Renai Daikou is a new manga by Aka Akasaka and Nishizawa 5mm. Aka Akasaka has some hit titles under his name, such as Oshi no Ko and Kaguya Sama Love is War. It’s a collaboration project with Nishizawa in charge of the illustrations and Akasaka handling the story. The new manga is attracting readers and generating curiosity about how successful it will be. Will it be as successful as the others? Is it going to be the next big hit after Oshi no Ko?
There’s no denying that there’s a lack of good romance anime and manga as compared to other genres. It doesn’t take much for a good romance to get popular, Renai Daikou has so much potential to develop into a good romance.
Renai Daikou: What is the Plot?
- It’s a story of a half-Japanese half Swedish girl Mari Maria Winter Nanase who is next to perfect with good looks, popularity among peers, good family background but is reluctant and shy around boys.
- She’s boastful and lies about knowing it all while being an absolute amateur at romance. Opposite to her is Masaya Seki, who’s a shy introverted guy who reads and is sweet until he’s not.
Behind the scenes, he’s using a love agency to get together with Mari and his shy introverted appearance is just a façade. Mari is no better as she’s using the same love agency to get closer to Seki who is her long-time crush.
Why Oshi no ko became so popular
The success of Oshi no ko can be accounted to the good production quality, unique and good direction with over 10 chapters in the first episode which was 90 minutes long, and the music. But there’s no taking away from the crux of it all, the story.
- The story is intriguing keeping the readers hooked to the twists and turns and the comparatively normal events as well.
- Oshi no ko became popular pretty quickly taking up the mainstream media and surpassing Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on MyAnimeList.
The story of Renai Daikou is still in its initial stage, there’s a lot to unravel. Aka Akasaka has proved himself multiple times with fresh stories and likable characters. Renai Daikou has a lot of directions to take, the story is yet to evolve.
Things to look out for in Renai Daikou
- The first impression of our main character Seki wasn’t the best with his perverse intentions in play. Though the writer made it a point to mention that he’s a good person at heart, so there’s still hope for him. With only four chapters out it’s also a little harsh to judge the characters just yet but his development is something to look forward to.
Image Courtesy of Weekly Young Jump - Two stories are in focus – the main characters Seki and Mari Mari and the agents of the love agency Pon and Kon. Both the relationships so far have fun dynamics, are we going to get enemies to lovers trope with Kon and Pon?
Kon, the agent of love agency | Image Courtesy via Crunchyroll - So far Kon and Pon are interacting with each other through their clients. What will happen when they discover the truth about each other?
- The character development and exploration are something to look forward to with all the main characters.
Renai Daikou is a fun mix
It can be seen that there are some very apparent traces of Kaguya Sama’s Love is War, Mari Mari is similar to Shinomiya. The rom-com part of the manga is a little similar to Kaguya sama with the main characters trying to make each other fall in love with them. At the same time, the differences make the story feel fresh.
The fun element is similar to Kaguya Sama whereas the mysterious air around the characters seems weirdly similar to Oshi no ko. The art style is very clean and different. The manga is easy to follow visually.
Conclusion
With just over a month since the first chapter was published, it’s too soon to judge the manga. Given the record of Aka Akasaka, it’s okay to presume that there is much more to the story. Enough to make the manga a potential big hit.