Plain Love

Plain Love, known in Japan as Watashi ni xx Shinasai!, was written and illustrated by Ema Tooyama and serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine starting in 2009. The series centers on a mobile-phone novelist who uses blackmail to learn about love and human relationships, reflecting the early digital era's fascination with online personas and hidden identities. Tooyama created the work as a shojo manga, intentionally subverting traditional romance tropes by positioning the protagonist as an emotionally detached observer who treats affection as an intellectual study rather than a natural occurrence.

The design and narrative tone of the series were crafted to appeal to a demographic interested in the intersection of school life and the burgeoning culture of text-based communication. Upon its release, the work was noted for its sharp character dynamics and its exploration of power imbalances in teenage relationships. It successfully transitioned from a magazine serialization into a multi-volume collected set, eventually earning a Kodansha Manga Award in the children's category, which solidified its place in the genre's canon during the late 2000s and early 2010s.