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Love and Lies (Koi to Uso)

Yukari is dull. He does not even stand out enough to be bullied - he is just a generally lower-middle-class kid. He is in love with Misaki Takasaki, the most popular girl in school. There is just one problem: He is 15 years old, one year away from receiving his government-assigned marriage partner. He normally would not have the courage to defy the law, but his sickly classmate Ririna Sanada still believes in love, and will not stop goading him into confessing his feelings!

Above: The 1st and 2nd manga cover of Love & Lies.

Love and Lies (in Japanese, Koi to Uso) is a manga that released its first chapter year 2014, so it is kind of an old manga, but I suddenly felt the urge to write about it, despite not remembering a lot of things. Anyhow, the manga is a School-Drama-Romance story, written and illustrated by Musawo Tsumugi. The series gained popularity quickly, which created an anime adaption and even a live-action film, so you can always watch the anime if you are not into reading manga. I, however, am going to judge it by the manga only since that is what I read. I have not seen the anime or live-action.

This review will probably be very short since, as I mentioned, I cannot recall much from it. But I'll go with what I have!

First of all, the art style. I found it very nice and pleasing to look at, which I don't do often, so it really kicked it off for me when I started reading the first chapters.
Second of all, Musawo certainly knows how to write a story; didn't drag out much or have fillers, unlike other anime and mangas I've seen/read.
Third of all, unfortunately, here is where the cons come in... the main characters were not really catching my attention. I guess they are kind of interesting, but I didn't like the two love interests, which made me bummed out.
Fourth of all... I HATED the ending. I am not going to say why, as I would be spoiling the story's end, but I felt very incomplete with how it turned out for the main guy, Yukari.

So, would I recommend the manga, considering its strengths and its flaws? Yes, I actually would! It may not be the best manga I've ever read, but that doesn't mean it's bad and nobody should admire Musawo's work. Quite the contrary: The fact that I remember this manga today means that it left an impact on me, so who knows, it might do so on you too, which is why I recommend reading atleast the first volume and see what you thought!

Overall rating of Love and Lies: 6,5/10!

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