His Favorite by Tanaka Suzuki

Rating: 7
Sublime 2012 - Libre 2008
5+ volumes
Translation: Adrienne Beck

In the postscript, the mangaka tells us that the series started off as a one-shot chapter for a collection of 'ugly' boys' love romances (lol) and refreshingly, the protagonist Yoshida really is no looker and there's no attempt to pretty him up at any point in the manga. There are many other manga that have 'plain' boy characters but they're either drawn in standard bishounen style and not particularly convincing as plain boys, or they're the hidden bishie type whose beauty is revealed once his glasses are whipped off or he gets a makeover. There's no such respite for Yoshida, he remains weird-looking all the way through, but man is he adorable in an ugly-cute way.

From the back cover, "Awkward Yoshida is hated by all the girls in school for his perceived closeness with hot guy Sato, who uses hanging out with Yoshida as an excuse to turn them all down". Yoshida has no idea why Sato, whom he barely knows, keeps picking on him despite all of Yoshida's protests; this being a BL romance, the reader can easily guess why.

His Favorite is an easy, fun read that I'd recommend to anyone who likes romantic comedies. I read the story with a constant smile on my face, poor Yoshida is constantly flummoxed and flustered by Sato's teasing antics and you have to feel for the little guy. He's a clueless innocent type of uke and his odd looks just make you sympathise with him more. Sato is amusing with his sadistic streak that's reserved only for Yoshida but you like him because it's through his eyes that we see how cute Yoshida can be.

The plot is based on a one-trick premise but the relationship develops at a leisurely pace so readers can enjoy watching the romance unfold for this endearing couple over the span of a few volumes without the joke wearing too thin. Later on the story takes an unexpected turn delving into the frankly bizarre past of Sato and one starts to wonder if the series is being dragged on too long, but at that point the reader is already invested in the story and in for the long haul, rooting for the couple to the very end.