By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird. If you don’t want to know who Tomozaki ends up with at the end of this book, be warned I talk about that, but not till the third paragraph. There’s a lot of metatext in the Tomozaki series. To a degree, it’s deconstructing these sorts of high school romcom series, especially the way that the lead tends to be this asocial schlub who nevertheless has the plot revolve around him. As we’ve seen, it’s only when Tomozaki makes an effort that he gets noticed and gets romantic attention. That said, the series has not forgotten that it’s also a real story and that realistic...

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