Manga Review: I Hate You More Than Anyone!

Last year around this time, I fell ill and was bed ridden for a couple days. I had nothing to read except a box of manga my cousin had given me. Sounds fantastic, right? Problem was, it was all shoujo.

I don’t exactly like shoujo. There’s too much drama, too many pretty boys, and too much ambiguous sexuality, in some of the shoujo manga, that I tend to steer clear of it all together. I don’t even like the art all that much. It’s too flowery and dewy eyed for my taste.

But that day, I didn’t have a choice. I could either read the shoujo manga or take inventory of my many aches and pains. Shoujo won out. Mars looked least offensive and it was with a reluctant heart that I opened volume one.

However, it was with greedy fingers and eyes that I devoured the next volume, and the next, and the next. Soon, I had read the entire series. Mars was actually a fantastic series. I was so drawn into the manga that I found myself railing “at that bitch Harumi”.

After my experience with Mars, I closeted myself against shoujo again (did I mention I like Petshop of Horrors?) Then, one day I was sent a manga to review called, I Hate You More Than Anyone. After opening the first four pages and glancing inside, I was once again reeled into the world of shoujo manga.

plot summary

Kazuha Akiyoshi is a dutiful older sister to her little brother, Rei. She rushes over to his daycare every Tuesday to pick him up so she can see his smiling face gaze at her adoringly. Or could it be she rushes over to the daycare every Tuesday so she can chat with the object of her affections, Rei’s teacher, Mizushima?

However, Kazuha isn’t the only one who shows up like clockwork to the Sakura Daycare on Tuesday. Mizushima’s friend, Sugimoto, also makes a weekly showing the exact same time as Kazuha. He comes to see Kazuha.

Kazuha can’t stand Sugimoto, though. She thinks he’s a girly creep and questions why her beloved Mizushima is even friends with the guy.

To make matters even more complicated, Kazuha’s friend, Senko, has had the hots for Sugimoto since he made an appearance at the girls’ high school two years ago. That was also the day Sugimoto decided that he really, really, liked Kazuha. Sugimoto even flat out says to Kazuha (after their first meeting, mind you),

“From your frank personality, to your beautiful hair, everything about you is exactly my type.”

But Kazuha is having none of that business. She just wants Mizushima, or as she calls him, Sensei. Senko wants Sugimoto and blames Kazuha for getting between the two. Clueless in all this love triangle-ness is Mizushima himself.

It doesn’t matter that “Sensei” is out of the loop, though; Kazuha is about to declare her love for him and let her feelings be known. Kazuha goes to Sugimoto, of all people, for advice on how to talk to Mizushima about the way she feels. Interesting thing, that, since she hates Sugimoto more than anyone!

Review

I Hate You More Than Anyone, (I Hate You for short) Volume One introduces us to Kazuha and all her quirks. She’s a high schooler, taller and more outspoken than most of her classmates, and she attracts, oddly enough, a whole harem of female admirers. Her outspoken and forthright demeanor and lack of any style has Kazuha labeling herself mannish and unfeminine.

Sugimoto, the older man who’s absolutely smitten with Kazuha, is Kazuha’s polar opposite. Sugimoto has fashion sense, he talks like a girl, walks like a girl, he’s a hair dresser for chrissakes, hellllloooo. Yet, he’s very attracted to Kazuha and tells her so repeatedly.

This was a formula that worked famously for I Hate You. The manga started to explore how these two opposites interact while one of them tries not to. It was like watching a meteor fall in and out of a planet’s orbit. I knew eventually there would be fireworks when the meteor hit, but for the time being, it was enjoyable to watch Kazuha and Sugimoto skim over each other’s atmospheres.

Sugimoto constantly baits Kazuha into either verbally berating him or into giving him a good smacking. Kazuha constantly takes the bait. Kazuha’s hot tempered flare ups are sometimes accompanied by crying jags. This might have gotten old if Kazuha hadn’t evolved as she did throughout the manga.

The artwork was highly legible. By legible, I mean that, not only could I read the words on the page for depth but that the the art work also had an emotional impact .

The manga-ka Banri Hidaka, used a fun quirky, shoujo style to tell this tale. While there are many lacy backdrops and sparkling dewy eyed glances, there are just as many super deformed and over exaggerated moments. The story was fun and humorous at times and the artwork, gratifyingly, reflected that.

Hidaka also tossed in some extra sidebars for the manga. They give detailed info about the characters, models/ inspirations for characters, and random tidbits about her life. It made the manga chock full ‘o fun!

I Hate You More Than Anyone, Volume One was a really fun manga which had the feel of a soap opera that’s let loose and doesn’t take itself, or life, too seriously. I know I shouldn’t feel guilty for liking shoujo, it is a popular genre of manga after all, but I still do. So I guess that would make reading I Hate You More Than Anyone a guilty pleasure.

out of a possible four gummies.