I must admit that on its face I'm not a very big fan of this type of premise. Usually, setups like this can feel very predictable and bland at best while tone-deaf and problematic at worst. You listen to the general premise of a “guy in his mid-20s who is down on his luck coming across a young runaway who offers to sleep with him” and it's easy to assume that this is the plot of a hentai or something. I'm not going to waste paragraphs going into why that setup might be inherently inappropriate or not, so instead I'm going to see if this series has anything else to offer based on this first volume. Is there actually some insightful character stuff present that looks like it can take full advantage of this arrangement? The answer is surprisingly yes for a good chunk of it with a resounding “ehhh'' for the other chunk.

One massive compliment I want to give the series is how it doesn't throw everything in our faces right out the gate. I was surprised at how much this series was holding back in terms of delving into character motivations and specific perspectives. When Sayu is asked why she's running away or what she had been doing up until the story's inciting incident, her minor response spoke volumes. As a character, I want to learn so much more about her regarding how she got into this specific situation and how she can overcome whatever trauma it is that she's clearly running away from. I daresay I actually found a lot of her responses and general outlook on things fairly relatable. While the series probably won't go as dark as it could with this setup, the fact that it made me think about such dark implications in the first place despite its presentation is noteworthy.

It also helps that a majority of how she's presented is being filtered through the eyes of a main character with a pretty decent head on his shoulders...even if that head can still be filled with rocks occasionally. Yoshida is obviously kind of dense and there are definitely some moments where it feels like he should recognize things that are obviously presented in front of him, but compared to a lot of other protagonists, he at least asks questions and tries to inquire more about people's intentions rather than just reacting to everything that's happening. In fact, you could argue that because he's living with a girl who doesn't tell him the full story, it's a skill that he sort of needs to develop. He's a little bit jaded and doesn't always have the right answer, but you can feel the influence that he has on other people even if he's not aware of it himself.

This actually leads to a major problem I have with the series; when I took the obvious thought of the two of them falling in love with each other and threw it out of my brain, I was actually surprised at how much I liked their dynamic. It's clear that these two completed each other in a way that didn't need to be explicitly romantic. Yoshida is a guy who is directionless and doesn't seem to appreciate the little things in life, whereas Sayu is a girl who clearly needs someone that's just willing to take care of her without any ulterior motive. My favorite chapters were the ones that just focused on him coming home and monologuing about what he can do for her. He learns a bit more about what it means to be responsible while she learns that maybe there are some people out there that aren't willing to take advantage of you at jump. A very basic story to be sure, but it's executed well enough here that if this was Higehiro's main focus and intention, then I think I'd be singing its praises a lot more.

However, it's clear that exploring this dynamic isn't the show's main intention because we still have to introduce other characters who can pursue our main lead! I'm not against harem series or the prospect of introducing multiple partners, but when you do one thing so well, I'm kind of left with the feeling that you didn't need to introduce all of this other stuff. There's a lot of really nice and careful attention to detail regarding the main duo without a lot of effort, and yet it feels like there's so much detail added to other characters that I'm just given no reason to care about by the end of this first volume. Everyone seems to bounce off of each other well and the banter is rather tightly written, but the purpose these individual characters serve to each other as well as how they stand out on their own is severely lacking. Some love interests just feel like they are there for the sake of being there and whenever there's a significant amount of time focused on them, I'm kind of in Yoshida's shoes wondering if Sayu is OK back at home. Maybe that was the intention, which would actually be kind of clever, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

The original author sung high praises of Imaru Adachi's contribution to drawing this manga and I wholeheartedly agree it looks gorgeous. Panel layouts are smooth and effortless with very detailed close-ups that I think partially contributed to the feelings that were instilled in me while I read. There are some moments where the overall exposure feels a bit too washed out to the point where minor details get a little bit obscured. It's a little weird that a series called Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway barely showed any stubble on the main character's face despite it being pointed out by a few characters. I feel robbed! Other than that, I actually think you'd be better off reading this manga as more of a visual treat compared to whatever the hell was going on with the show's anime adaptation.

Overall I'm actually pretty mixed after the first volume of the series. It's definitely at its best when it holds back and takes its time to lure audiences in. However it is at its worst when it tries to juggle too much at once. I am curious about the two leads as individuals rather than any actual romantic prospects and the artwork is very visually pleasing. Definitely not a must-read, but if you can make it past the first tow chapters and can see the glimmers of potential, it might be worth finishing to the end.