Manga Review: So Cute It Hurts!! 5 by Go Ikeyamada
Quick recap: Megumu and Mitsuru Kobayashi are fraternal twins. Megumu’s a studious history nerd and Mitsuru’s good at kendo and other sports. They go to different schools. When Mitsuru’s grades dropped badly enough that he’d lose his sports eligibility, he pressured Megumu into switching identities with him for a week so she could take his makeup tests. Each of them fell in love with someone from the other’s school while disguised.
Mitsuru’s crush is Shino Takenaka, a sweet-natured deaf girl. He and his sister have been learning sign language to communicate with her, but she’s unaware of the identity switch. Azusa Tokugawa is Shino’s classmate who bullied her until Mitsuru stepped in. She’s aware of the switch, and used it to blackmail him into meeting her for a “challenge” because she finds him inexplicably hot. While they were out on this not-a-date, they saw Shino kissing a young man.
Mitsuru’s not happy about this, but has no normal way of getting in touch with Shino to find out what’s up. So he persuades Megumu to switch places with him again with the promise she’ll get to see her crush, Aoi Sanada, who is Shino’s brother (due to divorce they have different family names) and wears an eyepatch, at the boys’ school sports day.
Mitsuru in disguise learns about Shino’s “other man” and works to find out what their real relationship is.
Meanwhile, Megumu indulges in a little recursive crossdressing at sports day, by having “Mitsuru” wear a female cheerleading outfit. Aoi knows what’s going on, so he’s just bemused, but his classmate Moyuyu finds himself again questioning his sexuality.
While Megumu and Aoi become closer, Mitsuru learns a bittersweet lesson about romance and the cost/benefit ratio of unselfishness.
Time skip! It’s now the beginning of the next school year. Aoi and Megumu are openly dating, while Azusa keeps “challenging” Mitsuru. He finally gets a chance to see her at one of her modeling shoots, where it turns out the other models are “mean girls” too. She shows off her quick thinking and modeling skills. Mitsuru starts to think Azusa might have a better side….
The silly romantic comedy continues, but with a serious moment of heartfelt emotion here. This is really the first time in the series that Mitsuru has to choose between his own desires and what will make another person happy. HIs previous lies also come back to bite him.
The art remains cute, and Azusa has progressed from bully to “tsundere” (person who’s mean on the outside but has feels inside.) I suspect the crossdressing plot device has finally run its course; it’s hinted that the twins (especially Megumu) have physically developed enough to make it more difficult for them to pass as each other.
There’s still a high level of coincidence needed to make things run.
Content note: Azusa is bullied by her fellow models.
Overall: Still a sweet series for romantic comedy fans, but it might be getting more generic from this point.
