Miyuki. Volume 6 Cover Art Cropped, Cheeky Brat, Yen Press.
Cheeky Brat – Information
Author of Story: Mitsubachi Miyuki
Chapter Count: English publication at 16 volumes, 95 chapters
Status: Completed in Japanese at 23 volumes
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below, only the literary work itself.
- References to adult magazines
- Sexual humor
- Mild SA
- Mature content/censored nudity
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Cheeky Brat – Plot Summary
Yuki Machida is a second year high school student who has a rather serious, straight-faced demeanor. More specifically, she hides her emotions and tries to stay calm and mostly expressionless (what she calls “normal”) as much as possible.
She is excellent at keeping her calm attitude after having grown up as the oldest in a household full of rambunctious younger siblings. However, this mask she wears is constantly being tested by a first year named Shou Naruse.
Naruse is a member of the basketball team that Yuki manages—and he loves to constantly tease her for a reaction, often using lewd and rude jokes.
Regardless of his bratty behavior, Naruse begins to show more support and care for Yuki once he discovers her unrequited feelings for their third year basketball captain, Kido, who recently got a girlfriend.
Soon after seeing a side to her he hadn’t before, Naruse confesses to Yuki, much to her surprise. Despite how much she may seem irritated by Naruse, Yuki can’t ignore her beating heart! How will this bickering duo’s romance turn out?!
Why You Should Read Cheeky Brat
Plot:
I had severely underestimated how much I’d enjoy the dynamic in Cheeky Brat. At first, I was put off by the sexual humor at the beginning (just not my cup of tea) but Naruse’s character ends up being much less shallow than that first impression, and the duo’s chemistry ends up being really cute and fun.
Sometimes when it comes the the “bickering couple” trope, I get quickly tired of it as the characters can start to feel annoying or too serious in the bickering—as if they don’t even like each other—but I didn’t have this experience with Cheeky Brat.
I think this is because Naruse’s teasing is more flirty and humorous. Yuki also just reacts to his teasing, and doesn’t seem to genuinely hate any of it.
I especially like this dynamic when it comes to the romance. Yuki’s strict side is still strong, and she often shows a humorous disapproval even while participating in romantic activities (often saying Naruse is getting carried away). It’s so cute!
I personally feel like this is a relatable depiction of a school girl experiencing a relationship for the first time, particularly with someone like Naruse.
Shoujo mangas often let the female lead turn to mush in response to a pushy love interest’s whims, but I like that Yuki fights back and stays true to her strict ideals for the most part.
However, I won’t say she keeps up those walls for the entire series. You can look forward to these two becoming closer and more honest with themselves as the manga progresses!
Miyuki. Volume 3 Cover Art, Cheeky Brat, Yen Press.
Overall the romance in this manga is so unexpectedly cute. I loved seeing Yuki slowly open up her heart and Naruse fall even harder for her because of it. I also really liked that this series followed the couple out of high school (though much of the story does take place in high school, hence the “high school romance” tag).
Lots of shoujos keep things limited to high school life or end the series after a confession—but Cheeky Brat gave us plenty to enjoy even into their college years.
I really like when mangas have longer stories like this. Seeing the main couple grow and become closer is so much fun! Yuki and Naruse eventually become a really unstoppable couple who just can’t get enough of each other! (*≧∀≦*) It’s tons of fun to read, seeing these two goofy characters experience so much love and excitement.
If you love romance shoujo with yearning, romantic tension, and somewhat tsundere-esque characters, you’ll probably really enjoy Cheeky Brat. It’s a goldmine of gap moe romance—these two usually deadpan characters often can’t hide their intense love for each other. (*´∀｀*)
As you’d expect from a shoujo romance, this manga has a lot of classic tropes that for the most part aren’t necessarily unique, but I wouldn’t say they’re all badly done either; especially if you enjoy the classics.
However there are a couple things that were hard to look past in this manga (which I’ll talk about in the cons section further down below).
Additionally, I will mention that for a series with so much basketball in it, there really isn’t much focus on the games individually. This isn’t Blue Box, where the story is half sports manga and half romance manga. Cheeky Brat is primarily a romance with a sprinkle of sports or perhaps just a fun basketball theme.
It touches upon on teamwork, training, dedication, perseverance, and lots of tension between rivaling schools—but the actual games against other teams don’t have much detail or any play-by-play scenarios. This may be good or bad, depending on what you like to read.
As long as you’re in it for the romance, you’ll likely enjoy Cheeky Brat!
Characters:
The main two characters in this manga are tons of fun. I don’t think I see pairings like this often—something like serious stickler x cheeky romantic. Does that make sense? I’ll describe them individually below…
Firstly, the female lead, Yuki, is a serious and responsible character who, despite her emotionless mask, is pretty funny and full of emotions.
She freaks out pretty often unlike what her ideal persona would do, and is a refreshingly blunt female lead. She’s hilariously honest about pretty much everything except her romantic feelings.
Even when she tries to be honest, it still comes out rather comedically, at least towards the earlier half of the series when she’s still learning to be herself.
Regardless, I really liked seeing a strong, capable female lead with a unique personality. She’s hardworking, studious, punctual, and responsible—but not made to be perfect or princess-like (two features I feel like I often see with the smart or capable characters).
Instead, she’s a newbie to romance and easily agitated, haha. I really like her character and how she handles Naruse’s antics.
Yuki also has a lot of character growth throughout the series as she slowly leaves behind that original emotionless persona and instead simply becomes herself.
Naruse on the other hand has certainly earned the descriptor “cheeky brat.” He says whatever he wants and does whatever he wants with a nonchalant attitude and deadpan face. He seems to get jealous easy, and doesn’t really get serious about anything other than Yuki (though he has his own growth in these aspects, too).
This is mostly what makes his otherwise irritating character endearing, as he spends quite some time pining for her and fighting to prove his feelings!
Additionally, Naruse can be smooth at times or surprisingly needy, which makes his feelings more apparent and Yuki’s reactions even better. Cute!
These two characters are kind of similar in how they are both expressionless and emotionless in some ways, yet once around each other cannot help but show their true feelings. It’s very cute, and they only get more and more passionate further along in the series. ♡
Art:
For the most part, I liked the art style of Cheeky Brat. It feels modern, but still gives that hint of classic 2000s shoujo styles; particularly with Naruse’s design.
I will say that occasionally the characters look like they lack a jaw or full-sized chin (the shoujo pointy chin syndrome) but it’s not so bad that I’d drop the series.
Any Cons?
I did have a few aspects of the Cheeky Brat manga series that I didn’t like. I’ll save the most significant con for last.
Firstly, I found the initial premise to be a bit problematic, mostly in how Yuki unintentionally leads on Naruse for quite a while and how Naruse continues to initiate intimacy with her without much consent. Classic shoujo manga problems.
Additionally, there’s a lot of pushy personalities in this manga , with a lot of nonconsensual advances by the male leads. It’s not the worst I’ve ever seen when it comes to shoujo, but I wanted to include it here for those who especially dislike those types of things.
Miyuki. Volume 14 Cover Art, Cheeky Brat, Yen Press.
For those who enjoy speedier romances, I’ll warn that this manga starts off slowly, so things take time to become official and truly get rolling. If you’re interested, they don’t get together until volume 6.
Despite this slow start, there’s still plenty of romantic interactions between the main two, so you won’t be completely deprived of interest until then.
The most important con I have for Cheeky Brat is that it is practically love rival galore, and one of them in particular shows up very often for no good reason. He doesn’t seem to understand boundaries or consent, either.
I wish I could say he wasn’t a bad guy, but seeing as he continuously tries for a taken girl, I can’t even give him that.
I truly think it is such an unnecessary aspect to add into the story—if you couldn’t tell, I despised this character. I’d prefer if the author had focused more on the main couple and not this annoying buzzing fly of a character.
To make things worse, the FL just goes along with the extra leads’ weird requests and nonconsensual acts. It’s probably the one most frustrating thing about this manga, and it lasts for the entirety of it, too (even after the main couple become official).
The only thing that kept me sane during these annoying scenes was the cute romance between Naruse and Yuki. I still enjoyed the manga overall, but I know this con could really tick off a lot of readers, so you’ve been warned!
Final Thoughts
Cheeky Brat is a very cute and sporty romance manga that is a really fun read if you don’t mind some mildly goofy, gimmicky characters.
Even considering the cons I had for this series, I still think it is such a cute and unique read that shoujo lovers would definitely enjoy. The romance turns out to be even more sweet and cute as you progress through the plot, so I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Many images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Miyuki, Mitsubachi. Cheeky Brat, Yen Press, 2021.
