Looking for romance with GOOD male MC (+more)

Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
4
Digging through a literal ocean of romcoms/romantic dramas to find something good..

I'll put my preferences/criteria in bullet points, none of these are 100% essential, but I'd like as many as possible in a recommendation:

[ul]- Well written/likeable/charismatic/capable male MC. No wet towel loser with no self control, no self awareness, and no qualities! Especially important if it's a harem, then the MC needs to have qualities that makes it believable that people would be into him, be that looks, charisma, skills, confidence, emphatic/able to read other characters, etc.

- Must be a story with at least some progression, both in terms of characters and plot. No slice of life gag managa where the status quo never changes.

- It's nice if romance isn't the only focus of the story. Characters that have only one specific thing going on in their life (their love life in a romance, becoming the strongest or whatever in a shounen, whatever specific gimmick in a slice of life) are pretty boring and unrelatable.

- Preferably multiple important characters of both genders. The typical romance MC with no male friends but a swarm of girls is kinda cringy.

- Well rounded characters. I just read Komi-san, and while it has some good points, that characters of that manga are DOGSHIT. Literally every character is completely defined by one specific trait that they never escape or subvert, even the two main characters.. I think the only important character in the entire manga that isn't tied down by some gimmick is the gyaru one?! Please take a lesson from Kaguya in character writing!

- Characters with some sexual maturity. I'd be nice with a story where the characters aren't the pure, naive sexual innocence of 99% of all manga, but definitively not a must.

- Gyaru/delinquent female character(s). Again, not a must, but a weak point for me.😏 (No "hot gal takes a liking to loser MC for literally no reason" mangas tho, why are there suddenly so many of these?)[/ul]


So yeah, sorry for a lot of text and ciriteria, but yeah, if anyone could come with some good recommendations that cover most of these points that would be super great!
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
4
>smugcatto
Haha, I tried combining "gyaru" with a bunch of tags like "charismatic male lead", "cool male lead", "intelligent protagonist" etc and I literally couldn't find a single hit, despite "gyaru" being used 227 times..

>MawMaw
Thanks, I'll have a look at those!
 
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Messages
123
https://mangadex.org/title/45281/i-love-you-as-a-friend

https://mangadex.org/title/9317/madame-petit

https://mangadex.org/title/15707/koudaike-no-hitobito

https://mangadex.org/title/49466/kokohore-boketsu-chan

https://mangadex.org/title/33670/skip-to-loafer

https://mangadex.org/title/21948/tsuiraku-jk-to-haijin-kyoushi

https://mangadex.org/title/37498/kimi-wa-houkago-insomnia

https://mangadex.org/title/34198/yankee-kun-to-hakujou-gaaru

https://mangadex.org/title/26493/saenai-riman-to-yankee-joshi-kousei

https://mangadex.org/title/16757/sangatsu-wa-ore-sama-ni-narimasu


Hope it helps. Good luck!
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Apr 15, 2018
Messages
753
That's a pretty specific order, chief. This is what I've got.

Kowloon Generic Romance - Adult office worker romance in a slightly off-kilter Kowloon Walled City and a mysterious undertone.
Love Score - You mentioned sexual maturity, and I really like how the sex is handled so far in this one. It's only just started and could pretty much go anywhere, but I'd keep a close eye on it regardless.
Rokudou no Onna Tachi - Since you've mentioned gyaru and harem a few times, I'll give this one a shout out. Rokudou's rough around the edges, but it puts quite a bit of effort into the gradual self-improvement of its protagonist and male cast. It's also very funny. Personally, I think it's a very charming series.
Yandere Kanojo (and its parallel online release) - Large, likeable cast with a delinquent heroine and an intricate web of quite developed separate romances between other characters. Also has the benefit of being complete.
 
Dex-chan lover
Joined
Jun 20, 2019
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@Edguy i like the atmosphere in this manga, make sure to read the sequel
https://mangadex.org/title/3447/memories-of-emanon
 
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Messages
73
Hopefully no one's recced these yet ^^;
I really really loved https://mangadex.org/title/50459/zense-coupling it's super wholesome but all the MLs are really sincere! it features 4 diff romances and it was completed recently + it's a pretty light, concise read. unfortunately, it's school life so there isn't much of a maturity element here :')
There's also https://mangadex.org/title/50458/honnou-switch which admittedly is sm*t but i thought the characters were really sweet to each other and definitely have a relationship characteristic of adults! there hasn't been much character development as of yet since it's relatively new, but i have my hopes up hehe!
I also absolutely adore https://mangadex.org/title/218/kuragehime it's kind of a hit or miss for a lot of people, but i really truly love it. it has to be one of my favorite romance manga ever just because of the nuances of the ML. however, again it doesn't have much of that "maturity" you might be looking for, though the MCs are adults + idk if this would be up your alley, but the ML defies gender stereotypes as a central facet of the plot! i highly recommend it to you bc the ML really makes it for me!

here are some others that i can't necessarily attest to myself, but that a lot of people ik have enjoyed:
https://mangadex.org/title/22440/jumyou-wo-kaitotte-moratta-ichinen-ni-tsuki-ichimanen-de
https://mangadex.org/title/21562/kusuriya-no-hitorigoto
https://mangadex.org/title/17342/machida-kun-no-sekai
https://mangadex.org/title/21863/kimi-no-suizou-wo-tabetai
https://mangadex.org/title/19321/kochou-no-yumeji
https://mangadex.org/title/35625/tale-of-a-girl-and-a-delinquent-who-s-bad-with-women
check em out if you're interested--the ratings are all pretty high!

hope you enjoy the reads :)
 

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