Is it cliche? In some ways, definitely. Does it bear similarities to Hirunaka no Ryuusei? Undoubtedly. But is it a good read for what it is? Absolutely.
Yes, the characters in Lonely Planet are your typical shoujo manga tropes: a hardworking, earnest girl (who, bless the lord, isn't really a dimwit or a crybaby) and your brooding, aloof, tsundere male lead much, much older than her (not complaining; i do have a thing for age gap manga). However, Yamamori is able to twist and shape these tropes: with her gorgeous art and engaging story-telling, one has a hard time complaining about the cliche-ness of it all, because it's delivered so nicely.
The story is nothing too special -- if anything, it is almost like a watered down, shoujo take on the brilliant Hana no Namae (an amazing and mature read). It's simple enough to follow; not a lot of teen angst, not too many dumb female lead moments that leave you wanting to punch something out of frustration -- and I appreciate that.
The art is gorgeous: I've always loved Yamamori's style of drawing. It's pleasant and clean and polished, and let's be real -- how can you complain about that beautiful man? I mean seriously, Sensei is GORGEOUS.
All in all, it is an engaging manga and a very lovely read. Despite its being cliche and not too original or groundbreaking, it fulfills most everything you could want from a shoujo, taking pains to leave out the crybaby protagonist and the occasional silliness. If Yamamori really conceived this manga in order to appease the Shizume fans, I ain't mad about it (though I have to say I was fuming at HnR). I just hope she learns from that ordeal and makes sure it doesn't occur this time lmao

TL;DR: It's a good manga. Comparing it to anything else will only distract you from its true merit, leaving you frustrated and leaving the mangaka with less commendation than she really deserves. Read it for what it is, and let yourself enjoy it. It is a beautiful manga with engaging storytelling that I'm sure most will enjoy.

Let me start off by saying that I am not the kind of person who leaves reviews for even mangas that I love a lot. I'm shy and new to not only regularly reading manga but also to forums.

I have to admit, going into this I was extremely apprehensive. I had read nothing but mixed reviews and honestly, I put off reading this manga for a solid two months. But, in a fit of boredom i finally picked it up. And GOSH. this was a rollercoaster.

In my opinion, the characters weren't all that well developed, with the exception of Gorou. The real rollercoaster of emotions came more from how utterly cliche every happenstance was. I love cliches. I read shoujo and josei specifically for the cliches. But, wow. Every chapter made me either want to slam my own head into a wall because of the "miscommunication" between the ML and FL or made me squeal because of how cute the second couple (and in some cases, the main couple) were.

Would I recommend this manga? Probably not. If you are looking for something romantic, this is not the manga for you. While it does center around romance, there are moments where you forget that the ML and FL are in fact together and not still pining after each other. I don't, however regret reading this manga. I wasted precious sleep reading it but.... The last few chapters were quite enjoyable. Also, the side characters are extremely charismatic and great! They all definitely have 10x more personality than the leads lol.

I'm unsure if this is considered a "long" or even "detailed" review but I hope it is helpful to someone who is probably also conflicted about reading this.

(Also, the art is very pretty!!!!!! I'm definitely inclined to check out more of the mangaka's works in the future!)

Yes, it is a rehash of Hirunaka no Ryuusei. BUT what shoujo isn't a rehash of a bunch of other shoujo tropes? Yeah, yeah, there are a few. But on the whole?

So just looking at this manga by itself and pretending that you never read Hirunaka no Ryuusei, I find the story to be decently engaging. The female character is fine. She's been handed a bum deal in life, but she deals with it and isn't a crybaby about it. She knows what responsibility means and is more mature then other people her age, though she isn't perfect. On the whole a decent teenage girl candidate to be paired up with an older man.
The main male character is a grumpy bishie who has some social skills problems and rarely smiles. He is a little gruff with the girl (though not a tormenting jerk), but you can tell he does try to be kind to her and he does take the roll of her protector at times.
Then there is the boy at her school whom may be the rival of the story. His character IMO is boring and he's a jerk. However, in resent developments of the chapters I have come to question whether or not his role will be that as the rival, for he seemed rather acceptable to the idea that the girl was in love with her employer.

If I were to judge this in the older male/younger female shoujo trope, so far it's seems fine. I do like how in this story the older man is aware of the girl's youth and is respectful of this. Unlike other stories where the guy doesn't care that the girl is underage and tries to do things with her (yuck). Maybe things in the story will take a downturn, I don't know, but for now I'm enjoying it. I give it a 7.5 so far.

I'm a big fan of Yamamori Mika (her art style is gorgeus) and i found the story so enjoyable, the Fumi's personality is what i was looking for a main character on a shoujo manga, mature and composed but also cute without being pushy nor excessive. Akatsuki, well, what can i say, he's also not the typical cold guy but rather super honest that doesn't really understand what love is nor how to express what he feels, protective and also can't hide jealousy.
Talking about the art style, simply beautiful, i love how Yamamori pays attention to the clothing, the hairstyle, etc, so pleasing to see.
Also there's normally the love triangle and in this one it was not totally a love triangle and that was really refreshing.
A lot of scenarios could be what you could expect of a shoujo manga but when you add this beautiful couple with such an age gap, it becomes even more sweet and special.
10/10 💜

It's somewhat believable until the 4th chapter. Okay, so high school girl has to live with an older man she doesn't know and be his live in maid, okay, could happen. But then



and he has carried this grudge with him for like ten years. She doesn't even remember who he is. He tells her she 'makes him sick'.

Like, this is such a non-issue. There are a million other more believable ways to create angsty drama and the author chose to make this kid angry at the main character because of that

Besides that, the main character really doesn't have a personality besides 'kind and gentle' and is pretty much the exact same as the main character in Hirunaka No Ryuusei, the author's other well-known work.

... Last updated on July 22nd, 2015, 9:05am

- I went back to reread it since it’s being licensed and it’s already done with scans but it still doesn’t have much of the charm as Hirunaka despite the really happy ending that feels like it came out of nowhere.

The backstory of Akatsuki was more of a plot device to explain his standoffish personality but I don’t get why he prefers Fumi over the other girls closer to his age or the editor who was similar to Fumi but actually his age. the age gap is also bigger than Shishio’s and Suzume’s and they didn’t have an established relationship outside of “I’m the housekeeper” idk it’s weird tho that the author kept justifying that Fumi’s an old lady in a young girls body and that’s why Akatsuki went for her cuz she reminded him of motherly affection that he never had lol.

But yeah this was made really to appeal to the other side of Hirunaka fans and gave the seemingly happy ending that some wanted, the build up to the romance made no sense to me tho.

... Last updated on January 31st, 2022, 9:25am

Note: I'm a big fan of the mangaka's previous work. But I am writing this review independent of her previous work.
This manga gets 4/10 for the art alone. The story, however, is so lacking. I had to force myself to finish since I kept thinking it would get better. It didn't. Story-wise, this is probably the worst shoujo I've ever read.

The main female and male leads have the personality of a cardboard box. They are nearly unlikeable. The main female lead is naive but in a frustrating way, not a cute way. We are supposed to believe that she is a strong independent female character because she is shouldering the debt and working while going to school. Except she's passive, obedient, and holds a pity party for herself every other chapter. Even though she's still in high school and are inexperienced when it comes to relationships, she somehow believes that she will never love anyone else besides this guy (lol wtf). She goes through the whole series like this but within the last 10 chapters Totally believable.

Do not even get me started on the main male lead.

There are cliches all over without any interesting points or twists to differentiate it from other shoujo works. Hardworking but naive and boring girl? Somehow she still has guys fawning all over her. Tsundere guy who has zero EQ? Of course girls would be all over him, duh!

The relationship is so boring. The writing is just beyond dull and the potential threats to their relationships seemed like they were just hastily thrown in to move the plot and get the characters to *gasp* communicate properly. Most side characters besides the secondary couple are basically never seen again until the last chapter. Oh, and you will be reminded of the age gap constantly. It's like every conflict they have is indirectly related to the age gap. Yawn. relationship was so much cuter and more fun to read about.

... Last updated on December 21st, 2020, 12:59am

I've only read until chapter 31. I liked how the story was developing that is until


If you don't mind such a setting and are not disturbed by it then I'd say go for it but if you are like me then I suggest you look for other stories to read.

I enjoyed it very much!!!

... Last updated on September 5th, 2020, 1:44pm

And that's it. That's the big spoiler.

The premise is a little bit icky: a high school girl, living with a complete adult stranger and took care of him; then they developed feelings for one another.

It is pretty similar to Ryuusei with a high school female lead and a sensei. But this time, the communication was improved: they voiced their thoughts instead of keeping them and thinking "this is better for the other party" BS angsty troupe. Thus, the happy ending (it is spelt out in the last chapter's magazine cover even). I also like the fun, loving supporting characters.

Another icky thing but not too icky, but still icky (cue: circumstances), is the fact the girl was underage. So some of the things that were done could have been on criminal records. But who am I to say, I'm not fluent in Japanese legal terms and matters. Are they allowed to marry at 16?