Any series where the heroine crushes on another guy but falls back in love with the MC?

[Oobaka-san]

A pretty simple concept, and a rather wide one. I want to know of any good stories where the hero is in love with a girl who's crushing hard on another man, but later falls in love with the main character. Or ones where the hero's girl leaves him because she fell for someone else, but she ultimately came back (either fell back in love with him or realized she never stopped) and likely faces drama with the struggle to seek forgiveness if not actually get back together. Or even ones where the hero's girl insists that she loves the hero only despite clearly crushing hard on someone else (like in Clean Freak Aoyama-kun where the team captain's girlfriend insists she's his and his alone, while wearing an "I <3 Aoyama" T-shirt, and later getting depressed when she thinks Aoyama got a girlfriend).

Doesn't matter whether the girl just crushes, actively pursues the other guy, or dates him (and anything that story chooses to include in that). Also doesn't matter what the rating is, from Safe to Mature. I'm not picky.

I'm also not picky about whether there are misunderstandings involved. For instance, I've fallen in love with "Boku ga Boku de Aru Tame Ni", in which the main character's love "falls in love" with a guy that looks just like him, only everything that made her love that other guy was situations where the main character was pretending to be that guy.

 

[undeed]

So... the main POV is from the male? (or mostly)
Would you accept Shoujo manga like Akatsuki no Yona? or Tsukikage Baby?
There's Fuufu Ijou, Shishunki no Iron Maiden, Hatsu * Haru,
I would consider Rough, albeit very brief (I feel like there are other Adachi Mitsuru story that contain this plot)
Maybe also Ranma?
Stuff like Majo Senpai Nippou starts with the girl was dating other man, but progressed quickly.
Ochite, Oborete is a bit complicated

Spoiler: is this one considered as spoiler?

Hachimitsu to Clover is almost... aaaalmost...

I think there are a few more, but my break time is over, so that's all for now.

 

[solstice258]

Reminds me of this shoujo manga

 

[Mangamoz]

I admit I did a double take cause I misread the title as:
"Any series where the heroine crushes on another guy's balls?"

 

[undeed]

I admit I did a double take cause I misread the title as:
"Any series where the heroine crushes on another guy's balls?"

 

[Oobaka-san]

So... the main POV is from the male? (or mostly)
Would you accept Shoujo manga like Akatsuki no Yona? or Tsukikage Baby?
There's Fuufu Ijou, Shishunki no Iron Maiden, Hatsu * Haru,
I would consider Rough, albeit very brief (I feel like there are other Adachi Mitsuru story that contain this plot)
Maybe also Ranma?
Stuff like Majo Senpai Nippou starts with the girl was dating other man, but progressed quickly.
Ochite, Oborete is a bit complicated

Spoiler: is this one considered as spoiler?

Hachimitsu to Clover is almost... aaaalmost...

I think there are a few more, but my break time is over, so that's all for now.

Wouldn't really include Ranma, since Akane's crush is so short-lived and frankly comes before Ranma really has much of any feelings toward her. Will have to look at some of these others to see how they fit.

But I'd actually thought of listing Shishunki no Iron Maiden as another example. In fact it fits with a sort of subset that I like for some reason: stories where the hero likes a girl who likes a secret bastard. Maybe not an absolute bastard, but a guy who's far from how the girl sees him. No difference whether she likes the guy until she finds out what he's like and then changes, eventually falling for the MC, or, like in Iron Maiden, she realizes she's in love with the MC and then afterward figures out that the guy she liked was trash. This sort also works to varying degree with "Shinu Hodo Kimi no Shojo ga Hoshii", only in that case her feelings had started drifting toward the MC fairly well before she found out just how awful her previous crush was, to the point that the time slips showed both futures where she was married to/planning to date her crush as well as ones where she was married to the MC.

And just to be clear, I don't care much what the specific type is as long as it's Japanese (since along with consuming the translated versions I often like to get my hands on the original untranslated form, and I don't know Korean, Chinese etc.) I'm fine with light/web novels, manga, anime, even visual novels (and I don't care whether the content is designed for grade schoolers or restricted to adults above 18).

 

[CertifiedNutter]

Would Love Hina count? Its the first manga i ever read so it holds a special place, it is VERY wacky and it takes FOREVER to get to a conclusion. Not sure where to read it though...

Keikenchi Chochiku etc etc (its a VERY long name) maybe? its very typical OP fantasy stuff but i am pretty sure the childhood friends coming back to the MC is where its going

Spoiler: After Ch30 or so

So our MC has 3 female childhood friends and one male, the male childhood friend steal all the girls including the MC's fiance. Its later revealed somewhere around ch30 that its mind control magic, and up-2-date 2 have been released from such control and although its not there yet it seems like all the female childhood friends loved mc but was mind controlled by jelous male childhood friend. Not sure if this is the right vibe so had to put some small spoilers for context

Ore ni Trauma wo Ataeta (etc also long name)
This starts out real strong, i really liked the begining of this, jaded MC, an ex or two that realises how wrong they were and would do near anything to get back to how it was...

Spoiler: Why are you holding the back of my head? WHIPLASH

It starts out the gate real strong, dark undertones, refrences to what maybe an attempted s**cide etc, but somewhere along the lines its started morphing into happy and justice for all kind of thing, bit of whiplash, its only 30ch out atm so the girlfriend stuff are not resolved yet but the tone of the manga shifts very quickly and suddenly so brace for that

struggling to think of any others right now that that i can find/rmbr the names of, hope these help in any way

 

[Oobaka-san]

Would Love Hina count? Its the first manga i ever read so it holds a special place, it is VERY wacky and it takes FOREVER to get to a conclusion. Not sure where to read it though...

Keikenchi Chochiku etc etc (its a VERY long name) maybe? its very typical OP fantasy stuff but i am pretty sure the childhood friends coming back to the MC is where its going

Spoiler: After Ch30 or so

So our MC has 3 female childhood friends and one male, the male childhood friend steal all the girls including the MC's fiance. Its later revealed somewhere around ch30 that its mind control magic, and up-2-date 2 have been released from such control and although its not there yet it seems like all the female childhood friends loved mc but was mind controlled by jelous male childhood friend. Not sure if this is the right vibe so had to put some small spoilers for context

Ore ni Trauma wo Ataeta (etc also long name)
This starts out real strong, i really liked the begining of this, jaded MC, an ex or two that realises how wrong they were and would do near anything to get back to how it was...

Spoiler: Why are you holding the back of my head? WHIPLASH

It starts out the gate real strong, dark undertones, refrences to what maybe an attempted s**cide etc, but somewhere along the lines its started morphing into happy and justice for all kind of thing, bit of whiplash, its only 30ch out atm so the girlfriend stuff are not resolved yet but the tone of the manga shifts very quickly and suddenly so brace for that

struggling to think of any others right now that that i can find/rmbr the names of, hope these help in any way

Wow. Those are some crazy series. I'm not sure about Love Hina. Like Ranma, it never really felt like a love triangle or a guy liking a girl who likes someone else. Keikenchi definitely does, and man that's quite a twist.

Spoiler: skimmed it

Honestly, it goes straight into NTR, and in that sense hits very close to something else I've always loved when I'm actually able to find it: a guy taking the girl back from the one that took her. Pretty sure it would be called netori-gaeshi or netori-kaeshi. Just about every time I've seen an NTR, the very first thing I've wanted is a followup where the guy takes the girl back, by undoing the mind control like here, or eliminating blackmail materials, revealing the truth behind some deception that'd led the girl to hate the hero and love this other bastard, etc. Only thing the series is missing is a happy ending for those girls. I can only hope that the author will have the guts to actually end with the three girls as full parts of his harem rather than just having them go off and find a new life to live, maintaining one of the tropes I hate most in manga: the obsession with purity leading to either girls retaining virginity even if forced into prostitution or girls that lost their virginity to someone other than the hero being deemed unworthy. Only time will tell with this, but honestly I'll be ticked if Lisa, Nei and Soara aren't able to get a proper happily ever after.

On a side note, on the surface Sein's side kind of reminds me just a bit of Toru from Himekishi ga Classmate, only 1: that hero never uses his powers on a girl who's already in love or in a relationship (and the author confirmed he never would), and 2: he actually cares for the girls and won't abandon any of them, to the point that every girl whose magic resistance is strong enough to retain full consciousness remains every bit as devoted as the few who remain somewhat bewitched.

I still haven't read the other one, but I'm interested. And I can say I don't mind things moving from dark to light. Honestly I prefer light anyway, or dark that has clear hope and the capacity to reach a light nature.

 

[CertifiedNutter]

I totally get what your saying about the virginity and purity thing, Nanjou is high up on my current faves to read, as for NTR i dont mind it if its to start a story like. My achey brakey heart cant handle betrayal if a romance has been built up over multiple chapters/volumes.
Normaly i am like cheaters can rot with their bad decisions but for the likes of mind control/drugs/r*pe they are not a betrayal of love or trust.
Conscious betrayal of a lover while both acknowledging being in a relationship is something i cant go back on, i dont see how trust could ever be formed after its broken like that, i think in those cases its best for both of them to find a happy ever after serperate of each other.
Soredemo Ashita might apply, but theres no movement on this one, it honestly breaks my heart but its not cheating, so i am hoping that he either moves on or they find some way to connect but im not sure where its going to go and whether or not it will be t/l'd.
Batsu Hare again it doesnt suit the preferences but skimming close, begins with MC NTR's by wife, breaks up and meet her estranged, near identical, sister.... as of ch180-ish the ex-wife might be sniffing around but thats unconfirmed.

Spoiler: WARNING tonal shift

Deep Deep Spoilers! For the first 100 chapters i swear this was an echi romcom between the MC n FMC as he heals his heart and deals with how similar she looks to the one who betrayed him, now i have nothing against harems but when i have that much investment to an exclusive couple to switch into 2 girls and hinting at possibly more... that gave me a little whiplash and feeling just a little betrayed still... The ex might join in but as of ch190 shes only just noticed that hes moving on and we dont have the context to know whether thats regret/interest/sadism

Obvs none of these fit the criteria enough to be mentioned originally but an honourable mention if you will

Spoiler: One last honourable mention that might interest you but has very near 0% to do with original topic

Nana To Kaoru and its two sequel series, it does not really contain or focus on the original subject matter at all but amongst 200 chapters there are two blips in the story where the NTR-fear hits harder than any series has ever brought out in me, hell i read this four months ago and it still sits at the back of my mind rent free. If your down for 200 chapters of investment for 2 seperate volumes where our FMC damn near almost gets taken away then have at it, and curse me for the psychological damage later

 

[Oobaka-san]

I totally get what your saying about the virginity and purity thing, Nanjou is high up on my current faves to read, as for NTR i dont mind it if its to start a story like. My achey brakey heart cant handle betrayal if a romance has been built up over multiple chapters/volumes.
Normaly i am like cheaters can rot with their bad decisions but for the likes of mind control/drugs/r*pe they are not a betrayal of love or trust.
Conscious betrayal of a lover while both acknowledging being in a relationship is something i cant go back on, i dont see how trust could ever be formed after its broken like that, i think in those cases its best for both of them to find a happy ever after serperate of each other.
Soredemo Ashita might apply, but theres no movement on this one, it honestly breaks my heart but its not cheating, so i am hoping that he either moves on or they find some way to connect but im not sure where its going to go and whether or not it will be t/l'd.
Batsu Hare again it doesnt suit the preferences but skimming close, begins with MC NTR's by wife, breaks up and meet her estranged, near identical, sister.... as of ch180-ish the ex-wife might be sniffing around but thats unconfirmed.

Spoiler: WARNING tonal shift

Deep Deep Spoilers! For the first 100 chapters i swear this was an echi romcom between the MC n FMC as he heals his heart and deals with how similar she looks to the one who betrayed him, now i have nothing against harems but when i have that much investment to an exclusive couple to switch into 2 girls and hinting at possibly more... that gave me a little whiplash and feeling just a little betrayed still... The ex might join in but as of ch190 shes only just noticed that hes moving on and we dont have the context to know whether thats regret/interest/sadism

Obvs none of these fit the criteria enough to be mentioned originally but an honourable mention if you will

Spoiler: One last honourable mention that might interest you but has very near 0% to do with original topic

Nana To Kaoru and its two sequel series, it does not really contain or focus on the original subject matter at all but amongst 200 chapters there are two blips in the story where the NTR-fear hits harder than any series has ever brought out in me, hell i read this four months ago and it still sits at the back of my mind rent free. If your down for 200 chapters of investment for 2 seperate volumes where our FMC damn near almost gets taken away then have at it, and curse me for the psychological damage later

My opinions are pretty close there, though I'm pretty sure I could imagine a few story concepts where a woman cheated on a guy but came back, or where a woman dumped a guy, took up with someone else, then eventually came back. Even if the woman doesn't actually get back together with the man I do still like it when they learn to regret their choices or, better yet, realize that the base reasoning of those choices was mistaken.

Though I will admit I usually will find it very difficult to follow a story where a guy's girlfriend leaves him and then comes back, unless it's right at the start.

 

[Oobaka-san]

Wow. Those are some crazy series. I'm not sure about Love Hina. Like Ranma, it never really felt like a love triangle or a guy liking a girl who likes someone else. Keikenchi definitely does, and man that's quite a twist.

Spoiler: skimmed it

Honestly, it goes straight into NTR, and in that sense hits very close to something else I've always loved when I'm actually able to find it: a guy taking the girl back from the one that took her. Pretty sure it would be called netori-gaeshi or netori-kaeshi. Just about every time I've seen an NTR, the very first thing I've wanted is a followup where the guy takes the girl back, by undoing the mind control like here, or eliminating blackmail materials, revealing the truth behind some deception that'd led the girl to hate the hero and love this other bastard, etc. Only thing the series is missing is a happy ending for those girls. I can only hope that the author will have the guts to actually end with the three girls as full parts of his harem rather than just having them go off and find a new life to live, maintaining one of the tropes I hate most in manga: the obsession with purity leading to either girls retaining virginity even if forced into prostitution or girls that lost their virginity to someone other than the hero being deemed unworthy. Only time will tell with this, but honestly I'll be ticked if Lisa, Nei and Soara aren't able to get a proper happily ever after.

On a side note, on the surface Sein's side kind of reminds me just a bit of Toru from Himekishi ga Classmate, only 1: that hero never uses his powers on a girl who's already in love or in a relationship (and the author confirmed he never would), and 2: he actually cares for the girls and won't abandon any of them, to the point that every girl whose magic resistance is strong enough to retain full consciousness remains every bit as devoted as the few who remain somewhat bewitched.

I still haven't read the other one, but I'm interested. And I can say I don't mind things moving from dark to light. Honestly I prefer light anyway, or dark that has clear hope and the capacity to reach a light nature.

EDIT: I've now read at least a fair amount of "Ore ni Trauma...", and honestly I'm not sure how it fits this.

Spoiler: content

I'm guessing you're connecting Hinagi's past to this. However, Hinagi never liked anyone besides Yukito. It's made abundantly clear from early on, and eventually spelled out: she thought he'd get jealous hearing a boy had asked her out, and when she didn't see enough reaction she decided to actually go out with that boy, only to be crushed when her stupid plan just hurt him and convinced him to give up completely.

That said, thank you for it as it is still a great series and absolutely up my alley, since I simply adore reconciliation stories where characters struggle to put things back together after painful events divide them.

What I'm looking for is more along the lines of the anime "The Moment You Fall in Love (Suki ni Naru Sono Shunkan Wo)", only with a somewhat more satisfying conclusion that doesn't take years (and then only happens in a song).

 

[CertifiedNutter]

Yea i was really stretching the parameters a bit, blame it on lack of experiance/memory
However i just saw your posts for 'Former condescending girl who learn to appreciate hte MC' and a few others, and i feel my previous honoury mention might apply to those criteria, with a stretch ofc, however it was only honoury previously because it did not fit in any way the criteria of this post
Nana to Kaoru
Nana to Kaoru Black Label
Nana to Kaoru Last Summer

i cant speak for how condescending/oppressive the FMC is, but for context our protagonists are childhood friends, the FMC is beautiful, smart and athletic and the MC is not any of those. FMC pushes the MC to be better and chastises the failures (and although this is never extreme) this just spurs the MCs insecurities and reminds him of the unattainable gap between them. Then privately the FMC through boredom/curiosity tries on one of MCs BDSM cloths and accidently locks it, now she must seek his help to get out of it... with a few conditions and presto new kink unlocked.

Now this might be TMI but i avoid BDSM content as a whole normally, it brings up bad emotions in me, but this series portrayed it extremely well and even captivating, which for a traumatised vanilla like me has got to count for something.

Im glad some of my recs' were enjoyable but sorry if i have to stretch perceptions a little to fit the criteria, still, happy reading

 

[Oobaka-san]

I totally get what your saying about the virginity and purity thing, Nanjou is high up on my current faves to read, as for NTR i dont mind it if its to start a story like. My achey brakey heart cant handle betrayal if a romance has been built up over multiple chapters/volumes. Normaly i am like cheaters can rot with their bad decisions but for the likes of mind control/drugs/r*pe they are not a betrayal of love or trust. Conscious betrayal of a lover while both acknowledging being in a relationship is something i cant go back on, i dont see how trust could ever be formed after its broken like that, i think in those cases its best for both of them to find a happy ever after serperate of each other. Soredemo Ashita might apply, but theres no movement on this one, it honestly breaks my heart but its not cheating, so i am hoping that he either moves on or they find some way to connect but im not sure where its going to go and whether or not it will be t/l'd. Batsu Hare again it doesnt suit the preferences but skimming close, begins with MC NTR's by wife, breaks up and meet her estranged, near identical, sister.... as of ch180-ish the ex-wife might be sniffing around but thats unconfirmed.

Spoiler: WARNING tonal shift

Deep Deep Spoilers! For the first 100 chapters i swear this was an echi romcom between the MC n FMC as he heals his heart and deals with how similar she looks to the one who betrayed him, now i have nothing against harems but when i have that much investment to an exclusive couple to switch into 2 girls and hinting at possibly more... that gave me a little whiplash and feeling just a little betrayed still... The ex might join in but as of ch190 shes only just noticed that hes moving on and we dont have the context to know whether thats regret/interest/sadism

Obvs none of these fit the criteria enough to be mentioned originally but an honourable mention if you will

Spoiler: One last honourable mention that might interest you but has very near 0% to do with original topic

Nana To Kaoru and its two sequel series, it does not really contain or focus on the original subject matter at all but amongst 200 chapters there are two blips in the story where the NTR-fear hits harder than any series has ever brought out in me, hell i read this four months ago and it still sits at the back of my mind rent free. If your down for 200 chapters of investment for 2 seperate volumes where our FMC damn near almost gets taken away then have at it, and curse me for the psychological damage later

For Soredemo Ashita, I'd say PM me when things have gone farther or, better yet, when the story has finished and spoil me on whether things work out. Specifically

Spoiler: the series' content

Whether she eventually grows to accept the idea of a monogamous relationship and/or at least reaches a point where she is able to long specifically for her boyfriend as a partner and actively sleep with him. I honestly don't mind, may even at times very much LIKE, a story of a highly promiscuous girl or a girl who will openly cheat if she does ultimately grow to long for the main boy and no one else. Unless it ends like I've heard Karami Zakari goes (I don't know if it's true as I quit after just a couple chapters), with the girl deciding she wants to date the MC and sleep with him and him alone, but he decides he LIKES being with a slut who sleeps around. In short, if that story reaches a point where Mako is actually doing it with Kouhei and seriously enjoying it and agrees to stop sleeping around, and it either ends that way or really looks like it is ending, please PM me about it. Otherwise, I don't really want to read beyond what I've read so far. Because so far it has the looks of a sweet Tanaka Yutaka romantic hentai with the content of Katsura Airi. Put another way, since the artists match, if it goes down the path of the erotica OR hentai version of that series I don't want to see another page of it, but if the author actually tries having the hero demand his own happiness along with hers (or her realize that in demanding what makes her happy she's making him profoundly depressed) and ends it with absolute fidelity, I'd be happy to read it. Either way, I learned a good lesson here to check what else an author wrote before I start reading because I really wouldn't have opened it if I realized the connection.

Far as Batsu Hare, I skimmed the very first and chapters 170 and up, and while it's interesting honestly I'm not terribly interested in that particular story. And more to the point, it does not seem to fit here on any count: the wife didn't seem to have a crush on anyone, she just liked to pursue her own pleasure no matter who it hurt and didn't really care about the husband who she'd decided wasn't good; additionally, her return looks far less like her realizing she loves her ex and wants him back and far more like she wanted to play with an easy toy to her own benefit (the look she gave when he announced his relationships was clearly not that of heartbreak upon losing him but one of angry frustration that she couldn't control him).

I might read Nana and Kaoru, I too am not terribly interested in BDSM, especially with the girl as the dom, but depending on how those risky points go it might be interesting. I mean, some of the best series I've read were ones that gave me that sort of wrenching fear. Best example definitely being "Shinu Hodo Kimi no Shojo ga Hoshii" (which actually fits pretty well here, as the story starts with the hero jumping back in time and meeting his future wife before she'd lost her virginity, and finding out that at the time she had a huge crush on someone else).

In any case, Nanjou is kind of interesting for what I mentioned earlier: that I'm at least moderately interested in the idea of a good pure romance with a girl who starts as a major slut but chooses to become morally pure on account of love. Pity I'll have to go through BW for most of it apparently since most has been deleted from MD.

 

[KATCRX]

Any series where the heroine crushes on another guy but falls back in love with the MC?

Basically an NTR...?

 

[CertifiedNutter]

i will do my best with soredemo, but my hopes are low, checking the comments on it some peeps who speak other languages have warned that it is not going in a happy direction saddly.
Nana to Kaoru the dude is the dom, FMC gets stuck in some bondage and the condition of getting it off is a bit of humiliation play and FMC starts to kind of like it. So its a bit of role reversal, the public side she is the class idol who hassles her underacheiver MC to do better but behind closed doors he vents his frustrations and she gets relief from the pressure of being perfect.
Its probably one of the best written love stories i've read in a while, suprisingly no sex at all, and yea i generally avoid BDSM for reasons so for it to hook me like it did is no small feat, its worth consideration...

EDIT: oh goddamnit when did that happen to Nanjou?!?! i swear it was all there just last week

 

[Oobaka-san]

Basically an NTR...?

Depending on your definition, and the starting point. Like, if it starts with the girl going out with someone, or starts with her not in a relationship with anyone but crushing on someone else before ultimately falling for or falling back in love with the heroine, some may call it NTR, but others may not. Especially if there are complications. That's why I included "The Moment You Fall in Love". The main characters do not start in a relationship, but they are super close until she starts crushing on someone else, and by the end it finally looks like things may go somewhere (and a song by the publishers focused on them in their 20s says it most certainly does).

Either way, as I've said before, I'm actually fine with NTR if it ends with the guy taking the girl back or the girl coming back on her own. I can even find some forms of cold satisfaction in a dark story where the guy gets the girl back through force or blackmail or something (like, she humiliated him and dumped him, and by the end he's turned her into someone that can't defy him). It's not pleasant by any means, but if the dumping/betraying side was harsh and humiliating enough I can at least enjoy seeing the comeuppance. Sort of like how you might not be able to feel any romance or fulfillment reading Redo of Healer, but you can feel a certain satisfaction watching him put awful people through creative tortures.

And I've read the comments on Soredemo. I still have some hopes, since it looks like while the story is murky it isn't doomed just yet. If it was written by the actual author of Karami Zakari instead of just the artist who drew what the author wrote, I would have no hope as the happiest story that person ever wrote had the girl finally decide she was tired of riding every man in the city and wanted to be just with the MC, only to find out that the MC had developed a fetish for being cucked and WANTED her to keep banging other men even though she no longer wanted to. This story is a little different, and does seem to maintain that the girl is very much in love with the MC. I don't have very high hopes, thus why I asked to be PMed later if it has a happy ending or it becomes clear it will, but I still feel like it could happen.