Love Me, Love Me Not, Volume 1 by Io Sakisaka is an adorable, romantic manga that should be on everyone's must read list of 2020.

One day, a handsome man who likes like a prince from Yuna's dreams comes into her life! That same day, Yuna's best friend Satchan moves away but she meets a new friend named Akari. Akari and Yuna become quick friends, but it's suddenly obvious they have very different views on love and live. Akari wants Yuna to date her childhood friend, while Yuna believes true love is very different.

Along the way, we watch Akari and Yuna take very different paths towards the love department. Plot twists unfold to reveal some information we would never expect...

Manga like this is always fun. The pictures show a lot of emotion and the story unfolds itself naturally. This manga is far more contemporary romance and drama than the typical fantasy manga I read, but it was still an absolute delight! I found myself glued to this manga and unable to put it down - in fact, I binged the whole thing in one sitting.

My positives:
1. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, adorable and fantastic!

2. Two opposing points of views on love. The heroines of the story idolize love in very different ways and I truly liked seeing two different perspectives instead of having just one forced on us. Bonus points!

3. The themes shown throughout this book was truly intriguing - the takes on love, friendship and jealousy.

4. The DRAMA in piece 4. My goodness.

My negatives:
1. This volume had multiple "pieces". I kind of wondered if this book was broken up like comic books are and then put into one giant volume. Either way, I was a little confused but it didn't impact my view of the story at all.

Overall, I really enjoyed this manga and I would love to continue it if given the chance. I've missed the fun romantic side of mangas and all of the drama that ensues.

Five out of five stars.

Thank you NetGalley and VIZ Media for giving me this wonderful opportunity to pick up this book early!

( )

Man, no one knows how to take a basic shojo manga plot and throw in an interesting twist to grab you like Io Sakisaka. The first three quarters of the book were very predictable in a way that had me worried that the author had lost the charm that made her other series so special, but the unexpected way she left things hanging at the end of this volume pretty much ensured that I’m fully along for the ride now. ( )

This manga is a very sweet and cute story about friendship and romance. It’s just the beginning of the series, but already I’m hooked and can see myself wanting to read more about these characters and their relationships. Also, the art is very soft to go with the soft feel of the plot. Would recommend for people who need a little pick me up about two very different girls navigating friendship and the different ways they approach crushes. ( )

I get to the end and think to myself how I sort of like this mild, slow, low-key high school romance but it doesn't seem like it will be memorable in the long run, then I read the author's bio and see that she also created Strobe Edge, a mild, slow, low-key high school romance that I read many years ago and liked but have almost entirely forgotten, as well as Ao Haru Ride, a mild, slow, low-key high school romance for which I read the first volume two years ago and sort of liked but forgot to pick up the rest and now cannot remember the premise.

I see the final volume of Ao Haru Ride comes out in October, so maybe I'll pick up that series and read it through now, and trust that a couple years from now I'll finish first volume of another mild, slow, low-key high school romance and see that it is by this same author whose work I keep forgetting, and I'll be prompted to come back and read the rest of this series, the tale of a love rectangle, as it will probably be wrapping up around the same time. Good plan!

(Also for now, I'm going to trust that the forgettable nature of her work is on the author and not me starting down the road of mental decline . . . ) ( )

So, I was originally going to rate this higher because the premise is cute, the characters are so earnest with their feelings and emotions, and I looked forward to how it would progress. BUT if this is heading towards some step-sibling nonsense. DO NOT WANT!

Now, I already have volume two, so let's see where this goes. Hopefully, I'm jumping to conclusions, but too many mangas like to play and giggle around with quasi-incestuous relationships. >.> ( )