Warning! There will be manga spoilers so avoid reading below if you are new to the series.

I came across scenes of this series from a random anime compilation Youtube video. I was immediately attracted to the pretty girl with blonde hair.

I did not immediately decide to read or watch the series but after getting the ending spoiled by a subsequent video, I plunged into it.

I have spent the last 4 days being totally immersed in this heart wrenching series. I watch episodes of the anime and then read the corresponding manga chapters. Once I eventually ran out of anime episodes, I binged on the manga and finally finished it today.

“Deep breaths”

The characters are really dumb and the story is super cheesy. (Like bro, how tf do you keep not noticing that medium sized pendant is missing when you wear it around your neck everyday!) The premise is fine but borders on being unreasonably convenient by the end. I feel there is too much filler chapters for the minor characters. I’m a bit conflicted though because while I do enjoy a number of them, I was yearning for the main story to progress the majority of the time.

And yet

I experienced something special during these past 4 days. I laughed (I enjoy the humor), I gushed at all the tender moments, I cried (3 times, once outside of my room where I had to be careful not to be seen) and I had heart palpitations so rapid that I got worried. It still palpitates now whenever I reread the more emotional chapters or even just think about them! (I was so pissed the anime skipped this chapter, how dare they! I was smiling to myself like an idiot when I saw this scene!)

Given how the ending was spoiled for me before I even knew what the premise was, my whole reason for reading was to experience the journey these characters took to reach it.



So yes, I very much enjoyed the whole ride, some parts more than most obviously. I’m very happy with the endgame relationships.

With all that being said, I truly believe this series will be in my consciousness for a very very long time. Of course the biggest reason for that is the canon pairing of Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki. #TeamChitoge

Their relationship and everything surrounding it may be cliche as cliche can be but I enjoyed it so much damn it!

I was crying tears on my pillow when that UNBELIEVABLY DENSE Raku finally realizes Chitoge means more to him than a friend during Chapter 199.

Like come on you big idiot! I have been dying of jealously and frustration over here since chapter 51!

There are times early on seeing Chitoge being so in love with this undeserving bean sprout feels out of line with her character. She surely can do and deserves better.

Raku on the other hand is so typical of the average normal boy who is just all around nice to everyone. The same old cliche of girls falling in love for the main character just because he compliments nice things to them is really overdone and gets used too much in this series.

But that’s where the beauty of this being so cliche lies. You arrogantly tell yourself, yeah of course I knew that would happen, and continue reading to see how it plays out.

Given the circumstances, she is forced to spend most of her time with him. She tries her hardest to juggle being a fake girlfriend at the same time harboring feelings for him. Those moments are the ones that hurt most to read because either one or both of them are being unbelievably dense but they are also why the ending makes sense to me. They know each other so well after all the time they were forced to spend together. They hated each other first but grew to care for one another in their own unique way.

Seeing how it all happened was so beautiful for me.

Ok, for the last thing I’m going to say, I want to tell the story of why I cried at the ending.

Remember I have already seen the final chapters so once I reached it, I did not cry. I was happy I finally understood the whole story of the promise girl.

Where I did start to cry was during the omake with their kids and more specifically, reading this part of the afterword by the author Naoshi Komi.

That’s when it hit me. We will always have a chance to see these beloved characters again but as of now, that chance is so infinitesimally small and that just breaks my now fragile heart.

I’m so sad we never got an actual wedding chapter chapter as a true final chapter. Wouldn’t that have been a real tearjerker.

But even more than that, I desperately want to see even just a glimpse of their married life. I don’t think I have adored a couple’s chemistry as much as these two. It would be so satisfying to see if anything has changed after marriage.

Just thinking about how surely happy they are now makes my heart flutter with joy.😭 It is so painful to accept we may never see them again.

I didn’t expect to cry at that part honestly. As I finished reading the chapter while lying down, I felt warms tears slowly trickle down my eyes, along my earlobes and drip onto my bed.

I was happy I did.