Kamibukuro-kun wa Koishiteru - Vol. 1 Ch. 3

[reece410]

paper bag boy is so adorable

 

[Haydrion101]

>Page 6
>SMMMMAAASH!.mp4

 

[TNT261]

Let's acknowledge that the guy wearing a paper bag is do far the only character to actually care what the female lead/heroine (Umi) actually wants and how she feels. Her friend is just making up how she feels himself and screaming it at people, and the only other character was a creepy stalker that was going to (rape? Or something without consent) her.

 

[scarlet_summer]

Hahaha yeah that sudden hug looked shoehorned in there but other than that it's an okay read

Thanks to Tritinia scans team for this!

 

[googoober]

lowkey would be weird to have some random guy hug you but this is paperbag-kun so it's ok

 

[Drunkendx]

So...
Paperbag-kun actually hugged her.
Shy as he is, he still did better way of showing his feelings than 95% of romance manga male leads.

 

[ummoron2427]

wait what happened why is this going so fast

 

[unc1e]

a fucking paperbag man is gettin more action than me

 

[dijiatikon]

so she didnt see his face clearly?....

 

[dotawolfbrother]

WHAT THE ****? He just hugs her? This is so creepy.

Ah, it's shoujo. I understand now. Thank you commenters who confirmed that I was not the only one weirded out by this.

 

[calmbreez]

I mean.. he’s weird yes but a lot of time has passed. He kept confessing to her. Kept trying to make her smile for god knows how long. Him hugging her after a scary altercation with a genuine creeper doesn’t seem creepy.

 

[Pokari]

The stalker-vs-stalker thing seemed a bit on-the-nose as a way to point out the distinction between a bad and an awkward person (and reminds me in unfortunate ways of many bad series where a "horrible antagonist" is introduced just to make the love interest look not-as-bad), but I think that's fine.

The one thing I can't tell is whether or not the author is trying to intentionally leave a bit of doubt as to whether he's actually creepy, or whether we're already theoretically supposed to be accepting him as he is.

@calmbreez:

Whereas, personally, I interpreted it (just as most all of his actions so far) as, "He is being creepy, but possibly only because he's horrifically awkward and can't figure out (or manage) all the subtle human social-interaction rules he's violating—and not because he's a bad person, nor because he's fundamentally inconsiderate."

Which is to say someone who would be, at the very least, very difficult to deal with for a lot of people... but, perhaps, not so for our chill protagonist.

_{None of which precludes him being endearing and adorable in his awkwardness. I'm being more objective than actually I feel, here. (But, I know some of that is from how the author is presenting things in the most favourable light—which is perfectly alright, I hasten to add.)}

(I mean, your interpretation also seems valid. In this case I want to say I'm also taking into account how Japan feels about physical intimacy and just how much hugs are outside the norm, to some extent, I think.)

 

[Glomoro]

@Pokari Yeah, pretty much agree with what you're saying. There's a lot of behavior in stuff like romance series in general that should honestly be creepy if you think about it, but the recipient seems okay with it themselves, so we kinda gloss over how weird the situations can be. For instance, if you think a bit more on the iconic scenes from older movies, stuff like a dude showing up to beg for forgiveness from someone who doesn't even want to see him at odd hours and blasting a boombox to get the girl's attention from her yard? Call the fuckin' cops, that's super sketchy. But it works out in the end as far as the characters were concerned, so now it seems romantic. Sort of, and pretty much only 'cause you probably aren't really thinking so deeply about it in the moment.

 

[ebey2248]

I really hope that chapter 1 wasn't their first encounter, else this would be very susoect

 

[Sandwitch]

@dotawolfbrother

The border between creepy and romantic is separated only by perspective.

More context is needed.

 

[OT7Biased]

Her friend's looks kinda remind me of Rei from Not So Shoujo Love Story xD