Rating: 3.5 stars

This is a pretty cute YA romance manga about a girl who is basically a fangirl for muscles the way some people are idol fans. I really like the way Kaho is so into muscles that she learns all about them. She gets roped into being the manager for the basketball team, and she earnestly applies herself to finding the type of muscle training that will be best to help them improve their game. Natsume is also very swoony - he clearly likes Kaho so much! Will she ever see him for more than his muscles? Let's find out!

This would be much improved if all Muscles were equally appreciated. Where is the appreciation for the nice toned women, Kaho?
Muscles = Justice, only if it means all Muscles!

But let's be real, I'm all about women using their skills to get that bread. But this was weird on a level I have not experience in a while.

The romance feels really awkward.

Chapter 3, is Class Trip episode and it is way to early to enjoy something like that.

Personally I can't stomach more of the sheer awkwardness of this Manga, and won't be continuing.

I have never read a manga wear the heroine is obsessed with muscles. So I knew that I had to try it out immediately. It seemed like such a silly concept that was actually a lot of fun.

I enjoyed the blooming romance between the characters. It was believable and fun at the same time. I also really enjoyed the artwork. Since Kaho loves muscles, the man candy in this manga was off-the-charts. I would definitely recommend if you want something fun and light. It definitely made me laugh a few times. I can’t wait to read more.

Firstly, I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of the book. This review is based on my personal opinion and enjoyment of the book.

This was a super cute manga.

This was my first romance manga. I usually read more fantasy like manga. And I thought it was so cute! It was a little weird at first, getting used to Hibi’s muscle obsession. The art was lovely, the storyline was adorable, and it was a quick read! I can’t wait to see what Hibi, Natsume, and the basketball team get up to next!

Thank-you Netgalley and Kodansha for the chance to review this ARX.
Getting Closer to You by
Ruri Kamino was so fun to read. This manga had lost of thing I love a good shojo story and sports!
I loved the character design it fit the story!
Loved the characters are fun and charming!
Can’t wait to read more of this story!

Thank you, NetGalley for the e-arc.

The cover is pretty as well as the art, and it just sad that I can't bring myself to enjoy this one. Sure it's kind of hilarious but I'm not someone who typically enjoys stalking kind of story so this one is kind of off-putting for me.

Perhaps in the future, I'll get back to this.

Kaho is obsessed with men with muscles. She follows every sports team at her co-ed school from a distance, with her binoculars and notebook. She meticulously notes muscle mass, ranks who has the best of each muscle group (yes, this manga drops scientific names), and is on the search for the perfect beefcake. The story opens with Kaho's best friend asking which group is it this time with Kaho saying the basketball team. Rumor has it, the basketball team has a "Muscle Prince" but what she sees is a bunch of different bodied players. Well, until Natsume-sempai finds her and it is beefcake heaven until she passes out from such beauty.

Natsume-sempai figures out, while she's recovering from her faint, that her weird obsession might actually benefit the basketball team and he asks her to be their manager. What? She agrees and what follows is their budding romance, but also the start of taking the basketball team from zeroes to heroes.

I was intrigued by the description of a girl only ranking a guy by his muscles. My thought was that this is going to be the story of some shallow girl figuring out that there is more to a guy than muscles, but it isn't entirely that. It's a story of a girl who has an unhealthy obsession for muscles that actually could lead to a good career and she is absolutely the perfect fit for the basketball team. This shojo is more romance, than sport, but basketball will likely play a larger role later as Kaho is determined to see the team win their first game.

This shojo is just adorable. I was squeeing and laughing a lot over this one. The relationship between Kaho and Natsume moves along at the perfect pace for shojo. He's patient and knows that deep down, he really likes her, but she's still blinded by muscles and clueless to the fact that it isn't entirely his muscles she loves (although that's a great bonus). They're a perfect odd couple and I like that this shows a different side of school manga using the lens of sports. I also like the highlights on exercise and building muscles this hints at which makes me feel like we'll see Kaho develop this into a potential career. Extra bonus is all the shirtless views. Highly recommend if you can purchase the ebook. (Looks like, once again, no print from Kodansha and I'm epically bummed because I'd like this in my personal collection in physical form.)

Funny, well drawn and romantic. It wasn’t really for me but it is a nice, cute story with engaging characters.

A cute new shojo manga where the girl is completely fixated upon a man’s muscle definition, believing it to be a representation of all the hard work and dedication involved. Hibi is caught by Natsume, a member of the basketball teams and asked to be captain due to her dedication towards muscles. She accepts putting together regimes to help the other members become more toned while pulling all nighters. In a twist of events Hibi has no real resolve towards being in a relationship while Natsume starts to fall for her.

It’s hard to say whether the series will focus more on basketball in future installments, but for now it’s a cute piece of fluff that is a perfect escape from realism.

When I say I'm obsessed I mean I'm obsessed. This books started out okay I thought it was going to be just a decent read but the more I read the more I fell in love. I took so many screenshots of my favorite scenes and so many cute moments between them. I love how much he is just accepting of her and how much she is trying to deny her feelings just makes my love for them intensified. But I love her so much. She is so invested in muscles and it makes you see how people have so many different hobbies but also how invested she is in them. I love how much Natsume. I just need to read the next volume like im obsessed x10.

Getting Closer to You is the story of Kaho, who loves muscles and has a hard time not objectifying Natsume, who bamboozles her into being the manager of the school's basketball team. She gets into training the team through diet and exercise, which the team eventually starts to appreciate. As she gets closer to Natsume, she has a hard time deciphering if she likes just his muscles or him as a person as well. He definitely likes and keeps trying to show her he's more than just muscles but doesn't mind if his muscles are what gets her attention to begin with. This is a very cute story, great artwork, and I can't wait to read the next installment.

A huge thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the mangaka for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one is hard for me to rate. I think the art style is phenomenal and the artist must share a similar love of muscles like that of our heroine. My issue is with the plot which is why I am having a hard time. I read the summary and I was really hoping there was more to this story, that the summary was just a little taste before a less shallow plot, I am a little disappointed to say that there isn't. The plot summary is exactly what you get.


I am giving it a three as my ratings are based on my opinion and specific lense, however, there are factors to consider.

This is a story geared towards high schoolers, I am in my 30s. This is also for a Japanese audience, I am American. It would be irresponsible to not mention the cultural differences when it comes to this story and my enjoyment.

I suppose my main issue is the main character's obsession with male muscles. It feels hypocritical. If this was a male student obsessed with female bodies it would receive backlash and it would more than likely be listed in a more mature age rating. I think this is a harmful double standard that does not send a great message.

There is also a line in which the character states she respects muscles because it shows that someone works hard, that it is a physical representation of that hard work. This is incredibly unhealthy to promote. It is the same as saying if you don't have muscles then you don't work hard. And with the target audience being teenage girls, this can lead to very dangerous thinking regarding their own bodies.

I know this is fiction and shouldn't be treated with a stern lens, but as I mentioned, I'm 30. I know that that isn't how the human body works, but when I was 15? I would be so hard on myself asking how much harder I could work because I didn't have any definition when in reality I had incredibly high and unattainable standards and treated my body terribly.

Again this may be a cultural thing, and these issues aren't enough to scare me off the series. I am considering giving volume 2 a try but these are definitely concerns that anyone with a sensitivity to eating disorders should probably be wary of.

Oh gosh damn this manga was spicy 🔥 Natsume is an absolute hottie and omg the muscles in this manga are to die for. I literally died when I read the sleeping scene. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you read this manga 😉 I love how everyone on the team knows what’s up. I thought it was so sweet with how dedicated Hibi was to building the muscles of the basketball team, and her journey of realizing those muscles are attached to emotional humans. I love the dynamic she has with the team and that’s one of my fav things to read about. I also thought the part where they write their names was so freaking cute. It may seem a little possessive for some readers, but if you’re into that kind of thing, then it was so great 😍 I really just need more of this manga ASAP. Definitely one of my new favs!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Kodansha and the author for providing an e-ARC of this manga in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
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This was a very light and easygoing romance story.

I'm not really a fan of how obsessed Kaho is with muscles so initially it was hard to adjust to just how much she talks about them. The latter half of Getting Closer to You was better and had cuter elements. Basketball was not really big in this volume but perhaps in later volumes it will be featured more/play a bigger role.

Overall, this was a nice, light read.

Overall rating: 3/5 stars

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
-Characters: 3/5
-Cover: 5/5
-Story: 3/5
-Writing: 3/5
Genre: Shojo/Sports/Romance
Type: Manga
Worth?: If you into sports/romance manga

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review! I did pick this up and totally forgot what it was about by the time I got to it. Lol. Starting it was kind of a slow and painful start. I am not the biggest fan of characters so cringingly obsessed with people's bodies. That whole first bit was a major turn off. I was sure I would rate it a 1 or a 2 because of it. It might say 3.5 but I really don't think rounding up to 4 would be the truth in how I feel.

As I read on though it was pretty cute. The romance is basic and the actual sports in it is meh. Some bits were funny. It wasn't a horrible read but I really won't be picking up volume 2.

Very easy and good graphic novel to read if you are in a reading slump. It made me laugh and want to read more without stopping since the characters were so cute and the pilot was very easy and good to follow. The flow was nicely paced and I want to read the second book if and when it comes out to find out more from that ending!!!!!

This one has all the outward appearances of being a typical shojo manga, yet it definitely stood out for me. I don't know if it's the fact that Kaho is so obsessed with muscles that she's so oblivious to everything else or that Kamino is great at pacing the story to always be interesting/fun/emotional, but I enjoyed this from first panel to last.
Kaho's obsession makes her a bit of a peeping Tom and I'm fully aware that I might not have enjoyed this if it was a guy doing some of the things she does, but even when she's doing questionable things, she's so oblivious to everything but the muscles that I found her endearing. I also really liked Natsume's personality. He could very easily make fun of Kaho when he instead supports her and tries to get her to understand that he likes her just the way she is. I laughed out loud at almost all of their interactions.
It's hilarious to find a for-girls equivalent of fan service in the amount of muscles and skin that Kamino puts on display. I don't know if it's a gag that will eventually become too much, but for this volume at least, I loved it.
The ending leaves readers at a very interesting point, so it's a guaranteed continuing series even if I hadn't found the relationship between Kaho and Natsume to be utterly charming and adorable.

Extremely happy thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for the adorable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha for providing me with this E-ARC in exchange for a honest review!

The art style in the manga is absolutely stunning, and that’s basically why this manga is a 2 star for me.

I found this manga to be cute, but very annoying. This manga is literally about a girl who is obsessed with muscles. The main character, Kaho, is obsessed with muscle’s, and she decides to join the boys basketball team as a manager. Natsume is in love with Kaho, and Kaho is in love with his muscles. Natsume is trying to make Kaho fall in love with him.

There were two things that annoyed me in this manga: 1) The amount of times that the word “beefcakes” is mentioned, and 2) The amount of times that the word “muscle’s” is mentioned. First off, who calls a muscled man a beefcake?!?

There's something delightfully charming about ridiculous premises in shoujo manga and Getting Closer to You definitely fits that bill! Besides the art being gorgeous, our heroine Hibi is both quirky in her love of muscles but also the typical teenage girl that finds an interest to hyper focus on. Of course, it wouldn't be a proper shoujo if the Cool Guy of the basketball team wasn't somehow charmed by her.

It's an easy read with a lot of potentiality for typical shoujo tropes but with the premise being muscles, there is also a lot of room for comedy, especially from the peripheral characters on the basket ball team. There's also Hibi's best friend who is an Idol fan in her own right that provides some wit to counter Hibi's obsession but often finds herself facing her own advice. Towards the end of volume one, there's a bit of mystery surrounding a new ikeman classmate that evidently knows Natsume so I'm intrigued about where that storyline is going to go. I'm also a sucker for series that shows the heroine growing and evolving through the course of her high school experience and that of her first love.

Much thanks to Kodansha and NetGalley for providing this copy of Getting Closer to You, Vol. 1 for my reviewing pleasure.