Tietoons' Manga Reviews!

Rinko is a thirty three woman, who’s busted her butt in her writing career, and though is proud of her work, fears she’s missed her chance at getting a husband. So have her two best friends, who got her back at the drop of a hat and share her laments. One day, her male coworker, who had awkwardly dated her ten years ago, asks her out to dinner for an ‘important conversation’. Buzzing with nerves, Rinko enlists the help of her friends to figure out what to do, and help her get a beautiful outfit to make him ‘fall in love with her all over again’. The once bumbling young man is now a handsome director, and Rinko is excited, anticipating him to ask for a relationship, if not marriage. However, to Rinko’s shock, he asks her for advice on how to ask out the nineteen year old intern! This is depicted with Rinko getting literally nuked, shocked and back to square one in finding a man.

Rinko’s thoughts are filled with doubts and ‘what if’ thoughts, like what if she has missed her chance to get a man, and will forever be alone... This does a number on her self esteem, and reflects the toxic culture of expecting women can’t be happy unless they have a good husband, and that women over thirty are just leftovers that no one wants. This hit me hard, even though I’m not in the same demographic as these women. However, this hopefully sets up these girls going on an adventure on how they don’t need husbands to be happy, that they can take their time finding happiness, and that they’re not ‘what-if’ women, they’re wonderful human beings.

Rei is a hardcore fan of the game, and an even more hardcore lover of Miss Claire. After getting isekai’d, the moment she lays eyes on her favorite character, she declares her love for her, right in the middle of Claire snootily talking down on her. Claire is sent into a flustered mess, and thus starts the trials of Claire teasing (or bullying) Rei, and Rei eating it up like a masochist who’s happy as can be. Other times, however, Rei outright praises Claire, despite Claire’s protests. Though this dynamic came off as a bit unhealthy at first, their relationship warms up towards the end of vol 1, where Claire expresses regret at her egotistical ways, and Rei’s simping feels more genuine than comedic. 

Since this is still an isekai of a dating sim, there are plenty of tropes that help move the plot along. The three ‘princes’ or characters to woo in the game make decent supporting characters, and it foreshadows Rei befriending one of the princes to get closer to Claire. This also takes place in an European styled magic academy, where students learn elemental magic. Like a knock off Harry Potter, but it doesn’t get in the way of the story. Nothing fancy or groundbreaking, but still a pleasant read.

Mido is a total nerd about makeup, and totally gushes about it around Mido. He takes pride in his work, but only feels safe to express it around Hiura. So right off the bat, they have a good relationship. When he gives Hiura a makeover, he finds Hiura absolutely adorable and obviously develops a crush. However, he’s understandably confused and torn, as not only has he never had these kinds of feelings for them before, but also questioning the reason behind his feelings; is it purely because of looks, or is it something else? 

Meanwhile, Hiura, a usually shy person, feels comfortable teasing Mido, and even lets him do their makeup. However, they finds having makeup done isn’t so bad, and is secretly happy at how flustered Mido is at how much he loves the new look. This inspires Hiura to explore his gender, by asking Mido to keep doing their makeup and experimenting with girl’s clothes. Though it’s partially because they like how much Hiura likes it, they still express joy at being cute. They still wrestle with these feelings, but it’s less scary when they’ve got Mido to confide in, deepening their relationship, platonically or romantically.

Besides this, they do average high school things, from homework to shopping at the mall. What I appreciate is how accepting everyone else is about Hiura’s exploring their gender. In fact, Hiura is now popular, often the center of attention as everyone gushes how great their makeup is. However, socially anxious Hiura is overwhelmed at this attention, thus Mido comes to the rescue without a second thought. Later, Hiura tags along with Mido to try some new makeup, and despite how anxious they are in public, Mido goes out of his way to get something to cheer Hiura up; and apple flavored sweet, Hiura’s favorite food. 

Takashi is an average high school boy, but is both shocked and disillusioned about his ‘first love’ Yai after watching his dad dance and sing as Yai. It’s funny to see images of the cutesy Yai are replaced with images of his dad, Kaoru. He reacts as if his innocence just died in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, Kaoru loves his career as a vtuber. Not only does he work hard at portraying Yai’s character with both motion capture and voice alteration tech, but he’s genuinely passionate about it. Even when he’s not live, he’s a genuinely kind, loving father and husband, even if he can get carried away at times. Later when Takashi reluctantly asks to learn about vtubing, Kaoru is so overjoyed that he helps make an avatar for Takashi and invites him to do streams with him! Takashi is reluctant about all this, while Kaoru takes it very seriously. So why is Takashi going along with this? The biggest twist; Takashi’s mom, Mikoto, is ALSO a vtuber! Her vtuber is much less popular, and often believed to be run by a old man instead of a housewife, so she asks Takashi for help to increase her subscribers. Ironically, she is rather tomboyish, and is insanely jealous of the popular Yai, completely unaware that her husband, who she loves very much, is behind Yai. 

All these secret identities is the source of most of the shenanigans. Takashi is roped into helping his mom while dragged into his dad’s world, all while their respective vtuber avatars overlap in his mind. However, Takashi’s discomfort makes me uncomfortable as well. This may be more of a personal preference, but I would have enjoyed this much more if everyone in the family knew about each other, and if Takashi was more genuinely interested, like a coming of age story through a shared interest with your family, as well as comparing different artistic differences in portraying vtubers. This is why I really like Kaoru so much; he loves vtubing, works hard at it, and at the end of the day, loves his family and even gives advice or praise to other vtubers as they’re the ‘talent of tomorrow’. 

Prior to this meeting, Ichinoi came into the bookstore by pure chance, to escape the summer heat. While looking for a cookbook, she comes across the manga section, and finds the art on the cover of a BL manga so lovely she buys it. Urara checks her out, surprised at seeing someone buying not just any BL, but one of her favorites, too. After Ichinoi reads it, gushing over it like a fangirl, she comes back to the bookstore. Urara remembers her, and helps her get the next volume. After gushing over the BL, Ichinoi invites Urara to coffee so they can talk about BL more. This invitation brings Urara out of her shell, and to quote Citizen Kane, ‘is the start of a beautiful friendship’.

Not only is it heartwarming to see two people bonding over a shared interest, but also despite the age gap. Ichinoi is in her mid seventies, and hasn’t read manga in decades. Meanwhile Ichinoi is in high school, still figuring out what she wants to do. Their differences create unique scenarios in their friendship, like how Ichinoi’s old body sometimes slows her down, and Urara helps her out by finding her a place to sit. Their personalities are also polar opposites; shy, anxious awkward Urara doesn’t always know what to say, while Ichinoi is a ray of sunshine who welcomes Urara’s company. They’re compelling foils, yet bring each other up through their love of BL. Eventually, thanks to Ichinoi’s support, Urara gets the courage to draw and sell her own BL doujin! 

As mentioned, Kirishima is awkward around Yaeka at first, unsure how to talk to a kid, let alone the kid of his Yakuza boss. However, he spends plenty of time with her, and gets to know her with time. From struggling to do her hair up, to protecting her from rival Yazuka gangs. Meanwhile, Yaeka is initially cold and aloof to Kirishima’s presence, chalking up Kirishima’s awkwardness to being plain weird. However, she warms up to him, eventually confiding with him, such as helping her take in a stray black kitten (dubbed Ohagi, and is cute as a button). 

This lovely manga has found family trope written all over it, and I am all over it, too. In one touching scene, Yaeka’s school has an open house, but feels asking her father or aunt to attend would be too much of a bother, as much as she wants to ask them. Kirishima decides to go to the open house, much to her surprise, and she’s secretly overjoyed that he went out of his way for her. Afterwards, he sees her hesitant to show off a drawing she drew for her father, and Kirishima encourages to do so. Yaeka’s father adores it, praising his daughter’s work and even framing it in his office.

What I appreciate about this found family is that all the adults in Yaeka’s life are genuinely good people (besides the Yakuza stuff). Yaeka’s father, though busy, cares deeply about his daughter and isn’t shy about it. Yaeka also has Kirishima, his coworker Sugihara, and her aunt Kaurosaki. Though Kirishima takes up the spotlight, the other adults look out for Yaeka, too, and help Kirishima open up to Yaeka. At one point, he has an identity crisis when Yaeka says she wants to be a ‘nice person just like him’ when she grows up. My heart exploded at how cute this was; a big, bad guy learning to love! And open up his heart!! Oh my stars, the feels, man, the feels. That and he could totally pass as a tumblr sexyman so that’s a bonus.

After Suzuki discovers Hayakawa secret, Hayakawa blackmails Suzuki by making him dress up as their favorite idol, and then take pictures of him. However, not only does Suzuki rocks the look, but also enjoys it, along with Hayakawa. They end up kissing (and then some), which Suzuki immediately apologizes for afterwards. To Suzuki’s surprise, Hayakawa instead insists on turning Suzuki into a full blown real idol! Hayakawa says he refuses to lose his virginity to someone who isn’t an idol, so the only way to fix this is to make Suzuki an idol! 

Suzuki goes along with this, dressing up, singing, and dancing as an idol while Hayakawa films, posts videos, and gives support to Suzuki. Before long, they end up having fun, and growing closer. Suzuki may be an introvert, but his passion for idols shines through, and he gives everything his all. He even goes out of his way to cheer Hayakawa up after some friends teased Hayakawa about his nerdy hobbies. Meanwhile, Hayakawa is one of the most popular boys in the school, but keeps his otaku hobbies under wraps. However, he has just as much fun as Suzuki when making idol videos, and his love confession scene is rather sweet. They end up dating, and continue to have fun attending idol concerts, embracing what they love, and who they love; each other.

Clothes are the main theme in the story. Ryo hates his school uniform (a traditional sailor uniform for girls), to the point that he avoids wearing it as much as possible, instead often showing up to school in his tracksuit instead. Though more comfortable than wearing girl’s clothes, others still few him as a girl, which makes his skin crawl, which the art expresses clearly. I too felt Ryo’s pain at the gaping gazes of his classmates when he says he likes a girl in a TV drama, soon correcting himself by waving it off as a joke. To minimize these discomforting moments, he tries to blend in, as “the nail that sticks out gets hammered”. 

Everything goes topsy turvy when a transfer student, Jin, enters the picture. He’s not afraid to wear what he likes, and is proud of it. He’s also outspoken and confident in himself, following his passions without a second thought. When he and Ryo meet outside of class, and in a clothing store (reaching for the same shirt at the same time, no less!), Jin immediately asks Ryo if he wants to start a fashion brand with him. Not to make money, not for fame, but just to express themselves. He recognizes Ryo’s eye for fashion, especially at his stunning graffiti art. He also acts as a foil to the socially anxious Ryo, helping him to get out of his shell and embrace who he is. He’s a good friend, ally, and business partner.

Shouji, as a character, is a bit all over the place. Not that he’s a bad guy, but after getting dumped by his boyfriend (and rather coldly, too), he jumps at the chance to befriend the quiet, distant Hama. He offers him food, talks to him, and defends him when others express prejudice against Hama. Meanwhile, Hama is very shy, distant, and is thrown off guard at Shouji’s interest in him. He comes off as cold sometimes, though this is implied to be more out of self-preservation. He honestly doesn’t show interest in Shouji until the very end, and it feels tacked on. The chemistry between these two feels awkward and stiff, like they’re more like pieces of cardboard rather than fully fleshed out characters with quirks and likes. These two don’t seem to have anything in common, other than that they happen to be in the vicinity.

That said, Shouji does express relatable feelings with struggling with sexuality, such as questioning if relationships between same sex couples are so different from different sex couples. He’s also relatable when he cries and gets drunk after getting dumped at his callous boyfriend, as well as agonizing his boyfriend calling “having sex with a man ‘dirty’”. There’s also the theme of dirt with Hama, who takes extra care not to touch others as to not get them physically dirty. At the end, Hama takes Shouji’s hand to comfort him, but then expresses fear that he’ll get Shouji dirty. But Shouji refuses, saying to “make him dirty, too”. And they do end up together in the end, no longer dirty and instead happy. 

Protagonist Mogumo is very shy, but is outspoken about their identity as non-binary. However, they show genuine anxiety and fear when they do, making them a truly brave character. They’re also very sympathetic to their new friends, listening and talking things out. For example, when they express they don’t want to say they’re a ‘boy dressing as a girl’, but this upsets another coworker, who is proud of their identity as a crossdresser, Mogumo talks things out with them and they end up deciding they “don’t need permission to be [themselves]!”. Another good example is when a coworker gushes over their boyfriend, and Mogumo blurts out asking if they’re ‘homo’. They immediately correct Mogumo at how it’s offensive, and Mogumo immediately apologizes, and even later confides in them about relationships and gender identity. 

Not only is this book full of likable, sympathetic characters of all identities, but it also expresses their challenges and triumphs beautifully. One of the maids, Mei, initially presents as a cross-dressing boy (known as otokonoko in Japan)), and is proud of it. However, thanks to talking with Mogumo, Mei then asks to be referred to as female, and Mei is overjoyed at the thought alone. She’s shown as a princess, which put such a big smile on my face seeing her so happy, and accepted by the others. Another example is Mogumo’s childhood friend, Kotone, who cares deeply for Mogumo, but gets jealous at Mogumo getting close to Tetsu. At the end of volume 1, she pulls Tetsu aside and explains how Mogumo can never be in a ‘relationship’ with Tetsu because on paper, they’re both men, meaning they can never get married, while Kotone can since she’s cis female. 

Teen girl Sgiura Kei (the girl on the cover of vol 1) is grumpy, aloof, and constantly annoyed by her childhood friend, the beautiful yet stupid Yokoe Rei. Not that Kei is much smarter, but Rei has her beat in sheer chaotic energy. Classic shipping trope; a grump x a ray of sunshine. However, the antics go a bit deeper, as Rei developed her outlandish behavior (such as asking Kei to marry her after an exhausting week of exams) as a way to express her romantic feelings without disturbing the delicate balance of their friendship. Basically, she says things so outlandishly that no one takes her seriously. But Kei does return her feelings, she’s just still trying to accept them. In the meantime, they pass time with bickering and shenanigans, like having a contest on who can kick their shoe the furthest.

Though I normally enjoy this kind of ship dynamic, it just didn’t quite sit right with me. Kei comes off as rather mean, negative, and cold, and makes me wonder why Rei still pursues her. Likewise, Rei can come off as annoying at times, and if I was Kei, I would have ghosted her by now. Of course, this is my personal opinion, maybe these two just aren’t my type. Though they did grow on me, it took me longer than expected. Though this is from someone with a short attention span, so take that with a grain of salt.

However, one of the perks of this manga is there are so many other girls in the manga, and all sorts of couples! There’s the girly girl who befriends the introverted girl, the carefree girl who glomps on the princely yet grumpy girl, and even their friendships with the main girls! There’s bound to be at least one couple you root for, with so many different flavors of lesbian relationships. Though I do admit I cringed at the implied incestuous twin girls ship, but luckily this goes no where. The twins are actually the introvert and the princely yet grumpy girl. In the scene, the introvert tries to flirt with her sister, but her sister calls her a loser and ‘would rather eat dog crap’ than talk to her, so nothing happens...but alas, I still cringe, the prude that I am.

Asako Yaeshima’s always had a problem with her strong body odor and pesperation. Growing up, she was regularly bullied for it, but the one thing that makes all her worries melt away is the sweet smelling soap by the company Liliadrop. She loves it so much that as an adult, she works for said company in finance! Then she meets Kotaro Natori, who is the brain--and nose--behind all the fragrances in the Liliadrop soap. How did they meet? Kotaro caught a wiff of her scent, and finds it as inspirational as it is irresistible! As odd as this setup is, these unlikely characters develop a natural, caring relationship.

As someone who struggles with social anxiety, I related deeply with the timd Asako, especially as she struggles with self confidence. When Kotaro genuinely likes not just her scent, but herself, it comes as a shock to Asako, who can hardly believe it. But as she and Kotaro grow closer, she learns to open up and her self confidence slowly but surly grows, which made me silently cheer her on every page. She grows into a happier, more confident person, and you can’t help but feel proud of her accomplishments, too. 

Kotaro also develops as a person, too. Before he met Asako, he was buried in his work to the point of oblivion, and can be oblivious to those around him as well. However, he has a big heart, and cares deeply for his work and loved ones, including Asako. He goes out of his way to put her at ease, and is patient with her every step of the relationship. He’s also honest, and listens to Asako, such as when she expresses jealousy with his close relationship with a female coworker. Not only do they work it out, but Asako also ends up becoming friends with the other coworker! 

Mame was scouted by pure chance, but has no confidence or experience, which I can forgive. However, what doesn’t sit well with me is how she shows very little genuine interest and passion for modeling. She confesses that though she wants to succeed, she doesn’t have any other prospects. If she was willing to learn from her manager, then it’d make it so satisfying to watch her learn and grow. But instead she just goes along with what her manager says, not protesting but not driven, either. Even worse is her manager, Uri, who although is more grounded and knows how to get stuff done, doesn’t quite click with Mame as a person. On their first meeting, Uri berates Mame for eating fried foods, lightly gropes her, and takes photos of her without asking. Though she clearly knows what she’s doing, she shows little empathy or tact for Mame. Instead of gently correcting Mame and explaining how to do better, she scolds her. I refuse to ever call a ‘rude, bossy’ woman the b-word, though I do admit Uri is not the kind of person I’d enjoy working for, making my anxiety spike every five minutes to the point of feeling nauseous...Though take this with a grain of salt.

All this is a shame, because the art is lovely, especially the watercolors. But what disappointed me the most was the fashion itself; the cover makes you think of decora and lolita styles, overflowing with unique cuteness. And Mame’s default outfits, of cute sweaters and skirts, are up my aesthetic alley; so imagine my disappointment when Mame’s fashion sense is criticized as if it’s a crime she’s wearing them at all. Not only that, but they push for her to wear trendy, average clothes, which though cute, is not what I was hoping for. It feels more like they’re trying to remove Mame’s individuality to become the perfect model. Then again, that’s part of the job of a model, and as someone with the modeling experience of a rock, I cannot place judgement. But I can place my feelings firmly in the disappointed category.

Kirika Amano is an average college student who, when bringing food to her shut-in older brother Terou, makes a shocking discovery; her brother is insanely into drawing Boy’s Love (nsfw at that), and is insanely popular online. Not only that, but he begs her to help him finish a doujin in time for a convention. At first she balks at helping illustrate muscular men in explicit scenes, but he eventually convinces her to help, and even to attend the doujin event as himself to sell his work! This mixup means from now on, Kirika is the face of Teruo on the internet, as he’s too shy to go outside. Thus, she’s sucked into this world for good.

Despite the oddness of the situation, Kirika gradually learns more about the world of BL, the woes of artist block, and starts getting into it. She still scolds him for all the trouble he puts her through, but she also encourages him to get out of his comfort zone and snap him out of spiraling. Though there is one joke where Kirika’s friends believe the siblings have an inappropriate relationship, in reality they grow closer but as family, thankfully. Kirika even gets into drawing doujin, and the siblings get into friendly competition and debates over OTPs. In fact, when Kirika is struggling to finish her first doujin in time for the convention, Terou springs to action, going out into the world to help print them and deliver them on time. It’s touching to see Terou slowly leave his comfort zone for his sister, as well as seeing Kirika develop a genuine interest for this world.