Monmon: Hello! Another manga recommendation! This is a very VERY small manga. So spare a few minutes to pick it up!
Here is a nice little miniseries for you. It’s a short romance manga with an interesting twist. This my recommendation of ‘Raibaru wa Kimi nō Shiro Ni’ or ‘My Rival Is Behind You’ by Moto Shigemura.
The scene, a park. Asahi Rintarou has invited his senpai, Shiori to meet up there. Determined to be alone with her, Rintarou wants to confess his love for her. However, upon meeting her, there is a slight problem. What is it? What is standing in the way of Rintarou’s confession?
So it seems that there is a third person in this rendezvous. A spirit seems to be closely hovering behind them. Shiori is unfazed by the ghost’s presence but Rintarou on the other hand is scared out of his wits. Shiori is unfazed because she could not see the ghosts but Rintarou on the other hand can see them clear as day. That’s because Rintarou has an innate ability to see ghosts.
What a ghastly predicament! The ghost seems to be close to his beloved senpai! In spite all of this, love triumphs and Rintarou mans up to face Shiori to confe-
The ghost seems to have a vested interest in interfering with Rintarou’s confession! Taking advantage of Rintarou’s fear of ghosts, she fends him off while getting ever closer to Shiori. So why this this ghost interfering with Rintarou’s confession? What is this ghost’s objective all this time?
So the ghost have feelings for Shiori! What now?! How will Rintarou be able to confess to Shiori with the ghost actively stopping his efforts?! However, this critical situation is not going to faze him. Dig in your heels. That ghost girl is your rival! Don’t ignore Shiori! Based on her still staying with you even after you antic, she is clearly interested in you! For the sake of your love for Shiori, confe-
Ah well, he will try again when he is ready. From that point onwards, he will get into situation with Shiori and the ghost. He will try to win Shiori’s approval all the while fighting his fear of the ghost girl who is determined to fend off his advances.
It’s quite an interesting read. It’s definitely a light hearted, slow paced manga; with the genre deep in the ‘light teenage romance’ and ‘comedy’. So, if you are a romcom reader, pick this one up and have a quick read. It’s only three chapters.
So as I said, it is a three chapter series. Why is this series so short? Well, this manga is, what I believe, a ‘proof of concept’ manga. A little snippet of the author’s idea for a manga series pitched on a manga magazine to the readers. The three chapters give a short preview on the scope of the manga to attract the reader’s interest. In fact, right at the third chapter, the story eludes to a deeper story that involves the ghost girl. No doubt to stir some curiosity in the readers.
Hopefully with positive feedback, the manga can be fully realized with a proper series. I hope this manga series is expanded into a full series manga. To be more cynical though, it will be tough and the manga will probably have enough content go for about 20 chapters or less. Plus, with the cut throat attitude of the manga industry these days, it might not be likely for the manga to get greenlit at all. Well, I’ll settle for an independent webseries though.
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Also be sure to check out Q-ichi’s web novel R.A.M.!
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