tends to focus more on their defective personalities' faults which are often (though not always) at least partially the result of their initial ostracizing in the first place.

Chapters consist mostly of the club members researching ways to find friends. Activities are largely attempts to become comfortable with social situations which fail due to their unwaveringly bad personalities.

On the topic of loners, if you want to see a realistic depiction about kids ostracized from class, this ain't it. Realistic stories about loners are depressing like Columbine and Virginia Tech. Outside of dark comedies like Zetsubou Sensei, it wouldn't be funny if the story was about the half Japanese kid who gets depressed and commits murder suicide against six other kids.

... Last updated on September 15th, 2011, 7:43pm

BokuTomo happily copies some of its parts from other school and harem comedies, but uses them together in a surprisingly effective and relatively original way alongside its own ideas. The eccentric student club is taken from Haruhi among others, Kodaka is like the protagonist of Toradora, Yukimura is an obvious parody of Kinoshita from BakaTest, the girls basically form a Negima!-esque harem, and like Seitokai no Ichizon, it pokes fun at otaku culture.

What it adds to this formula is a more likable protagonist (Kodaka is funny, strong and quirky, rather than being a boring and geeky reader avatar), insane girls who don't quite fit into any stock character, ala Breakfast Club (like an arrogant rich blonde who suffers the jealous resentment of others and loves H-games) and just plain funny situations. My favorites include the girls' failure at playing a dating sim and the collective novel writing.

It's fun. However, just as a warning, you will enjoy this manga more if a) you are familiar with otaku culture, as there are many in-jokes and references Lucky Star style; b) you can tolerate jerks as main characters and realize they are not meant to be agreed with; c) you like, or don't mind, 'weird' (by western standards) and sexual humor.

REPLY TO SPEARSMEN620:
First of all, I wasn't comparing *Yozora* to Haruhi specifically, but rather the basic 'unusual club' setting. (In fact, I specifically said that the girls weren't stock characters, but rather, deconstructions.) I do think though, that with hindsight, a much better comparison would have been to the clubs in Seitokai no Ichizon or Seitokai Yakuindomo (at least in their anime versions). I also wrote "among others".

Secondly, I stand firmly by my stated impression, when I read BokuTomo, that it inherits some of the specific ideas and conventions of previous work(s) (and yes, you know what, a lot of manga/anime indeed do that) AND cleverly subverts them, AND has ideas of its own. I find it hard to believe that Kodaka's mistaken reputation for delinquency is a 'coincidental' similarity with that of Ryuuji (or that Ryuuji's wasn't itself inspired by the hero of Angel Densetsu...) - likable though he is. Or that the adorable and funny character, Yukimura, would have existed without Hideyoshi from BakaTest (even his haircut is similar, and yes, I'm aware of the spoiler about him). Or that BokuTomo isn't (at least, so far) a harem manga - a very well-established, well-known format.

Perhaps "copies" sounds too pejorative for a manga which I love, eagerly read and recommend; I wouldn't have given it a rating of 8.5 if I didn't, but, well, "It's just coincidences" isn't an accurate analysis of such elements either. And what's the real difference between 'obeying a cliche/convention' and 'copying previous work'?

... Last updated on September 4th, 2011, 11:23am

This manga has a fresh feeling that I haven't felt from this type of genre since reading Hoozuki-san Chi no Aneki I also like how it isn't dumb downed to where they are showing panties every second and the male character is tripping and falling all over the girls for comic relief. (I'm not not trying to say that I dislike panties and ecchi humor tho). What I liked liked most about this manga was not the girls who are very interesting and well drawn but the main character who isn't some weak ass, no personality,overly serious dude. The guy is a legitimate character in the manga unlike most male main characters in ecchi, school setting manga. Anyways, it was a good hour or so read and had quite a laugh.

... Last updated on July 19th, 2011, 11:44pm

Its still too early to tell how good this will get (only 10 chapters out). Its fun and light so far. Its looking to turn into a harem with the usual roles (childhood friend, etc.), but I hope that doesn't become the major focus here as its the other parts that make it interesting. For instance, I thought it was funny and cool that one of the chapters made reference to the proposed legislation banning risque or erotic manga. Also fun was making jokes and references to other manga and anime like Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Sacred Blacksmith. I hope it sticks with some of the social commentary and pop culture references. It borrows quite a bit from other manga, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Right now its decent, not great and I'll update my score if it improves or goes downhill into overused tropes and cliches.

... Last updated on September 2nd, 2022, 9:39am

I'm probably being too harsh, but I really don't see how this manga is all that great.
You have a very cliché cast of characters having all these so called hilarious moments, but I just don't see how it truly sets itself apart from the rest of the pack. Name calling is hardly funny to be honest. I'll admit I like the art, and some moments are funny, but you compare this to some of the true greats and it lacks. I'll continue to read it, and maybe the manga will make me change my opinion, because I know there is plenty of room for improvement.
For now it gets a 6, and that means it's decent.

Absolutely hilarious. Especially if you're familiar (or maybe open-minded) with japanese anime/video game culture. The manga conveyed the comedy better than the anime in my opinion.

Some people like it for the cute girls, some for the romance. Pick your poison. It's a fun read.

I don't know what it is about manga and anime based off of light novels but they usually turn out very much above par. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai is no exception. Many of the pitfalls of over-used school-life cliches are nicely avoided. The characters and their problems are very easy to relate to, if not, interesting. However, some of the situations they find themselves in and even some of the characters seem downright unpleasant and when you come right down to it, it is another school life manga, just better than average.