Shonen Jump's Most Underrated Romcom Put a Fresh Spin on the Body Swap Trope

Hope You’re Happy Lemon is an exciting, new Shōnen Jump series currently running on Shueisha’s MangaPlus service. With the recent endings of many other popular rom-com series, the latest of note being Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, somewhat of a hole has been left in the genre. However, with rising viewership seemingly every week, Lemon is making its case for becoming the next big thing in romance manga.

While not offering anything entirely new or genre-bending, Hope You’re Happy Lemon elevates what would otherwise be a typical body-swapping premise by placing compelling characters in complicated scenarios. Combining strong writing with a departure from the usual high-school setting, the series has been able to conjure up a fresh experience through an age-old trope. Even though the manga consists of only 34 chapters to date, a future anime adaptation should be very possible, so long as the quality persists.

A Classic Body-Swapping Trope Elevated By Strong Character Writing

Hope You’re Happy Lemon’s Premise isn’t Entirely Original, But its Characters Can Carry the Story

It’s rare for a manga to convince its audience to care about the characters by the end of its very first chapter, but Hope You’re Happy Lemon is able to do just that. First-year college student Sunao Akiyoshi was dumped just before starting high school by his childhood friend, Lemon Nishikawa, who admitted to cheating on him with not one, but four other guys. Unlike many other protagonists of the genre, however, Sunao has mostly moved on, rather than sitting on the heartbreak and letting it turn him into a sort of unsociable person. With his romantic sights set on his classmate, Natsumi Kogahara, he’s ready to leave Lemon in the past.

But one night, after an unexpected reunion, the two exes both catch sight of a shooting star, and the next morning wake up in each other’s bodies. After spending some time as Lemon, Sunao realizes that she’s a pretty good person after all, and quickly drops any feelings of resentment that might have remained.

What sets Hope You’re Happy Lemon apart from a lot of other rom-coms is its lack of reliance on over-played gags, and the maturity of its characters. While hijinks ensue, as expected in a body-swap story, the majority of them are rooted in Sunao’s and Lemon’s processes of learning to understand one another, instead of fan-servicey mishaps. Likely due to the college setting, rather than a high-school, much of the immature comedy that runs rampant through the genre is left behind.

Unique and Complex Scenarios Set Hope You’re Happy Lemon Apart

Created by Mizuki Kishikawa

The relationships between characters in Hope You’re Happy Lemon also make the series unique compared to its contemporaries. Though Sunao has moved on from his break-up with Lemon and has a date scheduled with Kogahara, that date falls on a day when he and Lemon are switched. As a result, Kogahara actually falls for Lemon in Sunao’s body. A similar situation occurs when Suzuka, Sunao’s friend, falls for him in Lemon’s body, creating a strange, romantic web between four characters of which only half are aware of what is happening.

Other characters besides Sunao and Lemon are also aware of the body-swapping that is taking place, a detail which holds major weight in the series. Not only do the two main characters have to be careful not to accidentally reveal their situation, but others are constantly on edge as well, making even ordinary character interaction entertaining, even if it may not be a scenario which pushes the plot forward. Hope You’re Happy Lemon stands out among other romantic comedies for a variety of reasons, and if the strong writing continues as it has, the series stands a good chance of pushing the genre in new directions and becoming the next big rom-com hit.