In reality, it’s hard to see how Nanase, the class rep, can like the school’s known delinquent, Hana. He’s gotten into some trouble at school just recently, has a not-so-sterling reputation (all rumors) before going to said school, and even while in detention he tried to sneak out through a window!
…and have his head run right into Nanase’s foot.
So all in all, Nanase shouldn’t actually fall in love with him. But little actions she sees him do and the more time she spends with him makes her discover he’s not like the rumors suggest he is. And he may be better than one would think, but sometimes, he lets his emotions get the better of him. Now Nanase’s got to navigate that and her own changing emotions.
Not that When We’re in Love breaks the usual shoujo mold, but Fuyu Kumaoka’s series does some neat things that makes this first volume fairly fun. We get teased on how and why Hana is who he is, and when it’s (likely) revealed why he acts the way he does, it sets up usual school life emotions, which means the drama you’d expect is coming, but it’s all a matter of when. Nanase’s a pretty fun main lead as we see her many frames of mind — first her wanting nothing to do with Hana, to her discovering his true personality, to her falling in “like” with him, and to her potentially deducing who he really likes in the school.
We also see this pretty clearly. You’ll see her with rabbit ears and a baffled face after Hana threatens to kill her if she tells anyone he’s escaping detention. (She ends up hoping he gets expelled.) You see her trying to save him from seemingly getting beat up by some abrasive guys from another school — even dragging him away — only to see her quickly move to sorry mode when Hana tells her they were his old friends. And naturally, her thoughts that she’s starting to like Hana are kind of cute, though not unexpected. So all in all, the art really does help in making this manga stand out, whether it’s for humor or when a conflict emerges throughout the read. And the comedic timing is very much on point.
But despite all of this, while there’s still more we need to know about Nanase — like her past, how Hana changes her thoughts, and now knowing who he probably likes is one of the many things — there’s still much to know about Hana. He has an unpleasant reputation around school, and can you believe it might center around something he probably knows he can’t change? It’s one of the reasons he initially got suspended, but as we’ve seen little into his past, there’s much to explore there. That said, the author’s notes imply we won’t be focusing much on him in volume 2. Well, I’ll hopefully see soon enough how that gets handled then!