Suzuki and Tani couldn’t be any more different from each other. Suzuki’s talkative, energetic, very much a crowd-pleaser and is conscious about her beauty; meanwhile Tani’s the model student, comes across as kinda dull, is quiet but can get his point across when necessary. You’d think these types of personalities wouldn’t mix together. But guess what? They both actually have a thing for each other!
In You and I are Polar Opposites, for the first chapter we follow Suzuki, who despite stating the types of preferences she likes in a boy out loud, has a crush on Tani — but feeling some social pressure from her friends, doesn’t want to admit it. But one day she ends up running into him after school, they then awkwardly walk home together, and after one accidental hand-holding experience, is emotionally spent. After then showing up late to school, her friends ask if she’s dating Tani. She soon denies this, right when Tani shows up…and she’s feeling crushed for the entire day. And then at the end of the school day, Tani then tells to forget about what happened yesterday.
When her friends show up, she ends up confessing to them about liking Tani. That’s when, out of everything she thought she knew, her friends encourage her to express how she really feels to Tani! With their support she races after Tani and tells him the truth. And after all of that, Tani accepts her feelings and…they begin dating. Now we get to follow the two as they enter a relationship, and it’s extremely awkward and adorable.
The manga ultimately can be too sweet since so far there’s been very little negative backlash to these two dating or any troubles between the two so far. That’s not to say there hasn’t been anyone wondering about their relationship, but it goes along with the classic opposites attract theme. By looks and actions these two should be nowhere close to each other, but they both secretly went online to find out how to actually be boyfriend/girlfriend (and one of them got caught) and genuinely discover some things they have in common. At the heart of any romantic comedy the two main leads have to have some chemistry, and Tani and Suzuki have it in spades.
Adding to their time together being great are Suzuki’s friends, each being supportive about welcoming Tani into their group. We even get two characters who were both surprised and even questioned the relationship, eventually accepting these two work…and one of them realizes why it works. And in chapter 9 we learn about a new character who likes Tani…but not in the way you think! A great supporting cast is definitely helpful in making the main relationship feel smooth, and add in flipping social expectations, you then have a nice set of characters to help these two grow and continue being comfortable with their feelings.
And these two have lots of growing to do, but their time together really is sweet. Going on a date and Suzuki’s reactions to everything, randomly meeting up at a new store, even their trip to a festival, it’s been pleasant and cute, aided by Agasawa’s quirky comedic style and the pacing of the pages. Also I will definitely admit, blatantly flaunting multiple nerdy things, some from Shonen lore, that these characters (Suzuki especially) do does directly appeal to, well, me. The Eyeshield 21 though didn’t occur to me until mini-Suzuki put the helmet on though…
Anyways, You and I Are Polar Opposites‘ first chapter was great, and the manga has kept me continuing to root for their relationship to be warm and full of happiness since. Will there be any significant drama between the two? Will there be any other character that barges in to change the dynamic between the two (Gapacho? Gapacho!!!) ? And will there be a Gintama/Yu Yu Hakusho/etc. reference that Suzuki pulls up out of nowhere…or will Tani show up dropping some unexpected Jujutsu Kaisen lore? Well, whatever it is, I’m very much enjoying this romantic comedy, and if you’re in need of a new one to try, this might be it. So far the localization has held up (run into a few chapters with some typos), and I can only hope that continues moving forward.