Masamune-kun's Revenge

Masamune-kun's Revenge
The cover of the first volume featuring the character Aki Adagaki.
政宗くんのリベンジ (Masamune-kun no Ribenji)
Genre	Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by	Hazuki Takeoka
Illustrated by	Tiv
Published by	Ichijinsha
English publisher	NA: Seven Seas
Magazine	Monthly Comic Rex
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	October 27, 2012 – June 27, 2018
Volumes	10
Light novel
Written by	Hazuki Takeoka
Illustrated by	Tiv
Published by	Ichijinsha
Imprint	Ichijinsha Bunko
Demographic	Male
Published	December 20, 2013
Volumes	1
Anime television series
Directed by	Mirai Minato
Produced by	Oshi Yoshinuma Takashi Okada Hideyuki Saida Mika Shimizu Yōhei Kisara Shunsuke Matsumura Jun Fukuda Yoshiyuki Shioya Yukihiro Itō
Written by	Michiko Yokote
Music by	Tatsuya Kato
Studio	Silver Link
Licensed by	NA: Crunchyroll
Original network	Tokyo MX, KBS, Sun TV, AT-X, BS Fuji
Original run	January 5, 2017 – March 23, 2017
Episodes	12 + OVA
Manga
Masamune-kun no Revenge After School
Written by	Hazuki Takeoka
Illustrated by	Tiv
Published by	Ichijinsha
Magazine	Monthly Comic Rex
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	September 27, 2018 – January 26, 2019
Volumes	1

Masamune-kun's Revenge (Japanese: 政宗くんのリベンジ, Hepburn: Masamune-kun no Ribenji) is a Japanese manga series written by Hazuki Takeoka and illustrated by Tiv. The series is published by Ichijinsha and serialized in their Monthly Comic Rex magazine in Japan from October 2012 to June 2018. The series is licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment in the United States. An anime television series adaptation by Silver Link aired from January to March 2017.

Plot

Masamune Makabe was a chubby boy who had a close relationship with Aki Adagaki, a beautiful wealthy girl, until one day she cruelly rejected him and gave him the nickname "Pig's Foot". Seeking revenge against his tormentor, Masamune changed his name, began dieting and working out everyday to become a fit and handsome, albeit vain, high school student. When he encounters Aki once again, she doesn't recognize him and he commits to seduce her into falling in love with him before embarrassingly rejecting her to exact vengeance. Masamune ends up allying with Aki's classmate and servant Yoshino Koiwai, who seems to know Masamune's nickname as well.

Characters

Masamune Makabe (真壁 政宗, Makabe Masamune)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese); Josh Grelle (English)

Masamune Makabe is the titular protagonist of the series. He is a handsome boy, but he was once a chubby kid that people liked to make fun of. In his childhood, he befriended Aki Adagaki but was brutally rejected by her after he confessed and nicknamed him "Piggy" (豚足, Tonsoku, Pig's foot), causing him to undergo several diets and training and also changed his family name thanks to his grandfather. He's also committed to getting revenge on Aki; planning to make Aki fall in love with him then cruely reject her - calling this his "Dead or Love" plan. When Yoshino confesses that she was the real culprit, Masamune is torn to how he should reconcile with Aki. In a turn of events, Masamune properly affirms his love to Aki in the end.

Aki Adagaki (安達垣 愛姫, Adagaki Aki)

Voiced by: Ayaka Ohashi (Japanese); Morgan Garrett (English)

Aki comes from a well off family and is known for her brutal treatment of men. As a result, she has gained the nickname "Cruel Princess" (残虐姫, Zangyaku Hime) from her classmates. She allegedly rejected Masamune and gave him the nickname "Piggy" when the two were children leading to his transformation and commitment to revenge. It was later revealed that she had a crush on Masamune during their childhood, and that her hatred of men stemmed from the incident, causing him to leave without saying anything and leaving Aki heartbroken. When Masamune finally confronts her about the past, she tells him that she never gave him the nickname "piggy" in the first place and never even heard of that nickname before. As Aki realizes Masamune's true identity, she attempts to make him the same chubby boy he used to be. Aki mentions she found his chubbiness "cute" and overall as a symbol of wealth, implying that chubby guys are her type. When she reads Masamune's entitles of revenge and hearing Yoshino's regrets, Aki decides to fix everything. With the misunderstood vengeance cleared up, Aki can't help but accept Masamune's, honest heart.

Yoshino Koiwai (小岩井 吉乃, Koiwai Yoshino)

Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

Yoshino is Aki's maid and follower. She seems to be a clumsy girl. However, beneath her clumsy and shy appearance, she is actually extremely deceptive and cold, able to deceive and hurt Aki without a second thought. Unlike Aki, Yoshino easily gained weight from sweets. Later, it was revealed that Yoshino had disguised herself as Aki eight years before, rejected Masamune, and gave him the nickname "Piggy" due to jealousy towards Aki's affection for him soon realized that her actions caused Aki to become estranged towards men. She has been regretting this and attempted to repay what she had done when Aki and Masamune reunited in high school. During the course of the story, in her attempts to set up Masamune and Aki, she becomes infatuated to Masamune. Aki comes to know about this and so she rejects Masamune and encourages Yoshino to be true to her feelings. However, Masamune refuses her confession and so Yoshino becomes determined to reunite them. Due to her and Masamune's efforts, Aki finally becomes true to her affection towards Masamune and they make up in the end with a kiss.

Neko Fujinomiya (藤ノ宮 寧子, Fujinomiya Neko)

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese); Megan Shipman (English)

Neko is a frail girl who comes from a wealthy family. She transferred to the school that Masamune is attending in the second manga volume and confessed her love soon afterwards. Masamune rejects her feelings but she continues to support his choices. It is later revealed that Neko also used to be chubby, and that she had fallen in love with him when they were children. Neko confronts Masamune with this info that he had forgotten when he starts doubting his feelings towards Aki. She tells him that she has also fallen in love with the person "that he is now". Due to her habit of not wearing any panties, Aki and Yoshino nicknamed her "Pantie-less Woman". On White Day, Neko tempts Aki to break up with Masamune, but despite learning about Neko's knowledge of Masamune's revenge who continues to pursue him anyway.

Tae Futaba (双葉 妙, Futaba Tae)

Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro (Japanese); Caitlin Glass (English)

Masamune's class rep who loves BL and claimed to have confessed her feelings to Masamune once, but got rejected. Due to her hobby, she kind of loves pairing Masamune to Kojūrō.

Kojūrō Shuri (朱里 小十郎, Shuri Kojūrō)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese); Justin Briner (English)

Masamune's best friend who looks like a girl, but is actually a guy. He has a crush on Neko.

Kanetsugu Gasō (雅宗 兼次, Gasō Kanetsugu)

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese); Ryan Reynolds (English)

A chubby individual who claimed to be "Masamune" - Aki's childhood friend in the past. Later on, it is revealed that Kanetsugu is a female pretending to be a male. She disguised herself as Masamune so she could marry into the Adagaki family in an attempt to save her family from poverty. After Kanetsugu's true gender is exposed, she starts working part-time at school.

Media

Manga

Writer Hazuki Takeoka and Korean female artist Tiv began serializing the manga in the December 2012 issue of Ichijinsha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Comic Rex on October 27, 2012. Ten volumes were released between April 2013 and July 2018. A spin-off titled "Masamune-kun's Re??? (Somehow))" (政宗くんのリ○○○（リなんとか）, Masamune-kun no Ri○○○ (Nantoka)) is drawn by Yūki Shinichi and is serialized on Gekkan ComicREX starting from November 2016 issue. North American publisher Seven Seas Entertainment announced their license to the series on September 4, 2015. The series concluded in 2018, with the final chapter being released on June 27. Takeoka and Tiv launched a spinoff manga in Monthly Comic Rex on September 27, 2018. The short manga, titled Masamune-kun no Revenge After School (政宗くんのリベンジ, Masamune-kun no Ribenji after school), is a series of after-stories focusing on various characters.

No.	Original release date	Original ISBN	English release date	English ISBN
1	April 27, 2013	978-4-7580-6372-2	June 14, 2016	978-1-626922-2-59
2	July 27, 2013	978-4-7580-6403-3	September 13, 2016	978-1-626923-28-7
3	March 27, 2014	978-4-7580-6432-3	December 6, 2016	978-1-626923-66-9
4	September 27, 2014	978-4-7580-6471-2	March 7, 2017	978-1-626924-38-3
5	April 27, 2015	978-4-7580-6497-2	July 13, 2017	978-1-626924-93-2
6	November 27, 2015	978-4-7580-6552-8	October 3, 2017	978-1-626925-61-8
7	June 27, 2016	978-4-7580-6590-0	January 23, 2018	978-1-626926-73-8
8	January 27, 2017	978-4-7580-6641-9	June 19, 2018	978-1-626928-05-3
9	February 5, 2018	978-4-7580-6706-5	February 26, 2019	978-1-626929-44-9
10	July 27, 2018	978-4-7580-6730-0	May 28, 2019	978-1-642750-80-5
11	April 26, 2019	978-4-7580-6799-7	May 12, 2020	978-1-64505-454-2

Light novel

A light novel adaptation by Hazuki Takeoka, with art by Tiv, has been published by Ichijinsha in a single volume released on December 20, 2013.

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	December 20, 2013	978-4-7580-4509-4

Anime

On June 23, 2016, publisher Ichijinsha announced that the series would receive an anime television series adaptation. The anime is produced by Silver Link and directed by Mirai Minato, with Michiko Yokote supervising the scripts, and Yokote and Kento Shimoyama writing the scripts, featuring character designs by Yūki Sawairi. Toshiki Kameyama is the series' sound director while Lantis produced the music. The opening theme is "Wagamama Mirror Heart" (ワガママMIRROR HEART, "Selfish Mirror Heart") performed by Ayaka Ohashi, and the ending theme is "Elemental World" performed by ChouCho. The AT-X broadcast uses the song "Manazashi Silent" (まなざしサイレント, Manazashi Sairento, "Silent Gaze") as its ending theme; it was sung by Ohashi and Suzuko Mimori under their respective character names Aki Adagaki and Neko Fujinomiya. The series aired from January 5 to March 23, 2017. It was broadcast on Tokyo MX, AT-X, and BS Fuji. The anime ran for 12 episodes and released across six BD/DVD volumes. Crunchyroll streamed and licensed the series, while Funimation produced an English dub. An OVA of the series has been released and tells an "after story" for the manga.

No.	Official English title Original Japanese title	Original air date
1	"The Boy Who Was Called Pig's Foot" Transliteration: "Tonsoku to yoba reta otoko" (Japanese: 豚足と呼ばれた男)	January 5, 2017 (2017-01-05)
After being cruelly rejected and nicknamed "Pig's Foot" due to his chubby appearance and snobbish attitude when he was younger, high school student Masamune Makabe has revamped himself and made a complete transformation into a perfect, handsome guy that girls swoon over. He unexpectedly encounters the girl who rejected him, Aki Adagaki, where in school she is nicknamed "the Cruel Princess" due to her immense wealth and beauty, but cruel ways of rejecting boys who confess to her. Despite being intimidated, Masamune is determined to make Aki fall in love with him before rejecting her just as cruelly as how she did to him when they were childhood friends. Through his new friend Kojuro Shui, he begins collecting information about her, learning that she always eats lunch alone in a storage shed despite her other times being surrounded mostly by her friends. Following her, he learns that Aki has incredibly high metabolism, forcing her to eat a lot to sustain her energy levels. She threatens to make him regret it if he ever exposes her after Masamune accidentally gives himself away. Before he leaves, she learns of his name, but fails to remember him. Masamune attempts to ingratiate himself to Aki at every turn but fails miserably, although he finally gets his chance after saving her from a boy she previously rejected. Pleased with himself, he resolves to complete the rest of his plan: the "Dead or Love plan".
2	"Cinderella Doesn't Smile" Transliteration: "Shinderera wa warawanai" (Japanese: シンデレラは笑わない)	January 12, 2017 (2017-01-12)
Masamune finds a note with the words "Pig's Foot" written on it in his shoe locker, and begins to hyperventilate that someone might know about his past and reveal his true identity. Disturbed, he decides to help Yoshino Koiwai, Aki's personal servant and maid, buy lunch for her mistress and accompany her to see Aki, wanting to find out if she is the unknown person who sent him the note. As Aki proves to be her usual self, he hits a dead end with his findings. After school, a troubled Masamune is caught in a rope trap set by - surprisingly - Yoshino, who explains that the Koiwai family has been attendants to the Adagaki family for 300 years now, and - even more surprisingly - offers to help him execute his plan of exerting revenge on Aki. Yoshino believes that doing so would benefit herself as a servant by relieving some of Aki's cruel treatment on her and making her mistress humbler. While Masamune is glad that Yoshino doesn't divulge his secret, he proceeds to work alone anyway, attempting and failing horribly to get Aki's email address after an embarrassing wild goose chase set up by her. As he shouts out in anger and frustration, Yoshino tells him to trust her and promises him that he can get Aki's email address and go out on any number of dates with her if he does.
3	"Yoshino's Magic Show" Transliteration: "Yoshino no Majikkushō" (Japanese: 吉乃のマジックショー)	January 19, 2017 (2017-01-19)
The class rep informs everyone that it is decided in a staff meeting that if any student fails in his proficiency test than the whole class needs to attend the supplementary classes. So Masamune decides to help Kojuro in his studies because of his low test score the previous year. Seeing Masamune helping Kojuro study for his test, Aki, who is sitting behind Masamune helping Yoshino for her test, provokes Masamune by saying that she is surprised to see that he can teach anyone anything. In response, Masamune challenges her that if he and Kojuro scores more than Aki and Yoshino than she will go on a date with him and if they can't than he will stick any nickname she chooses for him until they graduate from high school. As both Masamune and Aki start to study hard for their test, Yoshino tells Aki that Masamune is the first person to score perfect in the transfer exam, much to Aki's surprise. At Masamune's home, his sister and mother are happy to see him studying and his mom decides to prepare a special lunch for him tomorrow. Next day at school, Masamune meets Yoshino near a vending machine and tell her that he studied very hard for the exam, but Yoshino says that it doesn't matter anymore while giving him a coffee from the machine. When the test starts, Masamune's stomach starts aching, which is theorizes is because Yoshino spiked his coffee on Aki's order. After the test, he goes to Aki's class furiously only to find that she is absent due of fever and his pain in his stomach was because of the food his mom made. In the end, he and Aki are the only students who attend the supplementary classes. Later, Yoshino calls Masamune and tell him that Aki is ready to go on a date with him. Meeting Aki at the station, he is surprised to see her dressed like a magic girl because Yoshino tells her that it is a dress code for the couple who are dating for the first time. Masamune and Aki go to watch a horror movie and Aki ask him to sit away from her. Later, Aki gets hungry so they go on a restaurant to eat where a little girl ask Aki that why she is dressed like that. Masamune also tells Aki that there is no dress code like that. At a clothing store, Aki screams in the changing rooms after remembering that she was wearing a magic girl costume for the whole day. Masamune goes to see if Aki is fine but accidentally sees her in undergarments so Aki knocks him out with a single punch.
4	"Clear and Present Danger" Transliteration: "Ima soko ni aru kiki" (Japanese: 今そこにある危機)	January 26, 2017 (2017-01-26)
Masamune reads a Shōjo manga called "Red-eyed steroid" and plans to use its protagonist as an example to impress Aki. He executes his plan by constantly looking at Aki in supplementary class and giving her his umbrella when he sees her unable to get home because of the rain. Later, Yoshino (whom he calls "Master") tells him that his behavior is creeping Aki out and that he shouldn't keep pushing his love upon her. He then dumps his previous plan and starts to ignore Aki. He stops sitting close to Aki in supplementary class and ignores her when she tries to give his umbrella back. This plan goes on until Aki stops him as they crossed paths. He attempts to make a run for it, but gets caught and pushed down. At first she gets mad at him but then asks him for his reason for ignoring her, although she gets flustered while doing this. Masamune replied that he is doing this on purpose because he likes her so Aki asks him what is that he likes about her. When Masamune says that he likes everything about her and ran away to meet Yoshino for some advice, but she didn't give him any advice. Later, Masamune writes his thoughts about Aki in a letter and goes to put it in her shoe locker but Aki come up, tears the letter into pieces and runs away from school. Then, Yoshino showed up and tells Masamune that she will take care of this matter. Aki sits in a park and reminisce that she saw Masamune with Yoshino and thinks that he is a playboy. Than, Yoshino comes to Aki and clears up the misunderstanding by saying that Masamune is just asking for some advice. Later, Aki is walking while thinking about Masamune and while crossing the road, a car suddenly comes in at high speeds but Masamune saves her. Then a beautiful girl comes out of the car and hugs Masamune.
5	"Mysterious Cat" Transliteration: "Misuteriasu kyatto" (Japanese: ミステリアス・キャット)	February 2, 2017 (2017-02-02)
The girl from the previous episode thanks God for getting the chance to meet Masamune but he did not recognize her as someone he knows. Then her bodyguard named Shidou tells her that they are getting late so she goes from there. Aki, who saw everything, leaves in anger. The next day at school, Masamune buys food from the cafeteria and tries to take it to Aki, but Yoshino attacks him with gas gun and prevents him from meeting Aki, while saying that Aki has ordered her to do this. So Masamune tells her that he really doesn't know that girl from yesterday and Yoshino goes from there, while Masamune leaves the food at the door of the gym storage without meeting Aki. Later, A new female student transfers into his class and introduces herself as Neko Fujinomiya, the girl from yesterday. Masamune tries to talk to her, but can't because of the girls surrounding her. He finally goes to meet her and the class rep tells him that Neko transferred into their school only because of Masamune and Neko tells everyone that he helped her three years ago during Christmas, but Masamune realizes that he was still chubby three years ago, so he can't be the guy Neko is talking about. Grabbing Neko's hand and taking her out of the class, he asks her why she lied about him and tells her that he already loves someone. Neko says that she can't tell the truth to anyone because it's embarrassing. When she asks to know about the girl he loves, he takes her to Aki's class where she meets Aki. Suddenly, a boy of Aki's class opens the window and Masamune and Aki see that Neko is not wearing any panties. Aki leaves the class, but Masamune chases her and tries to stop Aki, but she accidentally hits a teacher who punishes them for wandering outside the class by making them clean the swimming pool. There Masamune throws water on Aki to tease her and Aki tries to spill a bucket of water on Masamune but falls into the pool. Masamune thinks that Aki is drowning, so he jumps into the pool to save her, only to find that there is not enough water for a person to drown. Aki asks him why did he jumped into the water to save her when he didn't want to get wet. Masamune tells her that his body moves on his own because he loves her so Aki asks him to prove that he loves her.
6	"Attack! Battle Of The Home Visits" Transliteration: "Totsugeki! Otaku hōmon-sen" (Japanese: 突撃！お宅訪問戦)	February 9, 2017 (2017-02-09)
Aki turns down Masamune before he can kiss her. They stop debating as the swimming club enters the room, with Tae being part of it. Aki then leaves Masamune in the water. Afterwards, when Masamune wants to cool down, Neko sits down besides him and offers him tea. Masamune asks her what she likes about him, although she answers immediately, what he wouldn't have thought. Later on, Yoshino follows Neko until they get to Masamune's house. As she gets noticed, Neko protects her from Shido. Masamune comes home and realizes both girls were let in from Kinue. He tries to stop them from finding out about his past. They start a firework. After Neko gets taken home, Kinue mentions by herself she had met her before. Neko also has taken the childhood photo with her out of Masamune's room.
7	"The Tsunade Island Incident" Transliteration: "Tsunade-jima jiken" (Japanese: 綱手島事件)	February 16, 2017 (2017-02-16)
After finishing their exams, summer vacation finally begins. Masamune plans his next move to get closer to Aki, and heads to Tsunade Island along with the others to spend time at Aki’s summer villa. Yoshino tells Masamune that if he’s not able to make any progress with Aki there, she would tell Aki everything that’s been going on. Once they get to the island, they meet the secretary of the Adagaki family, Yuigasaki, and Masamune tells her that he’s dating Aki. This leads to the two having to pretend that they are a couple...
8	"It's Not You" Transliteration: "Kimi janai nda" (Japanese: 君じゃないんだ)	February 23, 2017 (2017-02-23)
Masamune suddenly gets a call from Aki on his cellphone. Masamune then realizes that the picture of him and Aki when they were children that was in his room is gone, and hes certain that Neko is the one who took it. Masamune sneaks into Neko'S room to try to find out the truth, but is found by Neko. And then, Neko does something rather surprising
9	"It's Been Called Love and Affection" Transliteration: "Ai tomo koi tomo iukeredo" (Japanese: 愛とも恋ともいうけれど)	March 2, 2017 (2017-03-02)
After being rejected by Masamune, Neko disappears, and they all go to search for her. Aki seems to feel sorry for Neko since she was rejected, and then Masamune asks her if she remembers the nickname “Pig’s Foot.” When they finally find Neko, she starts talking about the past...
10	"The New School Term Filled With Doubts" Transliteration: "Giwaku no Shin gakki" (Japanese: 疑惑の新学期)	March 9, 2017 (2017-03-09)
Another Masamune appears in front of Aki named Gasou Kanetsugu. Summer break ends and Masamune continues his approach on Aki but he learns that he is Aki’s betrothed. Masamune sees that Aki’s attitude toward Kanetsugu is completely different from how she treats him, so he panics and goes to Yoshino to figure out what to do, but...
11	"Snow White of the Yasaka Festival" Transliteration: "Yasaka sai no Shirayuki hime" (Japanese: 八坂祭の白雪姫)	March 16, 2017 (2017-03-16)
Whoever gets more votes for their production of “Snow White” for the cultural fair, get to dance with Aki afterwards. The battle has begun between Masamune and Kanetsugu. Suddenly, something rather unexpected happens to the both of them...
12	"Don't Let Go of the Mic, Even if You Die" Transliteration: "Shindemo maiku o tebanasu na" (Japanese: 死んでもマイクを手放すな)	March 23, 2017 (2017-03-23)
Class A starts their Snow White play even without Gasō, who was to portray the Prince before being locked in the gym by Yoshino from the previous episode. To prevent its humiliation, Masamune volunteers himself to portray the Prince despite Class B and Mari's objection but proceeds nevertheless. Masamune, now substituting as the Prince, appears on the stage, shocking Aki. Despite being stricken with a fever, Masamune pushes through and kisses Aki, but the latter punches him, much to her embarrassment. After the festival, both Class A and B's members decide to have a karaoke battle. Each member sing their selected songs, Aki and Neko performed as duet in a particular song, and others performed well except for Masamune, who sang the worst. When their friends leave, Aki and Masamune are left alone on a bench and contemplate about their Snow White play. As a reward, Masamune asks Aki to kiss her but ends up eating baked sweet potatoes. The series concludes with a cliffhanger, where Masamune contemplates pursuing Aki in Paris. continuing his plot against her in a "Dead or Love" plan.
OVA	"Only for our Mama" Transliteration: "Uchi no Mama ni kagitte" (うちのママにかぎって)	July 27, 2018 (2018-07-27)
	"Tsunade Island, Once More." Transliteration: "Tsunade shima, futatabi." (綱手島、ふたたび。)
	"Cinderella After Twelve" Transliteration: "12-Ji o sugita Shinderera" (12時を過ぎたシンデレラ)
Ladies whisper among-st themselves as the perfect man with the perfect skin, Masamune Makabe, walks by admiring himself in the window-glass before going back home to find a doppelganger of his mother. It actually turns out that she is none other than his cousin Haruka, who has changed significantly since he last saw her. Coincidentally, the three of them (including their aunt) look the same. Chinatsu, Masamune's sister, makes them wear the same costume and goes on photography attack mode. In the meanwhile, Aki, Kojuro, Yoshino, Neko and Futaba go to Aki's family beach resort in Tsunade Island. When asked by the nosy caretaker if Masamune left her, Aki confirms it, before revealing that he gives himself more attention than her and is currently working-out. On the other side, while Masamune admires himself on another window-glass, he smacks into a pole. While they enjoy the whole day together, Aki calls Masamune at night. He asks if she feels lonely and she affirms, revealing that she has left her Tsundere side and doesn't feel embarrassed to speak of her heart to the one she loves. Yoshino goes to the town all dressed-up to enjoy her day off after being advised by her sister. On the road, everyone admires her and she gets many head turns. Due to her job as a helper, she always had to dress up accordingly - flat shoes and comfortable clothes that made sure she could follow Aki everywhere and cater to her. She enjoys a meal and is on her way when a kid accidentally bumps his ice-cream onto her. Yoshino sees Masamune and Aki in those kids and gives him her free balloon as a sign of forgiveness. She gets changed in the nearby shop and reverts to her old appearance. This time, no one notices her and the waiter who had welcomed her to the restaurant also doesn't recognize her. She is happy to be able to roam freely without getting attention. At the mansion, she tells her sister that she'll become beautiful with her own efforts and will make the man confess then dump him, then admits that she was just kidding.

Reception

Reviewing the first volume, Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network stated that the combination of revenge comedy and romance was "working thus far." She felt that Aki's servant was the most interesting character, but also enjoyed Masamune, especially how he had to "think about the correct response for each situation he finds himself in". She called Aki "utterly detestable", and noted that it would be difficult for the series to turn around and make her a romantic interest. She wrote that the art was attractive, but noted that the drawings of women were often anatomically incorrect.

The anime series' first episode received poor reviews from Anime News Network's staff during the Winter 2017 season previews. Theron Martin enjoyed the series the most, stating that with the clichés he should have hated the first episode, but instead he found it quite entertaining. Other staffers weren't so positive. Nick Creamer called it a "fairly generic romcom premiere starring a very repugnant cast," while Bamboo Dong claimed it was "a plain piece of toast smeared with unresolved childhood memories of rejection" and complained about how males are portrayed as hapless victims of the heartless women. Jacob Chapman called the comedy "dehumanizing" and the episode was not engaging. Paul Jensen was more positive in that he found the story and characters were unusual enough to be interesting, but he had mixed feelings as he was not sure what the series wanted to be. Silverman states that the episode walks a fine line between comedy and cruelty and her strong dislike of Aki is definitely coloring this episode for her.

Fellow ANN editor Lauren Orsini chose Masamune-kun's Revenge as her pick for the Worst Anime of 2017, criticizing its "excessive cruelty" being delivered by the two main leads and the rest of the cast, concluding that, "This anime should only be viewed as an example of how not to win friends and influence people. The best revenge is a life well lived, as in, not Masamune's approach."

External links

• Official anime website (in Japanese)
• Masamune-kun's Revenge at Ichijinsha (in Japanese)
• Masamune-kun's Revenge at Seven Seas Entertainment
• Masamune-kun's Revenge (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia