Chikan Otoko or more commonly known as Molester Man is a manga that is based off of a series of posts from a person in 2 chan. The story at first might seem cliché from the premise, but later has twists and turns that would be expected from a real life scenario, but unexpected in a story sense. By making the story about real life set in a true story Chikan Otoko manages to surprise me and surpass my expectations for what a romance manga can and should do.

I’ve read this manga twice before. The first time was a couple years ago. The weird thing about the first time for me reading this was that I didn’t even know that this story was based off of posts from 2 chan. But now after rereading it I think that it is essential to know beforehand that this story is heavily based on real life events. After I read it a second time I looked at Chikan Otoko in a new light and truly saw that it was an amazing work.

-----The story and characters

To me a romance manga (or story) is supposed to show relatable drama and a relatable story that the viewer can relate to. This is true for all series all the way from Toradora to even the most lewd stories like High School DxD. Romance stories are supposed to invoke a feeling of relatability. The authors usually tend to do this by having a relatable protagonist that goes through many common situations that a person might find themself in.

The great thing about Chikan Otoko is that it is based on real life events from a person on 2 chan. We can relate to the protagonist because he is very much like a lot of people. He is antisocial and a borderline NEET. If it weren't for him having a job and going to high school he would just spend his entire time playing video games, watching anime, go on 2-chan(japanese 4chan), and heck even masturbate. Molester Man is an extremely relatable protagonist who is not only funny because of his anime references and jokes, but is also down to earth and relatable.

Chikan Otoko is first and foremost a story about an antisocial otaku becoming a “Man”. A person that can be somewhat true to himself and isn't ashamed or worried to be with others. It's about a borderline NEET learning to make friends and to even get himself a girlfriend. It is a story that a bunch of the readers at home could use as a lesson on how to get out of their current antisocial lifestyle. By learning to branch out Molester Man became a lot more confident in himself and eventually gained some amazing friends as a result.

---------The Art

The art in Chikan Otoko is a bit simple. You can tell that this might have been the artist's first or second manga that he has done. The artist probably wanted to get these chapters out as fast as possible while the original posts were still relevant and as a result the manga looks more like a NAME then an actual completed work, which is completely fine for an artist that is probably doing this with no assistants, for no money, and just his passion.

There are no screen tones, but there is shading, and there are only a handful of backgrounds drawn, but despite the rushed nature of the manga I could easily tell what everything was and everything was clear and concise.

-----------Enjoyment and Overall

This manga is special. I enjoyed the passion and love that went into this manga. While it does look dated by today's standards and the fact that you can't get a physical copy is a bit disappointing, I think that this is an amazing read. I am a huge nut for romance manga and anime and Chikan Otoko is one of the best workers that I have read. I related a ton to these characters and having past romance experiences helps a lot with the relatability with this manga. Some of the references and jokes in this manga might go over many peoples heads, while for other people they might understand them all. I loved this manga from beginning to end and that is much better then plenty of other things that I have read.

----10/10