Preamble
Due to the recently announced anime adaptation, confusion surrounding the subject of this manga, and concerns that have been brought up by the community regarding the mangaka's past works, I felt that I should write a review. Hopefully I can assuage some fears you might have based on rumors you may have heard regarding this series and it's creator. I am writing this after chapter 70 of the manga. I plan to update as required but it won't likely be necessary any time soon, as the status quo is unlikely to change at least until the anime airs. It was difficult to write this without giving away plot points, but I think I have done a fair balancing act. If anything I have erred on the side of caution as I want plot developments and their corresponding impact to be earned by you reading the manga, not my review.
Overview
Please Don't Bully Me, Nagatoro is a high school romantic comedy about a tan, athletic girl named Nagatoro who seems to take sadistic pleasure in teasing her Senpai whose name she never bothers to learn. In the original pixiv webcomic the manga is based on all we get is his last name, which is Hachiouji, but since it never comes up in the manga I will refer to him simply as Senpai.
A tsundere might yell at you or hit you to hide their true feelings of affection, possibly due to a lack of maturity. A sadodere will actively bully or torment you as it brings them pleasure to do so. "Sado" is short for sadistic after all.
This turns off some people and many that drop Nagatoro seem to do so after the first 1-2 chapters, as that is when the bullying is at its most intense. While the bullying never reaches the levels of the pixiv comic from which it originates (more on that later), it is still too much for some, especially if they had/have trouble in school with bullying and even more so if the source of the bullying was female. If this hits close to home but you still enjoy the tsundere archetype, I encourage you to give the manga a shot as there is some definite overlap between sadodere and tsundere.
There is so much more I want to say about this first chapter but if I go any further it would lessen the impact and I don't want to do that to you.
Please Don't Bully Me, Nagatoro is often compared to Teasing Master, Takagi-san and this is an apt comparison. If you boil down Takagi-san to its essence, each chapter involves Nishikata trying to get one over on Takagi only to have the tables turned on him in the end with Takagi emerging as the victor, thanks to her knowing Nishikata well enough to predict his thoughts and actions. At the end of the chapter roughly 20% of the time you get Takagi hinting that she likes him leaving Nishikata to question his own feelings along with Takagi's motives for teasing him in the first place.
Alternatively, when you boil down Nagatoro, most chapters that aren't part of an arc involve Senpai minding his own business in the art club room only to have Nagatoro show up and proceed to accuse him of doing something pathetic, weak, gross, or lewd while playfully hitting him. She will then try to encourage him to man up and change his ways all the while amping up the sexual tension by pretending she is going to do something lewd just to watch him squirm. Eventually Nagatoro will cross a line and Senpai will say as much. You are then treated to an arguably genuine apology, only for the teasing to start again. Senpai will then cave in and do whatever it was she was demanding, only to have it end in an accidentally compromising and often mildly (by current hs romcom manga standards) lewd situation. Senpai and Nagatoro both react in shock/terror, followed by Nagatoro slowly recovering her composure and mockingly accusing Senpai of being a gross molester/pervert. Roughly 40% of the time Nagatoro will at some point show a softer side while Senpai isn't looking that hints that she may care more about Senpai than she lets on.
It's those moments that truly make Nagatoro worth reading. To me, this is gap moe at it's purest. More powerful than your average tsundere as the gap between the highs and lows is far wider than normal. In romantic comedy, the journey is often more enjoyable than the destination. As rewarding as finally watching two awkward dorks finally expressing their true feelings after +100 chapters can be, watching two characters grow both as individuals and as a duo is where the real fun is at. Please Don't Bully Me, Nagatoro delivers this in almost every chapter. Without the early harsh bullying up front, the softer moments lose their impact and wouldn't feel as well earned.
5th Volume Anthology along with a message
of his appreciation for the series.
Art Style
From an artistic standpoint, Nanashi is almost always on model. Occasionally he will try a new perspective and it might look slightly off. I'm not entirely sure if this is because I am not used to seeing the characters from that angle or if the proportions are slightly off. The paneling is solid and grows in complexity as the manga evolves with Nagatoro often breaking into other panels to give extra emphasis to a scene.
This has since been retconned into practicing competitive Judo in the past
Nanashi has absolutely mastered facial expressions. There is a reason Nagatoro was the next choice of subject for Pantsu Shot, the one who made the "U Got That" Gesugao MMV and has been used multiple times by Hilzu in their MMVs. Nagatoro is also a go-to for reaction images on image boards and discord servers. She can go from smug to sadistic to flustered out of her mind to filled with murderous intent all in the same chapter and every one of them lands perfectly.
I should probably say something negative about the manga, if only to prove to you that I can. Nanashi will occasionally save time by copypasting, but this is only in low detail panels and never where it matters. Occasionally it looks like he is using a gradient tool if someone is wearing spats. It just feels off. Nanashi has also reversed the seating positions of characters after a perspective change at least once. I've also noticed that on more than one occasion a character will be taller than a doorway that is next to them in a dead on hallway shot. Might be the Dutch angle. This has all only been noticed by me after many re-reads. Overall these are mostly nitpicks.
The Controversy
Now I want to talk about the mangaka, Nanashi aka 774. I only bring this up because his past works are a point of contention for some even to the point of inspiring them to encourage others not to support his works. This section is not going to be talking to them. I want to talk to the people that came here to see what all the fuss is about.
At one point around 2011, Nanashi started drawing a webcomic on pixiv about a young athletic girl named Nagatoro having a conversation with an unseen male classmate whom she refers to as her Senpai. In the first chapter alone, she humiliates, browbeats, and emotionally tortures Senpai far beyond the point of tears during a confession. In fact the tears only seem to encourage her. In the original Doujin, she was 90% sado 10% dere. She would always apologize for taking it too far in the end but it was always brutal. Most chapters are viewed from the perspective of Senpai looking at Nagatoro which only enhances the cruelty by inviting you to experience it in Senpai's place. The only exception to this is the entire chapter dedicated to Nagatoro convincing Senpai to be her sandbag while she practices her muay thai on his backside, promising him a trip to the beach together if he can withstand her punishment. This is the main reason why fans of the official serialized manga are split on the topic of Nagatoro being either too cruel or not cruel enough.
Eventually, the Nagatoro webcomic grew in popularity to the point where his editor told him to write a proper manga (and likely told him to tone down the sadomasochism). At that point, changing his name would have been counterproductive, so he stuck with Nanashi. Why would he want to change his name you ask? Well, Nanashi got his start as a hentai doujin writer and artist.
That alone shouldn't surprise you as many famous manga artists got their start doing thin books. It's almost a given that something in your read/watched list came from someone that did a hentai doujin under a pen name at one point or another. The problem that some people have with Nanashi is that many of his H-doujins were of an extreme nature. That shouldn't surprise you either considering what you've already learned but this was far beyond the abusive nature of web comic Nagatoro. I will not go into detail as it wouldn't be appropriate here. You can find information about some of them on this very site if you like. Suffice to say that some find his past work so objectionable that they write off anything else he has done, including Nagatoro, as the product of a sick and degenerate mind and therefore deem it unworthy of their time or treasure. That is fine. Everyone is free to draw a line they are comfortable with. It is my hope however in writing this review that you will be better informed to make up your own mind, rather than decide based on only hearsay, speculation and the phobias of others.
Personal Thoughts
I hope you do decide to read it. I discovered this manga around the release of the 3rd chapter in late 2017 and have been eagerly awaiting the next chapter every 2 weeks since. It has been and still is a breath of fresh air in the vast sea of mediocrity that is modern high school romcoms. If you will excuse an appeal to popularity, at 70 chapters and 9 volumes with over 1 million copies sold in Japan as of 2019, an official English release, a soon to be released drama CD and an anime currently in production it must be doing something right.
Story: Progress is slow but not milked. Watching the characters grow is rewarding. Story arcs rarely last more than a few chapters.
Art: Facial expressions are second to none and drip with emotion. Low detail comedy panels are entertaining. Action scenes are well done. Backgrounds are average.
Release Schedule: Every other week and rarely delayed.
Special thanks to @Pixelspeech for their helpful advice on writing reviews