Pink to Habanero

She wants a boyfriend—anyone but him. He wants girls to buzz off. Sucks for them 'cos he's paid to please princesses! High school freshman Mugi can barely muster the confidence to talk to a boy, much less to take one on a date. Plus, the first time she meets Kei Kurose, the wrong sort of sparks fly—even if Kei is head-turningly hot, who could put up with the way he treats girls like trash? Mugi has no patience for his rude attitude, but when she just so happens to discover the scandalous secret of his part-time job, she might have to learn to keep his trust!

(Source: Yen Press)

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Background

Pink to Habanero has been published in English as Pink & Habanero by Yen Press since September 17, 2024.

More characters
Characters

Miyao, Mugi

Main

Kurose, Kei

Main

Aiko

Supporting

Akiyama, Maasa

Supporting

Hinata

Supporting

Kurose, Mother

Supporting

Eiko

Supporting

Nikaidou, Iori

Supporting

Riri

Supporting

Natsume, Tokitou

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 31, 2023

1238765432jas

Recommended

Preliminary (45/84 eps)

People say this is a reverse MAID SAMA which is so kind and i do agree with but its charm and enjoyment is of another world this is what i think when i say the bread and butter of shoujo. This manga was too good to put down (finished so quickly i never even skimmed it, quite a easy and fufilling read)! Its not stereotypical as you think, and its super touching. Out of all the romance manga I've read, I think the relationship in this one has to be my amoung my top favourates, there dynamic never gets boring!

story
Our FL mugi always in the ... shadow of her bestfriend is starting highschool! here she wants to have fun with school life by making friends, memories and maybe even a relationship. Till one day shes encountered popular boi ML kurose known for his ice coldness and knight like face, cruely rejecting a confession. Later mugi finds something extremely unexpected about kurose that will lead both there lives into chaos!

art
The art is adorable both ML and FL look gorgeous (best looking couple) . The side and background characters have so much detail in them too its hard to take your eyes off how much effort was put into the panels. very shoujo esc cutesy design.

character
I found them all to be very relatable especially Fl with her struggles with self esteem and creating connections within school aswell as having inner confidences to be herself. We can really see her progression along with others, which makes me feel so proud. the ML is just like a cool prince charming mixed with a cold type. His development and story is beautiful because hes not who you expect him to be.

Relationships
The dynamic with the main couple is always hilarious there teasing, struggles and emotion is so peak. I found there romance to be realistic and has problems many couples would relate to in highschool. Also love how there so good to eachother and dont make there feelings of love change there character. There very true to themself if that makes sense..

overall
This manga made me laugh so much!! its actually funny which is rare. And the cute moments sent me screaming and spinning i had to stand up so much times to process it. You may dislike how cold the ML can be but thats his charm and we discover his warm side just like any stundere esc boi. ALSO COMMUNICATION IS REALLY GOOD IN THIS STORY
this is one of my favs now and i would love if more people would read it i especially like the middles. Its ongoing right now with 45 ch but updates every 2 weeks!!

sorry if my review sounds biased its my first one i usually dont do this type of stuff but felt this story needed more recognition through my romance expert brain haha.

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Dec 13, 2024

mitsuoi

Recommended

Preliminary (46/84 eps)

As of chapter 46, this is definitely a shoujo manga. If you read something of this genre and want to read more, go for it.
I could describe the characters and the history but it's irrelevant, as I sincerely think that just knowing it's a shoujo manga it's enough to describe it (for the good and the bad). This also goes for the art, specially character designs.

I dropped this, in particular, because the mangaka does that thing of introducing a new character out of nowhere that it's gonna be highly relevant to the plot (didn't read further so can't say 100% but it has all the ...

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Oct 7, 2025

Sakura_Reviews

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (84/84 eps)

I’ve been thinking of all the ways I could preface this review bc I actually have good memories of reading this manga but I wouldn’t recommend it for… everyone. Yes, all you heard about it is right! It’s really stressful at times, like stuffing your mouth with habanero (pun very intended). So if you aren’t the type to like these sort of stories, this probably isn’t it. (Although I’ve read even more stressful mangas before, this don’t even come close to the shambles Haru Kiyo left me!)

To those who like the drama and the stress, just as much as spicy food aficionados, PinkHabanero truly is ... a journey and that’s why it was worth it for me to re-read it since the beginning to prepare for this last chapter. There was a bunch of stuff that I forgot throughout the years and yes, I also wish we could’ve gotten more for the last chapters.
But that doesn’t mean that both Mugi and Kurose didn’t go through their respective journeys. For all the hair-pulling anger that Kurose sometimes sent me or Mugi’s absolute magnet for bad luck, this is a story about how two polar opposites find love and navigate the adversities, whatever may be. Every blushing and “lame side” showcase Kurose have, every victory and motivation Mugi acquires, these moments are precious for me.

This guy comes from a broken family (and this is precisely the part of the story I wished we saw more to draw more parallels over their relationship!) and, in the beginning, never trusted love. Kurose often keeps to himself but he’s also wary as a cat and very direct and honest with what he thinks. It helps when you learn that if he says something, he just means it and Mugi is over-stressing bc she has problems communicating with people.
And this girl just wanted to try her best, living in the shadow of her more popular friend (that goes to another school), trouble following her everywhere she goes. Mugi can be an overthinker, obsess every detail, have mix-places priorities but she’s earnest and good-hearted. People complain about this last part a lot (fair enough) but Kurose, with all his distrust of love, needed someone kind and honest. She may be the most honest troublesome FL I’ve ever seen lol

What could’ve helped the story is maybe an extra focus or two on their changes. I forgot Mugi is the shy type bc she was thrown in so many social problems and made it through, which is amazing considering how her first “new friend” was our first whacky situation.
I’m happy to see them ending like this, though. The ending chapter was quite sweet and a bit chaotic, just how I like them. I’m not into peppers but reading this felt like the adrenaline rush of spice. I couldn’t put it down, chapter after chapter.
I have to left it on Mixed Feelings bc I really can’t recommend this experience so generally, really lmao

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Poll: Pink to Habanero Chapter 3 Discussion otakuweek - Sep 26	0 replies	by otakuweek »» Sep 26, 7:53 PM
Poll: Pink to Habanero Chapter 2 Discussion otakuweek - Sep 26	0 replies	by otakuweek »» Sep 26, 7:44 PM
Poll: Pink to Habanero Chapter 1 Discussion otakuweek - Sep 26	0 replies	by otakuweek »» Sep 26, 7:01 PM
Poll: Pink to Habanero Chapter 29 Discussion KayKimii - Jun 19, 2023	1 replies	by mikorin_desu »» Nov 9, 2024 2:58 AM

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