MANGA REVIEW | "You and I Are Polar Opposites" - Volume One
Quick: what’s the fastest time an anime rom-com couple got together? I don’t exactly know the answer to that, but You and I Are Polar Opposites could be a contender. The premiere manga from Kocha Asagawa explains just about everything in the title. Two students with totally different personalities on the verge of love and romance. Who knew that the path to love would be reached before the end of the first chapter?!
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. The story’s main focus is on Suzuki, a gyaru who is both great at making friends and working hard at studying. Sitting next to her is Tani, a stoic boy who says exactly what’s on his mind. Suzuki has a big crush on Tani, as she finds ways to talk to him during class. But then, a fateful moment after school occurs, as the two decide to walk home together.
That’s when things go unexpectedly fast. Suzuki wants to hold Tani’s hand, only for the boy to make the first move. The gyaru is in Heaven, but quickly pulls her hand away when she sees a couple of classmates passing by. At first, Suzuki tries to hide the fact that she likes Tani. However, unlike most manga rom-com protagonists, she gets honest with herself, and decides to tell all her friends. Their advice: run to the boy, and confess! And shockingly, she does!
Rather than play the waiting game for chapters on end, You and I Are Polar Opposites just goes for it. As someone who reads a lot of rom-coms, I say good on Asagawa, who could’ve easily stretched the “will they?/won’t they?” games throughout the manga’s run! It is a breath of fresh air when we see a romance happening at the beginning of the story. After all, I’m certain that a lot of us readers have lost our voices from screaming at fictional characters who just won’t confess how they’re feeling.
Thankfully, now that the hard part is out of the way, the manga now focuses on how Suzuki and Tani can grow as a couple. Things start out slow with walks from school, as well as learning how to communicate with one another. Where Suzuki has a hard time trying to think of something Tani is interested in, the boy just has a hard time conversing in general. It’s when they go on their first official date where both the sweetness and hilarity reaches the premiere volume’s peak.
Just how are you supposed to eat a burger properly on a first date? Is a family film a good choice for the first movie night? What are the important things to pay attention to in a story? These are all things that run through Suzuki’s mind when she’s with Tani. However, even with the two having different thoughts on all these subjects, there’s one thing that they can see eye-to-eye with: how much they enjoyed their time together.
Not only does their love grow fast, so does Tani’s friends’ circle. With Suzuki being a popular student, he’s been launched into popularity right next to her. At first, some of the students — including Taira — have no idea what Suzuki sees in Tani. But a few minutes just simply talking to him, and they start to get the idea of why Suzuki has the hots for him. Even if they have different personalities, it’s easy to see that it’s Tani’s kindness that drew Suzuki into liking him. (Well, that and the dark brooding factor of being a school loner too.)
Asagawa is all over the place with the visual style. And to be honest, I kind of dig that. Watching as Suzuki goes from being beautiful to dorky in seconds flat adds to the humor of the story. A drawing style that captures that silliness is needed, and Asagawa delivers that, be it with how Suzuki is about to chomp down on a burger or when she’s in full overload mode when she’s attempting to sleep.
Even with the plethora of rom-coms still circulating in the manga scene, You and I Are Polar Opposites is a welcoming addition. It hits the ground running with Suzuki and Tani’s romantic progression, giving way to a healthier presentation of how a love’s supposed to grow. On top of that, it’s funny as hell, be it from the characters’ one-liners or when Suzuki goes super-deformed in the visuals department. Hopefully as the story goes on, You and I Are Polar Opposites will continue to deliver with both the sweetness and silliness that this first volume delivered with ease!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
