Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Oh my god, I loved this so much! I’m very much anticipating for the next volume! Also let me say I enjoy Mikimoto’s other works and this is my unbiased opinions on this manga. A little suspicious of the main love interest age for being a high schooler lol but honestly throughout these three chapters there are a lot of new mysteries and slight revelations to them but unfortunately it doesn’t seem we’ll be getting to all those answers till the next or few volumes. At first I thought it was a little instant love for me but I mean can you blame Yoshizawa? I felt like one look at Ninomiya and no one could resist also, he’s such a fluffy boy hiding behind a tough shell. He seems to be a character with a lot of things hidden in his past and we as the reader are slowly getting to have an insight to it. Any way I legit yelled “No!” In my room because we’re left at a cliffhanger but that makes me even more excited for the rest of the series!

Rin Mikimoto does it again! This manga has the beauty of Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight and plot similarities to Love’s Reach. I can’t WAIT to read more. I love Sumire, that she’s a blunt, open, and honest protagonist. And Reo sounds like he’s going to be a tough exterior / soft interior male MC. They’re going to be SO cute together.

I also need to know desperately how he knows her. Dropping that bomb in volume one is awesome! I will definitely be buying more!!

Absolutely obsessed! Brooding bad boy (but maybe not so bad?) love interest and innocent never fallen in love before protagonist and a beautiful art style are a recipe for a perfect reading experience. I absolutely loved this manga and will definitely be continuing the series. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for review purposes.

This is the first manga I've read by Rin Mikimoto. And damn like I'm on my way to read Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight now.

So the story opens with Sumire finding out her new seatmate is 20 year old, "worst guy in school", Reo Ninomiya. Sumire is kind of "not like other girls" but not in the most annoying way. She is a gutsy girl and she wants to experience love despite having an overprotective father and relatively boring life.

I'm super invested in the story between Reo (or "Lightning") and Sumire. I do think it's strange that he's 20, but it's not something that's completely turning me away from the story. There is also another plotline being hinted at which I find very intriguing.

I can't wait for the next volume!

THAT WAS ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE ART STYLE WAS EVERTHING AND THE CHARACTERS WERE AMAZING. now that I'm done screaming over how cute this book was I can try to put my love for it into words. Male protagonists with soft spot are to die for, literally.
(arc from netgalley)

Sumire is a second year high school student who has an overprotective dad. She discovers she's in the same class as the worst guy in school, Ninomiya -nicknamed Lightning. However, after a few encounters with him she learns he is not what she expected from the rumors. On day she was blunt and asked if it was ok if she fell in love with him.

This was another one I enjoyed reading recently, it too left me wanting to know more about the characters and how they might previously know each other. I thought it flowed pretty good one chapter to the next.

This manga left me waiting for more. We barely scratched the surface on both of their backgrounds. Why is her dad so strict? What is a 20 yr old doing in highschool? What do relation in the past do they have. Not too big of an age gap if that's not your thing. The art on this is perfect.

I really enjoyed this book and raced through it quickly. I was just starting to like the main couple towards the end so I cannot wait to see where their story goes in volume two.

It’s the beginning of Sumire’s second year of high school. Who will be her new seat mate? Ok so, it turns out the person sitting next to her is a 20 year old man? Everyone is afraid of Reo Ninomiya because of rumors of a violent past. Sumire is a gutsy girl so she helps him out a couple of times and things take off from there.

This volume opens up some mysteries, like why is Ninomiya in high school at age 20? It looks like his grandfather is the president of a company but Ninomiya is a bartender after school, so I guess we’ll find out about his family history at some point. And most intriguing of all, what is Ninomiya’s past connection to Sumire?

I thought this was just ok. I’m not invested in the main couple in anyway at this point, but I’m curious enough to pick up the next volume.

Thanks NetGalley and Kodansha for an advanced digital copy to read and review.

I really liked Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, so I was excited to see another series by the author.
However, this volume took me a minute to get into. I didn't warm up to the ML right away.
Anyway, I am in now and really want more. More romance and more backstory.

Also, I checked my review for Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight volume 1 and apparently I didn't love that ML right away either, which gives me even more reason to think I will enjoy further volumes of Lightning and Romance.

Lightning and Romance is the first book in a series of mangas by the author of the famous mangas Close to Heaven and Kinkyori Renai and, knowing and loving those two, I couldn't pass the chance to dive into this new manga series. It follows the story of teenage Sumire, a bold girl who has a true sense of justice but who has also recently found a huge interest in all things girly. She is patiently waiting for her true romance and is sure that she'll fall in love soon. Back in high school, she meets her new neighbour classmate Reo, who's 20 and a victim of rumours involving him in dangerous situations. Sumire asks to see if those rumours are true with her own eyes, but she is persuaded they aren't. From then continue a series of events where Sumire and Reo cross paths, learn to know each other, and, maybe, fall in love...

I really enjoyed this first manga! First of all, I must make an honourable mention of the drawing style, which is simply gorgeous and esthetically so pleasing on the page. I remembered Rin Mikimoto's style to be very pretty, and I have to say I am not disappointed at all!

I was a bit afraid about the themes at first, though. I feared it was going to be similar to what she already created and too cringe. So, it is indeed a bit cringe, but the kind of cringe that will make you smile like an idiot in front of your phone/kindle. I love the way Mikimoto broke the stereotypes with Sumire and Reo: while Sumire is the kind of girl who doesn't hesitate to fight for justice, Reo knows a few things about fashion and nail polishing that make him irresistible. Plus, the scar? Totally the male protagonist I was asking for.

Now, about the story itself, apart from the romance, there are still some bits of it that left me in the shadows. I suspect that the next manga will introduce some magical elements, perhaps a vampire or an immortal. On the whole, it gave me those big 'Goblin: The Lonely And Great God' vibes, and I'd be super curious to see where the story is going!

I would recommend this manga to every shojo readers who love a bit of fantasy included in the story.

Thank you once again Kodansha and Netgalley for this opportunity of reviewing Lightning and Romance!