Moteki is a seinen manga by Mitsurou Kubo, creator of Again!! and co-creator of Yuri!!! on Ice. It originally ran in Evening magazine from 2008 to 2010, and it received an official English translation from Vertical in April 2018.
At age 29, Yukiyo Fujimoto has never held down a steady job or a girlfriend. Just when he's giving up on anything going right for him, he's suddenly contacted by several women from his past: former co-worker Aki Doi, younger friend Itsuka Nakashiba, previous love interest Natsuki Komiyama, and former classmate/juvenile delinquent Naoko Hayashida. It seems that Yukiyo's "moteki"—the one time in someone's life where they're popular with the opposite sex—has finally come! But is he really ready for love...and are any of the women who contacted him ready for it either?
Moteki contains examples of the following tropes:
- Art Shift:
- The "Motekis You Wouldn't Want to Read" omakes are all about this, usually poking fun at different kinds of romance manga that are more idealistic than this one.
- When Yuma gets her first letter from Takashi, she briefly shifts to an art style that looks very much like Arina Tanemura's.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Downplayed, but Naoko's daughter Yuma calls her "Nao" for reasons unknown.
- Former Teen Rebel: Naoko used to be something of a delinquent when Yukiyo knew her, but she's now matured and is even raising a daughter by herself.
- Identical Stranger: Sumida is noted to look very similar to Yukiyo. The only major differences between them in appearance are that Sumida is slightly more heavyset, his hair is parted in the opposite direction, and he has a mole on his chin.
- Running Gag: Naoko's face tends to turn into an oni mask whenever she gets angry or upset.
