“You Like Me, Not My Daughter?!” Volume 1 – Manga Recommendation

From author Kota Nozomi, illustrator Tesshin Azuma, and contributor Giuniu, You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! is a very predictable story – more so if you have been reading manga or following anime for a while, as I have. But its wholesomeness, narrative development, and directness make it a solid entry in the rom-com manga genre.

The main characters are people you see around your neighborhood:

• Ayako Katsuragi (a woman in her 30s)
• Her high school-aged niece, Miu
• 20-year-old neighbor Takumi Aterazawa and his family

The story follows Ayako. Ten years before the story begins, Ayako adopted Miu (her biological niece) as her daughter, after her sister and brother-in-law passed away. When long-time neighbor Takumi requests a private meeting, Ayako assumes he wants to confess his love to Miu. Instead, Takumi confesses his romantic feelings for Ayako.

This series is definitely a wholesome age gap romance. If Rent-A-Girlfriend was straightforward, it would be You Like Me, Not My Daughter?!

No time is spent on drawn-out ‘should-I-or-shouldn’t?’ type of confessions, lies, or outright cowardice.

Rent-A-Girlfriend spends a long time, a frustratingly long time, with endless teasing. The whole series is built on a tease: why won’t he just tell her?

This tension gets resolved in Volume 1 of You Want Me, Not My Daughter?! very quickly.

The characters are lowkey self-aware about the unorthodox nature of the story. That unorthodoxy is what makes the narrative refreshing. It’s an age-gap manga that focuses on a man’s crush on an older woman. Many stories – in media and in life – center around an older man with a younger woman. This series’ popularity derives from this particular narrative twist.

One of the core themes is coming of age. It’s about Ayako transitioning into living her own life; Takumi moving into manhood; and everyone around them adapting to the pair’s changing dynamic. It’s a story of change, a familiar topic to everyone. That aspect contributes to making this story a comfort read.

With the English version being published by Seven Seas Entertainment, You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! Volume 1 is a very good, well-constructed opening to a story. Like a couple of other manga I reviewed recently, You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! is just begging for an anime adaptation.

At first, I was surprised that this series has reached nine volumes. I took a glance at the description for Volume 2. And yeah, I can understand how such a story has made it to nine volumes thus far.

Now, can readers get an anime series or perhaps a two-hour movie?

Author: Rakim Reid

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