Aya is a high school student who loves music of the 90s-00s. She’s content to sit and listen to the Foo Fighters in her ear buds, but when she see an old CD shop, she pops in and is awestruck by the cool guy behind the counter. She keeps dropping by to see the cool “onii-san” who share his musical tastes with her, but she’s still pretty tongue-tied when trying to talk about anything with him.
That onii-san has a secret, though. “He” is not an older cool guy, she is the girl who sits next to Aya every day at school, Mitsuki. Mitsuki works at her uncle’s CD shop, and he stresses about her constantly; everything from her loner life to her old guy taste in music. Mitsuki is not terribly interested in being cool, or being friends with cool girls like Aya, but she is worried that Aya might figure out what is going on.
Aya eventually figures out what is going on.
So does a classmate who is, thankfully, more amused than anything else. He’s kind, sort of trying to get them together.
The thing is, when Mitsuki isn’t thinking about it…she really is pretty cool. ^_^
Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta (気になってる人が男じゃなかった), subtitled in English “The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All,” by Arai Sumiko began life as a comic distributed online to instant approval by an international groups of fans who clamored for more. Luckily we got more and here we are with the first print volume of this manga.
With its uniquely visible color scheme of black, white and a vivid green, new pages of this comic were always super noticeable whenever they came across my feed. The art in this manga reflects the online sensibility too, I think. With unique perspectives on panel structure, body language and expression, this comic feels somehow grounded in street art and manga art at the same time. The change in artistic confidence from beginning of the volume to the end is visible, but the art solid all the way through.
The plot idea isn’t the first of it’s kind, but I am hopeful that it will be better-handled than others, given that we address the assumption here in volume one. Also dealt with is the jealousy of old friends when a new friend/interest appears, a story that will bleed into the next volume. Everything about this book gives me the sense that Arai-sensei has complete control of the narrative. I wasn’t entirely sure how the “he’s a she” was going to be played, but so far, it’s pretty solid, especially for a manga that was online first.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8 I think I kind of like the uncle, even if he is a bit extra ^_^
Service – 1 The setups for Mitsuki and Aya are like 5/10ths kabedon
Yuri – 4 Getting there, no question
Both Aya and Mitsuki have recognized attraction for each other, where will it go? How many other 90s bands will be name checked? Tune in to Volume 2 when it comes out!
For free sample chapters in Japanese, you can check this manga out on Comic Walker!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ll be *very* surprised if this title doesn’t get licensed by Yen Press or Seven Seas by the end of the year!
I’m really happy to see it find a lot of success both online and in its physical release (as this volume quickly got a second printing shortly after its initial release). As you pointed out, the art style and colour choices both really pop. It’s fun to read a comic, especially a manga, that is willing to try something different with its colour scheme. Hopefully, we’ll be reading this in English sooner than later!
This has been a delight for me, even as these girls’ love for “retro” bands has made me, someone who was a grown, working adult when they came up, break down into dust and blow away. I will definitely be picking it up in print.
Also of note are the mangaka’s one-shots, in particular “The Real Momoka”, which has style to burn for days.