Tags: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Yuri, Slice of Life, School Life

Sub-Tags: Introverts, Misunderstandings

A Competition Between Friends and Lovers!

Who Can Get A Step Ahead?

Renako is an introvert. Determined not to make the same mistakes of the past, she’s decided to change herself into a popular, outgoing high-schooler. Her new guise is a roaring success, and she’s managed to get in with the most-popular crowd in her year. Unfortunately, pretending to be popular drains a lot of MP, and that’s where this story begins as a misunderstanding leads the most popular student in school, Oduka Mai, trying to rescue Renako from falling off the school roof.

Clearing the misunderstanding leads to both agreeing to become best friends…or a least that’s what Renako got from the conversation. The heart-to-heart between the two has ultimately created an even bigger misunderstanding. Whilst Renako is happy creating a strong friendship with Mai, the lady in question seems to want a lot more, having fallen in love.

What follows is an opening volume filled with competition. With neither willing to back down on what they want out of their relationship, the two agree on a competition on where’s best to take their relationship, becoming best friends or becoming lovers.

Whilst Renako believes her position to be a slam dunk, Mai’s unyielding self-confidence and lack of self-awareness means that Renako’s heart is never far from danger. Whether it’s visiting a café, an amusement park, or visiting each other’s homes – Mai’s predatory instincts mean she’s always looking for an opportunity to change their friendship into that of lovers.

Same Definition, Different Term

All fun and games to start with, it’s Mai’s inexhaustible confidence that eventually becomes the deal’s undoing. With conflict comes some serious development as Mai pushing things too far reveals her unexpected fragilities.

Only being seen as her mother’s daughter and Renako’s subsequent admission to liking her for her, it is understandable where her aggressive relationship instincts draw from. Whilst the story draws a line clearly showing that her behaviour is not ok, it handles the communication gap between the main characters maturely.

As a result, the first volume’s climax sees Renako come to a positive decision despite their falling out. Not quite willing to become lovers yet, the two mutually agree to be something in-between, as the novel calls it, friends with Rena-fits.

Overall, I’ll Be Your Lover’s first instalment is filled with fun and games aplenty. Playing on the competitive couples trope, it breathes a breath of fresh air into the genre with the immense scale power level differences between the two main characters.

Furthermore, there’s more to the story than just comedy; there are numerous moments of seriousness and drama to enjoy as well. Mai’s burden as her mother’s daughter is a particular highlight.