Publisher Summary
Amane Fujimiya lives alone in a messy apartment-right next door to Mahiru Shiina, a veritable "angel" who's the smartest, prettiest girl at school. When a chance encounter on a rainy day draws them together, Mahiru finds herself spending more and more time helping Amane get his life in order. And though they both insist they have no intention of dating the other, slowly but surely, something more than friendship begins to blossom.
Author(s): Saekisan (original story), Wan Shibata (mangaka), Suzu Yuki (storyboard), Hanekoto (original illustrations)
Translator: Nova Skipper
Letterer: Kaitlyn Wiley
I received this volume as an ARC from Square Enix Manga & Books in exchange for an honest review!
Background
A manga adaptation of the hit Light Novel series, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten is a new romance title from Square Enix Manga & Books. In Japan, the series runs on Square Enix's Manga Up digital platform (as does the digital English simulpub). If the name sounds familiar, it had an anime released last year to positive reception!
As someone who watched the anime, I was curious to see how the manga adaptation would handle the material compared to the anime.
Review
The story starts with Fujimiya seeing a girl sitting in the rain. He realizes that girl is Mahiro Shiina, their school's acclaimed "Angel". He gives her his umbrella and leaves. Amane realizes the two of them are next door neighbors when she shows up at his door to return his umbrella.
Due to his good deed, he ends up getting sick and Mahiru, feeling guilty, ends up taking care of him. This begins their interactions with one another while hiding the fact that they're neighbors (or even know each other) from their classmates to avoid any hassle with rumors, or in Amane's case, a target on his back from all the guys.
Amane Fujimiya is a typical lead you've seen in other romance manga. Stand off-ish, sorta introverted, and apprehensive of people's help. He's "different" because he doesnt idolize Mahiru Shiina like everyone else. He has preconceived notions about Shiina that you see get dispelled throughout his private interactions with her.
Mahiru Shiina is an interesting character. Her behaviors and feelings are told through Amane so the reader might have the same perceptions about her but she often subverts those perspectives when she talks with Amane in his apartment.
She dislikes her title and gives witty retorts to Amane's comments, all things opposite of her title of "Angel". The interesting thing is her personality shift when mentions of her family appear. She becomes quiet and responds coldly.
The reader gets an idea that Mahiru has been sheltered because she doesn't know how to do things like ordering a pizza. So both Amane and Mahiru are teaching one another and improving in the meantime.
Throughout the volume, you see that the "angel" is a facade. A mask that she was taught to interact with the public. Not the real Mahiru. As you read, you see her start to see her true self: someone with annoyances, frustrations, and joys.
Art is nice. Has many different shadings. I'd say the "embellishing" scenes for Shiina are done better here than in the anime.
I enjoyed Amane's and Mahiru's banter throughout the volume. Both are sarcastic and snippy with each other but not to the extent where it would anger the other.
An issue I have is that there are a lot of descriptions of scenes that should have the visuals speak for itself. There is one part where Amane's internal monologue talks about how Mahiru looks fine after the day before contrasted to a scene of him glancing at her and making a verbal comment to his friend. The internal monologue wasn't needed to convey the sentiments of the scene.
You can tell it's a manga adaptation of a Light Novel. There is a lot of "tell, don't show" throughout the volume. It seems like Shibata doesn't make full use of the change in medium.
Final Thoughts
Overall, while the volume is getting to know the characters, you also get some romantic progress pretty early. I like the banter between Mahiru and Amane but I do wish that this manga adaptation used its visual medium more instead of telling the reader how to think and feel. It seemed like it didn't want to make too many changes from the light novel source material.
If you're looking for a nice warm romance romance with two people from different social circles connect and begin to develop a relationship, I'd recommend this series.
Verdict: Buy It
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Manga volume 1 from Square Enix Manga & Books is now available at all retailers