The girl who has the BIGGEST problems with men, EVER.
I hate them! I fear them! I detest them! Because when it comes to men...When it comes to men, Hinako Aikawa has problems - problems which she confesses to an empty and abandoned church. Unbeknowest to her, her classmate, local
Casanova Daisuke Suwa, was hiding in said church to dodge his henpecking Childhood Friend Yuzu Yamamoto and his wanna-be girlfriend Kazuki Ibuse. At first he tries to shoo Hinako away, but eventually relents. He expects to hear a minor confession, and instead receives the shock of his life in learning of
years of abuse Hinako suffered. Sexual abuse from her stepfather that got her pregnant not once, but
twice, and resulted in at least one birth to a child one year prior, when Hinako was fifteen.
Despite initial denial, Daisuke is forced to accept his classmate has indeed suffered these horrors. As a result, even though Hinako was the one girl Daisuke had said he would pass on, he finds himself unable to stop thinking about her. He begins to watch out for her, protect her, and inevitably fall in love with her. The main obstacles he faces in pursuit of this newfound love are Kazuki's jealousy and Hinako's own difficulties around men. For her part, Hinako herself has managed to develop feelings towards Daisuke, but is unsure if he would accept her past... Therefore, the story of
Bitter Virgin by Kei Kusunoki follows the two protagonists as they work through their issues and gradually come to understand one another.
Kusunoki reveals, in the last volume, that
most of the manga was inspired in her own stillbirth; fortunately, she had two healthy kids afterward.
This series features examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Hinako's stepfather.
- Adults Are Useless: Hinako's mother is in denial about her abuse for a LONG time. Contrast that with Daisuke's mother, Nana.
- Though Hinako's mother could never make up for what her daughter went through, props to her when she finally accepts the truth and chases the stepfather out of the house with a knife.
- Alpha Bitch: Kazuki, complete with Girl Posse.
- Attempted Rape: Hinako, mid-way through the series.
- Attention Whore: Kazuki, at one point using a quote very close to the one on top of the Trope's page.
- Berserker Tears: When Daisuke beats the ever-loving shit out of a thug who attempted to rape Hinako. He's mortified for "looking so uncool" in front of her, but she's clearly touched.
- Bittersweet Ending: Hinako and Daisuke are together at the end. Kazuki and Yuzu accept this and step aside. But no one, including the couple themselves, expects the relationship to last, both of them feeling the other could do better, although thankfully it's left up in the air and really depends on what you think will happen.
- Broken Bird: Hinako slightly, though she does not become cynical or cruel to cope.
- Break the Cutie: Hinako, before the start of the series and shown in flashback.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Every damn where, and frequently with very good reason, given the heroine's past.
- Casanova: Daisuke, in the beginning.
- Cliff Hanger: At the end of each chapter.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Kazuki; to her credit she got better.
- Confessional
- Cool Big Sis: Izumi.
- Cooldown Hug: Hinako to Daisuke in chapter 13.
- Creator Breakdown: Kei Kusunoki wrote this manga right after having a miscarriage. Hence, why Hinako lost her first baby. And Izumi lost hers in the end.
- Defiled Forever: Hinako definitely has issues with this.
- Does Not Like Men: Hinako.
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: Kazuki and her scissors.
- Give Him A Normal Life: Why Hinako gave up her second baby into adoption.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Hinako was made to carry her second pregnancy to term for the sake of her health.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Hinako's C-Section scar.
- Hates Being Touched: Take a wild guess.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Daisuke and Hinako, probably to highlight Hinako's vulnerability.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Hinako comes around to the fact that she feels fine if it's Daisuke. Mind you, it does take some time.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Subverted by Yuzu, but eventually played straight.
- Luminescent Blush: Oh, Daisuke.
- Moment of Weakness: When Hinako obliviously drops a Just Friends on Daisuke, he angrily blurts out he knows her dark secret. Lucky for all involved, she wasn't listening to him at that precise moment.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Daisuke sends one after Hinako's would-have-been assailant in the first part of volume 2. He would have quite literally beaten him to death if Hinako hadn't given him a Cooldown Hug.
- Nobody Thinks It Will Work
- Not What It Looks Like: Hinako sees right through it, despite Kazuki's attempts to make it seem exactly what it looks like.
- Panty Shot: A plot-relevant one, it reveals her cesarean section scar, dispelling Daisuke's doubts concerning Hinako's story.
- Parental Incest: Hinako's abuser was her stepdad.
- Rape as Drama: Milked for ALL it's worth.
- Sanctuary of Solitude: Hinako's attempt at this is the event kicks off the plot. Daisuke's sister also sees Sanctuary towards the end of the story.
- Secret Keeper: Asymmetric, as Hinako does not know Daisuke knows. Kazuki and Yuzu also become this kind of keeper later. On the other hand, Izumi is Hinako's symmetric keeper, since she willingly told her what had been going on.
- Secret Secret Keeper: Daisuke knows Hinako's darkest secret, and there's no way he can let anyone know, even Hinako herself.
- Shrinking Violet: Hinako.
- Stepford Smiler: Hinako.
- Valley Girl: To a degree, Kazuki.
- The Woobie: Hinako, too.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: Yuzu.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Eventually, They Do. Not that anyone expects them to stick together for long.
- What Is This Feeling?: Daisuke's a Ladykiller In Love and Hinako always assumed she'd never fall in love with a guy for obvious reasons.
- Yandere: Kazuki.
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