Manga 155911 Kakunaru Ue Wa

7.7/10


Lord have mercy, this manga is the epitome of awkward cuteness. The characters provide a nice balance of the usual cliches and a light-hearted vibe. As for the plot, it’s somewhat real, barring the premise itself. However, the manga does lack some exposition in the setting, which is limiting this manga from a tier above.

The characters are initially infuriating and seem one-dimensional, however, they slowly but surely undergo developments revealed through subtle actions. Though the main character himself isn’t the most enjoyable person, with him being the usual “loser, awkward” boy, he does find resolve in a natural manner. The plot also catalyzes his developments ... through a non-handholding direction with rejections, attesting to the slice of life aspect.

Though the characters and plot are quite enjoyable, the manga lacks some setting or exposition; world-building isn’t the most enjoyable read, but it’s better than nothing; besides for the occasional school-related setting, there’s realistically no details that the author has set out and developed, which is quite disappointing.

Despite the main cast being high school (?) students, the manga barely has any mentions of actual school life, rather, it’s used as a background more than anything. Also, the extra details of each character’s school life would provide substantially more depth to each correspondent; for example, there are some chapters where the fmc is being sexualized by the author or background characters, which is incredibly awkward due to the fmc’s age being a mystery. An absolutely disgusting line used by a side character was, not verbatim but close, “I know what I’m going to use as material tonight,” which is absolutely vile considering the character that said it looked no younger than 30.

Initially a shallow, cute manga, it has its awkward or lackluster moments; regardless, it’s a wholesome read. Though the setting itself could use some work, the characters are nicely paced and engaged, making this pretty enjoyable.


Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

Not going to lie, the art baits into reading. And it stays grandiose all the way through. The general introduction is cute and the setting is unironically pretty good. It is a fresh take on an old story which most of the time struggles when in close relation to a major romance subplot. Did this one do well? No. Straight up, a deep sigh and resounding nope.
It goes ROTTEN insanely fast and a bit more enjoyment is sucked out after every uncomfortable and questionable NTR-bait and insult.
And when I say heavy, I mean it. More on that when I talk about ch12 and ... the overall state of romance (I do not spoil).

After reading, before I was able to pinpoint what was wrong, there was this tiny slight feeling of disgust I couldn't put into words, some emotions and thoughts that just couldn't be shared properly by myself yet- until I read the review of Co1d and fully resonated with it.
Chapter 8 was when it began. I personallly wasn't fully on board with what happened this chapter and how she behaved. It felt different from before and some specific panels made me wonder if there wasn't more to it. Whatever. Author surely has a reason.

Chapter 12, I actually had to step away for a second and question her as a character and what the author's true intentions and plans were. What happens story-wise is fully predictable, only her character was EXTREMELY different again.
Page 18 weirded me out a bit. Surely this won't go there, right...? I am worried at this point.
Page 21-24 hit. Huh? Full blown NTR-bait-tomfoolery, I still don't understand how she turned so nasty and vile towards MC in a singular chapter. This is well past giving in to desires. Where is this all coming from? This is starting to read like a different genre of manga, well, more like hentai? All her values and self-respect and respect towards MC just poof. Gone. No writing to make it happen.
The manga's story and their dynamic and relationship were quite enjoyable up until this exact point.
She talked about work 0/17 speech bubbles and lusts for the alpha hunk for 17/17. Make it make sense. It surely makes no sense to me with how her character was established.
The MC himself was slightly out of character but fully in his right with what and how he said it, considering how she was randomly changed and acted. Some consistency, I guess? There were other issues with MC but they weren't nearly as direct as with her. A convenient but lame character introduction and questionable fanservice are the worst ones.

Now, one could try to go "whatever" and move on, treating this as nonsense drama that will just fizzle out anyways. But that just isn't the case here at all. What was done in those last panels of ch12 and onwards completely undermines the romance subplot and how it was built from the ground up/built upon.
Her character is now so far gone that true and genuine mutual love is unattainable for the MC. She is actively being rebuilt into the "damsel that doesn't know love"-trope with sprinkles of "I always have been an animal in heat that wants any hot guy!" to further spite the MC, it seems. The author is branching into so many personalities and traits.
This is the author's way of chickening out, going for terrible writing and the easy way out- better not have to deal with a psychological tag, LOL!
Just play it down and act like it never happened to this insane of an extent. And the author does just that. The romance is picked up from before her hypnosis(?) primate behaviour and just tries to progress as if shit never hit the fan. But it feels overly artificial. Everything she does feels forced. Well, apart from the countless times the author showcases the hate and revulsion (my interpretation based on panels and speech) she feels towards him.
Sadly, she actually gets away scot free. The situation never gets resolved, its existence is full on denied. It might've been an outcry on socials/forums or poor sales, Idk. But all this stuff will keep happening from now on with how the story is being set up. Great!

From then on there are many moments like ch14 p18 where she makes a snarky and hurtful comment, making fun of him and attack him in a passive aggressive manner for something he is rightfully allowed to feel. So cute and wholesome.
Same for ch16 p13. Or ch17 p10-12. This one surprisingly had a bit of actual character development happening but it had to open with her, once again, indirectly insulting him/acting negatively towards him.
Ch18 p12-14 are a secret favorite of mine. Played off in a comedic manner, insulting him to the highest degree and being plain evil. She should just block him and move on from him if she feels THIS negatively about him.
For every bit of progress and time spent on one wavelength there has to be a page of her absolutely ripping into him and his complexes mental being and physical appearance. Comedy and Romance gold. Heh.

I will be honest, I used only one eye to speed through the rest of the TLd chapters. Her actively shitting on him and their relationship becoming a major plot point was appalling to me. Their dynamic is not enjoyable anymore. I still don't see them ever truly being able to see past what has transpired and for a genuine mutual romantic ending to happen without crazy wild major asspull.
This is below elementary school mental level and romantic understanding as of chapter 23.

Read this if you value wicked good art over consistency, likeable characters, a well made and deep story and positive, wholesome romantic progress that is organic in how it feels.
Read this if you fancy a tsundere on crack that is one of the most toxic female leads in any romance manga ever that the author has randomly indirectly self-realize that she is a slut (ch21 p10) and is otherwise mentally impaired when the author needs her to.

I’ll eventually write a longer review, but I’ll just write this for now.
This manga is wasted potential. What ruins this manga is the actions of the two main characters and the excessive amount of ecchi content that gets overbearing at times. There will be some impactful scene, then the bottom of a female character will be shown straight after. Ridiculous. The female main character gets on my nerves quite a bit, especially with the cheating-baiting nonsense that happens more than once. Quite frustrating, considering, the manga is meant to be all heartfelt moments with a bit of drama, but then the female main character ... talks good about another man, explaining how he is her “type”. Seriously? Was that all necessary? The flow of the manga is constantly ruined, such a sad state.