is a shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series by Kaneyoshi Izumi

Kaneyoshi Izumi

is a Japanese shōjo manga artist. She made her professional debut in 1995 with Tenshi in Betsucomi and she has since published mainly with Betsucomi. Her manga Doubt!! was published in North America by Viz Media. In 2006, she received the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo for Sonnan ja...

. Doubt!! is published in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

 and in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 in English by VIZ Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

.

Plot

Ai Maekawa is a jimi, a homely, studious girls, plagued with pimples who feels like she will be a virgin even when she's thirty. She overhears students talking about how Oshita, the boy she likes, had sex with the girl Ai hates the most, Yumi Sakata, taking her virginity. Ai yells them to shut up, and Yumi retaliates by flipping up her skirt and revealing that Ai wears cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 character underwear that reads "Cutie Bunny." Six months later, Ai is at a new school and a beautiful girl. She is noticed by Sō Ichinose, a boy who is the leader of her class, but she also becomes the target of rumors and gossip by jealous girls in the school.

Characters

The main protagonist

Protagonist

A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 of Doubt!. She was originally a 'jimi', the Japanese equivalent of a geek/nerd/dork, in junior high. After a devastating and embarrassing event she decides to step up her game. A few months before her first year of high school, she says she "manufactures" herself into a beautiful young woman. Now getting everyone's attention she enters a roller coaster of a ride in high school. The very first day of school she meets Sō Ichinose and his friend Yūichirō Katō, known as the two hottest guys in school. Mina Sato doesn't seem to be very happy with Ai after watching her hanging out with the boys too much. She becomes Ai's enemy for the first few chapters, thinking that Ai was trying to hook up with Yūichirō but after learning that she was actually after Sō, they become the best of friends. By the 2nd volume Ai and Sō enteres a relationship. But unfortunately for Ai, things go far from what she had expected when Yūichirō announces that he is in fact in love with her too.

The most popular guy in school, who Ai has a crush on. The vulgar, bad guy type. According to him, he lost his virginity at age 12. He dated a lot of girls just for the sake of engaging in sexual intercourse or just because he felt like it. This changes when he starts going out with Ai. He has a pretty harsh life at home. His father, a congressman, is actually not his real father. His mother feels guilty about this and tends to take out her anger on him. Nevertheless he still acts carefree all the time. He has been friends with Yūichirō ever since kindergarten and since then they have been in the same class.

Ichinose's best friend, he seems to have a thing for Ai but hasn't acted on it. Mina's crazy for him but he seems scared of her after the little incident in junior high. He's been friends with Sō for a long time. He's the exact opposite of Sō, he tends to be more like a gentleman and isn't a playboy like his friend. The reason he's such a gentleman to girls is because of his mother. She's pretty and though she may look harmless she actually has a deadly side. One time, in the manga when they were having a parent teacher conference, Mina's mom had teased him about looking adorable. Of course he had snapped and dissed her. His mom quickly changed from sweet and kind to cold and harsh and warned him about disrespecting women. He falls for Ai and later actually tries to steal her away but he decides to back off a little seeing how much she loves Sō.

Mina is a trendy "ko-gal". She thought Ai was after Yūichirō, the guy she liked, so she turned the whole girl population against Ai. But later on after she finds out Ai likes Ichinose and not Katō they become best friends. The reason why Yūichirō is afraid of her is actually because of an incident that happened when they were left in a classroom together in junior high. Yūichirō had tried to shy away from her though she never stops chasing after him. She's aware of his feelings for Ai. She hates the fact that he does but there's one event in the manga where she tells him to just to tell Ai that he loves her. Mina's usually vulgar like Sō and like Ai said she has a tiger like personality and was ready to pounce any time. Her feelings for Yūichirō are very obvious and she knows so much about him, it almost looks like she's stalking him. Ai even says though Yūichirō will not admit it, Mina and him are very close and share a strong friendship. In fact, Yūichirō and Mina are seen together repeatedly throughout the series having their own private conversations about the events at school.

Yumi Sakata

Ai idolized and envied her in junior high. She was also the one that embarrassed Ai in class and made her turn from a "Jimi" (nerd

Nerd

Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...

) into a popular girl. She has a reunion with Ai and the two quarrel over So's affections.

Chiharu Hamano

A student teacher who seems to have dated Ichinose in the past. She wants him back and sees Ai as her enemy. She looks like a cute little bunny but her personality is the exact opposite. She's Ai's very first enemy in trying to capture So's affections. She leaves for a little while but says that she'll return as a full time teacher. She is extremely manipulative

Psychological manipulation

Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

and will not stop at self harm to get attention from Ichinose. She even throws herself down a flight of stairs in volume 1 and claims Ai pushed her. The author referred to Hamano as "Poisonous" in volume 3.

Kyoka

The so called 'Queen' of her college campus. Kyoka is stunningly beautiful and men tend to flock to her. She's one of Sō's ex-girlfriends and Ai's next enemy. She explains to Ai that she can never be the 'only' girl for Sō. She adds that it's somewhat like a sisterhood when you date Sō. Ai declines to 'join' this 'sisterhood' and challenges her. Kyoka refers to Ai as "vanilla" when she first meets her. However, despite Kyoka's snobby attitude, she is actually a very emotionally fragile girl.

Sakurako

A girl who Ichinose's parents would like him to date. She has an English father and Japanese mother. Sō and Sakurako engaged in sexual intercourse together at 15. Unlike Sō's other girlfriends, Sakurako is rather plain and not so physically attractive.

Shuko

Sakurako's cruel sister. She is a professional model who has delusions of grandeur. Sō also lost his virginity to her when he was 12 and she was 13.

Kuma

Kuma first appears in volume 4 on page 112. He is considered a "beast" due to his hirsutism. Because of his excessive body hair and giant unibrow, his classmates ridicule him. Ai decides to give him a makeover. But then Kuma interprets this act of kindness as love and decides to break up Ai and Sō.

Mimura

Mimura makes his appearance in volume 4. He is a new student at Ai's school. He is charming but he is also extremely manipulative and plots to break up Ai and Sō. In volume 6, readers meet his girlfriend Sako.

Volumes

1. Collects Chapters 1-4. Also includes the short story: "The Day of Finals" (192 pages)
2. Collects Chapters 5-8. Also includes the short stories: "A Women's Path", "Travel Essay: Hainan Island, The Hawaii of China", "Love Letter from China", and "Bragging About My Hometown." (184 pages)
3. Collects Chapters 9-13. (200 pages)
4. Collects Chapters 14-18. Also includes the short stories: "Mysteries of Men", and "Creature Banzai!"(192 pages)
5. Collects Chapters 19-23. Also includes the short story: "Afterword"(192 pages)
6. Collects Chapters 24-28. (200 pages)