When we are in love, we will think it is the best feeling ever. The fuzzy feeling that tickles in the stomach, the warm burning sensation on the face and neck that we cannot control, and the skip of our shoes when we walk towards the person who has our heart in their palms.
That’s what Yukari Maki feels for Yuusuke Kusaka nowadays as she steps the stairs to the school’s rooftop. There, she sees how divine Kusaka is in her eyes; his features that are accentuated by the sun, the soft locks of his raven hair sway with the breeze, and, most importantly, when his eyes dart and lock eyes with her, she swears she catches sight of how his dark irises are glimmering like pearls from this distance.
When Yukari Maki falls in love, she falls hard to the point where she scrapes her knees for falling too hard. On the ground, she’s bleeding and winching in pain, not from the fall but from the realization that her heart will never beat in rhyme and sync with his, for his heart is clutched by another woman. This is a story of an unrequited love….
Studio Cabana is an on-going shoujo manga series written and illustrated by Uma Agri. The series was first released on 24 March 2021 and has been serialized in Pixiv Sylph magazine, published by ASCII Media Work. As for now, the manga has six volumes published in Japan, and sadly, the series has not been licensed in English yet.
The story of Studio Cabana begins with a diligent high school girl named Yukari Maki who keeps scolding Yuusuke Kusaka, the rumored delinquent classmate, for skipping class and school duties. One day, she uncovers that he is a member of a band when she follows him into a music studio called Studio Cabana, and she also discovers that Kusaka writes and sings a love song with such a lovely, melancholic singing voice. From that day on, she is enthralled right away by his presence, voice, and heart.
This manga doesn’t deserve my 3.5 stars rating because I still can’t get over the story and characters in it. I believe I have to change it to a higher number like 4 to 4.5 stars. Oh, but I digress. Studio Cabana is a shoujo manga that hits the nail on the head for me; something I’d been craving but didn’t know what it is before. It’s full of drama and pretty complex for a shoujo. Also, it’s a slow burn romance with a focus on the characters relationship and its development.
Studio Cabana does a great job of blending typical shoujo elements with dark and mature tones. We have soft and funny interactions between the protagonist and the male lead, and on the other side, we see the complicated love affair between the male lead and another woman. It’s like, one is a dynamic of sincerity and welcomeness, and the other is poisonous and destructive. One is showing the beauty of the world; the other is isolating the person from the world. One is pure love, and another is toxic love. To see two different sides of love in a love triangle is not something that I expected in a manga.
To shoujo demographics, love is sacred, love is everything that brings good and happiness. When a manga presents that love can’t be all sunshine and rainbows, and love isn’t shown in a perfect or idealized way, that shatters the concept of love in shoujo, in my opinion. It's not every day to see the portrayal of love realistically. In the real world, love can make people greedy, blind, and dependent on it. It’s such an interesting topic because love, as an abstract feeling, can be a very complex concept for humans. This manga addresses a deep subject that can be quite handful to write, but I’m glad the mangaka does it well.
As Nicole mentioned on her blog romancemangarecs.com in her review: “…Love isn’t romanticized in Studio Cabana. We see some difficult relationships, manipulative personalities, tons of emotion and struggles among the characters, and of course an unrequited love. The author explores a really important topic about relationships and the difficulty of leaving emotionally abusive partners.” I couldn’t agree more.
Obviously, the intention of the author is not always making it a sad, tragic, angsty love story. We get to see the main characters having their sweet moments together as they’re slowly progressing their friendship. It’s also a story about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and self-improvement. One needs to learn and grow before they can break free from toxic patterns and unhealthy relationship dynamics. One needs to learn and grow before they open themselves up to new possibilities in love and understand the true meaning of it.
All in all, Studio Cabana is a manga that surpasses my expectations. It's a compelling series that keeps me interested and captivated by the plot, themes, and characters. I can’t wait to see more of it, and I’m glad I discovered this manga. At the end of the day, it’s always stories that I didn’t expect to love!
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