Yumene Connect Vol 1,2 - This brings me back. Nano is great, but Momoka...

Yumene Connect is a manga series written and illustrated by Sawada Kou that is still ongoing, with 9 volumes released so far between 2024 and the present. The series is labeled as a romantic comedy with ecchi/sci-fi elements, and I think it's pretty clear right from the very first scene what they're targeting.

A stunningly beautiful alien saleswoman named Nano appears out of nowhere in Yuuhi Takamiya's room to help him get out of the isolation he dug himself into after missing the first week of high school due to a fever. She peddles him an alien creature that is supposed to help, but it ends up merging with him, with no easy way out.

Momoka is such a good girl working so hard for her little brother. Issue is, why does her little brother look like a young girl?!

Even Nano's clothes are somehow reminiscent of the costumes that Lala had. I know it may be a coincidence, but still...

Nano is terrified that her boss will learn about it and swears to help him out, both with his isolation problem and with the alien creature. Of course, she does so by using weird alien gadgets that will inevitably backfire. Yes, an alien girl appearing out of nowhere in a high school boy's life with weird gadgets? That's To Love Ru, and it doesn't take long for them to show that's their inspiration, as fanservice and comedy are aplenty.

I think the main difference is the protagonist. Yuuhi is a loner who has mental dreams about how things might play out but never actually gets the courage to do anything. When he does find the courage, things backfire terribly. This, however, makes it really easy to cheer for him. He's unaware of how girls are starting to feel about him.

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Nano at the beginning seemed competent, but turns out she was winging it straight from the beginning.

The heroines who have been introduced so far are:

Nano, the main heroine of the story. Everything started because of her interacting with Yuuhi. She's cheerful and genuine, but often way too clumsy, causing issues for Yuuhi. She seemingly started to care for him, as shown when she defied her boss to prevent him from being "deleted." She joins him at school by acting like a student.

Momoka Saeki, a second-year student and Yuuhi's senior. She's the definition of a "beautiful girl": long straight hair, voluptuous curves, and genuinely gentle and accommodating. She has been trying to build the occult club to help her brother come out of being a hikikomori. She's the most likely to become the main heroine after Nano.

Fumino changed a lot since their childhood, especially when it comes to choice of underwear. Like I'm not complaining, but girl...

Honestly the teacher was the hottest of the two here, can we get her as a recurring character please? You know for fun?!

Kana Shiraishi, a classmate of Yuuhi. She's the class representative and initially interacts with him because of that to try and help him get out of isolation. She starts to get more and more interested in him and the alien parasite because she loves cute things. She apparently has a huge family with 7 siblings.

Fumino Yukimura, also known as "pure-chan." She is a childhood friend of Yuuhi who underwent a huge change in high school, becoming a blonde gal from her original shy look. She is clearly in love with Yuuhi, but finds it hard to be honest with herself, which causes trouble.

The side by side with Fumino changing is impressive, looks like a complete different person. I can see why he didn't notice.

Nano is the titular main heroine, but Momoka is pretty close to be honest. These two volumes were mostly focused around her.

I don't expect anything revolutionary out of this series, but as long as they can continue delivering solid comedy and fanservice, I'm on board with it. It'll be nice to speculate about who gets to be with Yuuhi or if they just go with a harem route instead.

The next volume seems like it will really start the story now that the occult club has been officially sanctioned. However, the question I have is mostly around Momoka's younger brother; he looks like a complete young girl. Is he a Hideyoshi from Baka Test?! Of course he is, isn't he?