So this novel caught my attention when I saw an interview with the author Hiromusensei. There he talked about a lot of interesting things but what immediately caught my attention was what he said about if you make a protagonist which is a handsome popular boy and he already knows the girls you wouldnt have to write all the same clichd stuff about boymeetsgirl and whatnot pretty much the standard romcom light novel starting point. I was sold when the synopsis said that the protagonist was a popular handsomelooking guy instead of the average loner antisocial protagonist man these words always haunts any romcom synopsis you ever find. So I started reading the first volume and it was so interesting It was truly a refreshing take on romcoms to have a riajuu or normie whatever you like as the main character. If you feeling frustrated about romcoms protagonists being the same average guy with low selfesteem and all the same bullshit traits youve seen a million times you will probably like this novel. Im aware that some people didnt like the protagonist his name is Saku Chitose I will refer to him as Saku now Ive seen people claiming he was cringe too arrogant a prick and other things. Honestly I cant understand them. I tried but couldnt. I mean there you have a romcom protagonist with actual personality and defining traits that diverge from the standard. His monologues were really funny to read his interactions with people all I see is a confident popular guy so thats why people found him cringe? Because he actually talks normally to people flirt with girls and act like a human being instead of stuttering like the usual? Thats weird.... And for those that think hes the perfect handsome guy its actually far from it. I cant talk more about that without spoiling it but he has his own problems and is far from perfect. Now lets talk about the main thing: the plot. Man if you go only by the synopsis you will probably think its something like Tomozakikun. Well the first volume really have some similarities with it mainly the conflict between this social hierarchy in school between riajuus and the lower caste like otakus and whatnot. I could see people not liking this approach of Saku trying to rehabilitate this shutin otaku that dont come to school by teaching him some stuff. But I thought of the execution done way better than Tomozakikun especially because this conflict only lasts one volume. Yeah you read it right the main plot isnt about Saku teaching this shutin otaku about how to become a riajuu or something like that. The main plot is actually about enjoying youth to its fullest and you really feel that with the authors narration style. His prose is really good and unique if you compare it to the average light novels writing. You can clearly imagine these japanese teenagers enjoying high school in a rural city and all the other things that accompanies the daily life of high schoolers like love friendship what you aspire to be in the future and other dilemmas like sports activities. The author is from Fukui City which seems to be a lovely rural city in Japan and the story happens there and you can really feel yourself immersed in this town that you never saw in your life you feel the love the author has for his hometown poured in the novel because he writes about commonplace things of his city. Sports can be pretty relevant to the story and its so amazingly done if you are a fan of sports manga you will love some parts. 220https://static.zerochan.net/Chitosekun.wa.Ramune.Bin.no.Naka.full.3396011.jpg 220https://static.zerochan.net/Chitosekun.wa.Ramune.Bin.no.Naka.full.3396012.jpg One thing you will often see in this novel are the characters using metaphors especially about ramune bottle and the moon. Man these metaphors really make you think about stuff and it was the intention of the author to do that so everyone can interpret it their own way so the novel has a lot of reread value. You will see characters talking or thinking about reaching out to the moon it basically means someone that seems really close but is so far away its something that people yearn for. The other way around you have the ramune bottle and as you can see in the title of the novel Chitosekun is in the Ramune Bottle it means that for some people the main character Chitose is like the marble that is inside the ramune bottle look it up if you dont know what it is something that seems close to the eye through the plastic or glass surface and you could reach it but its actually unreachable. 220https://static.zerochan.net/Chitosekun.wa.Ramune.Bin.no.Naka.full.3289841.jpg 220https://officialongoing1.ivalice.us/manga/ChitoseIsintheRamuneBottle/0002016.png Theres something weirdly nostalgic about reading it like I said the authors writing style is amazing and it really helps set the mood for some parts of the novel. I felt a tinge of melancholy sometimes also happiness nostalgia sadness and I definitively laughed a lot with some scenes. The characters are so charismatic their interactions are pure gold Saku with his remarks are tremendously funny. Characters you thought would be the same clichd evil characters used to create conflict turned out be more fleshed out than that and also good people at their own way basically flawed real people you see everywhere. Theres a sensei character in this novel that is outright hilarious his remarks about some stuff made me laugh out loud he is a really good ojisan type of character if you know what I mean. At the point I write this review I read 4 volumes of the novel and man now I can confidently say its the best romcom light novel Ive read to this point. Its unfair to compare it to Oregairu my fav romcom to this day because I would compare the anime of Oregairu with the novel version of Chitosekun but if you ignore that I really think Chitosekun has the potential to surpass Oregairu as my fav romcom in the future. Each volume kept getting better and vol 4 was the culmination of all of it. It was truly one of the best book Ive read. So in case you didnt like vol 1 that much keep reading at least until vol 4 its the culmination of a lot of buildup the main character had each volume it was really a pleasant surprise to see a romcom protagonist getting that much characterization with his backstories building his character something you rarely see in romcom novels If you are looking for a unique romcom novel that is about enjoying youth tired of the same stuff you see everyday give it a try. I cant promise you will love it as much as I did but why not give a it a try right? Honestly Im not the type of guy to write a review especially a long one this is the first time Im willing to do something I would not bother and why is that? Because I felt an urge from the bottom of my heart to spread this novel to more people that is my most sincere sentiment. Thanks for those that read it all you guys are amazing.