Shiroyama to Mita-san
This is going down into my manga hall of fame. I'm not one to read romantic comedies much, let alone a romantic comedy about what is essentially an arranged relationship... and yet, this manga is so funny and good I can't recommend it enough.
There is 0 bullshit in this manga. No stupid misunderstandings, no over the top melodrama (even though I appreciate it sometimes), no gooner shit. All of the characters are hilarious and have their funny moments. The physical comedy is top notch. The main character especially, his stupid neckless expression when he's focusing on something, or the way he's consistently drawn in a knockneed stance lmao. 
The narrative consistency is impressive, literally nothing that happens gets forgotten about and is used later in the story. Characters become friends and their relationships grow and develop in the story in a way that feels organic.
In a 100 chapters it says everything it wants to say, literally not a moment felt wasted or boring. The characters are high schoolers and they FEEL like high schoolers, they're engaged with the lives of their families, there's sibling fights over who's eating what at dinner, they're helping with the family business... I love a manga that knows how to portray a family well, and it's such a rare thing? Last time I was genuinely so entertained by the whole family as a unit was in... His and Her Circumstances? Which coincidentally enough, is also a romantic comedy!
Ok ok, let me actually say what the plot is about. This is a thinly disguised coming of age story about two FREAKS. Shiroyama is a strange guy that really hates being a country bumpkin living in the middle of nowhere and wants to move to Tokyo. He's obsessed with knowing about Tokyo prefectures and his favourite past-time is listening to a late night radio show led by two middle aged women. He has weird curly bangs, and so does the rest of his family. They all have the same face, in fact. He rescues Tamiko's grandpa from a fall, upon which the grandpa asks Shiroyama to become Tamiko's boyfriend because he thinks Shiroyama's bravery befits his favourite grandchild. They both agree on giving it a try. Tamiko, unlike Shiroyama, is very athletic and very cool and awesome. She's obsessed with Golgo 13 and carries around a fake m-16. She doesn't wear makeup and she always has her bangs clipped in for maximum optimal performance. Obviously the two of them are a match made in heaven.
Throughout the manga they gradually get closer, but it's not just that. They both open up to the people around them, gain new friendships and start to care more for their small community. I don't think it's just their love that's to be thanked for that, but also the aspect of both of them growing up and starting to develop frontal lobes. I distinctively remember this feeling of "hey I actually care for my family" that developed around the age of 16-18 and I can't think of many examples in media that showcase it as accurately as they did here lmao. It's like you learn to not take your family for granted and not see everything as a nuisance. It's a simple and everyday concept of course, but this time it was executed in a way I really liked.
Sappy stuff aside, I want to point out again just how good the comedy and the characters are. First of all, I haven't seen a manga with so many... suave characters in a long time. All of them exude a certain boldly confident aura that had me laughing my ass off at multiple points. I didn't laugh at a manga this much for a while omg. Shiroyama's older sister is a perfect example of that, but Tamiko also falls under that category as well. Another character I really loved was Shima. He's a tall and handsome transfer student from Tokyo, but he has his quirks. He's honest to a fault, which makes a lot of people dislike him. He also wants to be a cosmetologist and do makeup professionally. I like how this fact is never contested or frowned down upon, it's just a part of who he is, a cool and trendy straight guy from Tokyo obsessed with skincare and makeup lmao. In fact, this manga is very free from your usual strictly assigned gender role stuff and I feel like the mangaka himself must have been raised by cool grandmas because he has a certain respect when he portrays women of all ages I rarely see... anywhere.
Maybe if I had to say one complaint it's that there was no need to make this an arranged relationship. Or maybe... you know, I reckon both of the main leads would have been perfectly content being single for the rest of their lives so I understand why the author "pushed" them into a relationship.
There's so many other nice things about this manga but if I wrote it all down I would spoil every single aspect of it. There's so many reaction image worthy pictures in it too, which is why I couldn't help but include some in this entry. I wish this manga had a thousand chapters and followed the couple into their old age, genuinely. Lastly enjoy this canon image of how it feels for me to drive my husband around.
