Reviews for I Can't Choose a Childhood Friend

7.2/10 Well, you’ve heard the comparisons a million times before, “this is 100…” but when I say that it’s nearly identical to “100…” it’s almost uncanny. Every aspect of this manga felt like it was derived or inspired from “100..” with some variations for better or worse here and there. Initially, I enjoyed this a lot more than the “100…” but it quickly diminished due to its plot or storyline. What was so great about “100…” was that a lot of the girls felt like separate entity’s who got their screen time and remained important. This, of course, comes with a lot of chapters/time spent on theirdevelopment, introduction, and the “epilogue” with the mc.

In this story, it’s missing those important aspects, which doesn’t make the reading experience fulfilling — once a character is introduced and completed, their storyline is almost virtually completed within 1-3 chapters. They also don’t get enough bonding moments afterwards with the mc to make it truly satisfying. This could just be a preliminary impression by the manga, but there’s already four heroines introduced in 5 chapters, and three of them have their storylines completed with no “sub-arcs” where they receive a fleshed-out/deeper development. Yes, this may come later, but there’s no argument on why it wouldn’t be better sooner than later while their “arcs,” are fresh on the mind — though, it’s hard to call it an arc when they only received upwards of two chapters for their backstory.

With the plot/pacing of the story being a bit amok, the characters suffer, and they suffer drastically. None of the characters are as “deep” as you’d want them to be nor are they as impressionable due to the generics/cliches they are based on. There’s some fun banter here and there, especially with how the “We’re the same person” premise being utilized, but there’s not enough, so the premise, the whole charm of the story, feels like a waste.

The heroines are not just different personalities in the same character — they are different characters. Each of them requires the same treatment in any successful harem story, but the author continues to add different “personalities” with almost no regard to development or a proper backstory, making it really hard to favor/ship one heroine over the other, which is almost that whole point of a harem story.

Also, two of the characters are too similar for my liking and accompanied by the similar character design, it’s a train wreck to differentiate/love them. The one “DO NOT” for a harem story is don’t make any character too similar to another because what’s the point of having that character in the first place? The story would be better off without a semi-memorable or non-memorable character enjoyment-wise.

As for the mc, he’s basically your every other mc who tries to love multiple people at once — he’s a bit shallow and wimpy, but he has his charms here and there that makes the heroines love him. Though, his character is a bit inconsistent sometimes, which does annoy me.

Now, where this manga really pulls away from “100…” is the comedy aspect, which is almost the reason why the other aspects are so weak. The jokes are a lot more promising and original due its unique premise, and the presentation/execution of the jokes are also spectacular. It’s almost like the manga trade-marketed some of the jokes with how easily embraced and subtle they are in the story.

Though I may have been a bit harsh on this manga, its enjoyability factor is still pretty high for a specific demographic. It doesn’t have as good of a plot or characters as a “high-tier” or “classic” harem manga, but it makes up for it with its comedy.

Unfortunately, a more objective view might see this manga as nothing more than a manga that tried capitalizing on the success of “100…” since this manga doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from “the parent story.” The comparison could be made with the successes of different tropes in stories like isekais, necromancy, etc. where the inspired stories utilizing the same trope feel like knock-offs.

Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)

10 - God’s penmanship

9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.

8 - Instant bookmark

7 - Entertaining

6 - Good to pass time

5 - Why are you reading this?

4 - Bad.

3 - Typical garbage.

2 - My head hurts.

1 - Retirement is a thought.

0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

Imagine "The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You" but every girlfriend is the same person, that's this manga. Basically MC's love interest got split apart due to a supernatural phenomenon and is now a ton of different versions of herself each with a unique personality, and MC has to keep them all happy while trying to find a way to fix her. Every couple of chapters another one gets introduced and added to the harem, despite there being so many they don't feel objectified and every character feels endearing. This manga has a really unique art style that might not workfor some people but I personally love. It can also be surprisingly funny at times and thankfully isn't horny with a ton of fanservice. Give this a shot if you like the genre, it will probably be worth it.

Usually, I'm not the greatest fan of romance anime or manga as they aren't my cup of tea and rarely catch my attention, but I'm quite fond of this one. Usually compared to 100 Girlfriends, it's pretty funny and wholesome. Our MC's childhood friend (and crush) returns after a decade but split into different bodies with a unique piece of the original's personality and has to date them all. Quite a basic and funny premise, though I dislike the idea that this split is supernatural based. It felt unnecessary and doesn't get mentioned anywhere beyond the first chapter. The female characters themselves are alright, having shallowpersonalities (due to the story's premise) and weak development, but they're really funny and character interactions are lovely. Comedy is one of the manga's strengths.

As for the art, it is really stylized and unique from other manga, but I find it cute. The characters expressive and bubbly with the art style, their emotions and expressions often exaggerated, and that itself is the main reasons I really like this manga. (though they kind of look like horses from side views)

Overall, I'd give it a 7.5 but personally, I really, really, really, really, really love the art. It's a 9

You can't be mad at me if I pick you. Story I personal like the angle of this harem. With the success of 100 girlfriends, it is nice to see unique attempts to bring harem back from the dead and the horny. I also enjoyed that the FMC, no matter the personality, liked the MMC back. It isn't a one way street like in some mangas. **Slight spoiler but it happens in chapter 1** The only part I do not like is the supernatural twist with the talking charm. I understand there was a reason for the split of the FMC but it really felt like it wasa last minute addition.

Art

I'll keep it 100, the only downside of this is the art. Yes it is good no matter what the scene is, but I feel like some of the designs are kinda bland and overused.

Overall

7.4/10. Good attempt at a type of manga that is over saturated with isekai, ecchi, and just not good.

I'm rating this purely as a harem anime because that's the type of anime that I watch. Anyways, this is a pretty unique concept for a harem to embrace. It's not the only one of its kind (Renai Flops has a similar premise), but it does know what intends to do and does it. As far as I'm aware, this manga is only 18 chapters long, which makes it quite short for a romance story, but it does a good job sticking to plot and staying away from fluff (like filler). The romance isn't that bad, and it does give a bit of a 100gfs vibe with the MC having to convince them to be cool with the situation, but the whole thing is prefaced by the unique situation the FMC('s) is in. My main critiques are that it has some cringey stereotypes, some of the romance is a bit convenient of the MC, and I wish I had a color version to tell the girls apart a bit better. Other than that, the length was refreshing and the art was nice, even though all the girls looked the same.

8/10

For those of you who don't like harem, you may like this a bit. But it is still a harem.

If you like harem, you'll like this.