“Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro” (イジらないで、長瀞さん) or “Don’t Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro”, is a web manga which initially got its start on the famously large art sharing platform “Pixiv” in 2011 in a very early form of the manga. It is created by “Nanashi” also known as “774”. The term “nanashi” in Japanese can literally mean, “no-name.”
The Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro series has since been picked up by industry giant Kodansha and began publication through its Magazine Pocket online and app-based manga platform. It’s not a particularly long series at this point with a whopping five volumes available.
What is “Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro” about?
As mentioned earlier, the series had an early version of Nagatoro on Pixiv and was later picked up by Kodansha. Most things are the same, but some things have changed, mostly in character names, but let’s take a look at what this story is about.
Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro is a Comedy shonen manga which finds our protagonist “Senpai’s” life gets flipped on top of its head. Senpai meets Nagatoro, a smug-looking girl who observes some of his other female classmates kind of pushing him around in a not-so-playful manner.
She realizes that maybe this is exactly what he needs to break out of his introverted shell and starts her own method of teasing him. Albeit, teasing him with good intentions rather than mischievous intentions. It soon becomes apparent to the reader that it’s also quite flirtatious. Senpai doesn’t notice this at first, but he starts to catch on a little down the line.
Who Are the Characters of “Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro?”
Please Don’t Bully Me, Nagatoro has a cast of characters that fit the bill for the manga. None of them are particularly over the top or stand out more so than the other, but that’s not a bad thing in any form. It actually kind of plays into the overtone of the manga and allows the story to be delivered in a meaningful manner. The main characters that you’ll be interacting with are:
Nagatoro – Nagatoro is our co-protagonist (antagonist?) in the series and she seems to get off on teasing Senpai. But in between her incoherent teasing of him, you can see other emotions starting to show through the cracks. When she was introduced in the original webcomic, she was referred to by her first name of “Hayase”.
Senpai – Senpai is our protagonist. He doesn’t really like to be social due to its uncomfortable nature and just likes to keep to himself and draw. The manga has yet to reveal if Senpai has any other friends or family. With him being such an introverted character it would make sense for him to be all alone. When he was introduced in the original webcomic, his name was Naoto Hachioji.
Gamo-chan – Gamo-chan is one of Nagatoro’s friends who in some sort of fashion thinks that she has a rivalry going on with Nagatoro as to who can tease Senpai the most, against Nagatoro’s will. The main difference here is that Gamo-chan shows no romantic attachment to Senpai at all. She also calls Senpai, Paisen as a joke.
Yoshi – Yoshi is one of Gamo-chan’s close friends who always seems to be with her. She’s not the brightest color in the box, but she’s got a good attitude and she can listen well!
Sakura – As a character, Sakura is pretty similar to Yoshi, just not as upbeat. She has blonde hair and is known for stirring the pot of jealousy in groups of boys that jaw for her attention.
Club President – She is the president of the art club. She treats Senpai with respect and dignity. She’s got the characteristic attitude of being stern on the outside but pretty shameless on the inside.
A Charming Manga
Through its dialogue, it’s easy to tell that this is a manga that was made with heart. Its got a nice warm overtone under the brutally cold antagonization of Senpai, but the message delivered is wholesome. I enjoyed my readthrough of this series and I would recommend it to people. It’s available in the States via “Vertical” with its first volume released in November of 2019. It’s only a matter of time until we see just how far the series will continue on with Nagatoro and Senpai.