What? What the hell? I thought this manga ended ages ago, now there are suddenly 280+ chapters of it? Well, appearantly it's like that in the magazine where Koi to Uso was serialized, and was recompiled to 56 chapters or so as volumes (that's why the chapters here are so short). The manga tanking is still the same as ever though, there are probably more discussing about the manga's ratings than its plot
Before I read Koi to Uso, I was prepared to be enraged. I mean, it has a 5.6 ratings - that's literally lower than the Mein Kampf manga! But when I finished it, I just felt disappointed for what could have been. The manga did everything in its power to be a, at most, mediocre piece of fiction. To summarise it, Koi to Uso is just a below average soap opera put into print.
I'll give credit where credit's due - the first half establishes the world and its main lead really well. You have to keep in mind, all four of them are only 16 years old in this story. Hell, at that age, love is confusing to most people in our world, nevermind one where there exists a morally ambiguous system that does work for the betterment of society, but is also intentionally flawed. That's why them being indecisive about their true feelings while also wanting their cake and eating it too DOES make sense back then. This is acknowledged in the manga as nothing but wishful prayers from naive teenagers.
Exactly at the half-way point is when everything goes downhill. This is especially frustrating because after this point it's obvious that everything's a poor attempt to drag the story out, but the manga still takes itself so seriously. None of this is helped by the piss-poor pacing throughout everything.
First off is Nisika. Unironically his love might be the most well-developed and meaningful one, or at least the most clear-cut. Which is funny since his existence is completely irrelevant to the overarching story. I love him and his character development, but it's just so out-of-place. For about 50 chapters it completely distracts readers from the established premise and the conflicts that come with it. But I'm not joking when I say that my experience with this manga would be miles better if I only read the BL part and disregard everything else.
Then comes Lilina. The only character that actually takes into account her crush's feelings, tries to help her friends when they're conflicting with themselves and doesn't constantly lie to anyone. It makes me so mad that outside of the love triangle, she had no personality whatsoever. Her preciousness and selflessness ties everything together and honestly she deserves so much more than being in this poorly-written manga.
And finally, Misaki. The Lie™. I wholeheartedly believe that if this manga wasn't called "Love and Lies" (which is a banger title, I must admit), her character development wouldn't have been held hostage for 260 chapters by this super secret scary spooky Lie™ that will make sense later on i promise. Because of that Lie™, Misaki makes headache-inducing decisions and emotionally manipulates her crush to no end. And what's truly mind-boggling is that, despite every horrible thing she did, her actions are still understandable given the RIDICULOUS situation she's in.
Remember the decent world-building I prasied earlier? Did you think the The Lie™ had something to do with the fact that she's surpressing her true feelings due to living in a world where organic love is forbidden? Well actually, her secret is that in return for Nejima to be treated of his "lethal genes" (lol) that can kill him suddenly and prematurely, an illness which the government knows, can treat and actively hides, Misaki entered into a deal to become what is essentially a blood mare for the state-sponsored eugenics program. And she needed to keep everything a secret of course, unless she wants the government to annul the deal, withdraw the treatment and leave her crush for dead. I was absolutely speechless when this was revealed to be a thing. This is appalling. I mean the premise was already a little bit iffy but which editor looked at a Eugenic Japan plotline and went "yeah just put it into this drama rom-com"?? Oh and this little detail never gets brought up again. Not a single mention of what happened to the human-rights-violating program afterwards, nor anyone that thinks "this might be a little bit messed up" and speaks out against the program.
Oh yeah there's the leading character Nejima as well. Honestly he gets called spineless or whatever but I just feel bad for him. He got dealt (quite literally) the short end of the stick in life, is constantly gaslighted, emotionally manipulated and was even sexually assaulted in a toilet. For heaven's sake, he's just a silly teenager who likes Kofun a little too much, he doesn't deserve any of that. As the story gets way too out of hand in the final chapters, nothing he does or can do will be meaningful in the grand scheme of things anyways. He's just another of the dozen victims of this manga's terrible story-writing.
But hey, at the very least this manga, which establishes that to live and to love you must make difficult sacrifices, where choosing to make someone happy will inadvertently cause another's unhappiness, would have a bittersweet yet proper conclusion right? The mangaka decided to branch the ending into two routes in order to appease the fans of both characters. As a result, it completely destroys any connection the readers might have with the manga's storyline and characters after years of reading it. Oh and of course, the decision to split the ending and the endings themselves which had some bad points ended up alienating most of the fanbase anyways.
This manga is just a series of one bad decision after another. Plotlines thrown in without being given any thought just because it created more drama, more tension and stretched out the manga for just a little bit longer. Koi to Uso used to be all the rage, I mean, it even had its own reading website at one point. Now this manga's just a relic of something that used to be great.
When all is said and done, massive thanks to all the scanlators who stuck around throughout and to the mangaka for creating this undoubtedly memorable work (for better or for worse). All the best to her in her new work!
Before I read Koi to Uso, I was prepared to be enraged. I mean, it has a 5.6 ratings - that's literally lower than the Mein Kampf manga! But when I finished it, I just felt disappointed for what could have been. The manga did everything in its power to be a, at most, mediocre piece of fiction. To summarise it, Koi to Uso is just a below average soap opera put into print.
I'll give credit where credit's due - the first half establishes the world and its main lead really well. You have to keep in mind, all four of them are only 16 years old in this story. Hell, at that age, love is confusing to most people in our world, nevermind one where there exists a morally ambiguous system that does work for the betterment of society, but is also intentionally flawed. That's why them being indecisive about their true feelings while also wanting their cake and eating it too DOES make sense back then. This is acknowledged in the manga as nothing but wishful prayers from naive teenagers.
Exactly at the half-way point is when everything goes downhill. This is especially frustrating because after this point it's obvious that everything's a poor attempt to drag the story out, but the manga still takes itself so seriously. None of this is helped by the piss-poor pacing throughout everything.
First off is Nisika. Unironically his love might be the most well-developed and meaningful one, or at least the most clear-cut. Which is funny since his existence is completely irrelevant to the overarching story. I love him and his character development, but it's just so out-of-place. For about 50 chapters it completely distracts readers from the established premise and the conflicts that come with it. But I'm not joking when I say that my experience with this manga would be miles better if I only read the BL part and disregard everything else.
Then comes Lilina. The only character that actually takes into account her crush's feelings, tries to help her friends when they're conflicting with themselves and doesn't constantly lie to anyone. It makes me so mad that outside of the love triangle, she had no personality whatsoever. Her preciousness and selflessness ties everything together and honestly she deserves so much more than being in this poorly-written manga.
And finally, Misaki. The Lie™. I wholeheartedly believe that if this manga wasn't called "Love and Lies" (which is a banger title, I must admit), her character development wouldn't have been held hostage for 260 chapters by this super secret scary spooky Lie™ that will make sense later on i promise. Because of that Lie™, Misaki makes headache-inducing decisions and emotionally manipulates her crush to no end. And what's truly mind-boggling is that, despite every horrible thing she did, her actions are still understandable given the RIDICULOUS situation she's in.
Remember the decent world-building I prasied earlier? Did you think the The Lie™ had something to do with the fact that she's surpressing her true feelings due to living in a world where organic love is forbidden? Well actually, her secret is that in return for Nejima to be treated of his "lethal genes" (lol) that can kill him suddenly and prematurely, an illness which the government knows, can treat and actively hides, Misaki entered into a deal to become what is essentially a blood mare for the state-sponsored eugenics program. And she needed to keep everything a secret of course, unless she wants the government to annul the deal, withdraw the treatment and leave her crush for dead. I was absolutely speechless when this was revealed to be a thing. This is appalling. I mean the premise was already a little bit iffy but which editor looked at a Eugenic Japan plotline and went "yeah just put it into this drama rom-com"?? Oh and this little detail never gets brought up again. Not a single mention of what happened to the human-rights-violating program afterwards, nor anyone that thinks "this might be a little bit messed up" and speaks out against the program.
Oh yeah there's the leading character Nejima as well. Honestly he gets called spineless or whatever but I just feel bad for him. He got dealt (quite literally) the short end of the stick in life, is constantly gaslighted, emotionally manipulated and was even sexually assaulted in a toilet. For heaven's sake, he's just a silly teenager who likes Kofun a little too much, he doesn't deserve any of that. As the story gets way too out of hand in the final chapters, nothing he does or can do will be meaningful in the grand scheme of things anyways. He's just another of the dozen victims of this manga's terrible story-writing.
But hey, at the very least this manga, which establishes that to live and to love you must make difficult sacrifices, where choosing to make someone happy will inadvertently cause another's unhappiness, would have a bittersweet yet proper conclusion right? The mangaka decided to branch the ending into two routes in order to appease the fans of both characters. As a result, it completely destroys any connection the readers might have with the manga's storyline and characters after years of reading it. Oh and of course, the decision to split the ending and the endings themselves which had some bad points ended up alienating most of the fanbase anyways.
This manga is just a series of one bad decision after another. Plotlines thrown in without being given any thought just because it created more drama, more tension and stretched out the manga for just a little bit longer. Koi to Uso used to be all the rage, I mean, it even had its own reading website at one point. Now this manga's just a relic of something that used to be great.
When all is said and done, massive thanks to all the scanlators who stuck around throughout and to the mangaka for creating this undoubtedly memorable work (for better or for worse). All the best to her in her new work!
Agree wholeheartedly. I was reminded of this while reading another series. This and Blue Flag did the opposite thing they should have done. Blue Flag's BL ending felt forced and uninteresting. Meanwhile this series deserves its BL ending with a very interesting and fun best friend character never got what it deserves.
this is bullshit fr, the main character is dumsheet, he didnt even know what to do and couldnt even know who he loves, go freaking die lol. what he did is just hurting my girls
MC is frustratingly indecisive like in so many romance manga.
There is so much filler material. Nearly everything between Volumes 2-10 is filler material that can be skipped. This wouldn't that bad of a series if it cut out 90% of the content and just shortened to 3 volumes. That would turn it from a 5/10 manga to a 8/10 manga. Both endings are questionable. Where is the option to pick both girls?
I DIDNT KNOW LILINA HAD PINK HAIR bro like in the cover art of volume 2 she has blonde hair what happened??
Honestly it was such a drag seeing nejima being an indecisive bitch and misaki bitching about her "secret" from day 1
seeing lilina was the only breath of fresh air i got , she supported nejima throughout the series. She didn't deserve how she was treated in the misaki route.
I'm surprised how low rated this series is - but I think that's a factor of popularity combined with controversy more so. It's definitely a 7.5/10. For all it's fault it has a great premise, interesting plot beats and satisfying ending...though one of them is CLEARLY the correct ending.
Like most teen romance series it meanders quite a long time but I never really felt particularly bored through a large portion of it. Is what it is with ratings though.
