TITLE: Moteki Love Strikes! vol. 1
YEAR: April 2018 (USA Release)
COMPANY: Viz Media
Story & Art by Mitsurou Kubo
From Mitsurou Kubo comes the US release of his popular 2008-2010 series “Moteki”.
Written and illustrated by Mitsurou Kubo, the manga received an adaptation into a Japanese TV drama in 2010 and a live-action film in 2011.
And now it will be released as an omnibus collections feature two volumes in April 2018 courtesy of Vertical Comics.
The manga series revolves around a guy named Yukiyo Fujimoto. He looks at his life, working a temp job, never having a steady job or having a girlfriend but all of a suddenly, many females start to contact him, which he believes he is experiencing “Moteki” (a slang for “the one and only period of time) where he feels he is becoming popular with girls and he better take advantage of it or else he will be girlfriend-less.
The manga series shows us how Yukiyo behaves and what he hopes to accomplish when he hangs out with his former co-worker, the beautiful Aki Doi, his young friend and photographer Itsuka Nakashiba, the beautiful Natsuki Komiyama and the juvenile delinquent Naoko Hayashida.
But the manga series delves into the life of a single guy who just wishes he could have a better life and one day have a girlfriend.
“Moteki” is a manga series that I feel that many guys would enjoy, considering many guys may sympathize and feel their lives may be similar to Yukiyo.
They may have many female friends or acquaintances but yet are unable to move on to the next step. May it be lack of social skills with women, lack of initiative or just a lack of something, perhaps naivety, that prevents them from going the next level.
We see Yukiyo Fujimoto who gets a call from his beautiful temp worker friend Aki Doi and while Aki shows interest in him, Yukiyo tends to overthink things and is blind to why she wants to hang out with him.
Itsuka Nakashiba is a photographer but Yukiyo and Itsuka are similar, awkward people trying to discover themselves. While more of a tomboy, they wonder if perhaps they can learn from each other. But both of them being inexperienced at relationships tend to make them awkward, despite knowing they are quite similar to each other.
As for Natsuki Komiyama, she is very beautiful and Yukiyo met her when he was overweight. He was riding on his bicycle and nearly crashed into her when she crossed the road, prompting Natsuki to take him to the hospital. For Yukiyo, Natsuki represents the dream girl that any guy would like. But for him to get a girl like that, he would have to change himself and his appearance by losing the weight.
While Naoko Hayashida was the juvenile delinquent that stole Yukiyo’s perverted comics he would draw. He ended up slapping her and the two no doubt didn’t like each other in school. But what happens when they meet each other again as adults?
We get to see Yukiyo and his progress from a guy who doesn’t know as much, to a guy who starts to learn from his mistakes or bad decisions, no matter how tough things are.
“Moteki” is no doubt a fascinating story about a guy finding his place and trying to make it happen! Many guys know how that feels or knows people like Yukiyo, so I have no doubt many guys would love this manga series. But it’s important to remind everyone who is curious about this book, that it’s for mature audiences.
There is profanity, there is nudity, there are sexual situations but it’s also a manga series that many young adults can relate to.
Overall, Mitsurou Kubo’s “Moteki” is a manga series worth reading! It’s a story about a guy who is tired of being without a girlfriend, a guy who wants to have sex with a girl but he just needs some time to figure things out. Will Yukiyo find a girlfriend?
“Moteki Love Strikes!” is a manga that I definitely recommend!