Don't Bother Toying With Miss Nagatoro

 

Long ago, I picked up the first volume of this manga at my local bookstore simply because it was new and the girl on the cover is cute.

 

Long story short, an unnamed shy and nerdy boy who’s grown used to being bullied one day becomes the target of the cute and sadistic Nagatoro.  What follows are several short “comedy” chapters where she mercilessly insults him, belittles him and dangles pleasant things in front of him, only to cruelly rip them away and laugh at him for thinking he could actually get them in the first place.  I liked the first volume well enough, to the point where I actually made purchase of it on Amazon Kindle, although strictly because I liked the unique dynamic.  It was a kind of relationship I had never seen before.  And, again, Nagatoro is cute.  Plus we got a ton of fanservice.

 

But, even if all of this is meant to be “encouragement” for our male protag to change his life and become stronger and more confident, the way Nagatoro goes about it is almost guaranteed to only make him feel worse.  Sometimes people need to hear some harsh truths in order to improve themselves, but Nagatoro is simply taking the piss.  The best relationships have a good give-and-take between the two parties, where they make up for each other’s weaknesses and help each other grow.   

 

But, having recently read Volume 2 on my last trip to the bookstore, there is still no sign that either one is maturing or growing as one would ideally want them to.  Nagatoro just gets to have her fun abusing our poor hero and he, for one, just barely seems to grow a spine by the end of Volume 2.   

 

The series has recently gotten an anime adaptation, which I suppose is good for them, but I will not watch it, other than the occasional clip on Youtube, just to see what Nagatoro’s voice sounds like.  Call me self-delusional, but I would never allow myself to get into an abusive relationship like this one and, if I had a Nagatoro in real life, I would run away as soon as I saw her and tearfully yell at her to leave me alone.  I have no time for negativity.  Negativity is not productive.

 

But at least Nagatoro is cute…