Masamune-kun's Revenge Review: The Boy Who Was Called Fat Now Has the Perfect Body and a Revenge Plan That Gets Complicated

Quick Take

• The revenge romance that subverts itself — Masamune's plan to hurt Aki is revealed as more complicated than simple cruelty on both sides, and the series is more interested in what both characters are hiding than in the revenge mechanism
• Tiv's art handles the comedic and romantic registers with equal craft; the character designs are immediately memorable
• 13 volumes complete; a satisfying complete romance that earns its resolution

Who Is This Manga For?

• Readers who want romantic comedy manga where the initial premise evolves significantly
• Anyone interested in romance stories where both leads have complicated histories
• Fans of completed manga with a genuine romantic resolution
• Readers who enjoy "enemies to lovers" dynamics with actual character development

Content Warnings & Age Rating

Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Revenge premise involving emotional manipulation; standard high school romantic comedy content; mild fan service

The T rating is accurate.

Yu's Rating

Category	Score
Story Depth	★★★★☆
Art Style	★★★★☆
Character Development	★★★★★
Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers	★★★★★
Reread Value	★★★★☆

Story Overview

Masamune Makabe spent years after Aki's rejection transforming himself. He is now conventionally handsome, athletic, and popular — everything he was not when Aki called him Piggy and sent him away. His plan: infiltrate Aki's social circle, make her fall genuinely in love with him, and then deliver the same rejection she gave him.

The plan encounters several complications. Aki — known at school as the "Brutal Princess" for rejecting every boy who confesses — has her own reasons for her behavior. Masamune's maid Yoshino Koiwai has her own agenda. And Masamune's actual feelings for Aki refuse to cooperate with his plan.

The series develops the gap between Masamune's revenge plan and the reality of getting to know Aki as a person, with the original childhood incident eventually receiving a more complete explanation than either character expected.

Characters

Masamune Makabe — His quality is the specific combination of his maintained grievance and his genuine vulnerability — he built an identity around the rejection and the identity is not as stable as he thought. His development involves distinguishing between what he planned and what he actually wants.

Adagaki Aki — The "Brutal Princess" characterization is established early and then systematically complicated. Her reasons for her behavior are revealed with patience, and the revelation changes the dynamic of the series substantially.

Yoshino Koiwai — The maid who knows more than she says and whose agenda becomes one of the series' plot complications. Her character is the series' best secondary presence.

Art Style

Tiv's art handles the high school romantic comedy visual conventions with confident skill — the character designs are distinct and the comedic expressions are well-executed. The romance sequences are handled warmly without becoming saccharine.

Cultural Context

Masamune-kun's Revenge engages with Japanese high school social hierarchy — the specific power dynamics of popularity, beauty standards, and confession culture — while subverting the conventional revenge narrative by making both protagonists more complicated than their initial presentations.

What I Love About It

The chapter where the original childhood incident is revealed from Aki's perspective — and what she knew and didn't know about the Piggy incident — is the series' most complete character moment and reframes everything that came before it. The series earned this reveal through patient buildup.

What English-Speaking Fans Say

Western readers describe Masamune-kun's Revenge as the romance manga they kept with through complications that seemed like dead ends — the series' ability to develop both characters meaningfully across 13 volumes is consistently praised. The ending is described as genuinely satisfying.

Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning

Aki's revelation of what she actually remembers from the day she called Masamune "Piggy" — and what she did not know about that day — is the series' pivot point and the moment the revenge premise becomes something more interesting than revenge.

Similar Manga

• Kaguya-sama: Love is War — Romantic comedy where both leads are strategizing
• My Little Monster — High school romance with complicated initial dynamic
• Wolf Girl and Black Prince — Manipulation romance with character development
• Nisekoi — High school false relationship with genuine development

Reading Order / Where to Start

Volume 1 — Masamune's plan and his first encounter with Aki.

Official English Translation Status

Yen Press published all 13 volumes. Complete and available.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Both characters develop meaningfully across 13 volumes
• The revenge premise subverts itself interestingly
• Complete arc with a satisfying romantic resolution
• The reveal of the childhood incident is earned

Cons

• The manipulation elements in early volumes will bother some readers
• 13 volumes requires patience before full character complexity emerges
• The "enemies to lovers" path is somewhat predictable in structure

Format Comparison

Format	Notes
Individual Volumes	Yen Press; complete
Digital	Available

Where to Buy

Get Masamune-kun's Revenge Vol. 1 on Amazon →

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