Today, I’m bringing you another romance manga, this one hot off the presses, just releasing a few days ago as of writing this. I would say hot off the Yen Presses, but this one is actually published by Viz Media, so that really doesn’t work, unfortunately. Still, we’re just going to talk a bit about this fresh series that only has one volume out and see whether or not you should read it.

What’s it About?

Well, Kubo-san goes by a few translations, but the official English one is Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, which I say describes the series pretty perfectly. It’s exactly what the title would make you believe. There’s a girl, of course, named Kubo. She likes this guy called Shiraishi, and she won’t let him be invisible to the world no matter what.

That’s pretty vague. What does it mean for one to be invisible? Well, imagine the automated doors at stores not reacting to you, and most people in the world needing to glance your way four times to acknowledge your existence. Stuff like that. Shiraishi is a born background character, and even when he’s trying to fight it, people just don’t notice he’s there.

The whole schtick of the series is that Kubo, his seat neighbor in class, does whatever she can to help him stand out, something that, while embarrassing at times, Shiraishi does appreciate, and it helps to know that as long as Kubo is around, the world won’t forget about him. 

Think that whole arc with Mai in Bunny Girl Senpai, where the world slowly forgets she exists, but much more comedic and also more focused on this boring guy instead of bunny costume girl with a snarky attitude.

Should You Read It?

That depends. Obviously, this is just one volume in. The next is released about a month from now, though. There’s a very specific type of person that would like this series. If you’re into cute romance, then sure, you’d probably like it, but it’s a very specific type of romance series that you’ve seen more and more as of late.

 This is another series in the same odd subgenre as manga like Komi Can’t Communicate, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, or Nagatoro, as some like to say. Basically, a boy and a girl slowly developed feelings for each other in very short formulaic gimmicky chapters. I honestly didn’t even realize how popular this strange subgenre is becoming, but it’s pushing back pretty hard.

I will say that of them, Kubo seems to be one of the blander ones, but not because it isn’t funny. The concept is good enough for some laughs, but I do worry if it will follow the same curse other similar series have with getting bland quickly. Most likely, it will, but one problem with Kubo is the romance.

A lot of the time, it’s easy to see why the characters fall in love with each other. Despite Tadano being bland, he swore to help Komi accomplish her dream of making 100 friends. Izumi is a fantastic guy all around and a thoughtful boyfriend to Shikimori, and even Nagatoro hangs out with Senpai when virtually nobody else will. 

With Kubo, we don’t really know why she likes Shiraishi. It’s obvious she does. She straight out admits it, but we have no real reason as to why other than he’s funny, which is incredibly vague. He’s also not that funny. She just likes teasing him, making this closer to Teasing Master Takagi-san than anything else. 

This ultimately means this has the same hook as most other series like this. If you like the gimmick and find it funny or cute, you’ll probably like it. But unlike most other series in this subgenre of gimmicky boy and girl, the relationship isn’t all that strong, so it might be harder to stick with it. Ultimately, it’s fun, but enjoyment may vary. Still, it’s very early on.

Thank you very much for reading

Don’t we all want to be a Shiraishi sometimes? I know I do.