Shojo manga reigns supreme in my heart, always. Reading about young people figuring out how to navigate school, their developing relationships with others, and what it means to be a young adult in whatever day and age they are living with is always worth reading for me. The first volume of Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love stands out with its premise: falling in love and taking a chance with an emphasis on figuring out what comes next! A highschool aged girl asks out a guy who came to her rescue and to her surprise, he agrees to date her. Now she has no clue what to do next in a relationship! With story and art by Ayuko Hatta, translation by Jan Mitsuko Cash, and lettering by Inori Fukuda Trant, this newer manga series raises big questions about what to do with your happy ending and how to earn it.
Ima Koi: Now I’m In Love
Ayujo Hatta
Viz (Shojo Beat)
March 1, 2022
Truly the smallest acts of kindness are the ones that make the biggest impacts on people: First-year highschooler Satomi is saved from a pervert on a train by a young man who attends the same school as her. Unable to thank him or talk to him then, she starts seeking him out and eventually finds him at her school. Her rose-colored glasses are knocked off when she meets him again and realizes he’s not some princely character in a movie or a manga. On their reunion, her rescuer Yagyu is a bit cold and not at all interested in her thanks or what she has to say. Yet Satomi is still very interested in Yagyu and learns more about him as time passes.
The backstory here on her end is that in middle school, Satomi did have a crush but was too shy to confess, so she graduated with nothing happening. She challenges herself in the future to take a chance on herself–and on love the next time she is crushing on someone. That someone this time around is the impossibly good-looking schoolmate Yagyu who comes across as unfriendly and a possible delinquent or troublemaker to others. Relationships of all kinds, especially romantic ones, take work. Falling in love is an adventure in itself but the journey of what happens afterwards is what counts. How do you maintain a relationship? What happens when romantic feelings mature?
I love that the mangaka pushes readers to think about not just the importance of connection, the initial connections that bring us closer to others but also of the importance of what we do next. In an attempt to start to answer such questions in this first volume, there are plenty of messy, awkward, and all over the place moments that feature our couple trying to get on the same level as each other and failing. For example, there are times when our heroine is tongue-tied and awkward in not knowing just what to say to her crush or knowing when to initiate contact. On the other side of this, our male lead fumbles in reading the room, like when Satomi visits him on break at school wanting to spend time with him or him being too observant in other situations.
Satomi doesn’t come across as an airhead, her intentions are sincere. Yagyu, who is often roped into rumors based on his appearance and his quiet nature isn’t a male character for her “to fix” and his feelings are important to consider as well. Both are characters that are developed at the same speed and care. Additionally, the best friends in the supporting cast, the nosy but bubbly Nimo (Satomi’s friend) and the irritating but sharp Tenma (Yagyu’s friend), make great friction and laughs as the couple get to know each other more.
Some of my favorite pages of the manga include moments of just our couple where the emphasis is solely on them: the scene of them talking and clearing up a misunderstanding in the kitchen in Satomi’s home is one I simply adore. Detailed with the perfect amount of screen tones that draw my eyes to the panels, it is picture-perfect shojo goodness that ends in a surprise kiss when Satomi’s brother, who interrupted the moment, turns his back. As for character design, Yagyu is perhaps the character who stands out the most in a good way as he’s drawn more masculine than the average shojo male love interest that I am used to seeing.
The narrative reminds us that first impressions do not always carry weight and getting to know someone is also a joy to discover on our own. It is endearing, sweet shojo content that nails the genre and makes for a solid first volume that I adore. While the first volume doesn’t get too in-depth with the motivations of the two main characters, I don’t count that as a loss as I really enjoyed the interruptions by the best friends characters that seem to be foils for the new couple.
I’m not familiar with the mangaka Ayuko Hatta, but she does seem to be well versed in the comedic and complicated school life shojo genre when I did some further research so I am interested in reading more. I also want to see if this new series has substance the further along we read. This series does not shy away from characters working through the experience of dating and wondering if you’ve found your person along with learning more about yourself. While I did wish that Yagyu was a little better developed in this first volume, I do love this unorthodox premise of him and Satomi becoming an established couple this early on. It makes for an interesting start for them learning about not just each other but who they both are in a new and budding relationship of firsts.
For some readers, this first volume of Ima Koi: Now I’m In Love may not be not a heavy hitter in terms of substance or plot. On the shojo scale in my head, this may be more light and fluffy in comparison to other shojo manga series like Ao Haru Ride (Blue Spring Ride) which starts off with much more angst and higher stakes. Yet as a lover of shojo I’m not willing to write it off. I see a spark as this could possibly be a diamond in the rough that may just need another volume to hook unsure readers and blossom into a story that hits deeper notes. In the words of our heroine: “I don’t put much weight into beginnings, I think the most important part is what happens after something has started”. Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love explores choosing your future, the person you want to share it with, and learning how to enjoy the experience along the way.
