When it comes to slice-of-life/romance manga, we typically see one young person longing after another. In Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse?, however, the main “romance” is between two very similar (and yet, very different) people: a middle schooler and his school’s nurse. Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? is written and illustrated by Arata Kawabata, published in English by Yen Press, with translation from Sheldon Drzka and lettering from Phil Christie.
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Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? follows Tamotsu Kurita, a middle school otaku. When his school gets a new nurse, Momoyama-sensei, everyone is blown away by her beauty and décor. After a chance encounter with Momoyama, Kurita learns her biggest secret: she’s a mega otaku.
Sometimes, a series doesn’t need to be genre-defining or groundbreaking to be enjoyable. Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? certainly isn’t, but it was still a fun read.
Combining both of the web manga’s original Japanese volumes into one big collection, Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? is a fairly hefty release. At just under 350 pages, the English release collects all of the series’ 22 chapters, plus multiple bonus stories.
Though readers will get to know both Momoyama and Kurita pretty well over the course of the series, Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? doesn’t really go anywhere. Like many slice-of-life, it exists solely to give readers a glimpse into the lives of the main characters, not to drive any large narrative. Sadly, however, something about it feels more pointless than its contemporaries, leading me to constantly ask “why am I reading this? What’s the point?”
Fans of the “cute girls doing cute things” sub-genre will undoubtedly love Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse?. Momoyama is absolutely adorable and watching her stumble through professional life is a joy. The way she switches back and forth from gushing about her favorite mobile game to her grown-up school nurse persona is hilarious. By the end of the book, there’s no way you won’t fall in love with her.
Kurita is a bit more generic than Momoyama. He feels like just about every protagonist in anime: a blank slate. It’s a shame that Kawabata seems to give up focusing on him in the middle chunk of the manga because he shows some interesting character traits near the end of the story that could help him be a much better protagonist.
Though Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? clearly wasn’t intended to be a long-running series, it feels like things just start to get good as it wraps up. It’s as if the first half of the manga is a generic character setup, with the second half leading to something bigger. Kawabata seems to set up a story about Momoyama and Kurita working together as a team on a larger project, but everything abruptly comes to an end within the 22nd chapter.
Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? could have become a great series. As it is, however, the manga is an enjoyable one-shot with likable characters and great art, though its story won’t be blowing anyone away. If you want to smile for an hour or two but aren’t looking for any kind of plot, this might be the manga for you.
Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? is available now wherever manga is sold.
Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse?
TL;DR
Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? could have become a great series. As it is, however, the manga is an enjoyable one-shot with likable characters and great art, though its story won’t be blowing anyone away. If you want to smile for an hour or two but aren’t looking for any kind of plot, this might be the manga for you.
