The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo) follows a student who is suddenly too lucky in love. This over-the-top romcom manga written by Rikito Nakamura fits the ‘harem’ genre better than most, with protagonist Rentaro being unable to reject anyone without severe consequences.
An anime adaption from Bibury Animation Studios has been announced for release in October 2023.
100 Rejections
Rentaro has been chasing love his whole life. The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You starts with his 100th rejection at his middle school graduation. It’s quite unusual, as despite being somewhat of a goofball, he’s described as good-looking, smart, and generally popular. Why would he be rejected by every single girl he’s confessed to?
It turns out that the god of love made a mistake and all of his romantic luck was used up on something else. Rentaro was accidentally given one hundred soulmates instead of one. Castle in the Sky was on TV and the god wasn’t paying the most attention to his work…
As you can imagine from the premise, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is not the most serious manga. It has lots of over-the-top comedy, plenty of exaggerated reactions, and more than the occasional fourth wall break where it directly refers to things like turning the page or exposition. The characters themselves are often quite silly too, with events like the girls believing an urban myth about love success and going overboard, to little jokes like Rentaro helping the teacher search for his contact lens for four hours. The comedy is certainly front and center here.
Hakari And Karane Appear
The situation starts moving quickly with Rentaro bumping into two of his soulmates as he enters high school. They both fall for him at first sight.
Hakari Hanazono is beautiful and busty. She seems kind from what we see of her, though she’s certainly not above taking advantage of situations and scheming to make things turn out in her favor. Seeing some of her little schemes to get closer to Rentaro fail was fun.
Karane Inda fits the tsundere archetype to a T, with stereotypical lines such as “It’s not like I’m grateful or anything, okay?!”, a petite body, and twin tails. She’s less direct about her affection than Hakari, but doesn’t really hide it.
Soon enough, both of them confess their love to him.
Does it sound like Rentaro is lucky? The problem is that a person who meets their soulmate must be together or they’ll die. On top of that, girls will instantly know that he’s the one when they meet him. These are just the first two girls that have fallen for him and he can’t reject any of them without ensuring their death. After a little trouble, he ends up dating both of them, with their full permission.
While they both agree to date him, this leads to some hilarious hijinks. It’s not exactly smooth sailing and there are plenty of situations where they want to be the one to ‘beat’ the other, or overly complex solutions to the problems that pop up between them. I was laughing out loud at a lot of the interactions they had, whether from what they were doing or their reactions to different situations. Rentaro himself often takes things to the extreme which just escalates things even further. It’s one gag after the other for a lot of the earlier parts.
The Third Girlfriend
Just as things start going more smoothly, Shizuka appears. She’s tiny, far less expressive than the others, and has a particularly interesting way of communicating due to her severe shyness.
While the opening chapters were all about the comedy, The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You does take a brief moment to become more serious here. It doesn’t get too dark, but her introduction does show a less-than-ideal life.
While Hakari and Karane didn’t seem to have much reason, aside from being soulmates, to like Rentaro before they confessed; Shizuka’s arc had some sweet, if brief, romance and it showcases not just Rentaro’s sincerity, but his kindness. It felt a lot more understandable why she’d fall for him. It also manages to work in some relationship drama, outside of the comedic bickering and one-upping that Hakari and Karane had been doing so far.
Considering the concept of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, I imagine it’s a safe bet that more girlfriends will appear in future volumes. I’m interested to find out if they’ll be handled more like Shizuka with a little backstory, romance, and drama before diverting back to the jokes, or if it’ll just go all in on the comedy.
Tropes And Stereotypes
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You shamelessly uses tropes to its advantage and goes beyond other stories doing so. The tsundere is very tsun and very dere, the shy girl can’t speak at all, and Rentaro himself is absurdly selfless. It doesn’t hide from the fact that each character is a stereotype taken too far for comedic effect.
This extends further than the characters being exaggerated stereotypes. From little details like several of the character’s names being puns about their nature to the accidental groping and throwing in plenty of the standard jokes like how Karane is flat chested, you’ve probably seen most things in this manga before in some form. Yet it doesn’t get old. The ridiculous ideas and ways they’re implemented kept me amused throughout, whether it was just to a twist on what happened making it unique or just an unusual spin on a standard romcom situation. Rather than borrowing, it feels more like parodying.
Expressive Art
Yukiko Nozawa’s art illustrates both the comedic and dramatic moments brilliantly. The frequent use of extreme expressions fits the exaggerated moments, with Karane’s angry tsundere moments being of particular note. It often uses strong lines paired with sound effects (in Japanese, with English subtitles) to emphasize shock, comedy, or arguments. On occasion, it even gets overly detailed or very simple for comedic purposes.
In volume one at least, each of the girls has a unique design that doesn’t overlap with the others and fits the image of the trope on which they’re based. That said, this may be a concern in future volumes if more and more girls keep appearing.
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is released under Seven Sea’s Ghost Ship label and aimed at an age of 15+. I imagine this is because the artwork can get a little lewd at times. Hakari in particular is drawn to emphasize her chest and Karane gets a couple of pantyshots. There isn’t too much focus on this though.
Verdict
Volume one of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is a strong start. It takes an absurd concept, goes all in on the humor throughout most of it, and had me laughing more than most other manga could. It doesn’t avoid tropes but instead takes them as far as it can.
THE 100 GIRLFRIENDS WHO REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LOVE YOU IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Looking for more manga reviews? Check out our review of Don’t Mind Me Sensei: Give Yourself A Hand.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
