Love Me, Love Me Not
While Io Sakisaka's most well-known manga is Ao Haru Ride, her newer work, Love Me, Love Me Not, is refreshingly different among shojo romance manga. Love Me, Love Me Not stands out for its use of her iconic bubbly, soft, and (at this point) retro style, but with more believable and grounded problems and personalities. Yuna and Akari are the main characters. When they meet, they have both said goodbye to a best friend who has moved away and are about to start high school together.
Yuna is a romantic with her head in the clouds who believes in waiting for her perfect true love. Akari, on the other hand, "meets love head-on." She exudes confidence and a zest for life. The shy, quiet romantic versus the flirtatious and inquisitive realist The creator of this romance manga has stated unequivocally that neither is right or wrong, which is why they share the spotlight as protagonists.
Yuna also has a childhood friend, Inui, whom Akari thinks would be ideal for Yuna. Akari is dumped by her long-distance boyfriend early on, and rumors of her flirtatious nature begin to circulate. The drama in this show is genuine, relatable, and at times difficult.
However, the fact that it is drawn in a cute and muted '90s style adds a comforting warmth to this romance manga, as does Yuna's sweet, if childish, romanticism. But this is a shojo manga about female friendships as much as it is about love and romance. The relationship between Yuna and Akari is the most important and interesting in the manga. They grow and learn from each other, which is what makes this manga stand out in a sea of cookie-cutter romance stories.
Author: Io Sakisaka
Original run: June 13, 2015 – May 13, 2019
Volumes: 12
Status: Completed
Buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Me-Not-Vol/dp/1974713091
