4.5 stars

So this is the first manga I have read that references the pandemic, and I really appreciate the way it is handled. It is a story set during the pandemic, without being a story only about the pandemic.

Beyond that it is a cute high school romance manga with great characters.

Recommended.

I was attracted by the illustrations..
Probably, this is the first vol. in the series, the story doesn't go far.
And the one of the boy is bit annoying.

I really enjoyed this one and will probably continue reading the series to find out what happens.
Mi-chan has four childhood friends who live in her neighborhood and their all close. However, things start to change on her birthday starting with her basically confessing her feeling to a sempai but gets hurt when she was trying to help encourage him.

Just a classic shoujo/ reverse harem (kind of). It was pretty cute, but also a bit too much. Like, why do all those guys like the same girl? Anyways, cute but nothing ground breaking

Wow, this is absolutely adorable. I have read quite a bit of shojo manga, especially int he last two years, and I can tell I am going to love this series. This is my first that also is set during the time period of the global pandemic. This is super interesting because as a 30+ year old women, I couldn't imagine how the pandemic effected school students so this really impacted my emotional connection to the story.

Our leading girl is also very cute. Nishino has four guy best friends and one of them confesses to her... however she is in love with someone else. Honestly, I am routing for Kizuki.

The art is gorgeous and even though there are four main guys in the group, I can easily tell them apart. Kizuki is definitely my favorite so far.

What a great start to a new series! Cannot wait for volume 2.

Many girls believe Mizuha leads a charmed life. She is close friends with four of the coolest guys at school. However, Mizuha’s world gets turned upside down on her 17th birthday. She impulsively confesses to her crush only to be turned down. Then one of her childhood friends confesses his feelings to her. Mizuha does not know how to handle Kizuki’s interest in her.
Kizuki’s determined pursuit forces Mizuha to re-examine their relationship. Will this new development ruin what they once had?
I am feeling kind of blasé about this manga. Something feels missing to me. I cannot explain what exactly. However, I like how the story takes place during the 2020 pandemic. I do like the art style.

Another pretty standard shojo where the female lead is in a friend group of all cute guys. For me, this particular manga is set apart from others only by the fact that there is mention of a "virus" in the story that is preventing the students from participating in sporting events and school trips. It will be interesting to see what this virus is. (Covid maybe? This is my first story period where that would be the case if it is.) Anyway, I gave this two stars mostly because of how pushy the male protagonist is towards the main female character. No means no and if he had respected that and the story went from there then I would have rated this book higher.

I had to mark this as a dnf, I understand there are some cultural differences, but it lost me when he kept forcing her to "see him as a man" and insisting that she falls in love with him. I just found it cringe inducing and I couldn't continue.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was a nice manga but it wasn't one i was crazy over. This is about a young girl and her four friends who are all boys. It first starts in the future then there we go back to the past during the pandemic. I haven't read books set during the pandemic so this is my first time reading about it. One of her friend kizuku confesses to our main character that he likes her. It's all fine and good but my problem starts when he starts to "force" himself on her. What i mean is, he doesn't give her any space to process her emotions in order to give a good response instead he says something like "i'll MAKE you see me as a man" and put her in very wierd situatuons. It also looks like there will be a love triangle involved and i don't know how to feel about that because they usually aren't done well but i know this is just the first volume and things might get better with the second one so my fingers are crossed

Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You is a cute story about a high school girl, Mizuha, whose four best friends since childhood are adoraboys, one of whom starts putting the moves on her on her 17th birthday.

Mizuha has a crush on a swim team member, but he brutally dashes her hopes on her birthday leaving her devastated. Mizuha then returns home to a surprise party thrown by her 4 friends, which makes her realize how much she appreciates them right before one of them kisses her in the stairwell. She has a hard time seeing her friend as a romantic option due to their history, but also because she is worried about the ramifications of a failed romance on her closest friendships.

The artwork is amazing. I wish we had boys this lovely at my high school. The story starts with Mizuha 10 years later and the high school events are told as a flashback to 2020, but we never return to the "present," leaving me very curious. The story also ends with a cliffhanger, and I eagerly await the sequel.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. "Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You., Volume 1" is a beautiful and sweet beginning of this coming-of-age series with a little twist, as it is also sports romance including the best friends-to-lovers trope. The art complements the story very well, as it very fresh and youthful. I also love how this story involves the current COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the story much easier to connect with and embrace. The characters are very well-built and quite likeable and realistic, each of them has their own little quirks, which helps the reader to sympathise with them and favour them. This volume focuses mostly on Kizuki and Mizuha, but I see potential for all the other characters to evolve and grow. This manga also touches on the subject of parental loss slightly, so take that as a trigger warning. The story is very well-paced and the reader is given time to grasp the character's personality and find something for themselves to adore and keep. I absolutely recommend it as it is a very promising beginning of a beautiful coming-of-age story under a global pandemic.

A beautiful coming-of-age shoujo manga!

This first volume introduces readers to five childhood friends who have known one another since they were kids and live in the same neighborhood and study in the same school. They tend to hang out in the house of Mizuha, the only girl in the group. As they navigate high school life and future personal goals, changes in the group are happening too, as one of them finally confesses to Mizuha!

This manga is beautifully drawn! I love the art style so much; it fits the tone and youthfulness of the story. The story touches on the current pandemic and how much it has affected young adults in their life in and out of school. It makes you sympathize with them and their loss. I think Mizuha’s confusion and mixed feelings with the changes in her life and her group of friends are very typical and relatable, and her grief on her past loss.

So far, so good! I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the story and attention to the other guys in the group besides Kizuki.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for the eARC in exchange for honest feedback.

(Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review)

I love this! I love this! First of all, what a way to start the book controversially. And a sports romance with best friend to lover? This manga is giving me butterflies!

To those who know me well enough know that I hate best friend to lover but childhood best friend to lover is significantly different and reading a manga of the said trope is a foreign feeling. Anyway, I'm Falling in Love With You is a story of youth and growth of five childhood friends who were raised together in the residential neighbourhood of Koigahama Highland.

Nevertheless, childhood best friend to lovers always takes place far too much telling that they grew up together which can be very exhausting. It also heavily relies on flashbacks and unrequited love; which this manga didn't go far from the premise. However, instead of reminding readers every five minutes to the fact that the characters were childhood best friends, the mangaka illustrates this brilliantly by telling the story in a recollection of events from Mizuha Nishino's as 17 years old teenager 10 years prior.

As one might expect, a story about a childhood best friend to lover isn't thorough without some frustrating plot points or events, as seen by the interrupted moments between Mizuha and Kizuki, or the fact that they have never really communicated since Kizuki's confession apart from when they see each other. This made Kizuki's character in the manga appear a little pushy which I still understand both sides of the characters because, while Kizuki knew exactly what he wanted, Mizuha doesn't.

And being the only girl in the group, you wouldn't expect Kizuki to be the only who catches feelings. This made me so excited to see where the manga would progress with Shin and Nishino in the picture. I just wished Airu and Shuugo's character would be well accentuated and be as significant as the other two although I realized that this is only Volume 1.

The author also mentioned about the original plan for this series which supposed to take place in summer 2019 but due to the pandemic, some changes were made and you can see it nuanced in the manga at how much it has affected all of us. Especially when the manga captured the struggle as well as the love and bond among the characters; signifying on the shining and sparkling youth that they only have now.

Overall, this was an adorable and entertaining read. I would surely keep my eyes out on the next release!

Beautiful artwork and an adorable start to a very intriguing love story.

Mizuha is one in a group of five best friends since childhood. The other four are all super good-looking guys, but Mizuha only sees her beloved friends. She has someone else she is crushing on, and after confessing to him and being rejected on her birthday she is feeling down. Then one of her childhood friends changes things for Mizuha and she's scared of what that change will do to their friendship.

So I love the artwork in this one. Absolutely beautiful. The love story is very interesting. Classic manga-style romance. I love it and can't wait to see how things progress. I feel a love triangle coming on.

It was short though. I read the whole thing in an hour and that was with stopping to really take in the artwork. It is hard to get invested in characters within an hour. Also, Kizuki needs to step back a bit. She asked for some space, so give it to her. I completely understand her need to breathe and really think it through. It would be a big life change.

I would say this book is for 13+. No content warnings for this volume at least. If you love romantic manga. This is definitely for you.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for this chance to read and review this book. This does not in any way influence my honest opinion or review.

I really enjoyed this read! It was super fun and light and I read it in no time!

This manga follows our main character Nishino-San, as she realises that she may have feelings for one of her childhood friends… and he definitely has feelings for her too! Her friend group, of 4 boys, causes enough havoc to completely distract her from any romantic feelings she has, while always supporting and encouraging her dreams of becoming a manga artist. By the end of this volume we see a possibly budding romance, another second love interest introduced as well as an unrequited love become requited… or not!

I love all of the relationships in this and most of the characters! I thoroughly enjoyed all the little hints of romantic relationships we see, and as well as the little mysterious aspects sprinkled throughout, for example what happened to our main character, Nishino-San’s mom.

I think at times it was quite hard to differentiate the time and locations, as it seemed to jump from scene to scene with no art change or narration. For example when Nishino-San met up with someone in the coffee shop on pg. 74 of 174, it was a bit confusing and random due to the lack of narration.

Cute start to a shojo romance. The artwork is very beautiful. I liked the cliffhanger ending for this love triangle. Childhood friend in the mix of competing for the female leads heart always draws me in.

I received a copy of this manga through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Yet another reverse harem manga, yay for me as I love them a lot!😍
So of course the characters are big-eyed and mostly light-haired and veeeery very attractive! They have been friends for most of their lives, so crushes between them are complex but unavoidable (it’s a shoujo manga so duh).😜
I liked the smuttier scenes, they were aesthetically pleasing and as the relationships were wholesome then I didn’t feel guilty for enjoying them either!😃
Overall a fun little manga!

I really wanted to love this read, but it just didn't interest me as much as I had hoped. The pacing felt slow for me since I couldn't connect with any of the characters. The moments between the main characters build up of their romance was also very cringey and overall cheesy in my opinion. I can see how this manga will appeal to a younger audience, but it just wasn't for me.

*ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.

OH MY GOD. When was the last time I've read a manga and give me butterflies? I can't remember and I guess it's been more than a decade.

I am so torn between Shin and Kizuki for Nishino. Kizuki is transparent and the sweetest and most thoughtful guy. While Shin is an eye candy for being mysterious and I think Nishino likes him more but she thinks he's not interested on her. Then she starts falling for Kizuki.

I really liked the art style, but the story not so much.
The writing is not the best, I wouldn't say it's very readable and I found that the characters blend together through most of the volume. It was overall quite confusing and not very engaging.
Sadly, this just wasn't for me.