Osananajimi to wa Rom-Com ni Naranai (幼馴染とはラブコメにならない) is a manga series written and illustrated by Shinya Misu. It began serialization in 2022 and is still ongoing, with 18 volumes released so far. I have read the first 10 volumes, and considering the anime adaptation that has just started, I thought I would write a short post about it.

The story follows high school student Yonosuke Sakai, who has two childhood friends he is very close to: Shio Minamo and Akari Hiodoshi. He is clearly interested in them, but he keeps telling himself that "there is no romantic comedy possible between childhood friends". However, the girls have a different opinion, as they are clearly targeting him, even if they do so in roundabout ways that he is often oblivious to.

Eventually, two more heroines join the fray, turning the love triangle into a polygon. I guess we will get some sort of conclusion eventually. It is the classic romantic comedy setting where multiple girls try to end up with the protagonist, but the situation remains in a comedic stalemate where none of them manage to make any real progress.

You can expect the usual formula of comedy, ecchi moments, and a tiny bit of romance every once in a while. The series does not stray far from what is commonplace in this genre, yet it manages to keep you entertained throughout and interested in finding out what will happen to the characters.

The only real difference from other series is that all the heroines are childhood friends of the protagonist. This makes life much more complicated for the girls to handle because they are all close friends with each other and have grown up together for a long time. It is not easy to separate romantic love from someone you consider family.

The main heroines are:

Shio Minamo

She feels a lot like the "main heroine" of the story because of her forward personality and overall closeness to Yonosuke, especially at the beginning. She is often shy in her approaches to him, but she can be quite daring when provoked. She is also close friends with Akari and sees her as a rival, though never in a negative way.

Akari Hiodoshi

The tsundere archetype of the heroines. To be honest, she hides her feelings pretty badly, and I think the protagonist is the only one who still has any doubts about her being deeply in love with him. She is extremely insecure about her chances of getting close to him because her personality acts as a barrier.

Runa Tsukimi

She is one year younger than Yonosuke and often acts as a little sister of sorts. She was sickly in the past, but she is better now. She is actually quite calculating in her behavior and uses whatever she can to try and get ahead in the fierce competition for Sakai's heart.

Haru Hinata

An energetic and boyish girl with short hair who is a member of the track and field club, where she is one of the strongest sprinters. She is the most direct in her approaches to Yonosuke after realizing she is in love with him early in the series, even though most of her attempts end in failure.

My favorite is absolutely Akari, probably because I feel for her pain whenever she wants to be sweeter but just cannot control her personality and ends up depressed instead. A close second is Kozure Kozue, a second cousin of Yonosuke who is much older than him. She works as a teacher at his school and is a source of much comedy due to her personality and her disastrous inability to clean her room.

I look forward to reading more of the series in the near future. I may make a few more posts as I go through all the remaining volumes to catch up.