Learning self-love through romantic love.
Romance comes in different shapes and sizes. Manga authors explore it from the perspective of different demographics, and that dictates the focus of the story, the protagonist, the love interest, and the events that they end in. Ore Monogatari first captures your attention because it's a shoujo romance story with a male protagonist. And what a protagonist he is.
Takeo Gouda is tall, muscular, a bit scary-looking, and is often mistaken for an adult due to his appearance. But despite looking unfriendly he has a heart of gold, always willing to help others. He's not aware of that, though: his classmates respect him exactly because of that, including girls. At the very beginning of the series he saves a girl, Rinko Yamato, from a groper in the train, and they, surprisingly, fall in love at first sight.
It seems like a very clichéd romance, but what spices it up is that Takeo cannot believe that someone like Rinko, beautiful, cute, and kind, can actually like someone like him — huge and threatening. And Ore Monogatari starts to focus more on Takeo being super modest and a bit insecure about how he is perceived by others. That leads to a lot of comically frustrating situations, because the gentle giant Takeo can't wrap his mind around the fact that tiny and delicate Rinko is equally excited to be with him and hold his hand just as he is.
It stands out in the sea of regular shoujo romance stories because the main couple starts dating quite early. After the initial confusion the series gets a bit into a diabet-inducing type of lovey-dovey encounters, with some relapses on Takeo's side, but still sometimes focuses on him learning how to respect himself, how to believe in himself — and Rinko helps him. In any other way, it's a generic shoujo romance, but that doesn't make it any less adorable. There is some repetitiveness, and almost no one except Takeo is not fleshed out, but that doesn't make the show less fun.
It's filled with classic tropes, including misunderstandings and love triangles, but all of these work in order to help Takeo grow. In a way, Rinko is also a plot point that helps him grow — in an extremely cute and sometimes even unhinged way. And that's what makes Ore Monogatari so special.