Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love - Ayuko Hatta

In Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, Ayuko Hatta delivers a bright, fast-moving high school romance built around the dizzy momentum of first love. The story follows Satomi, an earnest and inexperienced girl who enters high school hoping for the kind of romance she’s only imagined from afar. Things accelerate almost immediately when she meets Yagyu, a popular but surprisingly sincere boy whose directness cuts through the usual romantic misunderstandings. Instead of stretching attraction endlessly, the series focuses on the excitement, awkwardness, and vulnerability of actually being in a relationship while still figuring yourself out.

Ayuko Hatta gives the manga a warm, sparkling energy filled with expressive reactions, emotional honesty, and the heightened intensity of teenage feelings where every text message or glance feels electrically important. Even when the story leans into familiar shojo territory, it stays charming because the characters communicate more openly than expected, letting the drama come from insecurity, growth, and changing emotions rather than endless artificial obstacles. The result feels light and addictive, like flipping through a notebook covered in hearts, confessions, and nervous daydreams.