A condition called love vol 1 by megumi morino

Hotaru is pretty sure she’s the type of person who will never fall in love. So she thinks nothing of it when she shares her umbrella with the despondent Hananoi, who has just been dumped. He asks her out and thinks she’s the girl of his dreams, but Hotaru only agrees to go out with him on a trial basis for a month. Hananoi is determined to do everything to get Hotaru to love him, so he does extreme stunts like digging in the snow for a few hours to help find a lost hair pin. To her surprise, she enjoys spending time with him, but by the end of the trial period, she still hasn’t figure out if she loves him or not. Is what she feels actually love, or just fondness for a person? 

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The refreshing thing about this story is that neither of the leads are extremely embarrassed or shy. Hotaru is willing to try new things and go on dates even though she's skeptic of the whole process, but there isn't the normal shyness that is a large part of romance titles. That being said, the speed at which Hananoi gets intense is a little off-putting. He is head-over-heels, I'll-sacrifice-myself-for-you type of love within minutes. After he cools off a little bit, he's a thoughtful person and treats Hotaru with a lot of respect, which is really good to see. Other than the creep-factor at the beginning, this is a pretty sweet romance title that I'll probably give a few more volumes to see if it piques my interest more.

Kodansha rates this for 16+, but there wasn't anything in the first volume that would make this inappropriate for younger high schoolers. At this point, it might be OK for middle school even, but that could change in a few volumes depending on how serious the relationship gets.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: March 3, 2020
Only currently available digitally

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Romance, School Life, Kodansha