my love-hate relationship with 'Koi to Uso'

[ruico]

I don't really read a lot of manga. I got into animanga fandoms pretty late (when I was 19), and even then, I rarely branched out and read a lot of different series, mostly keeping to the ones I was/am a fan of. Koi to Uso is far from any of the animanga fandoms I've been near before, and the only reason I learned about it is because a friend of mine randomly recced it because she was inspired by the vague idea for a fic. At the time she called it a shoujo, and I decided to give it a go.
It really wasn't long before I realised I had a few issues with it. First of all, it was clear from pretty mcuh chapter 1 that it isn't shoujo, but shounen. The style might give off some shoujo vibes, but the titty shots and ass strutting in weird angles whenever there was a chance gave me a lot more 'male gaze' vibes than shoujo ones.
Ironically, the friend who recommended me the fic actually no longer reads it -- she gave up despite her love for a certain character and because of her frustration regarding... certain other characters.
I'm still on the fence about it, partly why I wanted to make this post. I've wanted to talk about it for a while, and figured it'd be fitting considering the fact that Lili-chan is currently the only icon I have uploaded on here and also a character I really love.

The story is centered around Nejima Yukari, a young boy living in a near-future version of Japan, where the government assigns compatible partners to try and fix the country's declining birth rate (we've heard this one before, haven't we?). Nejima has always been in love with a girl from his class, Takasaki Misaki, and on the night before his 16th birthday (the day he's supposed to receive his government notice), he confesses to her, only to find out that she actually likes him back. Things happen and his government notice arrives, pairing him up with another girl, Sanada Lilina, who is very fascinated with love and wants Nisaka and Misaki to experience freely, partly so that she can also learn about it. The manga mainly explores the dynamic between the three (sometimes also Nejima's best friend, Nisaka) and how the government initiative affects them.

It doesn't take long before it's made pretty clear that Nisaka has feelings for Nejima. He might only have two girls in this round, but he gets a really, really good looking guy as well, so it still lives up to the classic "bland main character somehow still catches people's interest for some reason"-trope. It also doesn't take long before Misaki and Lilina start getting closer as well, the bond between the main three characters growing stronger, especially as the relationship with both Nejima and Misaki helps Lilina grow as a person and get better at socialising.

With the vague-ness of manga like this, and the uncertain nature of fansubs, it's pretty hard to judge how the characters feel about each other, but Lilina and Misaki do also seem to develop feelings for each other as the manga continues -- same with Lilina and Nejima, obviously -- but the nature of these feelings is still unknown. I think this is the first time where I actually found myself hoping for a canon poly romance, possibly also with Nisaka and Nejima, even though it's pretty clear that Nisaka isn't interested in a romantic relationship with the girls.

Nejima is as bland as oatmeal and extremely indecisive, the friend who recommended me the manga absolutely hated Misaki, and I can't really blame her -- she's also extremely indecisive, holds back a lot, and even after 200 chapters, there's not much known about her. For me, the real stars of the show are Lilina and Nisaka, both of whom are written a lot more well-rounded and dynamic.

I had to catch up with the manga to write this post (lol) and it went in a ... surprising direction, currently focusing on the relationship between Nejima and Nisaka with an arc about Nisaka realising he's gay. I think it's being done in a careful way, but there's also a scene where a girl takes off her shirt and he pukes at the sight of her in a bra, and I'm kind of like... that's not what being gay works like.

The manga also explores young love, the fragility of crushes and other subjects, and while it isn't masterful at it, I don't think it's doing a horrible job either. It is super tropey though, and not in some mindblowing subversive way. There's a lot to criticise about it, but there's also a lot of stuff it did surprisingly well. At least well enough that I have yet to give up on it. (update: i gave up)

Since a lot of the characters are only now learning about some of their feelings, I still have hopes that it will end up with something interesting, and while Lilina is only now beginning to realise that love might be more within reach than she thought, we're only just beginning to scratch at the surface of Misaki's mysterious backstory and the reasoning behind her mercurial behaviour.

But despite the mess of all these relationships, or maybe partly because of the messiness, there's something really interesting about the manga and the different dynamics explored. I'm not saying it's done in the best of ways, but the manga has a lot of potential. Problem is, wasted potential is almost worse than having none from the get-go, and I have a fear that a lot of the potential I see was more accidental than intentional.
Yet, for better or for worse, I'm still here, desperately hoping that the characters do end up getting some sort of satisfying ending, if only because I've accidentally started caring a lot about some of the characters.
I tagged this post as a rec, but I'm not sure I would really recommend it. Not because it's a flawless masterpiece. Maybe because the concept, dynamics, and characters are fascinating in some weird way. Or just because I don't want to suffer with it alone.