If you were to ask me what I think is the most arduous task is for a mangaka Id answer with character relationships and dynamics. For characterdriven stories its imperative to smoothly convey some sort of internal change in the characters. Whether it be their personality goals motives relationships etc. One common criticism I see for many different series relates to relationships and dynamics. Maybe a romantic relationship stagnated after a while or never happened in the end after flurries of fanservice or a character acted in an unnatural manner that broke character. And Im no exception character writing is perhaps the strongest element that will make or break any series for me. Of course my expectations widely differs from series to series genre to genre. Among my least strict regards the school comedy subgenre. I mean Im certainly not expecting phenomenally introspective character writing in Azumanga Daioh or Daily Lives of High School Boys right? Yugamikun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai endearingly shattered my expectational hurdles for its genre. The adorably dull art style and consistently lighthearted atmosphere kept me miles width away from expecting by far my favorite character relationship and dynamic writing in any manga Ive read up to this point. Even though I was always someone who parroted the phrase Dont judge a book by its cover I did the same expecting a light 6/10 gag comedy only to come out proclaiming this to be my favorite manga of all time. SPOILERS AHEAD He was a boy she was a girl Yugamikun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai depicts a rather mundane premise: a transfer student named Watanuki Chihiro who interacts with an aloof loner named Yugami Yuuji. The first several chapters offers little more than this mainly to establish the awkward start to their peculiar relationship. Chihiro has yet to adjust to her new school and acquaint herself with her classmates and is stuck with the other loner Yugami. Initially I expected a gag story with a Manzai comedy style consisting of Yugami saying and doing bewildering things Chihiro reacting rinse and repeat. It certainly seemed fitting considering Yugamis enigmatic nature and dogmatic philosophy Chihiros rather plain neutral character. Though I was somewhat right about the comedy the dynamics of both their characters came as pleasant surprises. The story is largely carried by two things I believe to be among the most difficult to execute well ambiguity and subtlety. The ambiguity derives mostly from Yugamis character and his relationship with Chihiro. Are they simply classmates? Friends? Fellow loners? Whatever it may be the story takes its sweet time in developing and making Yugami and Chihiros .... whatevership into the main highlight of the series. More on Yugamis ambiguity later. The subtlety coincides with the ambiguity well with Yugami and Chihiros relationship evolving with sneakingly small yet satisfying nuanced steps. For quite a few other school comedy series Ive read character relationships often explode in development at the start to hook the audience in Ex: Normal guy discovers the school idols secret and builds an intimate relationship with her then stagnate for the majority of the series due to recycling comedic gags occasionally sprinkled with dull relationship progression. However this series doesnt immediately reel us in with sporadic huge development dumps it steadily fosters the twos relationship and rarely shows any gap or break in its evolution. Another refreshing aspect I found was the series lack of cliches. Being a culmination of the school comedy and sports genres I was surprised that the typical cliches found in the respective genres were rarely played out. And if they were they broke the superficial nature of the trope as simply redundant comedy and story writing but as refreshing elevations of the characters. Perhaps the series sounds like a melodramatic sliceoflife from what Ive described so far but Yugamikun ni wa Tomodachi is additionally a phenomenal situational comedy. The comedy largely relies on the dialogue and interactions between various characters but none more profound and amusing than Yugamis. Supplemented by the consistently lighthearted tone the conflicts are almost always smirkinducing. A strong driving force behind it is its trope subversion. I think subversive comedy can be dull after a while once the audience has experienced the usual pattern of the expected buildup to be met with a jebait moment but this series executes it without losing taste. Theres no real build up to these subversive moments making the jebait subversion much more in your face. The dramatic love confessionhttps://i.ur.com/JTinBMh.png The fireworks muffling the confessionhttps://i.ur.com/n9TmreA.png Had the story featured only Yugami and Chihiro the series wouldve been a stagnating cesspool. But because Sakura Jun wrote other characters with as much detailed writing as our main protagonists and others with roles extremely relevant to our protagonists relationship and situations it became an outstanding characterdriven story. The other characters are often parallels to Yugami and Chihiro in order to characterize the two further but theyre given their own distinct enjoyable personalities in their dual interactions with the two. All in all I hope I conveyed my love for the story. Sakura Jun seamlessly strengthened an otherwise mundane premise with things Ive always considered to be difficult to implement and execute in a consistently refreshing manner. Now Ill provide brief character analyses of both of our protagonists then flesh them out further with important story arcs. The Melancholy of Yuuji Yugami Hmm where do I begin with the SCP creature known as Yugami? The social martyr for the angsty cynical teen? A living paradox? An undaunted contrarian? In the simplest terms Yugami is well ... Yugami. Consideration Its extremely easy to wave off Yugami as an inconsiderate asshole. He makes blunt and harsh comments has an aloof personality and the rancid rumors and reputation surrounding him characterize him as The Black Plague. However there lies human consideration inside of him too. Just unorthodox consideration. In simplest terms imagine we all have social filters in our heads taking in inputs of someones emotions words and actions and outputs an appropriate response following social etiquette. Well Yugamis social filter is just defective. Hes often unable to empathize with sociallystraining situations and conflicts and coupled with his aloof and dogmatic personality the solutions he offers are often views as inconsiderate. But he does indeed take other peoples feelings into account when his actions involve others. This is seen early on when he excessively stresses over Rios love letter to him. He spends days wracking his brain how to resolve this situation thatd appease both her and himself but unfortunately arrives at humorously ridiculous solutions. In the end however he decides to uphold his honesty as the resolution. Not Bad Not Good As previously mentioned the ambiguity in this series is topnotch. And for the nature of Yugamis character its easily the strongest driving force behind what makes him so enjoyable. Yugamis character is established by others and even by himself to be a selffulfilling being who sees everything through a blackandwhite frame of doing this will be good for me and doing this will be bad for me. As such it certainly paints him as a selfish selfcentered person who dismisses the consequences of his actions on others. His actions and words are often harsh brief and brutal. Because he often cant empathize with dire social situations since he simply doesnt care about them he may offer littletono help. This is best seen with his onesided communication with Chihiro particularly in chapterhttps://i.ur.com/m8Ls5O0.png 20https://i.ur.com/vebG92y.png. Because of Yugamis extreme tendency to associate with things he cares about and ignore all else that he doesnt he often doesnt care about other peoples issues but forces his issues onto others if it comes down to it such as in the previously mentioned chapter. Such scenes do paint Yugami in a selfish light. However as the story progresses the situations and conflicts Yugami faces gradually paints a different narrative of Yugami. The intentions behind his actions seem to become less selfcentered and more empathetic. His mild reactions silent and brief dialogue tends to show that hes thinking about something other than benefitting himself from a situation. Still Yugamis seemingly inconsiderate actions and the selfcentered reasons he gives behind his actions balance out this surprisingly empathetic side making him out to be a interestingly lopsided guy. What exactly fleshed out this ambiguity in Yugamis character is Chihiro. For him Chihiro was initially nothing more than an object to project and reinforce his beliefs and a little more than a frustratingly naive puppy. The very first chapter already presented how Chihiro would become a catalyst for Yugamis ambiguity and dynamic when he defends Chihiro from their upperclassmens wrath. Though this and many of the early situations largely illustrate Yugamis intentions in a onesided selffulfilling manner they becomes ambiguously considerate and wholesome as the story progresses. Even when Yugami states repaying his debts is a principle of his his consideration shows through. How Yugami creates a rakugo club for the lonely Chihirohttps://i.ur.com/lUZ6RNP.png Thanking Chihirohttps://i.ur.com/n9TmreA.png 420https://i.ur.com/0iUAMvV.png Chihiro Watanuki To offset the peculiar phenomenon known as Yugami exists Chihiro Watanuki. The only person other than his family willing to freely associate with him Chihiro becomes a catalyst and an irreplaceable presence in his life. I Walk a Lonely Road Chihiro is introduced as also a loner. A veteran transfer student who makes friends as quickly as she loses them. Thus she disassociated herselfhttps://i.ur.com/7yhI0pa.png seeing that no long term friendships would ever to fruition. However as the town Yugami lives in would become her permanent home Chihiro switches gears and is determined to at last create unforgettable bonds with her new classmates. However the distance between her as a new student and her closeknit classmates combined with her fretful nature making her unwilling to initiate communication once again rendered Chihiro a loner. The only solace she had was both unfortunately and fortunately Yugami Yuuji. His influence had ironic effects on her. Merely associating with him swept Chihiro in the same black tarred category as Yugami in the eyes of her peers thus initially ostracizing her from everyone. However in the various situations she found herself in thanks to Yugami such as interacting with the baseball club Chihiro started to interact with more and more people eventually becoming friends. In a very strange way Chihiro was helped out by Yugami early on and their association became a heartwarming one. Reading the Mood = Kindness? A substantial detrimental part of Chihiros personality was her weakness to peer pressure. Early on an important scene imperative to Chihiros character was her cleanup dutyhttps://i.ur.com/udZZ3HL.png. Perhaps something like taking over someone elses cleaning duties may be minuscule and mundane but it expressed how Chihiro was desperate to have a good image of herself in the eyes of her new classmates even if meant doing things she didnt want to. And the one who provided her some introspection was Yugami. While the depiction of Yugami lacking the skill to read the mood portrays him in an unflattering light the depiction of Chihiro subservient to it portrays her as someone thatd let others step over her. And even though Chihiro continues to read the mood she respects Yugamis rejection to follow this socially inherent rule. A Friend of a Friend Isnt a Friend Another substantial part of Chihiros character was the tense dynamics of her circle. Thanks to Yugami Chihiro became friends with Waka manager of the baseball club and entered her circle of friends consisting of another person and Wakas childhood friend. However the group dynamics turned into a cold war for quite a while in the story and depicts an interesting even realistic conflict. Kaori Wakas childhood friend dislike and ostracizes Chihiro from their group for some reason unbeknownst to Chihiro. But with her fretful nature and unwillingness to confront and initiate Chihiro ends up at an awkward tense standstill with her. With both parties unwilling to properly communicate misunderstandings and Chihiros stress build up over the course of the story. Even when Chihiro tries to appease Kaori with niceties shes ignored and still given the cold shoulder. And because she doesnt want to depend on Waka too much something Kaori herself says she finds annoying about Chihiro Chihiro only depends on herself to resolve this situation. Though its eventually resolved all fine and dandy this conflict dually depicts how reading the mood isnt a onefitsall solution and proper straightforward communication is necessary. And now to begin the lengthy examination of the saga of their relationship progression Yugamikun vs Wakanukisan The first dramatic turning point in Yugami and Chihiros relationship. Up until this point their relationship was rather lopsided. Yugami helped out Chihiro for some odd reason indulged her with his rakugo or miscellaneous rants and they irregularly interacted. In short some twisted form of acquaintanceship with onesided communication? But for once Chihiro actually selfasserts herself in their relationship. Chihiro overhears Kaori complaining that Chihiro stresses out Waka with her association with Yugami. Chihiro insecure about her lack of objectivity wants Yugami to hear her out and offer advice. He refuses as it will involve him in a complicated mess. Simultaneously Yugami is stressed out from Heitarous bad rakugo performance and wants to hear Chihiros opinions about it to reaffirm his own. And in turn she refuses as shes stressed out from her own situation. Agreeing to compromise by hearing each other out Yugami continues to onesidedly dominate the conversation for his own sake. Chihro snapping from all the accumulated stress finally selfasserts her position in their relationship and berates him for not being objective when he rants and defends Heitarou and that he ignores others but wants to be listened to. Up until this point Yugami was criticized solely through the words and rumors of those who rarely interacted with him but Chihiro someone who regularly does finally makes a valid criticism of his character his hypocrisy. The objectivity that hes so proud of is shallow and narrowminded blinded by his own dogmatic nature hes just as subjective as those who talk ill of him. And once hit with this criticism Yugami for the first realizes hes flawed. And that he could learn something from others instead of living in his own echo chamber. Though Yugami continues to onesidedly dominate their conversations it marked the first time that Yugami began to consider other peoples words and principles. Not necessarily adapt them but accept that his own thoughts arent the only valid ones. 520https://i.ur.com/ntZTwaC.png Yugamikun Induces Tears and Stumbles Upon Yugami and Chihiros ambiguous relationship is finally put to the test and examined clearly. Though we know what Yugami is to Chihiro someone who she wants to befriendhttps://i.ur.com/2EgPlOp.png what is Chihiro to Yugami? After seeing that Yugami made Nogami cry Chihiro exclaims that shes cutting him off. To Yugamis dismay as he believes they werent even close enough to sever ties. As things go on though Chihiro becomes more distressed over this while Yugami is seemingly unaffected. For Chihiro this situation is extremely vexing and distressing. Shes always worried over the nuances and tensions in her relationships and an ambiguous relationship with someone like Yugami causes her the most worry. For Yugami he expectantly continues his life nonchalantly. However its plausible that hes indeed affected. He comments on broken ties being irreparablehttps://i.ur.com/aGm0IiT.png and his strange habits may be caused by the break off. In the end he believes there was never any tension between them to begin withhttps://i.ur.com/HDIJeXq.png suggesting that he thinks they already had good ties and that Chihiro is important to him. And in the end Chihiro apologizes through a text with Yugami simply replying with two words Got it. The seemingly flat anticlimactic resolution being the text conversation is perfectly fitting. Theres always been an ambiguous air to their relationship and an indirect form of communication like texting compliments the implicit growing nuances of their relationship. For Yugami and Chihiro they dont need a cliche dramatic scene. This resolution perfectly complements the dual nature of their relationship one of ambiguity and indirectness and another of understanding and budding importance of each other. 420https://i.ur.com/bFc8eok.png Will Watanukisan Change? Compared to the usual nuanced subtleness of their relationship Chihiro explicitly expressed her feelings about Yugami in the most heartfelt genuine and gorgeous confession scene Ive read that makes it transparent how far their relationship has progressed. After hitting a nohitter game Yugami gains immense popularity. Though usually a person who ignores others he starts to feel pressure from popularity with everyone treating him differently. And Chihiro feels happy that everyones seeing Yugami in a positive light now yet lonelyhttps://i.ur.com/KfwN722.png that the distance between them may increase. Though Yugami proclaims that hell never change to her right after. Kaori who wants to date Yugami to leech his popularity haughtily makes Chihiro write a love letter to Yugami. Unsure what to say since she still isnt aware of what exactly their relationship Chihiro reflects on all her experiences with Yugami. The times hes helped her. How he isnt wellreceived in school. How his stubbornness shows how he never stops going forward. How he isnt nearly as terrible as everyone makes him out to be. How he brightens up her day. And how shell always continue to root for him wherever he goes.https://ur.com/a/lLQtmCp Chihiro and Yugamis relationship can easily be misinterpreted as stagnant and turtlepaced. 14 volumes in and Chihiro still isnt aware of what her connection with Yugami is. Their interactions are patterned with Yugamis onesided rants and Yugami unintentionally helping her out. Perhaps their interactions havent evolved dramatically but words speak louder than actions. Whenever Chihiro is downtrodden Yugami offers her his sarcastic peculiar pearls of wisdom. But in a way they encourage her. And in occasions when Yugami is unable to find a solution by himself Chihiros words may offer alternatives. Ultimately their relationship revolves around indirectness and subtlety. Just like how their relationship was restored with mere phone texts this letter that Chihiro doesnt even show Yugami further reveals the dynamic of their relationship beautifully implicit and understanding even if words arent spoken. 420https://i.ur.com/yoZqiyT.png Watanuki Chihiro Ponders the Question After 15 volumes Chihiro finally establishes her relationship to Yugami her friend. Yugami leaves the cultural festivals afterparty swiftly satisfied with visiting all the attractions and booths in the festival and even complimented Chihiros puppet show. However their class again speaks ill of Yugami more harshly than usual for being unable to read the mood. The start of the chapter references Chihiros cleaning duty situation back in Chapter 18 where Yugami sarcastically asks her if she enjoys cleaning. Chihiro lacked the confidence to reject requests submitting to the will of reading the mood. And now Chihiro has a dream about it but now instead Yugami is the one cleaning up. And in this case he doesnt read the mood earning him criticism from his class mates for failing to do sohttps://i.ur.com/4jc6aA6.png. This serves as a premonition later on in the chapter when everyone criticizes Yugami for not reading the mood once again. But this time around Chihiro actually speaks out. Even though shes the only one willing to stand her ground against the entire class she defends her friendhttps://i.ur.com/GDciJrH.png and opposes the hivemind. Going from a person who lacked initiative and confidence to someone berating the majority signifies the positive extent that Yugami has had on her over the course of the story. 420https://i.ur.com/HIm1rkF.png 420https://i.ur.com/aSUogEM.png Watanuki Chihiro Has Friends But what does Yugami think of their relationship? Well...https://i.ur.com/LZZVaq2.png Unlike the times where Yugami rejects Chihiros offer of friendship at the start of the story and Chihiro cutting off Yugami when their relationship was still up in the air this strain in their relationship is much more tense. Chihiro asserted Yugami as her friend now so she feels crushed that her feelings arent mutual. And awkwardness and tension causes a rift between the two. However Chihiro and Yugami still find themselves thinking about each otherhttps://ur.com/a/78fBSyI. All the people shes met and memories shes gained were indirectly due to Yugami and even if Yugami doesnt see her as a friend through out all of their experiences what hes done for her is more than enoughhttps://i.ur.com/nmHO6tf.png. At the end however Yugamis surprisingly the one to end the stand stillhttps://i.ur.com/4eV7ydW.png once again restoring their relationship. 420https://i.ur.com/V8HkGzA.png Yugamikun Graduates Yugami elected student representative for the graduating year reads his graduation speech conveying his usual aloof philosophical rants but goes on to encourage everyones hes methttps://ur.com/a/62KtMrY. From Chihiro to Rio to Yaegeshi to Kaori to Kadota etc from all the observations hes made of them and their conflicts over the past 2 years. Yugami simultaneously disregards companionship and encourages others to love themselves. This chapter more than any other illustrates the beauty of Yugamis character. His principles were never compromised for the sake of plot or relationship progression making up the core of his character. But thanks to Chihiros presence and all the people hes interacted with Yugamis realized the values of other peoples principles. And in this conclusion he simultaneously encourages them and reaffirms his own principles. To the very end Yugami doesnt need friends. But he learns that theres value in other peoples pursuits of goals different to his. Afterwards Chihiro runs after Yugami but doesnt know what to sayhttps://i.ur.com/XtsWGeA.png except a simple thank you. For all the unforgettable experiences and friends shes made thanks to the catalyst known as Yugami Yuuji. And Yugami who never understood implicit meanings behind social conventions and would always furiously question people intentions simply smiles back signifying he understands everything Chihiro wanted to convey. 420https://i.ur.com/ffuBYPm.png Conclusion Character dynamic and relationships can often be a tricky task for many mangaka to undertake. And by miles Yugamikun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai ranks among the top with its exceptional writing of Yugami and Chihiros ambiguously wholesome relationship. Sakura Jun never cheapened the value of their relationship with repetitive tropes stagnating drama or listless gags. This otherwise plain premise of two students interacting is deeply enriched with its phenomenal situational comedy short but impactful story arcs enjoyable side characters and the consistent pace. My dulled expectations coming into this story were blown out of the waters earning the enthronement as my favorite manga. And any other school sliceoflife comedy fan will surely be left mesmerized by the peculiar phenomenon known as Yugami Yuuji. 420https://i.ur.com/Ls21zKi.png