Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san Manga Review
Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro-san
Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san
イジらないで、長瀞さん
Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

A few years ago, I took a gender at the Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san manga. I really liked the manga, but I wasn’t as keen on the anime adaptation. However, now that the manga has come to an end, I feel I should review the series.

****SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!!!***

The Story in Brief

A nerdy, lonely, high school guy named HACHIOUJI Naoto sits in the library to work on his manga. He’s dismayed to see some gyaru-type younger girls laughing and chatting at one of the tables. They become aware of him when he accidentally knocks his book bag on the floor. Three of the girls laugh at the manga pages Naoto drew. They leave, but the fourth girl, a tanned, petite girl remains behind. While she likes the manga, she has harsh criticism for her Senpai’s self-insertion into the story. This causes him to cry.

Thus an odd relationship begins between Naoto and his kouhai, Nagatoro. She starts spending all of her free time with him, even modeling for him. But she often teases and bullies him, attempting to provoke a reaction other than tears. She doesn’t want to know his name, and merely addresses him as Senpai. Yet at the same time, she wants nothing to do with the “hot” guys who are very interested in her. Further, when Nagatoro’s friends try to muscle in on the teasing game, Nagatoro stops them, claiming to be the only one who’s allowed to do this.

Over time, Nagatoro brings Naoto out of his shell. He accompanies Nagatoro and her friends to the beach. He goes on his own to a summer festival, where he’s eventually joined by Nagatoro. And when Nagatoro and her friends are with some aggressive males, he gets the girls away from the situation. However, the introduction of Naoto’s large-breasted senpai and his senpai’s sister cause Nagatoro to have to step up her own game. Will these two ever go out and become a proper couple?

The Good: Character Growth

The original doujinshi that started the Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san series pretty much kept the characters of Naoto (only known as “Senpai” back then” and Nagatoro in a status quo. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case in the official manga release. For a start, Naoto begins his journey as a timid, easy to cry, weak guy who only wants to escape to a fantasy world of his or someone else’s making. Yet thanks to his relationship with Nagatoro, over time, Naoto becomes stronger as a person. He’s able to stand up to folks when needed. Naoto expresses himself and his desires, something he’d never done before.

As to Nagatoro, she too grows as a character over the course of the manga. While she never stops teasing her favorite Senpai, she’s also molding him. She goes from harsh, bullying to teasing him. While her initial interests in Naoto may have been shallow, these grow as she comes to know him. And has Naoto grows as a character, so does Nagatoro. She takes inspiration from him to return to the judo club and compete against a rival.

Over the course of the manga, it really is nice seeing the journey Nagatoro and Naoto take together. It is cute seeing Nagatoro get jealous anytime any other girl shows interest in Naoto, even if supposedly to tease him. At the same time, it is nice seeing Naoto push things to be with Nagatoro and to support her when she returns to judo.

Vertical License

While I’m happy for Nanashi-sensei that Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san got an English license, I’m not happy that Vertical scored it. That’s because Vertical’s official policy on Japanese honorifics in the adaptation is, “We aren’t going to have any of that filthy, <censored Japanese slurs> talk polluting our English adaptation!” 😑 As long time readers of the blog know, I’m a huge proponent of Japanese honorifics in the adaptation.

When Vertical announced that the official English title of the manga would be Miss Nagatoro rather than Nagatoro-san, I wondered how the bozos would deal with the senpai honorific. After all, for the longest time in the manga, Naoto was simply referred to as “Senpai”, “Paisen”, or a variation like “Senpai-kun.” As such, it must have killed the management to be forced to use the “horribly disgusting term” known as “Senpai”. I actually thought Vertical might replace it, ’cause as everyone knows, a “good” localizer doesn’t need to use stupid <Japanese slur> terms to pollute their awesome English. 🙄

Since Vertical refused to use Japanese honorifics other than “senpai”, I refused to buy anything from them after the first few volumes. Instead, Nanashi-sensei can get my money through tankoubon purchases I make via Amazon Japan.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review of Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san with some final thoughts.

• The supporting cast of the manga series are pretty interesting. Nagatoro’s friends and Naoto’s big breasted senpai certainly do help stir the pot.
• Considering where 774-sensei (Nanashi) started his career, it is amazing that he was able to wrote a manga this good in terms of story. He’s clearly planning for something new in the future. If it looks interesting, I’ll check it out.
• I should mention that this manga is fairly ecchi. I know there’s a fan-edit of an early chapter where Nagatoro accidentally makes a video call to Naoto while she’s in the bath. But as far as I know, the actual published manga contained no such detailed nudity. However, there are a lot of sexual elements added, whether in conversation, the “accidental” feel, or in the nondescript nudity.

In the end, Don’t Toy with Me, Nagatoro-san was a fun ride. I’ll miss reading this manga.