You Might As Well Be the One Volume 1 Review

I have always been a big fan of manga that serialise in Kodansha’s Dessert magazine. Things like A Condition Called LoveandIn the Clear Moonlit Dusk have always brought me great joy. So, of course, once I heard Kodansha was bringing You Might As Well Be the One to the Western market, I eagerly anticipated its release. But will this new shojo series prove worth the wait? Let’s take a look!

Our story follows college student Ichika Nakajo, who is on the hunt for a boyfriend who is willing to get into a serious relationship and not just engage in one-night stands. Her search has brought her to a mixer for the science and engineering department, which she hopes will be filled with more mature individuals. But she’s entirely out of her depth and ends up sitting by herself, bemoaning her life choices.

That is until she’s greeted by a man called Kosei Sanari. He’s handsome and willing to listen to Ichika, and the two spend the night talking about anything and everything. So understandably she ends up falling head over heels for him, but this later proves to be a problem when Kosei puts an end to her advances by revealing he likes to keep his relationships casual. He’s everything Ichika wants in a man, apart from his reluctance to commit to something long-term.

Our heroine resigns herself to staying friends with Kosei, not wanting to throw away the close relationship they’ve developed. And she begins her boyfriend hunt anew, but despite her best efforts she just can’t seem to get over her feelings for Kosei. And as she goes on a date with another man, it seems he may be feeling jealous…?

This is mangaka Megumu Seto’s first serialised work, and that shows in the storytelling, which feels a bit wobbly in places. Mostly early on, where Ichika hasn’t even conveyed her feelings and yet feels rejected by Kosei. And it’s true that the situation can be read that way, but it’s not as straightforward as Ichika’s reactions would imply.

I was also hoping for a little bit more development when it came to Kosei’s character. He doesn’t seem like the type of person who wants to avoid settling down long-term, and he’s clearly deeply in love with Ichika already. So then, why does he refuse to even consider a serious relationship with her? Is there some painful event in his past that holds him back? The “I’m a half-hearted messy guy” excuse only goes so far, and I wish we’d seen a little bit more to explain his behaviour.

Still, although Seto hasn’t put the time into developing Kosei, Ichika does get the appropriate amount of focus. By the end of Volume 1 we’ve come to understand why she’s struggled to find herself a boyfriend. She’s tall, which she used to be insecure about and which men don’t tend to find attractive. It’s only here in college that she’s decided to embrace who she is and hold her head high: a quality that is admirable and one of the things that draws Kosei to her.

This is a story that could honestly go either way for me right now. If Ichika gets trapped in this loop of being in love with Kosei while he refuses to consider a serious relationship and she compromises on her ideals, that could grow frustrating quite quickly. I’m hoping that won’t be the case and that Volume 2 focuses more on developing Kosei’s character and bringing these two closer.

Whatever the case, if you’re looking for a college romance rather than high school, this will certainly prove appealing. The artwork is suitably cute with attractive character designs and plenty of romantic scenes to stir the emotions. Seto draws within quite large panels, which are further heightened by Kodansha’s bigger paperback format for the English release. Certainly, if you enjoy other series from the Dessert range, like the titles mentioned at the top of the review, you’ll like the style of this.

As mentioned, You Might As Well Be the One Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and has been translated by Minami with lettering by Michael Martin. The release reads well, although I was surprised by the decision to leave the Japanese title on the cover. I wonder if they’ll keep that long-term or if it was just because it suits this design in particular. No colour pages or translation notes, but there are some 4-koma bonus manga at the end of the volume.

This one is ongoing in Japan, with 6 volumes currently available over there. Here in English, Kodansha has Volume 2 scheduled for a release in November and then nothing further currently in the schedule. So I suspect there may be a notable gap, which would be a shame. However, this is also available on K Manga if you prefer a chapter-by-chapter releases.

Overall, You Might As Well Be the One is off to a fairly interesting start. I have some mild concerns about the direction of the story, but it’s certainly too early to write it off. Anyone looking for a cute romance with a set of collage-age characters will want to keep an eye on this one.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK
©Megumu Seto / KODANSHA LTD.

Demelza

When she’s not watching anime, reading manga or reviewing, Demelza can generally be found exploring some kind of fantasy world and chasing her dreams of being a hero.

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