Girlfriend, Girlfriend (2020)

[カノジョも彼女]

Volume 1

Author/Artist: Hiroyuki
Publisher: Kodansha Comics Magazine

Synopsis:
Shortly after Naoya Mukai starts dating his childhood friend, a cute classmate confesses her feelings for him and rather than turn her down, he decides to ask his girlfriend if he can date both of them.

Story/Characters:
The TV adaptation of this series has actually been one of the highlights of the Summer 2021 anime season for me, to the point where I went out and got the whole series (seven volumes at the time of this writing with the seventh newly released) and binge-read it in a single day. I enjoyed the author's earlier work Aho-Girl and there's a similar sense of humor here. Naoya, the lead male, is straight as an arrow and honest to a fault (and I quite literally mean "to a fault") to the point of idiocy and this is the main source of comedy. Common sense means nothing to him and his idiocy has a way of making idiots out of the people around him. Saki gets hit pretty hard by this and it's fun to watch her get carried along before snapping back (and then often disengaging her brain again).

The story won me over the moment Naoya decides the solution to his conundrum is ask Saki's permission to date her and Nagisa at the same time. Most of the usual dithering and dancing around in Japanese romcoms gets tossed out the window and we cut straight to establishing the relationship and dealing with the complications that follow. If we were taking things seriously, Saki and Nagisa's insecurities would make for compelling drama. Even with it being played for laughs, it's hard not to feel sorry for them. For as bullish as Saki can act, she's actually pushed around quite easily and even though Nagisa appears fairly innocent, she's often fairly calculating when it comes to securing her place in the relationship. There's a good balance of their positive and negative traits which keeps the dynamic interesting.

Art:
You can see a bit of an art bump from the days of Aho-Girl. Hiroyuki's style was appealing to begin with and the cute factor gets punched up here, especially with Nagisa. On the comedy side, Saki's reactions are great. Because Hiroyuki isn't using the 4-koma format here, we see a lot more big panels to highlight the major beats. The two-page spread in Chapter 1 that kicks things off is especially nice.

Other:
We get character profiles for Naoya, Saki and Nagisa; a bonus comic telling us what led to the creation of the series; a bonus illustration of Saki and Nagisa with special thanks and a staff roll; and the four-page prototype for the series.

Conclusion:
I'll admit that this series probably isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I really like this series. It cuts through a lot of the bull of most Japanese romcoms and uses its absurdity to good effect. I like the dynamic with the core trio and this has me wanting more. Even acknowledging the issues some folks might have with the series, I'd still recommend adding this to your collection.

Rating:
Own It