Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie Manga Reading Order

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie Manga Reading Order — The Short Answer

The reading order is exactly what you’d hope: Volume 1 through Volume 20, in numbered order. That’s it.

The series ran for 178 chapters, published chapter-by-chapter on Magazine Pocket (Kodansha’s free online manga website and app) from February 2019 to February 2023, and it’s now fully complete. There are no spin-offs, prequels, sequel series, or alternate versions floating around. You pick up Volume 1, you read through to Volume 20, and you get the entire story from beginning to end.

Your best starting point is simply Volume 1, which is available in both print and digital in English from Kodansha (one of Japan’s largest manga publishers). Whether you’re coming in fresh or picking up after watching the anime, Volume 1 is where the journey begins.

Print vs. Digital — Which Edition to Choose

One thing that makes collecting this Shikimori manga straightforward: there’s only one edition to think about. The English release consists of standard single volumes — the same format as the Japanese release. There are no omnibus editions (collected books combining multiple volumes into one), no deluxe hardcovers, and no box sets to hunt down.

Each English volume matches its Japanese counterpart one-to-one, so Volume 1 in English covers the same chapters as Volume 1 in Japanese. No renumbering weirdness to worry about.

Here’s how the two formats compare:

	Print	Digital
Volumes available	20	20
Content	Identical chapter-for-chapter	Identical chapter-for-chapter
Shelf display	20 spines look great on a shelf	No physical collection
Accessibility	Need to order or find in store	Instant download

For a completed 20-volume series, digital is the most convenient option if you just want to read the story. You can grab the whole thing instantly without worrying about whether individual volumes are in stock. But if you love the feeling of flipping physical pages — or you want Shikimori’s cool expressions lined up on your bookshelf — print is a perfectly good choice too.

There’s no wrong answer here since the content is identical either way.

Complete Volume-by-Volume Reading Order

Here’s what to expect as you move through the series. I’ll keep spoilers light — just enough context so you know what each stretch of the story focuses on.

Volume 1 — Where It All Begins

Volume 1 introduces our two leads: Izumi, a sweet but hilariously unlucky guy, and Shikimori, his girlfriend who’s adorable most of the time — but turns breathtakingly cool whenever Izumi’s bad luck puts him in danger. The key thing to know is that they’re already a couple from the very first chapter. There’s no slow-burn buildup to a love confession. The romance is the starting point, not the destination, and that’s a big part of what makes this series feel different.

Volume 2 — The Friend Group Takes Shape

The supporting cast starts to fill in here. Shikimori and Izumi’s circle of friends gets more page time, and the school life comedy kicks into a higher gear. You’ll notice the series settling into its rhythm — short, punchy chapters that alternate between everyday sweetness and those signature moments where Shikimori goes from cute to devastatingly cool.

Volume 3 — School Events and Sweet Moments

School festivals, group outings, and other classic manga event chapters show up here. The supporting characters get real development rather than just serving as background decoration. If you’re a fan of the “whole friend group hangs out” dynamic that makes school-set manga so cozy, this is where the series really delivers on that front.

Volume 4 — Relationship Milestones

The emotional depth between Izumi and Shikimori starts to grow noticeably. Volume 4 moves beyond the chapter-by-chapter comedy formula and begins exploring what makes this couple tick on a deeper level. Small relationship milestones — the kind that feel genuinely earned because we’ve spent time with these two — give this stretch real warmth.

Volume 5 — Individual Growth

Here the story starts doing something interesting: it pays attention to who Izumi and Shikimori are as individuals, not just as a couple. Their personal goals, insecurities, and growth begin to take shape alongside the romance. It’s a shift that signals the series has more on its mind than just cute moments (though there are still plenty of those).

Volume 6 — The Story Deepens

Around this midpoint, the stakes start to shift. The comedy is still there, but the emotional storytelling becomes more prominent. If you’ve been enjoying the lighter early volumes, this is where the series rewards your investment by showing it can handle weightier material too.

Volumes 7–20 — The Full Run to the Ending

The back half of the series carries Izumi and Shikimori through the rest of their high school life with escalating emotional storytelling. The character development hits harder, and the series builds toward a complete, satisfying conclusion in Volume 20.

Without spoiling specifics: the ending wraps things up in a way that feels true to the characters and the tone the series has built. For a romance manga, having a definitive, well-executed ending is a genuine gift — and this series delivers one.

A note on how the story unfolds: The early volumes are quite self-contained, with individual chapters that work almost like short comic strips. This is because the series originally started as short-form manga posted on Twitter — each chapter was designed to be read on its own. If the first few volumes feel light on ongoing plot, stick with it. The series develops a stronger continuous narrative in the second half that makes the whole journey feel cohesive.

Where the Anime Fits In

A TV anime adaptation (an animated version of the manga) aired in 2022, bringing Shikimori and Izumi to screens and introducing a lot of new fans to the series. If you’re one of those fans wondering where to go from here, you have two options:

Option 1: Start from Volume 1 anyway. This is the recommended approach. The manga’s storytelling rhythm and comedic timing are genuinely different from the anime adaptation. Chapters that were expanded or rearranged for the anime hit differently on the page, and there are small moments and character beats that the adaptation didn’t have time to include. Starting from the beginning gives you the complete experience the way it was originally told.

Option 2: Pick up from around Volume 5 or Volume 6. The anime covers roughly the first four to five volumes’ worth of material. If you want to jump ahead, picking up around Volume 5 or 6 will put you close to where the anime’s story ends — but be aware that you may miss some context and smaller moments that the anime skipped or condensed.

Either way, the critical thing to know is that the manga goes far beyond what the anime adapted. The anime covers only a fraction of the full 20-volume story. All of the deeper character development, the escalating emotional weight, and the complete ending — that’s all manga-only territory. If you loved the anime and want to know how the story ends, the manga is where you’ll find it.

What to Know Before You Start Reading

A few things worth knowing before you dive in:

• The established-couple dynamic is the whole point. Many romance manga spend dozens of volumes building up to the moment two characters get together. This series flips that formula entirely. Izumi and Shikimori are together from page one. The joy comes from watching an existing relationship grow and deepen — not from waiting for one to start.

• The early chapters are short and snappy. Because the series was serialized as short-form chapters on Magazine Pocket, individual chapters are on the shorter side. This means the whole thing reads very quickly. Don’t be surprised if you tear through multiple volumes in a single sitting.

• Expect a genre blend. This isn’t a pure romance and it’s not a pure comedy. You’ll get heartfelt couple moments, laugh-out-loud friend group antics, and those signature scenes where Shikimori suddenly shifts into a fiercely cool protector whenever Izumi’s bad luck strikes. That tonal mix is what gives the series its unique personality.

• The story gets richer over time. The everyday comedy formula of the first few volumes is charming, but the series builds genuine emotional weight as it progresses. If the early stretch feels light, the payoff in the second half is worth the patience.

The Best Way to Start Reading Today

Let’s keep this simple:

Start with Volume 1. Read straight through to Volume 20. That’s the entire Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie manga reading order.

The full series is available in English — all 20 volumes — so there’s no waiting for ongoing releases or worrying about catching up to a series that’s still running. The story is complete. You can read it at your own pace and get the whole experience from first chapter to final page.

Digital is the easiest entry point if you want to start immediately — you can find the volumes on platforms like Amazon’s Kindle store, BookWalker, or Kodansha’s own app. Pick up Volume 1 and you can be reading within minutes.

This is one of those romance manga that’s genuinely refreshing because of how simple it is to get into. No complicated reading order, no required side material, no “you have to read this other series first” prerequisites. Just a warm, funny, occasionally breathtaking love story about a couple who are already together — and the 20 volumes of life they share. Grab Volume 1 and see for yourself.