Title: The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All Vol. 1
Author: Sumiko Arai
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 185
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Yuri
Publication Date: October 22, 2024
The Story
Osawa doesn’t know anything other than music. She’s been in love with it for the longest time but the problem is, her taste in music doesn’t align with pop culture. While everyone is into things like BTS, she’s into bands like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other alternative rock from the West. One day, she stumbles into a CD shop. She’s astonished that something like this existed and that she never noticed it. There, she meets the guy who works there part-time. He has a mysterious air about him as he’s clad all in black, and wears a hood over his head, and a face mask. When Osawa finds out that he has the same taste in music as she does, her heart nearly leaps out of her chest.
She goes back as much as she can, just to talk with him about music. Not only is he cute but he’s something who finally understands her. There’s only one problem… the mysterious guy is actually her classmate Koga and he’s a girl! Koga realizes who Osawa is immediately but also knows that it would be bad if Osawa found out because it would crush her heart. Still, Koga makes the mistake of flirting with her even though she doesn’t mean to. She just gets excited that she can talk to someone about the music she likes, the words kind of slip out.
Enter Narita… another classmate who figures out what’s going on. He promises Koga that he will keep her secret but wonders if it would be best if she just tells Osawa. Unfortunately, before she can make that decision, Koga forgets her phone in the classroom and when Osawa looks through it, she discovers the playlist that she made for the mysterious CD shop guy and pieces everything together herself. With a wedge between them, things turn pretty awkward. Can they make up and move forward as if things were the way they were before?
Characters
Osawa is a bit of a loner but she’s not the silent type. She does get excited over the music she likes and she does end up talking to people; however, she just wished that there were more people that understood her for the music she liked rather than putting her down just because she’s not into popular artists. Despite being outgoing at times, she has her moments where she’s very reserved. Koga helps fix that by being that one person she always dreamed of having as a friend. There’s even a moment where Koga gets tickets to a concert and Osawa is over the moon to go with her.
Koga, on the other hand, is very shy and reserved. She can only gush about music as “the CD Shop guy” to Osawa; however, when it comes to school or just talking to anyone in general, she has, not a difficult time, but it’s something she would just rather not do. One thing I will say about Koga vs Osawa is that Koga lives inside of her head a lot and tends to overthink things. Even her uncle notices it when a certain situation arises and flat-out tells her that she’s overcomplicating things. That’s just how Koga is wired; however, when she puts on the “CD Shop Guy” persona, she seems like a different person. Even her speech changes.
Of the two characters, I like Koga more than Osawa. Osawa is a fine character but I feel that there are more layers and depth to Koga. Plus, when she dresses as a guy, she gives off major tomboy vibes and anyone who has read any of my light novels knows that I have a thing for tomboys! As for our other characters, Narita comes off as a bully at first but once you get to know him, he truly becomes a friend… one with a bit of sass but he means well. Chizuru, though, I’m still trying to figure out. I need to see more of her before I completely pass judgment and with the way the first volume ended, we’ll see more of her next time and I’ll probably be able to get a good read on her then.
Final Thoughts
One of my guilty pleasures is a good yuri manga. Typically, it’s all about romance and acceptance and, when I think back on it, this is exactly what this type of manga gives you but it does so in a completely different way. Usually, a yuri series will tackle acceptance from the point-of-view of society and how it looks upon LGBTQIA+ people. This scenario is about a budding romance and acceptance of who they are based on their interests, or more specifically, their taste in music. Rather than being called gross for being gay, they are snubbed for liking alternative Western rock vs K-Pop or J-Pop.
Truth be told, the romance hasn’t even started yet so we haven’t even gotten to that point. That’s one thing that I appreciate with this series is that it’s not just jumping straight into the deep end of the pool. It’s letting things play out naturally; however, I do think that the first volume was a bit too fast-paced for me when it comes to Koga’s secret. Then again, I am a fan of slow burns so that means that I would have loved to keep the secret for several volumes only to have it revealed in grand fashion. Instead, it is revealed here but it’s done so in a way to serve as the foundation of a friendship that will slow burn into a romantic one… or at least I hope that is the goal.
So while I am getting a slow-burn story, as an author myself, I can’t help but try to re-write it in my head in a way that I would do it. Of course, that does not mean this was a bad manga, mind you. In fact, I enjoyed it immensely and I am incredibly hooked on it! I definitely want to read more of this as I can tell, if handled right, this could be a major sleeper hit of 2024 (and 2025). This is the type of series I can easily see getting an anime adaptation… and, trust me, I hardly say that about any series after just one volume. That should speak to how well this was crafted, how much it took me by surprise, and how much I enjoyed it.
So, if you want to start a yuri series buried in music about two girls finding acceptance for their tastes in music, then I would pick this up as soon as you can!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
