‘Perfectly Fine on My Own’ — That Boy is Dumb

I gave into the social media ads to see if this romance manga was worth my time

Kodansha

Oftentimes I’m doomscrolling on Instagram or X and in between posts, I’ll get smacked in the face with digital ads. I hate ads but, unfortunately, they continue to clog up my social media feed more and more by the day! Usually, they’re for crap like mushroom coffee or the hot new exercise thingy of the week, but I have been seeing more ads for webtoon/manga site subscriptions. These ads are typically for some shojo romance or erotica series with tantalizing panels for potential readers to sample. Most of the time I’ll ignore them because they look like garbage but I did notice one particular manga that kept popping up and refused to leave me alone. So, out of curiosity, I purchased used physical copies of the first two volumes to see if it was worth my time (and so I could confirm that these ads are BS).

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Perfectly Fine on My Own, So My Fiancé Can Twist in the Wind is a manga illustrated by Jun Hareta but was first a web novel by Yahiro Arase. It was originally published in 2022 then picked up by Kodansha for the American release, with three manga volumes currently out. The series turned out to be a success in both Japan and the West which is probably why I kept seeing it everywhere. I don’t really read romance manga anymore — I’m more of an action or slice-of-life fan now — but it had been a while since I checked in on what the genre was up to these days. Who knows, maybe it’ll be good!

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Our story opens with our heroine Nicole receiving a bouquet of flowers from her fiancé Lord Keios. However, just as she’s about to thank him, he remarks that he got the exact same flowers for his childhood best friend Princess Caroline and he didn’t see why they wouldn’t suit her too. (How romantic, am I right ladies?) This is the final straw for Nicole, as she’s been dealing with Keios’ neglect and preference for Princess Caroline for a while, so she decides to stop caring and embrace being alone. She goes to the annual bazaar by herself and has a blast, marking the beginning of her new life on her own.

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Meanwhile, Keios is confused about Nicole’s sudden change in demeanor; she no longer reaches out for tea and is even going out on her own, which is inappropriate for an engaged lady. However, when he confronts her about it, she explains that he never seemed interested in accompanying her anywhere anyway (which is kinda true) so he shouldn’t worry about her anymore. With those words, Keios realizes that he has to figure out how to fix things with Nicole before his future marriage becomes nothing more than a formality.

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As far as story goes, it’s okay. I do like the subversion of Nicole giving up on trying to impress Keios rather than working extra hard to get his attention. She’s not just a sad girl bemoaning how her fiancé doesn’t spare her a moment and focuses on other aspects of her life that she’s neglected while chasing him. You could make the argument that she should have tried harder to communicate with Keios but the narration establishes that she did try and she’s not going to put in the effort for someone who doesn’t want to change. Her stance is understandable even if she’s blunt to the point of being cruel.

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On the flipside, it’s very clear that Keios isn’t trying to be a neglectful little s***; he legitimately cares about Nicole. His problem is that he’s impossibly clueless and doesn’t know how to properly communicate with the girl he’s about to marry. We even see in a side story that when he first met Nicole, he had no idea what to do with her; he was so used to hanging out with guys and the tomboyish Caroline that he didn’t know what to do with a frilly, feminine girl. He wants to make things right but he doesn’t know where to start and I appreciate that he’s not painted as a complete monster, just extremely dumb.

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I also like how his buddies, including Princess Caroline, rip into him for neglecting Nicole. Caroline even tries talking to Nicole on his behalf to help fix things, since she sees herself as partially responsible, which was pretty cool of her even if the meeting didn’t turn out the way she planned. In fact, Princess Caroline is my favorite character in the entire manga; she’s pretty with a tomboy edge and she’ll call people out on their BS whenever necessary, including her own friends. I like her.

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Unfortunately, the book’s premise is a bit one note and repetitive. It’s just Nicole adjusting to doing things on her own while Keios tries to fix things where she’ll shut him down or some stupid crap comes in to ruin things. That’s it and it gets old fast. I get that their specific problem isn’t something that can be fixed in a few pages — little bro has a lot of work and introspection to do — but the roadblocks to their happily ever after are so ridiculous they’re annoying. There’s even a whole other couple that have nothing to do with either Nicole or Keios who just come in to start stupid s*** for the sake of drama. It feels like the author is just throwing in random, over-the-top misunderstandings to pad out the story rather than presenting the couple with scenarios where they can learn and grow together.

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No, I will not give you context for that last picture because the context is stupid.

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Romance stories like these are what turned me off from the genre in the first place. I tried to start the second volume to see if things improved but, nope, it’s just more idiotic misunderstandings. Even Princess Caroline is hit with the stupid stick which is not cool.

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The art is pretty though; it’s nice and clean but can get silly for the goofier parts. Nothing about the style particularly stands out but it’s perfectly serviceable for a romance manga.

Kodansha

In conclusion, if you like romance or want something that subverts your expectations, then Perfectly Fine on My Own, So My Fiancé Can Twist in the Wind is an alright read for a Sunday night. However, if you’re not a romance fan, this book won’t change your mind; it’ll only make you more grateful that you’re no longer a teenager dealing with dumb high school relationship drama. Either way, my curiosity was satiated and I can now ignore annoying manga ads in peace.

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P.S. The ending side story is cute and genuinely funny/enlightening.

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