Romance… Romance Manga and Anime has been my enemy for quite some time. Not because I don’t like to be swept off my feet, I do, even though it might be a little naive to want that. But, I don’t like Romance stories because, usually, they fall into the same categories, the same tropes. Let’s list them;

Love Triangle
Red Herring Romance
Uninvested Romance
Paint by the Numbers Romance
Ecchi Romance
Main Character Romance
Secondary + Main Character Romance

Usually Romance Fits into these categories, and usually they aren’t good. Most stories rely on heavy use of tropes and cliches. Ever bump into a cute guy/guy and fall in love? Have you ever just hated this one guy/girl, but suddenly when someone says you’re a couple you just can’t help noticing her womanly features? Yeah… I’m sure you haven’t, but they clog up scripts from Hollywood, to Bollywood, to Anime. Hell, even I considered it at one point with an old script of mine you may remember. But Molester Man, despite its name is real, it’s raw, and most importantly it’s believable. And this is why it may just be either the worst, or the best romance of all time. Throughout this review, and by the end of this review, we will find out what category this manga falls into. So now let’s start this review of the 2004 Manga based on real events, Molester Man. And remember, giving a like takes two seconds, but spend a minute or so down below telling me what you think of this review, or what you think about the manga. Let’s have some fun!

Background

Released 2004 and lasting 21 chapters, Molester Man is a Romance Manga written by Takuma Yokota. Takuma has written other manga like Shoodan!, Tsunbaka, and Koganeiro. This manga is also based off a true story, which is what is so endearing about it. Now, I don’t know if it’s based off one of Takuma’s experiences, but it’s a rather beautiful story because it’s so real. I’m getting ahead of myself. Molester Man other than that is a pretty mysterious little story though, as there isn’t a lot of information about it.

Story

Molester Man is on paper, a generic manga with no real substance. Just hanging on a thread by using tropes and played out story beats. But in reality it’s a nuanced character driven manga with a great setting, great characters and a great script. It’s obviously dramatized, but it feels real at points. Which is important to manga that are character driven. We need to be invested in the characters they make for us. I get so tired of the kid who gets all the demon chicks with huge ass tits. That isn't something I can connect to, that’s silly and not an attractive alternative. What makes a romance good, is relatable characters with layers, like an onion, Donkey. What Molester Man is a lot like what would happen in real life, so things are erratic, and decisions are made quickly. Which would create a story that’s slow in some areas, but through the dramatized parts in the story, it elements these troublesome areas and creates an near perfect story, but a perfect in execution romance. That’s right, it’s the perfect romance. And I am going to stand on this hill die, because I believe this is the greatest romance manga of all time, at least in my opinion. Believe me though, this does not come lightly, I am very strict about romance.

The Comedy of this story though is one that made me laugh out loud. I can’t tell you how hilarious this manga is truly, because it’s something you need to experience. I think the only time I snorted out loud during a manga was with Yamada-kun, and even then it wasn’t anything special. With Molester Man I was laughing my ass off constantly, because it’s such a hilarious manga. The reactions from Molester Man to the most mundane things like Loli Jugs and Kansai messing with his action figures turns out to be one of the most hilarious moments of the manga, laugh out loud hilarious. I swear to you, if you have a soul, and unless you are some robot, you have one, if you give this short manga a chance, then you will laugh out loud just as much as I did. The comedic timing of this manga is amazing, probably one of the better manga when it comes to pure comedy in the most realistic sense. I think there may even be some Dragon Ball Z jokes in there too.

Art

I’m not sure what I was to expect here, as starting off it was incredibly jarring to look at. Obviously this kind of art style is on purpose to give the effect it’s a simple story. Which it is, so it does fit the story and style they were going for, with there rarely being panels that are animated to perfection. It’s usually just this kind of scratch style you’d see with late drafts of manga. It’s not bad by any means, it’s unique and still solid, just very jarring starting off. I also find the panels where they draw the scenes in full are really good though. Honestly if I were to pick high quality art or the low quality I’d pick the low quality. Something about the minimalist style really appeals to me in the most simple of ways. There isn’t a million things going on, and because of this we can focus more on the characters, which I believe is why this was done. If there are things in the background, you may notice an important character reaction or that perked eyebrow, or Loli Jugs’ dazed reactions.

Characterizations

Last but not least, oh especially not least, the Characters in this Manga are some of the best well written characters in a romance Manga I’ve ever read. They’re all colorful and bright characters with persona all their own. But most importantly they’re relatable characters that have conflicts that are relatable. I’ve said this already, but don’t try to fool me with romance that’s just so out there it’s impossible to relate. Molester Man is relatable and fun, because it’s based on real events. But let’s get into some of the characters, and use the Titular character Molester Man. He’s a simple Otaku living in Japan, he’s 20 years old, he’s lonely, and he’s a virgin. This is all explained in the first couple of chapters. From there we see Molester Man grow and change to become almost a completely different person by the end. This doesn’t continue for every character, as Miss Understanding seems to be a very static character, and so does Kansai. But for most of the other characters they do grow in some form. Focusing our attention back on the whole, I think Molester Man is one of the better manga out there in the romance category for many different reasons that what I just listed here.

Final Rating

Molester Man is honestly a Manga that took me by surprise. I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was, and it honestly is a wonder I actually out about this manga. But you can’t deny it’s quality, the characters, the story, the terrific comedy that’s nuanced and hilarious without being too over the top. But also the characterizations and what comes along with that. There aren’t many things I can truly say that turn me off from this manga, there actually aren’t any. I can’t find any egregious flaws with this manga. Hell, the only thing I can find close to that is the simple Art direction of the manga, but even then that’s an artistic direction, it’s not a flaw. Please do not miss out on this manga, it’s one of the best romance manga of all time, easily, and for me it’s my favorite romance manga ever, there is no other.

Molester Man isn't perfect, but it receives a 10/10