まいりました、先輩

MAIRIMASHITA, SENPAI

Romance

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
10
RELEASE
October 24, 2020
CHAPTERS
40

DESCRIPTION

Serina arrives at school one day to discover her desk has been vandalized—someone’s scratched the lyrics to a love song in it … and that someone turns out to be Mizukawa-sempai, a boy who’s one year her senior. She wants to get to know him better, but if his frosty demeanor is any indication, she doesn’t have a chance! But it seems he might be awkward—not simply mean—and before she knows it, she’s asking him out … ! With each passing day, her heart races a little faster!

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Asuma Mizukawa
Serina Koshino

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

Shellshock
60/100
A very enjoyable time killer that never leaves the pond it resides in.
A series about the romantic relationship between the female lead and her sempai. That's about it. No really that's it. Stop reading the beginning paragraph there is nothing more about this series. Seriously stop. I'm warning you..... Ok there is a vey small love triangle. But It's barley worth mentioning. But besides that there is nothing.... Ok there is also the classic study so lets not see each other a while drama. But beyond that the story is pretty cookie cutter type stuff.

The mango starts off with the FMC seeing that her desk has been vandalized with a song lyric. So she ends up being a desk pen pal for like 5 pages. Then she falls in love with the guy who wrote in it (the desk pen pal) who also is now in love with her. They began dating just like that. We are halfway through Chapter 1.

The series is split into a few arcs. The getting together arc (not just chapter 1 but the first 2 volumes). This is where they sorta test the waters. Honestly this arc kinda sucks dick. Not only do the characters are just speed running. But like the art isn't that good either. At times especially in the middle. Its fantastic but it definitely feels off way too much in the beginning. This sort've makes a resurgence at the end as well. Which is not good, The ending is the final message or note you are leaving people with.

The series is solid for its daily slice of life stuff. Albeit it never really elevates itself either. Its a fun time killer. Lots of cute moments. Some light jealously moments that aren't really annoying but still cute. Overall as far as the romance and couple chemistry goes. Its fun. Its fun to watch the characters interact with each other. Slowly and surely they fall deeper and deeper in love. There relationship becoming more solid as time goes on.

There is a Token love triangle in the beginning. That lasts a whopping 1 chapter. I wouldn't even count it as a love triangle. Not even that there is another character that pines for the female lead but there is so much breathing room given that I wouldn't call it it Love triangle either. I do think this part of the series was actually done well. He never kind of overstepped his boundaries or anything. Understood doing something more would be a bad idea but at the same time wanting to hold her. Very well done.

In the end the series loses itself near the end once again. The art also does become somewhat weak as well. But I don't think there are many issues in the series. I just realized the side characters in the series had a minor presence. There was no milking of the side character romance (mostly).

I have read a lot of shoujo series. I find it hilarious that romance manga aimed at men barely have any sex scenes but romance manga aimed at women have like multiple sex scenes. What's up with that shit. This is some dumbfuck irony going on here.

TLDR: A very enjoyable time killer that never leaves the pond it resides in. 6/10
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RoseFaerie
98/100
I feel like I'm a little wiser and a little happier for having read this. It's not perfect but it ended up shaping me.
This manga was exactly what I needed. I read it at the perfect time, and I think it will leave a lasting impression on me. You Got Me, Sempai! will probably shape how I perceive romance and healthy relationships, since it spends so much time focusing on communication and tactics the two employ to ensure that they are constantly communicating and not hurting the other. It's honestly the healthiest relationship I've seen in a high school romance manga.

Serina Koshino arrives at school one day to see that someone has written love-song lyrics all over her desk. The vandal turns out to be Asuma Mizukawa, a boy in the grade above her. She quickly becomes fascinated with him, and she asks him out after knowing him for only a brief period of time. Mizukawa agrees to date Serina, and they get to know each other during their relationship.

This manga doesn't have much in the way of story. This is solely focused on the relationship between our two leads and how it develops. It's very much like a slice of life manga, except focused on the romance between the main couple. This is the backbone of the manga, and I love how natural and realistic the progression feels. In my experiences in high school, most of the couples I saw get together weren't super close or didn't really know each other before dating. It was after one of them confessed their feelings that they'd agree to go out and get to know each other better and see if their relationship lasted. At one school I went to relationships like these lasted longer than the ones where the two were already friendly. The way the two characters got together just felt super reflective of my real-life experiences.

Their relationship is one of the healthiest I've seen in manga. They're both very pragmatic, careful, and attentive people. They communicate beautifully and try to sort out miscommunication very quickly. Serina and Mizukawa may be high schoolers, but they are more mature than many adults I know. One instance I liked was in the beginning of the manga, where they were talking about jealousy. Instead of forbidding each other to talk to other members of the opposite gender and making friends with them, Mizukawa says that there will be other girls in his life and some of them may have attributes that Serina lacks, but he will only be looking at her romantically. She will always be more important in that regard, even if he does have female friends and coworkers. I really appreciated that outlook on that aspect of the relationship since it was different from the usual "I'll never talk to other girls" which just seemed super extreme, especially when people have solid platonic relationships with the opposite gender all the time.

I think a major thing that impacts the story is just how they get together in the first chapter. They spend the entire series building trust with each other, which is why they make such an effective couple. And it's not like they're perfect either. Their relationship is flawed and goes through the same things less healthy relationships go through. They drift apart at certain points, doubt each other's love, and fight. There's a whole arc where Mizukawa is preparing for college and drifts away from Serina for a bit. It's all very well executed.

And speaking of well executed, there's a love triangle throughout the series that is handled in such a normal and realistic way. This boy has feelings for Serina, but he's aware she has a boyfriend and is respectful of that. He never pushes her boundaries, even though he wants to have an opportunity for her to become his girlfriend. Despite that, he never tries to steal her away from her boyfriend and is generally respectful of their relationship. His appearances are spread out to keep the drama light, and his character is more about unrequited love for someone who can't love him back. I hope he finds happiness.

The characters aren't particularly strong. I think this story is more about the characters' interactions than the characters themselves. Mizukawa has a cold exterior and isn't exactly super approachable. He is very tender with those he cares about, despite having a brisk demeanor with those he isn't close to. Serina is a year younger and less mature. She can be selfish and childish, but she always wants to return the kindness she is given. She's very sweet and always willing to offer support to those who need it. Many of the other characters are more like background characters, and I wish they had more going on like the ones in Koi no Hajimari, which this kind of reminded me of.

The art was very different. I was expecting the typical shoujo art (which I do love) like Io Sakisaka's stuff for Ao Haru Ride. However, the mangaka delivers a more sketchy and cartoony style. It's very stylized and just feels free. It kind of reminds me of the art in Koi no Hajimari actually. It looks like something someone would quickly draw in their sketchbook while consistently looking nice. My one gripe is that the guys looked super similar, and I had a hard time telling Mizukawa and Higuchi apart when Mizukawa dyed his hair.

Is this manga perfect? No. Is it groundbreaking in any way? No. But that didn't stop this manga from having an impact on me. I was super stressed and unhappy, and I just needed something to cheer me up. I'm glad I was reading this at the time, since I feel like the way I perceive love, romance, and dating has changed. I kind of want a relationship now just because of this manga's influence, which is something that no other piece of media has done before.
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Mehcky
88/100
A relationship is more about the will to be together than the time spent.
**(Contains Mild Spoilers) (TL;DR at the END!)** --- You Got Me, Sempai, which I will shorten as YGMS in this review, is actually a great manga. It’s not just a romance manga. It’s not all happiness and slice of life. This manga leaves you with questions you ask yourself and changes the way you view relationships. And it’s a comfortable amount of edible chapters which you can easily binge in one sitting. (It took me two months, though, because I was a big procrastinator.) --- **What is YGMS?** YGMS pulls you with a sort of differently done concept. A confession in the first chapter. The point of YGMS is not the journey to gaining a relationship. The journey IS the relationship. YGMS is great in the sense of well written and believable flawed main characters. YGMS seems like a slice of life on the surface. It looks as if it’s going to be a manga with wholesome love and butterflies. But what I notice about YGMS is that relationships aren’t wholesome all the time. YGMS is a form of a crush. It’s not like stories where friends have feelings for each other and end up a happy couple. YGMS starts off as a crush, with no true feelings for each other, evolving into what a relationship is. YGMS explores themes such as doubt and fear. Especially in a high school setting such as this, can we really confirm we will be with the one we love forever? They are only teenagers. Teenagers are inexperienced. They make dumb decisions. They don’t even think right. And their failures are what lead to growth. And growth sometimes makes you grow apart from the people you love. Maybe you had that one friend who you were really close with but ended up drifting apart. Drama is unavoidable. Drama happens as a way to give you experience. The point is, YGMS deals with a fair amount of growth. A lot of couples end up losing their spark after the so-called “honeymoon phase”, which is also the time when most couples break up. These themes are what makes YGMS special, to me. It taught me a valuable lesson. > **A relationship is more about the will to be together than the time spent. ** YGMS explores this, by repeatedly reassuring us readers, that equal effort is what keeps a relationship healthy. Can you really expect to gain love when the other person doesn’t even love you? A lot of couples break up because they lost their will to be together, focusing on the time spent, instead. But truly, a relationship, be it friendship or dating, only exists, because of that will. YGMS made me uncomfortable at times. Some chapters made me doubt my friends, and my relationships. We do question ourselves sometimes. Do we truly deserve love? What is it, that I am looking for in a relationship? YGMS may be a romance manga, but it might as well give you life lessons not only for your future love life, but for your social life as a whole. --- **Character Analysis** Serina is our girl lead. She’s a casual character. A good representation of what a girl wants. If you’ve seen any edgy anime, or perhaps seen the perspective of an incel who hates couples, you would see she is the type of character that represents the “scum” in the world. But Serina isn’t scum. Sometimes the simplest things are what makes us happy. And the fact Serina is happy, is pretty amazing, and therefore, she is not scum. Serina isn’t a perfect happy-go-lucky girl, either. She is flawed. And I mean flawed-flawed. She is happy, yes, but she also has times she isn’t happy. And when she isn’t happy, her flaws show. Serina is someone full of doubt and fear. Her relationship with her boyfriend, Mizukawa, is indeed healthy. But there was some parts that made it unhealthy. Her fears that her boyfriend will love someone else, her insecurity knowing others are more nicer and prettier than her, and her doubt regarding her feelings towards her boyfriend. But it’s all these flaws that make Serina, a great character. And it’s the promises this manga makes to us, that enables us to be able to see Serina’s growth as a character. Serina might not have changed much in the long term, from start to finish, but her mindset and her willingness to stay strong; her willingness to learn from failures, is what makes Serina great. Mizukawa is also a great character. And like Serina, he has flaws. His insecurity is more complex. He takes the problems with the relationships and keeps it to himself, burdening him. He tends to suffer alone, for the sake of being able to maintain his relationship with Serina. It’s his insecurity of being unable to live up to expectations of Serina’s (she loves him either way), and his fear of losing what gave him light. But it’s these two main characters. Their dynamics, their interactions, all of it. They are each other’s enemies and each other’s strength. They complement each other in their writing. They get character development, from one another. But even for a manga like YGMS, there are some shortcomings. Some of the characters are indeed not fleshed out, despite them getting their respective conclusions. --- **The Art** The art of YGMS is unique. I either haven’t read much manga, or this author just really has a unique style. It may be a bit inconsistent (few chapters have different styles), but the way I see it, the author must have been testing out different styles. The character designing, however, is a nitpick of mine. At some point Mizukawa had white hair, so it was quite hard to distinguish him between 3 other characters. It also doesn’t help that the other characters weren’t as memorable. But again, just a tiny nitpick. Maybe other readers could differentiate them easily. --- **TL;DR and my overall thoughts** So, should you read YGMS? Yes. I went in confused. I came to read wholesome sugary stories, but ended up staying for the life lessons I was gaining from this. This manga, to be put, helped me grow. There are quite a few life lessons that can be taken from this manga, and it can be applied in real life. I didn’t expect to get emotional reading this, either. Most of the contents caught me off guard. YGMS makes you ask yourself (and maybe your current relationships) an important question. **Are you willing to fight for your relationship? **
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