Like the stories, the artwork can be hard to get past and certainly is not going to endear you to the story any further. It's not glamorous or romantic and it is pretty darn odd. If anything, it kind of dredges up all the ennui and minutiae of high school that we never remember because it was all so meaningless. And I can't say that the friendships they found as a result of trying to get to know another person better were all that enlightening or even interesting. This is a book full of characters you'd tend to avoid in real life - for very obvious reasons. The stories were just a bit too odd and the common theme of friendships was stretched quite a bit as a result. That said, I did have a hard time reading. This is definitely a book made for awards. It's a slice of life set of stories about unusual friendships. This is not a romance and it isn't a kids action manga. Yes, it does feel primitive but it does suit the stories. If anything, it almost feels like a GANTZ and I expect something supernatural to jump out. The artwork is very adult shounen and definitely does not glamorize its subjects. In another, a bullied kid is helped by the 'cute' guy and they form an odd friendship. When he meets up with a middle school friend, it turns out she knew gloomy boy and tells that he was super popular with the girls - until one left a used sanitary pad of hers in his locker and freaked him out. In another chapter, a student is curious why the guy who sits behind him always looks so gloomy and has an aura of bad luck.

That boy is the same 'cute' one from the first chapter. When she gets an unusual response, she ends up meeting up with that boy and they create a unique friendship. In another, a girl reads a book and posts a review online. In one, a student calls a classmate 'cute' in a dare and then has to deal with that classmate constantly asking if he meant it.

The book is broken down by separate stories that somewhat interconnect. More a slice of life and stream of consciousness type of storytelling, Captivated By You may sound like a cheesy romance but it instead a very non-judgemental look at what it means to be an unpopular high schooler in Japan. More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog if an author went to your high school and wrote little side stories about the more unusual and quirkier classmates - you'd get this book.

Captivated by you series