Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Volume 1) - Big, Busty, and Bashful

Hitomi chan is Shy With Strangers Volume 1 Cover

Yuu Usami was on his way to school when a strange girl started chasing him. It turned out she was new to the area and recognised his uniform. She asked if she could walk to school with him, which was fine by him!

Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Volume 1) – Big, Busty, and Bashful

What happened?

Hitomi Takano made an instant impact on Yuu. He first saw her on the train as she stared him down with the vicious look of a psychopath. After a while, he realised that maybe she was trying to protect him from the crowd packed inside the carriage. However, that face was scary so when the doors opened, he ran. She ran too and she was a lot faster than him. Well, it turned out that she was new to the area and recognised his uniform as it was the same as hers. She asked if he would walk with her to school.

When they got there, Yuu learnt that Hitomi was a year younger than him despite the height difference. He agreed to walk home with her too as they would be on the same train. In fact, it turned out that they live across the street from one another. Later that evening, Yuu’s little sister told him about a new girl in her class who made a huge blunder in her introduction, walked out of the room and then came back to do it again. Anyhow, it also turned out that the new girl had Kaoru’s perfect abs so they’re now best friends. It couldn’t be!

Hitomi was struggling with math and after scaring the teacher into giving her more help, Kaoru suggested that her brother could help. Hitomi didn’t like the idea of meeting another new person so was quite relieved to discover that Kaoru and Yuu were siblings. Anyhow, things progressed from there where Hitomi struggles to cope with regular interactions such as smiling and fitting into Yuu’s clothes…

Hitomi chan is Shy With Strangers Volume 1 Yuu meets Hitomi

What did you think?

I loved this book. The awkward scary looking character trope is one that I often enjoy, but this one, in particular, was excellent. Not only that but it did a great job of weaving it into an actual story. Well, I say story, but you know what I mean. In a slice-of-life sort of way. Each of the scenes did more than just showed Hitomi being awkward. There were some movements towards her and Yuu becoming more than just friends, although neither probably noticed. At least we have Kaoru and her fondness for stroking Hitomi’s abs.

There really wasn’t much to the book other than these awkward situations and misunderstandings based on Hitomi’s inability to smile in a way that didn’t leave children running away. However, that was perfect. It nailed the feel and made the characters enjoyable enough that I am absolutely on board for the rest of the series. And, I say that as someone that doesn’t get that excited about slice-of-life stuff.

I do wonder if the gag will still be funny after another couple of volumes, but it’s done enough to make me want to find out. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it.