Michelle Smith

Blue Flag, Vol. 2 | By KAITO | VIZ Media – How do I already love these kids this much?! Blue Flag is the story of four friends in their third year of high school who care about each other but who are all also dealing with their own problems and trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives. I especially love Taichi and identify so much with the childhood memory he shares with Masumi—“I regretted my inaction so badly.” Taichi is always trying to become the sort of person who can act (and supports Futaba as she seeks to make the same change in herself). And thus, we are inexorably led to the cliffhanger of this volume, where Taichi gets the chance at a do-over, seizes it without a moment’s hesitation, and perhaps pays another, different price this time. I’ve never meant “I can’t wait for the next volume!” more than I have this time. – Michelle Smith

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 8 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – We finally get one of the big reveals in this volume, which involves the origin of Oran and the sort of girl she used to be. It also gives us, even if it’s not quite the real thing, an origin story of the friendship between her and Kadode, and it’s really sweet and fun. That said, their meeting with an alien goes very differently here, and the series finally begins to tie in with all of the Doraemon parodies that it’s been using at the start and end of each volume. Sadly, this is not a good thing, and the entire volume ends on a horrifically nightmarish cliffhanger that I can’t see ending any way but tragically. As always, I hate reading this series, one of the best manga I’m currently reading. If that makes sense. – Sean Gaffney

Dr. STONE, Vol. 12 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – We’re going on a boat journey, taking along most of the important cast members, in order to discover the island with Sena’s dad’s past and also find platinum, which can help speed up un-stoning everyone. Unfortunately, there are villains about, and they take out most of the cast, who are petrified once more. In between this, we get a lot of cool Jump adventure, some goofy gags, some fun surprises (we know that Suika would stow away somehow, the question was how) and some serious drama as, well, the cast is being re-petrified by powerful unknown villains. There’s nothing earth-shattering in this particular volume, but it still adds up to a great time. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 18 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – I could review this entire volume, but honestly, the last 50 or so pages sort of dwarf the rest of it. We are reminded, as is the school, that Sena is fantastic at everything and has no idea that other people can’t do what she does. This all comes to a head at the Christmas party, where she starts to be attacked for all of her bad points, and lashes out at everyone in a justified but ill-thought-out diatribe. Which is then passed to Yozora, who also defends Sena and finally, amazingly, admits that the two of them are friends. This may be more important than which girl Kodaka picks, to be honest, and is absolutely fantastic. (Speaking of Kodaka, his solution is very Hachiman, and works about as well). – Sean Gaffney

Moms | By Yeong-shin Ma | Drawn & Quarterly – One thing in particular that makes Moms stand out from other manhwa in translation (and honestly many other comics in general) is the focus of its narrative—the lives and loves of mothers in their fifties. The volume takes direct inspiration from the creator’s own mother after she shared some of her personal experiences and stories about her friends. While there is some humor and absurdity, the resulting work’s realism is gutting as the characters navigate divorces, affairs, workplace harassment, and constantly shifting allegiances. A central thread is an on-again, off-again relationship between Soyeon and her boyfriend Jongseok. Without him she’s lonely, with him she’s miserable, a common theme in Moms. Most of the men in the work are frankly disappointing human beings. The women aren’t always entirely blameless, but they’ve put up with a lot, so it’s exhilarating to witness when they can live their lives with uninhibited gusto. – Ash Brown

Secret XXX | By Meguru Hinohara | SuBLime – Secret XXX is pretty explicit and features a seme who says things like “Too late. I’m not stopping now” and “I love your feeble protests,” but also includes a lot of cute bunnies. Shohei Ikushima is a college student who believes he is allergic to rabbits but still volunteers at Itsuki Mito’s bunny-exclusive pet shop because he’s fallen in love with the gentle-seeming proprietor. I can’t tell if what I found frustrating is intentional characterization, or simply that the narrative had to make Shohei look vapid in order to work. Like, he never actually considered “Do I even swing this way?” until he was literally in bed with Mito. And no one (including his parents, evidently) ever suggested antihistamine until he finally sees a doctor. I did like the emphasis on appreciating family, though, and plan to read the spinoff starring Mito’s meddling little brother. – Michelle Smith

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 2 | By suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – A lot of shoujo titles are content to move along at a glacial pace, and the good ones do that by keeping the character solid. Yuki and Itsuomi are still feeling each other out. She’s fallen in love for the first time, but has communication issues that go beyond her deafness, and also a childhood friend who (I suspect) likes her more than she is aware. Asd for Itsuomi, he has some past baggage that really isn’t going away, and has goals for the future that do not involve being in Japan—goals which are likely more important to him than romance. Despite that, these two are very cute together, and you’re rooting for them to find a way to make things work. One of the better recent digital-pnly titles. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 | By Tatsuya Endo | VIZ Media – It only took a few pages for me to completely fall in love with Spy x Family. Debonair “Twilight” is an experienced spy for Westalia, but when his next mission requires him to quickly acquire both wife and child, he ends up choosing an assasassin (Yor) for a bride and a telepath (Anya) for a daughter. Neither Twilight nor Yor is aware of the other’s real line of work, but Anya knows all. Only, she loves her new life and family so much that she isn’t going to say anything to jeopardize it. In fact, she’s doing her best to get accepted into a prestigious school so that Twilight can get closer to his target and they can all continue to stay together. I really like all the characters, the “found family” trope always works for me, the tone is fun, and the art is stylish. More, please, and soon! – Michelle Smith

Takane & Hana, Vol. 15 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – The bulk of this volume introduces us to Takane’s mother, who is a lot like he is in both looks and eccentricity, and turns out to have a checkered past with her son that, to no one’s surprise, involves bad communication. Hana tries to get the two of them to make up while also showing off how she’s a great match for Takane, and her cheer is infectious. That said, the background does remind readers just how high a bar Hana has to clear if she’s going to end up happily ever after with the guy she loves. The series is gearing up for its finale, and I suspect that class conflict is really going to come to the fore here. But at least she’s won over Mom, which is a big start. – Sean Gaffney

A Witch’s Printing Office, Vol. 3 | By Mochinchi | Yen Press – Following up on the last cliffhanger, there is another Japanese person here, and he’s actually gone about things the proper isekai way, as opposed to our heroine, Yomiko… um, I mean Mika. Yeah, about that, I get the feeling that 80% of the people reading this series are reading it because they want to see Yomiko from Read or Die in an isekai setting. It even feels like the super-ditzy side of her, as opposed to, well, the other, less popular aspects of Yomiko. As for the manga itself, there’s more Comiket gags, Mika managing to accidentally get a town popular, an ancient spellcaster possessing exactly the wrong person, and a rival publishing company. This is big goofy fun, sort of slice-of-isekai life-ish, but lacks any substance at all. – Sean Gaffney

Glaeolia, Vol. 1 | Edited by Emuh Ruh and zhuchka | Glacier Bay Books – One of the newest and smallest publishers of manga in English translation is Glacier Bay Books. Glaeolia isn’t its first project, but the planned series is its most ambitious so far. As stated in the introduction, “this publication originates from a desire specifically to shine a light on the small press and indie manga scenes and the literary power that resides there.” The first volume succeeds magnificently in doing this by presenting twelve short manga with a wondrous range of artistic styles and expressive narrative techniques. It’s a fascinating, engaging, and arresting collection in which many of the creators are making their English-language debut. For anyone interested in contemporary independent and alternative manga, this series and Glacier Bay Books’ other publications are well-worth seeking out. As for me, I am eagerly anticipating the next installment of Glaeolia, whenever it may be released; the first volume was remarkable. – Ash Brown

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – “All the feels” may be the most overused phrase in the English language right now, but I can’t think of a more succinct way to explain A Man and His Cat‘s appeal: it will make you smile, laugh, and cry big, ugly tears, mostly because the title characters have sad backstories. Volume two delves a little deeper in Kanda’s marriage (he’s a widower) and childhood (it was unhappy), helping us understand why he’s developed such a strong attachment to Fukumaru. Interspersed with these sniffle-inducing vignettes are jokes about hairballs and cat paraphernalia, as well as a few flashbacks to Fukumaru’s kittenhood. The tonal shifts are jarring and the artwork somewhat crude—Fukumaru looks more like a bowling ball than a cat—but Umi Sakurai still manages to convey the warmth of Kanda and Fukumaru’s interactions with a direct simplicity that’s hard to resist. -Katherine Dacey

The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants, Vol. 1 | By Shu and Kayaharuka | Square Enix Books – I hadn’t even realized the anime had debuted when I was reading this first volume of the manga, and so found I was echoing folks’ concerns about the title as they watched it: this book is all about the overpowered protagonist, and is not only proud of that it’s smug about it. Our hero is reincarnated and grows to adulthood in a month because he wants to, goes to magical academy, passes the test by literally killing and resurrecting a man over and over again, and immediately makes a fast friend of the school’s Rei Ayanami clone, whose dark past we will no doubt get into in book two. The parents are very silly, and I liked them, but honestly, this is only if you like ludicrous heroes. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 11 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This is a volume of two halves. The first half finally gives us the backstory of the quintuplets, and shows us that it was Yotsuba who met Futaro… mostly. And seeing that her relationship with him can easily be faked by one of the others, decides to make herself different. Sadly, her overconfidence regarding academics destroys her self-worth, which explains why she spends so much time helping anyone but herself. The other half of the book has Itsuki, oddly enough, still being the only quint not in love with Futaro (oddly as she was first girl) and Ichika making a career-based decision to leave school, though she is at least convinced to make it a leave of absence. Still fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 12 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s School Festival time! Futaro and Yotsuba are overworked, the class is having a rivalry between pancakes and takoyaki, and Itsuki’s college prep is… not going so hot. Miku isn’t doing college at all; she wants to go to culinary school, which ends up being fine with Futaro. Most importantly, Futaro admits he loves all the quints… but knows that’s not the answer they want. He asks them to each get a focus arc till he can decide. Thus we get each of the sisters getting a “what we did at the festival” arc, which features two sisters in this volume, and no doubt has the other three next time. We also get kisses. That said, it’s still up in the air, as Futaro doesn’t think he’s going to choose ANYBODY. That never works in harem manga, guy. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 13 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The majority of this volume is the other three quintuplets having their arcs. Miku’s arc involves her gaining courage and self-confidence, never a good sign when you’re in a harem manga. Yotsuba’s involves her literally collapsing from overwork and having to take the last day off (to apologize to everyone for collapsing), and learning to stop blaming herself, which goes… sort of well-ish. Itsuki has the best arc, confronted with her real father, who immediately tries to control her life and gets obliterated by nearly the entire cast in epic fashion. That said, I wouldn’t blame anyone for only thinking of the last 20 or so pages, when Futaro makes his decision on who he wants to spend his life with, and the fandom, no doubt, goes berserk. – Sean Gaffney

Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 7 | By Aki Irie | VIZ Media – I didn’t anticipate that I’d be reading Ran and the Gray World in its entirety, but here we are. The battle against the bugs concluded in volume six, and taken solely on its own merits, volume seven is a pleasant denouement. Ran finally wakes up and her sorrow over Otaro’s fate makes the whole town cry. From there, time accelerates as we see her beginning to mature for real, becoming more conscientious and eventually leaving home to work on her magic. By the end of the volume, it’s years later and Ran purposefully refrains from telling her nephew about the magic shoes that could turn him into an adult before he’s ready for it. I like this growth in her (and her age-appropriate romance with Hibi) but it’s impossible to forget the problematic Otaro stuff that led to it. Still, I would read more by Irie in the future. – Michelle Smith

How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | Viz Media – This title has a lot of things going for it, once you get past the “draw them in with sex” opening pages. It’s a college-aged relationship, still rare enough to be notable. The pair get together very quickly, but navigating being a couple is different for both of them—they have different experiences in lesbian relationships, different comfort levels in being “out,” and different ideas of when they can move forward in terms of intimacy. It’s a push-pull that feels more realistic than a lot of the yuri manga that end when the couple get together, and I’m not entirely sure that this series will end with the couple together. There’s also one really weird friend who can’t keep her mouth shut—I liked her. Want to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | VIZ Media –Miwa Inuzuka knows that it’s totally normal that she loves women, but she still lacks romantic experience, despite her physical attractiveness. Just when she’s about to come out to the first friend she makes upon starting college, upbeat and unabashed Saeko, Saeko beats her to the punch. And since they’re the only lesbians they know, they decide to try dating. This is kind of an unromantic start, but I still really enjoyed this first volume. Miwa’s and Saeko’s personalities come through clearly, and all of the hurdles in their relationship come from who they are as people. The one thing that bugged me is that twice Tamifull cuts away from a scene of conflict and picks back up after apologies have been rendered off-camera. That’s kind of unsatisfying. On the whole, though, I’m really looking forward to volume two. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 15 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – There is a good amount of humor in this volume—Ice Kaguya’s desperately obvious attempts to do couple things, and Shirogane’s equally hilarious denseness, is a highlight, as is the Christmas party. But for the most part the drama is more interesting, as “Ice” Kaguya is in charge but her headstrong and blunt approach merely sends a stressed-out Shirogane into the hospital. Their views are polar opposites (she doesn’t want to hide her real self, he desperately does) but talking things out helps a lot, and their second kiss is quite sweet. There’s still a lot more ground to cover in this title (Ishigami’s love life, Kaguya’s awful upbringing, what’s the deal with Hayasaka, etc.), but at least the main premise of “when will they confess” has been put to bed. They’re a couple. – Sean Gaffney

Little Miss P: The Second Day | By Ken Koyama | Yen Press – The second volume of this manga that teaches people about periods has stories that are a lot more long-form than the first. A young couple’s relationship can’t survive a vacation with Little Miss P; two people who don’t match their gender norms deal with periods and a zombie manifestation; an elementary school has a co-ed discussion of periods; an alien couple are trying to get pregnant; a middle schooler who’s been bullied into not attending school worries about her future; a manga editor deals with something that ISN’T her period; an ovarian cyst; and an idol competition is filled with periods and various remedies. This may be better than the first book; it has more variety, and is very well done. – Sean Gaffney

Magus of the Library, Vol. 3 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – This series is very pretty and likable, but it has to be said it’s not really breaking any new ground. There’s a lot of standard shonen beats here, and you can easily guess what will be happening next. Theo has to learn to work together with another woman who is arrogant and haughty, and does so. He has to think that he’s done horribly at one part of the test and become convinced he’s failed (he hasn’t). He has to meet a random crotchety old woman and befriend her, only for her to turn out to be much more than she seems—check. That said, provided you don’t mind not being surprised, this is good stuff, helped along by the lush, expansive art and the occasional action sequence. It’s a good series that I think we’re already caught up on, but hopefully more soon. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 12 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – Every time Richard and Buckingham are on the page together I want to drop this. I really dislike their relationship and the power dynamics that it shows off. And yes, I know it’s not meant to be a good thing, but that does not change the fact that I hate it. That said, there’s always one woman being awesome at some point in this series, and for this volume it’s Anne, who is given a fine chance to kill her husband and get away with it, but finds the idea that everyone she is surrounded by being a horrible person rather appalling. As such, she chooses the devil she knows, but does it with BADASS panache. Meanwhile, the War of the Roses continues apace, though we’ve wandered far from Shakespeare here. A problematic fave. – Sean Gaffney

Something’s Wrong with Us, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Ando | Kodansha Comics – I mentioned last time that I wasn’t ready for the author accelerating immediately to ‘everything is awful’ quite so fast, and that doesn’t let up here, as things go from bad to worse with Nao. She’s banned from the kitchen, the family HATES her with varying degrees of “I want her literally dead” to “I want her to simply go away,” and even Tsubaki, her husband, indicates that if “Sakura” ever appeared to him again, he’d make her disappear. Really, it’s amazing Nao is able to concentrate on sweets at all. That said, Tsubaki may want Sakura to disappear, but he’s slowly falling for Nao, and she for him. They consummate their marriage at the end of this book, but… are things going to get worse and worse? – Sean Gaffney

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 3 | By AidaIro | Yen Press – While the first two volumes firmly established Hanako as an enigma, some of that mystery begins to unravel with the third. Up until this point, much of Hanako’s past was only hinted at. But with the introduction of important new characters in this volume come distressing new revelations about who he really is (or was, considering he’s currently a ghost). The comedic aspects of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun and the goofiness of many of its characters keep the series from becoming overwhelmingly oppressive, but there are still some pretty dark elements. Both Nene and Kou—the closest things to friends that Hanako has had in a long while—wanted to know more about him than he himself had revealed; now they have to come to terms with what they’ve learned and how it will impact their friendships. I look forward to seeing how Toilet-bound Hanako-kun continues to develop a great deal. – Ash Brown

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 6 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – It’s hard not to make the entire review “OMG GORGEOUS,” because so much of what I love about this series is the artwork, which never gets tiring no matter how much you reread it. There’s more to it than the art, though. The girls’ test was interrupted, and they’re brought to one of the Big Witches in this world, who demands as a make-up test that they simply surprise him with magic. This doesn’t go well at first, but after realizing that they should work together to do this, they come up with a brilliant idea (Coco) and execution (the others) to win him over. Even the translation is great, with some hilarious wordplay around Agott’s name. This is one of the best manga releases out there right now. – Sean Gaffney

Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, Vol. 9 | By Hitsuji Tarou, Tsunemi Aosa and Kurone Mishima | Seven Seas – Forgot to review the previous volume of this, and may have even forgotten to read it. Honestly, it doesn’t matter, as we begin a new story this volume, finally giving us the backstory of Celica, Glenn’s adopted mother figure and resident mysterious older sister sort. Unfortunately, she quickly learns why we shouldn’t wander into portals that will trigger guardians that want to kill everyone, and it’s up to Glenn and company to save her. This remains decent but not great magical school fantasy. Also, apropos of nothing, Rumi looks a lot like Yotsuba from Quintuplets, right down to the ribbon. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 21 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – Yes, this is the arc that never ends. It just goes on and on, my friends. As ever, Black Clover doesn’t do anything wrong here—the characters get good things to do, there are sparks of character depth and the action scenes are fantastic as ever. But once again, the series shows that it’s never quite going to make it into the pantheon—it’s never going to be a Naruto or My Hero Academia. It’s the best of the second tier, looking up at better series. That said, Jump always needs series like this, and several of them do tend to run and run—Black Clover is now among the longest-running Jump series. Doesn’t mean I don’t want this possessed by elves/devils/what have you arc to end. On the bright side, we finally see what’s up with that bird. – Sean Gaffney

Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition, Vol. 4 | By Kouji Kumeta | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The anime series just ended, and sensibly gave more attention to the heartwarming parental aspects of this series rather than the bitter and cynical manga stuff. Thankfully, we do have the original manga, so we can get the best of both worlds. Because while Kumeta has mellowed over the years, he still has a lot of sharpness in his reactions (and overreactions) to things, and is STILL bitter about assistants after all these years, though thankfully he leaves Kenjiro Hata’s name out of it this time. On the family side, there’s discussion of Hime getting a dog, which doesn’t quite pan out just yet, and a Parent’s Day at school that likewise also doesn’t happen. Funny and heartwarming. – Sean Gaffney

Knight of the Ice, Vol. 2 | By Yayoi Ogawa | Kodansha Comics – Again, I really wish that we’d seen the prequel series Kiss and Never Cry before this, though from what I understand that had less of a “gimmick” to pull readers in than Knight of the Ice does. Things actually move pretty fast in this volume, as Kokoro and Chitose are able to somewhat indirectly have a confession, thanks to a pendant that was given to her years ago but never actually opened. The bigger worry is her job, though after some explanations she seems to have avoided being fired for now. It helps that Kokoro is becoming more famous, and he actually triumphs here with a daring free skate jump. Fans of josei romances should absolutely be reading this, as it hits all the things you want it to hit. – Sean Gaffney

My Villain Academia, Vol. 24 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Yes, the entire title changes in this volume, courtesy of our League of Villains changing the logo. It’s also a villain-on-villain battle here, as we get to see some of what makes our anti-heroes tick—reporter and villain Curious tries to make Toga’s “tragic backstory” a thing, but Toga just isn’t having it, and instead levels up and uses Uravity’s powers to drop them all to their deaths. Twice also gets a bit more depth here, as we see more of a running theme in MHA, which is that the system is flawed and a lot of villains are that way because of class issues. And then there’s Shigaraki, who gets a grandma and a backstory… that waits till next time. Uncomfortable but essential reading. – Sean Gaffney

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 15 | By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu | VIZ Media – I don’t know how it happened, but for at least part of this volume, I was thinking that The Promised Neverland had become kind of… dull. Part of the issue is that I identify more with Norman in his multi-chapter debate with Emma about whether it’s right to annihilate all demons—it would be a more certain path to their safety, and her idealism threatens his carefully laid plans for the pursuit of a fairy tale. I’m sure readers are supposed to be rooting for Emma, though. There’s also a lot about the hierarchy of demon society and Mujika’s place in it. Ultimately, while I definitely appreciate the complication of reuniting with a Norman who is no longer on quite the same page as his siblings (“I’m not wavering”), I’m also glad this series wraps up in another five volumes. – Michelle Smith

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 12 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – A good deal of time is spent by the rest of the cast in this gag manga trying to figure out what makes Princess Syalis tick. Is she, as was hinted at the start, just a spoiled princess who loves to sleep? Is she a demonic force of nature and mass murderer, something that really only applies if you take this title seriously? Is she a young woman on the cusp of her teenage years, as is laughably disproven in this volume when you realize that shame is not something Syalis was ever gifted with? Of course, the answer is that Syalis is a gag comedy protagonist, and therefore is all those things at any one time, because all of them involve funny things happening. Character development is for Komi Can’t Communicate. – Sean Gaffney

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 2 | By AidaIro | Yen Press – Having thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, I was definitely looking forward to reading more. In general, I tend to be interested in manga dealing with yokai, so it’s probably not too surprising that I like the series, but I find the mix of humor and horror in Toilet-bound Hanako-kun to be particularly appealing. AidaIro’s use of comedy in the manga makes some of the narrative twists even more unsettling and impactful than they would otherwise be. The characterization of the titular Hanako (a ghost haunting the third-floor women’s bathroom at Kamome Academy) provides an excellent example of this—his goofiness is sharply contrasted by his sudden and often unexpected streaks of maliciousness. At times he comes across as benevolent or even endearing while at others he seems to be truly dangerous. So far, much of Hanako remains an enigma, from his true nature to his tragic past. – Ash Brown

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 7 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – As with another series that shall remain nameless but is Fruits Basket, one of the big highlights of Tomo-chan is the school’s production of Cinderella, particularly as, due to being out sick when roles were chosen, Misuzu is the title role, leading to one of the grumpiest Cinderellas ever. Also, Jun finds his inner tree. More importantly, though, Misuzu realizes that she has been subconsciously sabotaging Tomo’s attempts to win Jun, and should have just said “be yourself.” Bit late now. Still, Jun apparently gets his feelings across. Unfortunately, Tomo runs away from said feelings. The next volume is the final one, so I’m sure it’ll be resolved soon. Till then, I love this character-driven romantic comedy. – Sean Gaffney