Himeno-chan ni Koi wa Mada Hayai

Hi, I like to leave a little review for manga that I read that don’t have any other reviews.

Love is too Early for Himeno-chan is a slice-of-life romantic comedy centered around a precocious 4th grader named Himeno and her crush on her friend Ouji. With a cast of colorful characters along with hilarious and adorable interactions, Love is too Early for Himeno-chan was a manga I looked forward to updating every month.

Himeno and Ouji, our titular male and female leads of the manga, complement each other well. Without backstories or exposition, their relationship is defined only as the first crush our elementary school selves had, one that when looking at kids I counsel at summer camps I think “how cute and adorable”, while mentally cringing at my own when I was younger. Cute and adorable is exactly how I’d describe Himeno and Ouji’s interactions, with Himeno asserting her mature adult-like view of romance onto Ouji and Ouji just wants what any 4th grade boy wants: Pokemon cards. Lots of unique gags on this idea keeps me laughing, from dating compatibility apps being nothing more than just another video game to Ouji, or on a clothes shopping trip (“date according to Himeno”), Ouji thinks the Pokedevil shirt is the most fashionable.This isn’t purely where the charm lies in their relationship: what I mean by complimenting each other well comes from the fact that Himeno in reality is just another 4th grader at heart, such as disliking peas or being afraid of monsters. It’s in these moments where Ouji lives up to his name of prince, acting as the gentleman, such as pretending to like peas to help Himeno out or not leaving Himeno behind in the school's haunted house. I think it’s this dynamic between Himeno and Ouji that makes this manga so interesting, enjoyable, and adorable.

The other supporting characters in Love is too Early for Himeno-chan are just as entertaining and solid, and I think the manga did a good job of fleshing them out instead of having them just be 2D props. Sometimes a chapter or multiple chapters in a row won’t be centered around Ouji and Himeno and are used to explore a multitude of other character pairings. Some of my favorite side characters are Takagishi Tsubasa, the tomboy girl who hangs out with Ouji and his guy friends, Ouji’s brother Ichitaka “Mr. I’m not popular”, the all too relatable no experience with love whatsoever guy who even has his own heroic moments, the actual mature onee-chan of Himeno, Azusa, who fans of Takagi will love her teasing moments with Ouji’s brother, and of course, the teacher Natsume-sensei, whose single unmarried self gets lectured on love by a 4th grader. I think it’s refreshing and entertaining when exploring their stories with Ouji and Himeno along with each other, and gives the manga more life.

There’s really not much else for me to talk about. The art is simplistic but expressive, a perfect fit for the series in my opinion, with every character having a unique look to them. I haven’t read another manga where an oblivious male lead is justified, so I guess that’s a quirk in and of itself. It’s sadly a shame that the manga ended out of the blue the way it did: development between Ouji and Himeno were starting to take place through small scenes here and there, and it was always entertaining for me to look forward to something new with Love is too Early with Himeno-chan.

If slice of life romance comedy isn’t your cup of tea, and you’d prefer stuff with a bit more drama and development, then Himeno-chan might not be for you. Otherwise, I think Himeno-chan is worth a bit of your time to read if you didn’t think Takagi-san or Nagatoro were complete trash, and hopefully you’d find it charming and entertaining as I did.