Nisekoi: False Love Vol. 16by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 5 Chitoge and Raku meet a princess who looks just like Chitoge!Another new girl. Seriously, this series has decided to drop the pretense of actually trying to go somewhere with the plot and has just embraced being a harem manga. Even then it can't settle on which girls to include. The new one here is a princess who looks exactly like Chitoge (with Onodera's personality) -- come on! I want Raku to like Chitoge for herself, not find a "best of both" middle ground. We get the "classic" royalty switching places with commoner storyline, which results in Raku going on a real date -- no other girls tag along, and there's no jittery nerves to get in the way either. Of course, Raku isn't attracted to the princess at all (go figure), despite him noticing the "best of both" part. The best part was Raku's reaction to seeing Chitoge at the end of the day, but I'm frustrated by both of their comments to the princess about not liking the other one. The second half of this volume surprised me in a good way. It mostly focused on Ruri! She's fighting with feelings that are developing for Shu! Since we've seen how serious Shu can get about a love interest (which he admits to Ruri here! Another aspect of maturity is showing!), I find myself wholeheartedly supporting this ship. It's also really nice to have something going on beyond the main harem. Ruri's role as Onodera's support / cheerleader had gotten stale. There's also a short section on Yui, who can't sing and gets support from the main characters; Marika, who is terrified of animals; and Tsugumi, who finds a prototype sleeping potion and ends up almost kissing Raku to wake him up. Yui annoys me -- I don't see why Raku needs an older woman in the harem (especially when Shu already had a crush on an older woman in this story). Marika's section further highlights how she's not the right choice for Raku, but I appreciate that he's kind to her and tries to help (and thankfully shows no interest in being a love interest for her). Tsugumi's section actually does a wonderful job of highlighting that Raku cares about the feelings of the girls! The princess trope is just too random here for me to properly enjoy. There are already too many girls as well, so I'm quite over introducing more new characters, even one-off ones. The redeeming part is Ruri's story, but that's not enough to bring me back for more, especially since it might stagnate. There was no plot advancement in this volume. Written: August 19, 2016
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