If you've been reading Rin Mikimoto's previously translated works, you may have figured out that she has a thing for the age-gap romance - all of her works but <i>Kira-kun Today</i> fall under that heading. This time she's trying something new in the field - rather than having her heroine fall in love with a teacher (<i>Love's Reach</i>) or a famous, slightly older celebrity (<i>Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight</i>), the older man Sumire falls for is in her high school class...but he's twenty years old.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with going back at a nontraditional age and finishing your education, so although it's odd, it's not bad that Reo is sitting in a second-year high school classroom. He also is much more fervent in his attempts to fend Sumire off than some of Mikimoto's other heroes, so he knows that this is maybe not an awesome relationship to be embarking on. But Sumire comes from the Chutzpah School of Romance Heroines, and she's not about to let him dictate her feelings - especially not when he's kind of bad at hiding that he may like her, too.

The text hints that he and Sumire knew each other in the past, and that perhaps she's inadvertently behind his switch from his bad boy ways to where he is now. That's intriguing, but it need development in volume two or it will cease to be a mitigating factor in their budding romance's inappropriateness. There's also a bit of an insta-love feel to Sumire falling for him, and coupled with the fact that she's more than ready for romance, he does feel a bit more like "convenient love" than "true love." But there's still enough here to make this worth following, especially if you've enjoyed Mikimoto's work before.

Rating: 4.25 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an e-ARC of this manga.

This manga was without a doubt one of my personal favorites among the school romance manga I'd read here so far. I HATE EVERYONE EXCEPT YOU or GRUMPY AND SUNSHINE TROPE seem to be more fitting tropes for this manga. He brought you snacks, like Miss Girl !!!

(Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc copy in exchange for a review!)

The art style in this story is beautiful, a bubbly atmosphere and light grey tones shading just creates a glow and aura I adore. Sumire a high schooler wants to experience love, something world changing. When Reo transfers and becomes her new seat mate she discovers he's full of surprises but not the rumours spread from school. She starts to fall, some key moments that I think many will enjoy (very fluffy) but leave wondering what of the answer. The yakuza? boy doing very soft things for the mc, showing a side that no one see's except her, and no matter how many times I see this done I will not get sick of it. I still get caught off guard at the interaction, whether they say stay away or get flustered and say nothing i melt.

It's hinted he knows more than he's letting on and I'll bet this pretty boy is still/has been in love with the mc. She's no softie, has guts and will fight for what she wants and I can't wait to see her take in the next volume!!

I don’t feel it’s smart for me to give a review considering I am unable to open this book. This is my usual go to in Manga just wish I could have read it

Lightning and Romance is about Sumire Yoshizawa, a high school girl who was just seated next to the 20 year old 'bad boy' Reo Ninomiya. At first Sumire is intimidated and a little frightened of Reo, but she soon finds herself falling for him. There are a lot of rumors about Reo, but you don't really see much evidence of their factuality; so they could just be a way to cause conflict or to move the story on.
The art is very pretty and easily tells the story. There are moments of the story that leave you with questions and no answers, as of yet. After reading this manga, you will yearn for the next if only to answer those questions.

Great start to the series. The art is lovely. I own the ' Kiss me at the stroke of midnight ' of the same author so kinda knew the art would be lovely. The one thing I just wish the author would stop is the age thing.
But I will still read their stuff, just wish it was not there.

It's not bad, but doesn't blow me away either. It's the typical story of a girl falling for a yakuza member, meant to appeal to the female audience who likes the bad boy. The main character is a high schooler and the love interest is 20 but still going to high school, which might scare off some people since I'm not sure what age the main character is. An age difference doesn't seem necessary either. It's hinted that the two characters knew each other beforehand and he was already in love with her but doesn't conclude that in the first volume. She falls for him not because of his bad boy side but rather instead for his softer side that he shows to her, and I can appreciate that. It's a decent read.

The art style is just stunning. However, the plot seems a little awkward to me. I like the female protagonist and the confession scene, but I'm not sure if I'll keep reading this manga.

Klappentext in eigenen Worten 🇩🇪:

Sumire geht auf die Hochschule und sitzt rein zufällig neben einem gewissen Reo (Lightning), dem böses nachgesagt wird. Doch nach dem sie ihm das Leben rettet, lernt sie eine ganz andere Seite an ihm kennen. Er kann auch charmant sein und sogar schüchtern. Sie verliebt sich in ihn und spricht es laut aus. Reo versucht sie auf Abstand zu halten, weil er meint, kein guter Umgang für Sumire zu sein.

Meinung:

Dies ist mein zweiter Manga in Englisch und den hatte ich in kürzester Zeit durch. Noch schneller, als den ersten. Mir gefiel die Story sehr. Der Zeichenstil ist sehr realistisch gehalten und passt sich der Altersgruppe an. Natürlich ist die Thematik nicht neu, war aber trotzdem interessant, mal wieder mit Cliffhanger.

Story 🇬🇧:

Sumire wants to experience romance... but will she get the chance, when her new seat-mate is a 20-year-old with swirling rumors surrounding him? A dangerous new romance from the author of Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Kira-kun Today, and Love's Reach!

Opinion:

This was my second Manga in English. I read it faster than the first one. The illustrations are beautiful and matching with the age group of readers. Topic isn't something new but it was very interesting. With a cliffhanger at the end.

I usually do not like age-gap romances, however this volume was well done. Since it's drawings, I tend to be more forgiving than other works, like contemporary novels, but it still a little bit awkward. The story is cute and innocent. The art is quite beautiful I especially loved the main character, she is a bit different from most protagonists. I love a shojo heroine who isn't afraid to speak her mind. Overall, a 3.75/5.

Lightning and Romance wasn't for me, unfortunately. I should have trusted my gut when I looked at the cover. I don't know why the characters are drawn so creepily. Not a fan of the cover image at all, but I liked the story even less. I'm personally never going to be a fan of age-gap romance stories, so this was a complete pass for me. I also strongly feel that the age gap is just unnecessary as it wouldn't have really changed the story at all had Reo been more age-appropriate.

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

I have to admit that before reading this manga I was quite prejudiced. Looking at a cover depicting characters with creepy eyes did not help. First few pages had the same big watery insane eyes…Spooky s**t 👀
And yet I actually enjoyed this story a lot. I like my love stories sweet and innocent. And I think I have always had a thing with the trope of a high school girl and slightly older guy. Not in a bad weird kind of way but I have never thought anything bad about 3-5 years of age gap, if the girl is nearly adult (16-17) and the guy is nice. I can still remember being 20 (😂) and not a lot of people are actually grown-ups at that age. I am pretty sure I had fantasies about older guys in my teen years as well. So if a story gives some outlet to that fantasy for some young girls (and is sweet and respectful) then why the hell not?😉
Sumire was a great manga heroine, with a kind and brave disposition. I liked that she was gutsy and knew what she wanted and went after it. Her love interest the 20-year-old highschooler is yet a mystery but so far has been a nice and hunky enough of a character to make me intrigued!😃

Extremely fun read, I loved all the characters and art designs. I also appreciated being able to see the growth between the characters. The dynamics were everything to me and I can’t wait to see how this series develops

Beautiful cover and artwork. Love the story so far. Has a bit of mystery to it. I'm really intrigued by the male lead's background. Hope we get volume 2 soon!

I loved this manga. I am a huge sucker for an age gap romance. I want to know why he is back in high school at his age. I want to see how the romance plays out. So far their characters seem very sweet.

Where do I even start with this one....

I supposed I'll start with the pros. Lightning and Romance is a sweet high school romance budding between Sumire, a lovestruck, sheltered girl into fashion and cute things and Reo, her bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold seatmate who goes by Lightning due to the scar on his face. Reo has nasty rumors swirling around him, but as he shows Sumire that he's not all he seems, she begins to fall for him and start her first real romance. Which is a concept I love (especially since Reo reminds me strongly of one of my favorite characters ever) but why on earth does he have to be 20 years old?!

I feel like almost nothing would have changed if Reo was 18. I guess it was to lend some credibility to his actually bad history, but when the first couple pages were his grandpa asking him why the hell he's still there, I had to laugh because he's right! What are you doing here! This romance ended up making me laugh so often because I just... I had no idea why that choice was made. The fact that I tweeted about it and too many people had OTHER manga to share anecdotes about... this is a problem.

I think it has an interesting premise and despite the unnecessary age difference, I'll be problematic and admit some of the scenes made my heart melt. I am no stranger to manga that start out problematic and end up redeeming themselves later, but I'm also no stranger to manga that start out problematic and keep the train wreck burning. However... their age gap was really the single glaring issue and I'm nosy enough to want to know what else happens, so I'll probably continue the series eventually, if it comes to my library.

3.5 Stars – conflicted re age

So, I ended up googling this because I wasn’t sure what Sumire’s age is, but 2nd year would be 16 – I think? That’s a 4-year age gap. I am not sure how I feel about this… the story does point out that it would be inappropriate. However, there is a reveal in the later chapter that throws in some extra confusion re Ninomiya.

If I ignored the last chapter than I would probably give this 4 stars. The art is beautiful, and I like the character development. Sumire is more interesting than a lot of similar protagonists in this genre. I want to know why Ninomiya is in high school. I thought the friendship between them was handled well and had potential.

I definitely want to read the next book as I think (hope) that will resolve some of my concerns.

I knew about the age gap, which is not something I typically like, especially when one of them is a minor, but upon starting reading I was more concerned about what was a 20-year-old man doing in high school. I do hope there's a good reason for it, and given the first couple pages and some conversation that happens at the end of chapter 2, I'm inclined to think there will be, but please don't let that be a stupid explanation. I'm curious about their past, particularly since only Reo seems to be aware of it. My first thought was something fantasy-related but it seems like the manga is not going to have that element.

There are a lot of rumours surrounding Reo, none of them good, and those rumours and the school itself, paints him as a delinquent and someone not to trust while also remarking on his age, so please don't let me down on that reasoning. And I found that aspect a bit inconsistent, because it's given a lot of attention but then he so easily falls into the love interest category. Reo was a bit difficult for me to read in some aspects. I knew what his character was about and I guess the author wanted to make him scary while revealing his true nature little by little but then in the same scene he mentions how bad he is and not two seconds later he's doing the complete opposite.

Sumire is a cheerful and gutsy girl, who tries to make the best of everything, which includes sitting next to Reo, who everyone is afraid of. He even tells her at some point that the rumours are true and he's bad news, but of course she doesn't listen. I like her personality but, as mentioned, her opinions of Reo change quite drastically.

I wonder what happened in the past with these 2 and how they are connected. Above all else, I hope there's a pretty good explanation as to what is Reo doing in that high school.

This just wasn't for me. While the artwork was cute, I especially loved some of the facial expressions. The fact that the romance is between a 20 yr old who's still going to highschool plus a girl who's in her second year in highschool just kinda weirded me out. That's why I just couldn't enjoy it, if that age difference wouldn't have been there I would maybe liked it better though I still think this is not the kind of thing I like.

What did I just read?

The romance in this manga is rigid. The female lead is bland and robotic, feeling a lot more like a list of check boxes than someone with substance. She lacks a personality and is more just about the guy.

There are too many unanswered questions that would have helped to flesh out the story a bit and build the world. Why does she have a curfew? What exactly is her past? Because it would have helped paint a better picture of her love interest's potential history as well.

The romance feels like it exists solely because she's a girl and he's a guy, without any other context.

Context really needs to be worked on.

I'm interested to see what development the second volume holds.