Don’t let the pretty pastels and statuesque beauties on the cover fool you, they’re darker than they appear. Fall in Love, You False Angels depicts a story about two characters who spend all their time being exactly what everyone wants them to be. But they hide a “darker” personality underneath their perfectly kind facades.
[This review covers Volume 1 of Fall in Love, You False Angels. Content warnings: Narcissism (Maybe TBD), Harassment, Name-Calling, Bullying, Inappropriate Teacher]
The Story:
Otogi is used to being the center of attention in any room she’s in. She’s the most popular girl in school with classmates fawning over her constantly. She likes it that way, and she’s more than happy to play the part of queen bee. Making herself look perfect, acting as nice as possible, and doing anything she can to be as cute as possible, she’s all for it. (Does that sound exhausting to anyone else?)
Otogi knows it’s all pretend, and deep down she hides who she really is. In her head and when she’s alone she perceives herself to be meaner and darker than those around her. When she finds out that her equally perfect male counterpart, Toki, is just as “bad” as she is, it’s a match made in heaven (or hell; whichever).
Narcissism or People Pleasers?
When reading this first volume of Fall in Love, You False Angeles there are some big questions we should all be asking: Are these characters actually bad? Are they actually hiding a dark side, or are they just not allowing themselves to express basic human emotions?
As I see it, the human experience isn’t always pleasant. Not allowing yourself to express any kind of negative emotion, seems like a surefire way to become emotionally dysregulated. Some people might call these characters narcissists, others might call them people pleasers. Which is it? I can’t be too sure with only the first volume to go on, but I’m leaning toward the latter.
Otogi spends a lot of time worrying about letting her guard down, letting her mask slip and everyone finding out that she’s “fake”.
At one point she tries to hide her discomfort and pain when experiencing period cramps in the middle of class. Later, she and Toki are being harassed by a group of drunken guys who behave very aggressively toward them.
Otogi weighs her options, and at first she’s really afraid to say anything “mean” to the guys because she doesn’t want her angelic image to be tainted in the eyes of Toki. But when the situation reaches boiling point, she tells them exactly what’s on her mind in the best way (You go, girl)! It’s in this scene that we find out that Toki isn’t the sunshine boy he pretends to be either. I really love the small detail that when Otogi is her authentic self, it allows Toki to be himself too.
Yes, the “real” Otogi has a sharp tongue, and she’s calculating. She’s fully aware of the effect she has on people, and she uses it to her advantage. Is she a bit full of herself? Sure. But when a rowdy group of guys hit on you, get aggressive, and make you feel unsafe? You have my full permission to get mad as hell. It doesn’t make someone a bad person for feeling period cramps or defending themselves by dropping their otherwise cute demeanor and using strong language to get someone to leave them alone.
A lot of shoujo protagonists are whole-heartedly good, self-sacrificing and kind to a fault.
And while some manga add nuance to that recipe (for example Fruits Basket explores how being so keen to take care of other people means that we end up neglecting ourselves), many shoujo girls never really think or say anything bad. It feels really refreshing to see a female protagonist say what she’s actually thinking even if it’s not pretty. Otogi’s authentic self might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as she is a bit conceited but regardless, she feels more real because of it.
The Bad vs The Ugly:
At one point in the story Otogi and Toki confront a teacher who was making inappropriate advances on a student. The teacher in question acts like a nice guy, but clearly his dark side is just nasty. The student he pursues is absolutely terrified of him and asks our protagonists for help. Otogi and Toki end up collecting evidence against the teacher and get him reported.
While I don’t think it should ever be up to sleuthing students to bring a monster to justice, I think this plotline is included to help illustrate an important difference between what is and isn’t bad behavior. There is a clear difference between Otogi and Toki’s perceived badness and the clearly inappropriate and vile behavior of the teacher. And that seems to be the point.
I think there are a lot of very kind and good people who worry whether or not they are actually good or if they are tricking people into thinking they’re good.
It’s important to remember that things like goodness and kindness are practices, like muscles that need to be exercised. Feeling negative emotions, creating boundaries for yourself, or even disliking a person doesn’t make someone bad. Being a predator and being a bully, yeah that’s bad.
I generally avoid any kind of Teacher-Student plotline in manga because it’s often portrayed as some kind of romantic, forbidden-love. And personally, I hate it. But I like that this manga shows the teacher as being in the wrong. I would have preferred Otogi and Toki bringing it to the attention of a trusted adult instead of taking matters into their own hands, but it is admittedly more dramatic the way it’s written. But definitely, note that it may be triggering to some readers. Ultimately though, I think this plotline does a good job of illustrating the point it’s trying to make.
The Takeaway:
By the end of this first volume, Otogi starts to realize that there is more than just a dark side and light side to people. We’re all just a bunch of multifaceted wrecks, who have different personality traits that come out at different times and around different people.
This might seem like a weird comparison, but this manga really reminds me of the movie Clueless, which was an obsession for many 90s kids. Cher is the main character, who thinks she has it all figured out in life. She has all the cheat codes and the recipe to success. She knows exactly how to get everything she wants and manipulate situations to play out in her favor. But in the end, when everything blows up in her face, she realizes that she doesn’t really know anything.
Otogi feels like she was cut from the same cloth. The opening line to this volume is “even as a child, I was always more perceptive than most.” And the lesson for our main character is realizing that she really doesn’t have anything figured out and she’s just as lost as everyone else.
I liked this first volume and am interested to read more of it. It seems like a pretty interesting exploration into human behavior. The darker elements and nuanced subject matter might not make it an instant obsession for people looking for a softer, comfort shoujo. But there’s too much potential here to ignore.
The Deets:
Fall in Love, You False Angels is the debut manga of Coco, Uzuki. The English release is brought to us by Kodasha. Volume 1 is currently out now, and volume 2 is slated to release on April 8th, 2025.
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