Reviews for Musume no Tomodachi

Now that this manga has finally come to an end, I can now write a review on it. Being reading, I want to address that I absolutely condone such a relationship that occurs in this manga. I didn't read it because I like this type of romance, but because of a controversy regarding it. MINOR SPOILERS ALONG THE WAY Despite the story being very controversial, its very tense and gripping. From a very suspicious romance with a big age gap, to an abusive mother and depressed daughter, this manga is for any of those who want to grip onto a pillow so hard, you tear right through it! Idon't really have much to say about the story and the characters and the art and etc. itself, but what i really want to talk about is how I got myself interested in this manga in the first place.

Back in late 2019, when the manga started publishing, it got a little bit of controversy and calls for it being canceled due to a "Very problematic" relationship that happens within the story. Two characters, a high school girl, and a middle aged salary man, slowly begin to fall in love, and from there it leads to the mans risk of losing his job, so getting some involvement with the police.

Now I can understand this is a very weird and, as much as I do not like using this word, "problematic" story, It's just fiction. Yes relationships like this can obviously happen in real life, but this one is just in a story, and with that I got interested in it and decided to check it out for myself just to see how creepy it actually would be.

Even though the characters make some really stupid decisions, the manga was actually good and had a good story line. Yes, it's weird, but I enjoyed it. It had some great drama and some really tense bits, such as the high school girls mother finding out about their relationship, and getting the police involved.

Now I know what your thinking: your thinking I liked it and i'm rooting for their love and relationship to continue. No, actually not at all. the main lead had so many chances to walk away and continue life as is, but foolishly kept wanting to pursue his love for an underage high school girl. I honestly wanted this relationship to stop, and because of the stupid decisions being made, I kept reading it to see what happened in the end.

All this being said, its just a work of fiction. I highly doubt its based on a true story, and not only that, before reading the premise and saying "eww, omg that's problematic. Yikes!", take a look at it, read it, and see for yourself.

Suspenseful Romance / Dark temptation orig chapter 22 -> *edit chapter 62 !!Minor or Major spoiler!! A man and his daughter’s friend… (shhhhh)… you imagine… Have you wished or ever wish that you can commit an action without thinking about the consequence? For this, the answer should be yes. But… why didn’t you or most of you follow through? And why not?Perhaps, due to social norms and expectations, you decide that committing something risky isn’t worth breaking your tranquility or reputation.

Yet, for this manga, something is different, unusual, and even unsettling. The age gap and violation of social consensus are the elements that create the ambiance of dark temptation.

Story: 7.5

I love the plot of the story. Even though the story itself is relatively simple (-1)(since there is no need for innovative background setup), it is so dark, yet mesmerizing. No law prohibits a man from loving his own daughter’s friend or his own daughter’s friend from loving him; however, as a result of the norms and expectations, this love isn’t right and shouldn’t occur in the first place.

The story flows well, and almost every chapter ends with suspense. Nevertheless, because it is relatively new, -1.5 on potential error (huge deviation on this one as the man’s daughter can cause a huge fluctuation on the story rating). But as for now, the story is actually decent.

Art: 8

Not the best as the background can be bland, and the art style can be a little more detailed and clean. But, it is better than normal for sure and won’t hinder my enjoyment of reading this manga piece.

Characters: 8 or 10

There are three main characters in this story + a huge side character

1. [Dad]

Not-so-perfect dad who didn’t know how to deal with his familial situations, and a workaholic who turned out to be extremely stressed about his job

2. [Daughter]

Had to endure with her mother’s death and deal with dad’s “seemingly apathetic” attitude.

3. [Daughter’s friend]

Forced to be her mother’s version of a “perfect” daughter. A caged bird that want to be free.

4. THE side character -> [Daughter’s friend’s mom]

Basically a near-exact replica of the mom from “Chi no Wadachi”…

The characters do have backgrounds and motives that cause them to act a certain way. As the story goes on, the mangaka is able to add on more layers on top of the characters. Yet, there can still be fluctuations as there will be more side characters come into play so I will give it a conservative 8 for this category.

Enjoyment: 10 -> 6

I finished 22 chapters immediately without hesitation. Literally felt goosebumps and wanted to shout “Holy S**T” at the end of every chapter.

*Unsatisfied ending drops the score by a lot

Overall: 8.5 -> 7

Personally, this is a must-follow on my manga list. Period. However, I understand that this manga is not suitable for all the manga readers since it is completely going to fend off the readers who are conservative.

This will not be a mainstream manga, and it is impossible to get an animation adaptation out of this due to its theme.

HOWEVER, this manga is special for readers who love this particular niche or category (the scandalous or the dark side of society).

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Having followed this manga since the very beginning, it is sad that middle-to-end story line and the ending didn't match up with the hype of the beginning. Perhaps, due to controversies coming from the Japanese society's perception toward this manga (as expected), I personally feel that the mangaka just couldn't dish out the story that he originally wanted. Everything in the end feel a bit too predictable, which is drastically different from the original reading experience. Also, the open-ended finish of this manga definitely shows that it is up to us to decide what will happen to them, which means that it will generate less controversies since one sided conclusion will garner polarized opinions (extremely uncharacteristic of how I feel when I started reading this manga due to the fact that this manga is trying to show the society of what if things don't go as planned)

Fantastic start. Great Beginning to mid. Predictable and dull mid to end. Unsatisfied and disappointing ending. I will give it a 7

To summarize this series in one word: PAIN SOME SPOILERS AHEAD Story This is genuinely painful to read. In a great way. Musume no Tomodachi portrays the unblemished consequences of the societal taboos, namely age-gap relationships, and failure to follow societal norms. The darkness is much more relevant and empathetic than something intense like murder or rape, because many of us may struggle and question some of society's unspoken rules, making this series painfully relevant to our lives. Whereas other slice-of-life, drama series generally follow plot structure, this series seems like it's in an infinite climb of rising action. The slow, steady, looming drama and excellent cliffhangers make foran unreachable climax. Just when I think shit can't get any worse, each chapter proves me wrong. The suspense and indefinite delay of resolutions really claws at my heart. Every time I see a new update, my heart always sinks and my breath tightens in anticipation for what else will go wrong.

I'm a sucker for age-gap series, it's always interesting to see how authors tread upon delicate, taboo matters. Musume no Tomodachi portrays the subject of age-gap relationships in a refreshing manner. The consequences follow through in the most dire manner and we see how their relationship affects everyone around them. There is not a speck of hope or acceptance, only hardship and disapproval.

Characters

The characters are, to put it simply, fucked up. It's clearly conveyed just how shitty their lives have been, so their questionable, sometimes downright "wrong", actions have never annoyed me. Instead, it just strengthens their character.

Kousuke, the main character. Lost his wife, has a shut-in daughter who won't talk to him, works like a dog and silently pressured by societal norms. So when his only salvation is Koto, a teen girl, he jumps at the chance at escaping his life temporarily. However, this seemingly rehabilitative relationship only worsens his mental/emotional state, tipping his moral scale and turning his life for the absolute worse. He's nearly never in a healthy mindset. Eventually, the only thing he yearns for is escapism from societal demands, in the form of Koto. Thus, he traps himself in an eternal downward spiral of despair and angst.

Koto, the main heroine and femme fetale. Initially presented as an angelic deus ex machina for the exhausted Kousuke, she's steadily characterized as someone the same as Kousuke. Someone that lives to maintain a constraining image. As opposed to Kousuke maintaining his image in respect to societal norms, Koto maintains her image in respect to her mother's wishes. Her family life is just as broken as Kousuke's. As opposed to Kousuke's family situation, where he's rejected by his only family, Koto is latched onto by and is necessary for her mother. Rather, she's an object for her mother, a mere possession to fill in the missing holes in their family. Koto is just as broken as Kousuke, and equally seeks out escapism in him just as he does.

Kousuke's daughter shut herself out from the world and her father after her mother's death. However, she eventually opens up again to Kousuke and their situation seems to have taken for a better turn. However, upon witnessing Kousuke and Koto's intimate relationship, her parent-child relationship was once severed. She isn't characterized by societal/familial pressure as intensely as Kousuke and Koto, but instead by her utter confusion.

Koto's mother, arguably the antagonist of this series. Left by her husband, her personality takes for the worst. Manipulative, controlling and selfish, she will do whatever it takes to keep Koto wrapped around her finger. Her character is defined by her chaotic love for Koto. Seemingly a more moral cause than what Kousuke and Koto possess, as a parent's love and nurture is expected, but her motives are arguably much more dark and worse than anyone else's.

Art

Stylistically, aesthetically pleasing and works incredibly well. The art is finely detailed and wonderful to look at, but it's strength lies in the "show, not tell". The facial expressions never warrant explanatory dialogue for a character's feelings and motives. It's quite literally all there, plastered on the face, slight gestures and body movements. It creates the usual stuffy, tense atmosphere and smoothly conveys the internal. Sometimes, it's almost like I'm watching, not reading. The character designs are quite nice, as well. I especially love Koto's design. Her blush, big teddy bear eyes and soft looks exudes a feeling of relief and angelic ... but there's also something there that contrasts that perceived image.

Enjoyment

I love reading despite the pain. It's rare for me to not get annoyed by the characters' dumb actions in drama, but here? It's painfully enjoyable to see it all. Honestly, I'd put this on the same level as Oshimi Shuzo's works, like The Flowers of Evil and Blood on the Tracks. I love the dark empathy and immortality, the sense of catharsis is one hell of a drug, man. 10/10.

Final Words

If you've enjoyed The Flowers of Evil, Oyasumi Punpun, Blood on the Tracks and other heavy drama series, I believe you'll find great enjoyment in Musume no Tomodachi. Successfully creating a constant air of quiet tread and discomfort and portraying the dire consequences of societal self-images and taboos, I think this is one of the best on-going slice-of-life drama manga.

I'm currently writing this review after reading the entirety of the manga. I'll be upfront, I'm using this as a way to collect my thoughts. How do the people around you shape who you are as a person? How many circumstances affect who you are? How much have you given up to uphold those faces? And with that, how much of you is really you? The story is there, it's not great. It's merely there, to be a vehicle for the characters to move through the manga with. If you read this manga, you're here for the characters, how they adapt and react to what's thrownat them, how they choose and decide on the things that happen to them.

The art isn't spectacular either, though it is almost perfect for the manga. It brings to life the most important moments in the story, even if it brings you great discomfort while doing so. It is there to enunciate, nothing less and nothing more.

This manga isn't a masterpiece. Far from it, but it does give you a story led by a cast of characters that will make you ponder on the questions it's willing to ask. There will be discomfort, there will be a sense of wrong instilled in you when you read this manga, and after all that you will never get a satisfying ending.

I liked this manga, not for what it has in it's panels, but what it is willing to show me.

This story gave me the same emotions as a really good suspenseful horror movie. The tension rises with every chapter. It's a slow-motion car crash that's hard to look away from, and the story delivers on the actual car crash. It's about a man that has lost his wife to an illness, is treated poorly at work while performing well and receiving recognition for it, has a mentally unstable daughter that has abandonment issues. In all this misery he meets a classmate of his daughter perchance in a quiet coffee shop he frequents. The main girl has an abusive mother that is stuck in a terrible relationshipwith a man that dislikes her and cheats on her with another woman so frequently that he's rarely at home.

Both of them see something in each other and thus begins that walk on razor's edge that is a truly uncomfortable relationship.

Nobody in this manga makes the best decisions, but they make decisions that are human. I was uncomfortable the whole way through, but I also couldn't stop reading. I was scared that the main character was going to compromise his morals as a decent human being, but I was also scared that he'd fall into a pit of despair.

I will now spoil if the story has a good ending or not, sometimes that's important for people to decide if they want to read something. Personally, I think you should go on this ride blind.

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Nobody goes to jail, nobody's life is totally ruined,

the main character never breaks his moral compass completely.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

"Nice guys finish last." Musume no Tomodachi subverts this quote with refreshing originality in this age-gap romance. Kosuke, recently widowed, comes off as straight-laced and a bootlicker too uptight for his own colleagues. His daughter hates him because he's not real with her. He is motion without thought. A pleaser without self. Stuck between the lives of others, the need for escape is rife. Enter Koto, who is raised by her father's abandonment and a mother guarding her so closely that "helicopter mom" would be an understatement. She needs someone else to focus on and finds Kosuke, a needy pet like her mother. In her attempts tofree him from his puppy dog state through attention and comfort, Kosuke realizes his value, taking some charge of his own life.

Now Koto is the one who needs saving. She dreams of a dog peeing on her foot, watching it puddle over them. The dream is one of many animal symbolisms, allowing interpretation to carry the art. She wants to be treated poorly, as a bad girl, for Kosuke to have sex with her. He can't step across that line.

The friction draws them closer, but he keeps her at a corporate distance. Kosuke needs his normal job and life with his daughter. So he tries to fix her problems with her mom. He can't keep doing this. It's wrong. He'll feel better when her life is solved and in line with society. She is not his lover or his daughter, but a stray cat. Someone to put a bowl of milk on their doorstep for but never let into their home. Kosuke is reinforcing the same conflict that sent her parents' relationship awry. Koto remains in the vast between, her desire to be free—the bad girl like her father—set against the need to be the good girl who stays within the domestic lines.

Kosuke refuses to pee on her foot. She hates that about him. He won't fight for her because of what others think. The nice guy paradox: thinking only of himself under the guise of selflessness.

He comes to that realization while going through the film of an old Kodak camera. Independently, accidentally, they had taken a picture of the moon from the same vantage. The same loneliness, the same heart.

He makes his choice, the right one for the wrong reasons: breaking through societal norms and giving Koto what she needs instead of what Kosuke thinks she wants. Side touches side. The human has warmth.

In each other's arms they found something they both wanted, damning normal and abnormal. No longer to be defined as a stray cat or a fish trapped in an aquarium. Their choice to love allowed her to confront her mom, and to move on as a will-they-won't-they couple.

That's where Musume no Tomodachi is slightly puzzling. They both independently make the choice to move on. A ships-in-the-night ending, so to speak. It's understandable because an age gap like this is not realistic, but in implying what's normal and abnormal, the message of the story is undermined.

I wouldn't mind the route Asami took if he explored the ending more, perhaps with the spurned coworker. The resolution would show how his love shifted despite what he held for Koto in his heart. But I find myself debating if it was really needed. The name of this game is emotion, not narrative brevity.

The moon never left their breast pocket.

A story about broken relationships. This was a nail-biter from start to finish, and although the ending left a little to be desired, I still have to say that this was a pretty good read. Musume no Tomodachi, or My Daughters Friend, is a story about a miserable man, and the miserable people he's surrounded by. His dead wife has left a hole in both him and his daughter's heart, and he tries to fill the void with work, selfishly escaping his responsibility as a father by destroying himself from overwork. He finds solace in another miserable person, the titular Daughter's Friend, who I think sympathizes withthe MC's inability to truly face responsibility. They bond over this. The manga is about this relationship.

This is not a wholesome story at all. This is a story about two people trying to repair the hell that is their life, and doing so through imperfect ways. It's frustrating to watch, but I think I can say they end up doing a decent enough job at it.

What matters is that the writing of the manga is done in a way that doesn't seem to condone this behavior. We see a realistic depiction of a very troubled situation, and the rest is sort of left to the viewer. It is not played for fan-service or anything along those lines. and that's what makes it good to me.

That being said, the content still left a bad taste in my mouth, even if it was well written.

Not gonna lie, the title sound suspiciously ecchi and thats the reason I read it. the story kinda makes me emotinal and thats good. from the title people already guess what kind of relationship in the manga gonna be. I'm trying not to spoil anything here... The main story idea is just like Koi wa Ameagari You ni(Love is Like after the Rain) and Koi to Yobu ni wa Kimochi Warui(It's Too sick to Call This Love), the struggle about this kind of relation is pretty well describe and like I said above I like the story... The Art..., oh boy. Its kinda misleading. at first glance,if someone told me this is an ecchi manga I'm gonna believe them without doubt. but its not ecchi. Oh and the art in Omakase is pretty good...

People who enjoy the two titles I mention above probably gonna like this too...

And thats all for my first review, hope this will courage some people to read this nice manga...

Don't you hate too, when adults break and stop adulting? Like when they're not there for you when you needed the most or when they're there for you too much so it becomes suffocating or when they don't know how to handle their feelings in general and become abusive or when they lost their s/os, things happen and they become a pedophile... well, let's be fair... maybe not exactly a pedophile. "Technically speaking, I mean technically speaking he's not a pedophile." * with Gianmarco Soresi's voice * (he's an ephebophile, if you ever wonder... ) If your answer is yes, but still you want tofeel the anxiety and obnoxiousness of these situations might cause, then get in loser! This manga is for you! If your answer is no... please go and seek for help before doing anything else. 🙏🏼

I came across with this manga randomly and while I'm about to pass it – since it kinda looks like some unholy ecchi stuff – I saw no ecchi tag (non-ecchi unholy stuff, yay!) and despite its ranking, reviews were also quite positive so I just gave it a shot. And I found myself binge-reading chapter after chapter while saying "the best time to end this relationship was right after starting it, the next best time is now." Man, I must say, it was really frustrating, unsettling and painful to read. But I couldn't stop myself from reading it because I wondered who's gonna end up in jail, whose career will have a drastic change, who's gonna win the worst parenting competition and have a golden ticket for a retirement home when they get older and who's gonna commit s*icide eventually?

It was basically a story about people who want to be understood, appreciated, loved, treated with compassion and want to fill the emptiness in their souls in a very wrong way. And they fail successfully. It was a very good reminder to me that the world is not only black&white, humans are so complicated yet so simple beings at the same time and full of oppositeness. While reading it, I remembered how I hate that reality. It was like watching a true-crime documentary and feeling sorry, maybe even empathetic, for the serial killer after hearing their traumatic past. We are who we are because of our experiences and their outcomes, which form our emotions and thoughts that lead us to our choices. Maybe it sounds cruel and unjust in some situations (not in this one, obviously) but no matter what our story is, eventually, we're nothing but our choices in the society's eyes. And naturally, we will judge and be judged based on them. While reading the manga, we're seeing everyone's backstory, their thoughts, their struggles more or less, so I blamed them, got angry with them but I couldn't help but feel sorry for them at some point tbh. But of course in the end, Kousuke had a very inappropriate relationship with a minor and left me with a strong will to punch him in the face and get him in his senses and Koto's mother was so busy with projecting the hatred, weakness, anger etc. she was feeling for her husband and her broken marriage to Koto, which it ended up distancing herself from her daughter and her daughter seeking for that love, affection and compassion in the wrong places. Both at parenting and being a responsible adult, they were a failure and I'm really upset about it. Just go and touch some grass, get a therapy and do some proper parenting you two, 'kay? It was really frustrating and saddening for me to see the lack of capacity of the adults who supposed to guide the adolescents in the right direction and help them make right decisions and have a solid place in the society. I mean, they're no good for themselves as an adult after all and instead, a high school girl helps them to reach how they're feeling deep down inside while she's also so lost, lonely and hopeless. And I think mangaka did a great job conveying these unpleasant feelings to us. These unpleasant feelings probably caused by how real the story can be (the only thing I find it unreal was, the hard effort made by Kousuke to protect the "pureness" of his relationship with Koto). After finishing reading, i felt a lump in my throat and was sick to my stomach. And because of that ending, i wasn't gonna rate the manga but you have to rate to publish your review so...

Before ending my review, i also want to talk about how I didn't understand the unfair hatred for Miya. Like, she was the victimiest victim of all in this story, i think. She lost her mother, then couldn't bare with the sadness and grief and get depressed, didn't leave her room for a year, even though her father was trying his best as a father but he was actually not there for Miya (and for his family when the mother was alive) "to be her strength" (like he promised to Koto 🙄) and right when she got the courage to go out and decides to living normally, she finds about this relationship... She probably felt like she lost both her childhood friend and her dad at the same time. And she's only 15-16 years old. If I was her, i'd lock myself up for another decade ngl. She was an angry, devastated, broken teenager who's probably feeling betrayed by her father and her friend. We can say she was the only person who acted like her age. In fact, she confronted Koto in a very mature way and i think she deserves better.

To sum it up, if you're into contents where you have to explain yourself because enjoying it, you should give this manga a go.

This manga displays a very wrong relationship between a high school student and a middle-aged man, and it can feel quite disturbing just by reading the synopsis. But I think you should still try this one even if you don’t condone the age-gap relationship, because the story and drama are super addictive and investing. I was afraid at first, but I have never been so hooked on a manga before. Every chapter conveys strong emotions that only make you want to know what will happen next. The characters go through a lot of bad situations and mental breakdowns, so you end up feeling empathy towards them.For me, it was like this story has no real villains, everyone has problems and they were victims of many bad situations, which makes you start to feel sympathy for them and understand their actions.

Now, on technical terms, I think this manga has a good storyline and good pacing. The art style is beautiful and unique, and it delivers a satisfying conclusion to the many problems faced throughout the story.

In short, i really recomend this manga. You will not get bored, you gonna fell sick sometimes and you gonna reflect about a lot of things like human relationships, forbbiden love, morality and etc. So its a pretty good read (A minor spoiler if you are scared of the "sexual violence" tag on Mangadex : on Mangadex this manga has the tag "sexual violence" but in reality this violence does not happen. It almost happens but is stopped by our MC ).

This manga had a lot of potential. An adult and his daughter’s high school friend growing close, but the age gap isn’t really the point. It's a stage for somethin more fundamental: how easily people lose the ability to speak for themselves. Both Kousuke and Koto are empty in different ways. A single father dealing with complex relationship with his daughter, a corporate manager who is given immense responsibility and expectations; A daughter of a broken family, with the expectation of being the perfect daughter. Their connection isn’t built on lust, but a chance to just be themself. Moments where nobody knows how to say no, oreven seek help. The manga captures the paralysis of politeness and fear of confrontation that so many people live with. Every scene feels like a study in hesitation. But for all its emotional drama, the story hesitates to evolve. It sets up an incisive premise yet never fully commits to breaking its characters open. In the end, the tension dissolves rather than resolves.

Still, I very much enjoyed this manga. It’s less about scandal than about how easily we mistake emotional dependency for love, and how hard it is to face ourselves without someone else to fill the silence.