Skip and Loafer, written by Misaki Takamatsu, is a romantic comedy manga set in a school setting. It focuses on a girl named Iwakura Mitsumi, a country girl moving to the big city with big dreams, namely entering a top university, getting a good job and retiring after being Prime Minister. She is positive, upbeat, and naïve about how life in Tokyo is. Shima Sousuke is a boy who is a student at the school that Mitsumi is attending. He doesn’t have any big goals, content with spending life in an easy-going manner. The two of them meet and immediately strike up a quick friendship after narrowly avoiding being late on Mitsumi’s first day. The manga follows them both as they get closer and affect the rest of the colourful characters that populate the school.

The art style here is very pretty, it reminds me of some of the shoujo manga I’ve seen images from. The style really fits the vibe of the manga well. I like the character designs, I find them well varied, despite the sameness of the school uniform theme, and even show a lot of individualism in those uniform design as well. I find that this somehow lends to the characterization as well, example being our main character Mitsumi, dressing very straightedged, which conveys how seriously she takes school. I like how Takamatsu is able to show facial expressions here as well, which really lends itself to the comedic aspects here.

The story is very cute this volume, it really focuses on building up the side cast and introducing us to the characters. The focus on the character relationships forming in this volume is very well done. I liked all the characters here, and I’m interested in seeing how the relationships develop further. I liked how well paced the main romantic relationship is being developed here and I think I see a lot happening relatively fast next volume. The vibe here is very slice of life so far which I’ve always found suiting for rom-com manga. Character development is not substantial yet, but I see a lot coming soon for Mitsumi and particularly Sousuke. I believe that a story arc is already being set up focusing on his backstory and I’m very much looking forward to seeing this unfold.

This manga’s strengths are its characters, the relationships, and the overall slice of life, relaxed tone. I think this is a very relaxing read. People who like romantic comedies would enjoy this a lot. If you like Insomniacs After School and Yugami Doesn’t have any Friends, you’d appreciate this due to the overall vibe.

To conclude, this is a good first volume and I found myself enjoying it a lot. I’d give it a 4.6/5

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