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Boku to Uchûjin by NOBEL
Chapter 1 page 2 |
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Title: 僕と宇宙人
Author: NOBEL
Website:
Lazy Nobel
Chapters: 13 (ongoing)
Keywords: aliens, romantic comedy, school life, cultural differences, language barrier,
ojô-sama, BL, smart but arrogant male lead
Related media: a BL spin-off with 2 of the side characters
Yamamoto Manabu is a 3rd year middle schooler. Last year he was the Student Council President and ever since he has been crushing on the ex-Vice President, Shiratori Mizuho. When they end up in the same class, he looks forward to be Class Representatives with her. But then comes in the transfer student Sola Luli* who becomes Class Rep in Mizuho's stead. She comes from the Palopilu Planet, doesn't speak one word of Japanese and for some reason is very attached to Manabu...
*I chose not to respect the Hepburn transcription because I thought that l was "softer" than r and I could afford to since Palopilians aren't Japanese anyway.
(And that's when you're wondering why there is BL written in the keywords. It's just two side characters and it's pretty light, more shônen-ai than yaoi.)
Boku to Uchûjin is a 4-koma style romantic comedy. Contrary to the majority of school comedies, this one takes place in a middle school and not in a high school. I don't know if it has an impact on the story but I find the general ambiance of the work rather innocent in a good way (careful, innocent doesn't mean Care Bears, there are sad and depressing moments too). This innocent side is refreshing and original compared to other more famous works such as
Hori-san to Miyamura-kun (see the complete review) where it tends to get over-melodramatic.
Boku to Uchûjin is a comedy and even when things get serious, it doesn't pile on the pathos.
There are many side characters which can sometimes make the story a bit confused but it quickly gets back to the first circle of main characters (Manabu, Mizuho, Luli, Momoko and the Student Council). I liked it that, even though it's a romantic comedy, it deals with other themas like for example family relationships. However that too could become a weak point by dividing the story into arcs (it's okay in action mangas but not really in comedies or love stories).