Comics / Manga

Nisekoi: False Love Volume 5 manga review

By Leroy Douresseaux
September 23, 2014 - 14:56

Nisekoi: False Love Volume 5 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T” for “Teen”

It may be hate at first sight, but Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki are two high school students forced into a sham relationship.  Each of their fathers is the head of a yakuza syndicate, so in order to keep a gang war from starting, Ichijo and Kirisaki pretend to be a loving teen couple.  In fact, Ichijo is also searching for his childhood sweetheart.  He wears a pendant lock around his neck as a memento of the promise he made to a mystery girl 10 years ago.

As Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 5 (subtitled Typhoon – Chapters 35 to 44) begins, Raku hears from the third girl who may have the key to his pendant lock.  Her name is Marika Tachibana, and she has an origin story.  Raku also meets her father, who is the chief of police, and he has a past with Raku's father.

Next, Kosaki Onodera, another pendant girl, invites Raku to help out at her mother's Japanese confections shop, “Onodera.”  When a storm arrives, Raku finds himself in a shocking situation.  Then, Raku and his friends have fun at the beach and with a device destined to cause everyone problems.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Nisekoi: False Love manga is a romantic comedy driven by the comedy.  This series is about finding the humor in awkward and complicated teen love.  Many chapters are essentially stand-along stories, which turns Nisekoi into a situation comedy – crazy situations and comedy ensues.

With Nisekoi: False Love Volume 5, creator Naoshi Komi fully settles into a rhythm.  There may be more new characters to come, but he focuses on fleshing out the current version of the ensemble.  The more we know about the characters, the richer they become, the more they can make us laugh and enjoy this series.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for offbeat shonen love will want to try Nisekoi: False Love.

Rating: A /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12