Renai Shijou Shugi

Short and simple review:

A smutty shoujo manga about a girl and a guy who share an interest in Judo.

If you enjoy shoujo, high school settings, and explicit content, this manga might be for you.

However, if you're seeking a story that leaves a lasting impression even after you've finished it, this one doesn't fit the bill.

After reading around eight chapters, I'm still unclear why the girl developed feelings for the guy or why he initially treated her as his "toy." If he had genuine feelings for her, why didn't he simply confess? (Though, this ambiguity was likely intentional by the author.) Naturally, the girl eventually succumbed to the guy's sexual desires.

The characters lack sufficient depth to keep me engaged. Consequently, I decided to drop it.

I only began reading this manga last night and have already made it up to Volume 06. Unfortunately, I can't find more chapters anywhere right now.

This manga fits into several categories: school life, romance, shoujo, ecchi, and drama ;)

There are two main characters: Nagakura Seri, a female, and Hayasaki Tamaki, a male. They are childhood friends who attended Tamaki's family-owned dojo/karate club since they were young and reconnected years later. Seri is clumsy and sometimes weak but has a fiery personality when provoked =) Tamaki is extremely protective, seductive, and his looks speak for themselves.

Throughout their school life, both characters face various challenges and meet new people. Seri gets attacked twice in a row, making the reader sympathize with her and hope that Tamaki will come to her rescue. "Oh my god, Tamaki?! Save her!!" was my thought process. The ecchi scenes are wonderfully done; the atmosphere is always perfectly built-up, and the artwork is amazing in its detail, especially during intimate moments - no explicit nudity though, just very sensual scenes that draw you in even more.

The love between Seri and Tamaki feels genuine, and I greatly admire their relationship. They struggle together, and Tamaki helps Seri study. He remains protective of her without judging her after she's been 'tainted' by other men.

You really should give this manga a try - trust me, you'll be hooked from Chapter 1 ;)

For those struggling to find it, you can download it from mangatraders.com, although the site might not always work due to high traffic. Just create a free account, and you're good to go.

Enjoy =)

Minami Kanan brings her signature style to the forefront once again! Her smutty tales are breathtaking, with beautifully crafted characters and settings. Although the artwork doesn't quite match the magnificence of Kyousou Heaven—Seri often appears less than flattering—the storyline is more extended, albeit not complex or linear, becoming repetitive and predictable at times, even annoyingly sentimental.

Seri is thrilled about starting high school and dreams of having a boyfriend by her side. Enter Tamaki, her childhood karate partner, who's both a pain and irresistibly attractive due to his raging hormones! How can Seri be blamed if she ends up as his "toy" after losing a match she shouldn't have taken in the first place? Thus begins their steamy affair that heats up the entire 8-volume saga. Yes, it's an epic story, but the drama won’t keep you on the edge of your seat. However, the smut-filled moments in between make up for it!

The mangaka mentions in the author's note that she aimed to push shoujo boundaries with this tale, introducing realism into the love story of Seri and Tamaki. While the plot requires accepting some absurdities, like a drug that immobilizes upon contact and another that induces uncontrollable desire, she introduces an element rarely explored: the heroine’s own unpredictable hormones! This subplot shows how Seri becomes a victim of her body and a villainous character, making for some unsettling reading. An even more disturbing villain later emerges with a Norman Bates-like fetish, which is especially disconcerting given the romance genre.

Villains seem limited in their malicious intent almost until the end, focused on separating the lovebirds. Each villain receives sympathetic treatment after their deeds, revealing reasons for their viciousness despite past gentleness. This gets annoying; not everyone needs to be a good person! Another odd aspect is the rushed ending. After volume 7, where the author feels she’s put the two 17-year-olds through enough jeopardy, she rushes through the last volume, cramming a year’s worth of drama into five chapters with a conflict that doesn't fit the manga’s tone.

Regarding feminism, Seri should theoretically defend herself against repeated assaults shown panel after panel, but we assume she's just delicate and shocked when faced with such situations. Occasionally, she tries using her karate training but fails miserably. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t bother defending herself other times, avoiding embarrassment. She isn’t too pathetic since she isn’t in love with an abusive person. As for the love scenes between her and Tamaki... STEAMY! They’re a naughty, constantly hot-for-each-other couple! He’s more into it than she is, initiating encounters in unexpected public places that will make you think twice before sitting in an ice cream parlor booth. But his loving fixation makes you overlook his rabbit-like ways.

Character development is weak. The hero is seemingly flawless, his only weakness being his possessive love, while the heroine is perhaps the most mediocre girl ever. She’s not a good cook, clumsy, easily led, and frequently a victim of her desires. But he loves that part of her! Villainous characters, however, have many shades of grey. Overall, it’s not a deep thinker’s manga. The smut is delicious and well-delivered. The couple is always ready to entertain the voyeuristic reader, and Kanan never denied this was her forte from the start.

I found it challenging to finish reading the entire thing. The storyline is fundamentally repetitive – someone tries to split them up, assaults the girl, they overcome it, and then it starts all over again.
If you enjoy explicit content, there's an abundance of it here, and if you're fond of the typical shojo couple dynamic, that’s present too. However, beyond these aspects, the suspension of disbelief for the sake of explicit scenes feels a bit excessive. Is it believable that a girl supposedly skilled in karate would consistently wait to be rescued by her boyfriend every time she's sexually assaulted? Can you accept that a girl could be assaulted multiple times by five different individuals within less than a year? That two teachers would separately attempt to break up the couple?
Furthermore, the characters verge on being annoying. As mentioned, the girl seems to magically forget her karate training and acts as though she’s utterly helpless without her boyfriend. Once more, the narrative appears to constantly repeat itself, which can only hold your interest for so long.

I usually adore all shoujo manga, but this one was just wow. Love Strip, at least she's not getting assaulted or whatever nonsense this girl is involved in, even though she supposedly knows karate. And the guy—oh my god—he "loves" her yet won't let her decide whether or not she wants to be with him. I mean, I haven't read that far into the series, only three chapters, and I can't stand it at all.

The art is good, though.

The characters are annoying.

The enjoyment factor is like ugh, I don't know who would like it.

So yeah, go on and read it if you want, but it'll scar you for life.

There's only one way to describe this manga:

Warning! This manga is NOT suitable for people under 18. This Manga Contains One or More of the Following:

Graphic Sexual Situations
Non-Consensual Sex (you might as well just say rape)

Well, they have an active sex life. I don’t know if to be appalled for the students who sat and touched the desks they got busy on or applaud them for getting it on in almost every room in the school.

It starts with Seri, who has been doing karate since she can remember. Now a high school student, she wants nothing more than to have a boyfriend. Apparently, guys don’t like a girl who can defend herself and who are strong. Wanting to find love, she quits karate in order to become girlier or at least make people believe she is.

Everything was going according to plans. She had changed herself and had a group date where she would hopefully meet a nice guy and fall in love…yeah. She is surprised to see Tamaki, her ex-karate partner from when they were kids, is there. Weird sparks reunite, and he forces her hand to a karate match. If she wins, he’ll keep her secret; if he wins, Seri becomes his slave/pet.

Now, I’m not against smut, but there are some things that have to be said, so readers be warned. You will not only get your eyes de-virginized by reading the manga but also your innocence taken away when you decide that some characters have no purpose and might as well walk into an oncoming train. Too harsh?

It starts off as a regular story where the boy likes a girl and the girl is oblivious. It’s all fun and games until they get sexual. The story is nice at the beginning and at the end. The middle was jumbled and repetitive.

Seri and Tamaki’s relationship is hot (in all senses of the word). They even have scenes where Tamaki forces Seri to do things, sometimes sexual, that she doesn’t want to do but ends up wanting to do (let’s call that sort-of-rape?). But since she enjoys it at the end, it’s all good?

The manga then tries to get serious about the rape theme, sort of, by bringing in characters and giving them a reason and a rhyme for their evilness and calling the rape, rape. Only that when certain characters rape, it’s bad, but when others do it, it isn’t. Get it yet? Yeah, the manga is a smutty one.

The girl known for her karate training does next to nothing to stop or get away when she is being molested. Maybe there’s a pain threshold that activates her skills...

It’s a revolving door of guys wanting Seri. They want her so badly they can’t help themselves and try to get her by force. Tamaki saves her at the last minute and is the epitome of a perfect boyfriend by not caring that Seri's body enjoys it (it meaning rape-sex).

The same goes for Tamaki—girls get smitten, try to kill his girlfriend, and it ends up putting them in the mood because nothing puts someone in the mood more than psychotic girls bound to get in your pants and kill your girlfriend. Let’s not forget the characters that try and break up the couple because of an old grudge—every manga needs one of those.

There’s a plot in there somewhere. Hold on, let me move all the sex scenes aside...there it is. Love. They love each other and can’t keep their hands off. It gets back on track in the last two or three chapters, and the ending was beautiful. Now, if we could only change the characters, except Tamaki.

The characters started out good. Some of them had the ability to be great actually. Seri and Tamaki began strong. Literally, she was top girl in karate; he was the best. You could tell they liked each other and were sweet about it at first. Before it got very sexual and took over. All the characters that appeared had an ulterior motive and were after sex, not love.

We had characters who were great in a way—they were evil and did evil things really well. To the point of you disliking them. Then it gets turned around, and you hear their story, and you can’t help but feel bad. They just play with your emotions. Which is a quality of a strong character.

The art is nice and average. Nothing overly beautiful about it, but the characters are drawn nicely. Though it is the type of manga where some characters look the same. Even being rated R, I don’t recall it showing nudity at all, so it at least was true on that.

Would I want to see the anime version? Not really, well, if it’s one of those anime that is nothing like the manga, YES.

It’s also not a manga I’d recommend to someone who wants a romance or a comedy. The romance is there, but it’s second to other things (sex). It’s not an innocent love. It did start out that way, kinda, sorta, maybe. But at the end, all you remember is the warning labels and the sex. It’s just ecchi with a sweet ending. Love's Supreme Principle? Really?

The manga initially impressed me quite a bit. After reading several chapters, I believed it would evolve into an excellent story. However, it quickly took a disappointing turn: the plot became highly repetitive (the same issues kept arising between the main characters who frustratingly failed to learn from their experiences) and excessively dramatic. While many shoujo manga can be overly dramatic or unrealistic, Ren-ai Shijo Shugi particularly stands out in this regard. Unfortunately, this is the only area where the manga truly excels. The characters are mediocre, showing little development and lacking significant traits.

The artwork is decent and follows the typical shoujo style.

Lastly, there's an abundance of explicit content, which might please readers primarily seeking that aspect (though, be prepared for various scenarios involving rape).

As a guy, I seldom delve into shoujo manga. My encounters with them usually happen when they become incredibly popular, to the point where I either hear about them or stumble upon them accidentally. However, driven by extreme boredom, I decided to give this manga a shot. Initially, I anticipated an exciting, light-hearted narrative centered around childhood friends unexpectedly reuniting for a group date, infused with a "slice-of-life" essence. Unfortunately, my expectations were far too high.

Let's start with the negative aspects of the story. The primary issue is the lack of character development. The plot never explains how the two protagonists fall in love, why there is an absurd number of people against their relationship, or why the main female lead allows herself to be manipulated. Frankly, it's baffling that the main female character, who supposedly has some knowledge of self-defense, fails to protect herself from harassment. In fact, we're not just talking about harassment here; the boundaries verge on rape, which likely makes this manga so engrossing. Shoujomagic's description was spot-on: sex, make-up sex, sex outdoors, sex indoors, sex is everywhere in this manga. Alongside the typical helpless and useless female lead and her jealous, overbearing boyfriend, coupled with a cheesy storyline, throw in a supernatural occurrence at the beach with some steamy sex to resolve the drama, and you have Ren'ai Shijou Shugi.

This manga is extremely smutty, so if you're into that sort of thing and enjoy harassment-type drama, feel free to pick it up. But if you don't have anything better to read and are looking for a more realistic storyline with romance, I suggest seeking something else.