otsuki-mii

[otsuki-mii]

#サカモトデイズ • Sakamoto Days 🔫

Author: Yuuto Suzuki Publisher: Viz Tags: Shounen, Assassins, Slapstick

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"Taro Sakamoto was the ultimate assassin, feared by villains and admired by hitmen. But one day...he fell in love! Retirement, marriage, fatherhood and then... Sakamoto gained weight! The chubby guy who runs the neighborhood store is actually a former legendary hitman! Can he protect his family from danger?"

~~~

After a couple years of consuming content about this series through my timelines I finally started reading it and I reallyyyy should've started sooner cause that was great!!, but I wanted to wait until I had the physical volumes.

I knew this was good but it was a lot more fun than I expected! I thought it would be heavy on combat scenes but there's also just the right amount of funny and wholesome scenes to balance it out.

This first volume introduces the main character, Sakamoto, his family and the reason why he decided to retire from his assassin life, along with two additional characters that seem to be part of the main cast. I really like Shin so far, he's super fun and cute and a bit of a loser and if you know me, that's just my type. I've seen online that Lu doesn't show up much as the series progresses and that would be a bummer cause she's really fun, but I'll see how it goes in the next volumes.

Also the character I've loved for ages from fanart, Nagumo, shows up in this volume for a bit which caught me by surprise cause I thought he'd be introduced much later, so that was great. I can't wait to really get to know him.

This was a great volume for setting up the baseline of the story and setting, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. The way the volume ends also builds up hype for the next one so I'm definitely reading it very soon to find out what happens next!!

Sakamoto Days is a great read if you're looking for an action series packed with great art, lovable characters, fun moments and themes such as found family!

Check out my post on Instagram for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#海辺のエトランゼ • Seaside Stranger 🌊

Author: Kanna Kii Publisher: @sevenseasentertainment Tags: Boy's Love, LGBTQ+ Themes, Slice of Life

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"To be in the arms of the person I love... I thought that was an unobtainable dream... On an island off the coast of Okinawa, two young men meet on a beach. Shun Hashimoto is gay and aspires to be a novelist. He is interested in Mio Chibana, a somber high school student, and starts to flirt with him. Day by day, the two of them grow closer, but then, suddenly, Mio decides to leave the island. Three years later, Mio returns and approaches Shun. However, when faced with the prospect of finally becoming lovers with Mio, Shun cannot take the first step towards commitment..."

~~~

Today I reread this for the first time in a while and I ended up crying the same way I did the first time I read this years ago.

This story holds a lot of feelings and maybe you won't feel so strongly to the point of crying like me, but as someone who relates to the character's feelings and struggles… It's a pretty emotional volume.

I wouldn't refer to this as the peak of LGBTQ+ exploration but it does show what feels like a very genuine representation of dealing with coming out, homophobia, loneliness and feeling alienated.

I love that a wlw couple is also represented and I wish we got a spinoff of their story. I love the art of them all together, like a family picture.

If you want a comfort (even though it might hurt) read with cute characters and beautiful art, I would absolutely recommend this and the sequel, which I'll talk about another time!

Check out my Instagram post for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#多聞くん今どっち • Tamon’s B-Side 🎤

Author: Yuki Shiwasu Publisher: Shojo Beat Tags: Shoujo, Idols, Rom-Com

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"When a shiny idol is a sad mess in real life, can his number one fan help him stay upbeat?

High schooler Utage Kinoshita works part-time as a housekeeper so that she can afford her fangirl obsession with Tamon Fukuhara, her favorite member of boy band F/ACE. When work serendipitously sends her to the home of her idol, she discovers that the real Tamon couldn’t be more different from his wild and sexy onstage persona!"

~~~

This series is so refreshing! I haven't had this much fun with a romance in a while.

Idol culture gets really intense sometimes and it's really fun to see how Yuki Shiwasu tackles the fandom side of things mixed with the feelings of the ultimate idol fan dream: getting to know your favorite idol in their off-time.

There's so many hilarious moments, personally people exploding whenever Tamon uses his idol charms on them never gets old to me. It looks so grotesque and funny.

Also, I really really like the true, gloomy Tamon. For one I'm crazy about gap moe so this is perfect for me, and also he's just sooo cute and funny. I always prefer the loser-like characters over the flashy ones so I totally understand Tamon cringing at himself, I do too ahah.

I like how Utage is pretty down to earth despite being in front of her fav idol. I mean, she goes crazy but she doesn't overstep and that makes it more enjoyable to me.

i can't wait to see how the next volumes go, I'm excited to meet the other members! I'm really excited for the anime as well!!

Check out my Instagram post for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#百千さん家のあやかし王子 • The Demon Prince of the Momochi House 🎐

Author: Aya Shouoto Publisher: Shojo Beat Tags: Shoujo, Youkai, Romance, Supernatural

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"On her sixteenth birthday, orphan Himari Momochi inherits her ancestral estate that she's never seen. Momochi House exists on the barrier between the human and spiritual realms, and Himari is meant to act as guardian between the two worlds. But on the day she moves in, she finds three handsome squatters already living in the house, and one seems to have already taken over her role!"

~~~

I recently started reading this and I'm enjoying it a lot so far! I'm still in the first couple volumes but not long ago I found someone selling their volumes secondhand for a really great price and since I've been enjoying it a lot I decided to get them! I'm missing 4 volumes out of 16 and I saved a lot of money that I can spend on other manga.

I really encourage everyone to be on the lookout for good secondhand manga. It's good to buy new manga and contribute to an author's sales but it's also important to be able to give used books a new home to avoid them being trashed.

Anyway! The art in this is super cute and I'm really happy about the color pages. Sometimes publishers choose to print pages that were originally in color on grey scale and it's such a shame... I'm glad it wasn't the case for this one because I love the color art.

I'm excited to continue reading and find out more about the secrets this house holds!

Check out my post on Instagram for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#スキップとローファー • Skip and Loafer 🌸

Author: Misaki Takamatsu Publisher: Seven Seas Tags: Seinen, Iyashikei, Coming of Age

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"Excellent student Iwakura Mitsumi has always dreamt about leaving her small town, going to a prestigious university, and making positive change in the world. But she’s so focused on reaching her goals that she’s not prepared for the very different (and overwhelming) city life that awaits her in a Tokyo high school. Luckily, she makes fast friends with Shima Sousuke, a handsome classmate who’s as laid-back as she is over-prepared. Can this naive country girl make it big in Tokyo with Sousuke by her side?"

~~~

I started reading this around the time when the 2nd or 3rd volume released in Japan. At the time there were only a couple people who knew about this gem in the western fandom and I always wondered if or when we'd get an official english license for it.

Today the manga has won several awards for its amazing storytelling and there's even been an anime adaptation! I'm really happy to see it getting the recognition it deserves, this is a great series exploring the feelings teenagers go through and the power connections and friendship have.

I love how diverse the cast is and how much each character has to teach. I also love how adorable the art is, specially when shima is drawn extra puppy-like 🤭

If you've been thinking of giving this series a try, don't hesitate anymore! I'm sure you won't regret it.

Check out my Instagram post for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#文豪ストレイドッグス • Bungo Stray Dogs ✒️

Author: Kafka Asagiri, Harukawa35 Publisher: Yen Press Tags: Seinen, Crime, Urban Fantasy

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"Having been kicked out of the orphanage, a despairing young man by the name of Atsushi Nakajima rescues a strange man from a suicide attempt--Osamu Dazai. Turns out that Dazai is part of an armed-detective agency staffed by individuals whose supernatural powers take on a literary bent!"

~~~

Breather post! I've been thinking about how I need to catch-up with BSD because so much has happened since I paused it around chapter 75. Akutagawa is my favorite character in the series, even though i have others I also really like, and I've seen some spoilers about him a while ago that made me :') so I really should catch-up and see everything for myself...

I chose to make a post about Atsushi and Akutagawa together because their relationship progression is one of my favorite things in the series and seeing them team up makes me so excited every time!!

If you've read this, who's your favorite character??

Check out my post on Instagram for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#ちぐはぐなキス • Chiguhagu na Kiss 🐼

Author: Machi Suehiro Publisher: Shueisha (JP) Tags: Boy's Love, Highschool, Coming of Age

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"Third year Kumai wants to enjoy his final days of youth. He wants a girlfriend, but was never able to take the step forward due to past trauma. After hearing that a girl he was close with broke up with her boyfriend recently, he decides to contact her and they soon got together! Overjoyed to finally have a girlfriend, he goes to see her the next day...only to be met by Sasahara, the most handsome guy in his grade!"

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This Machi Suehiro's latest work and as per usual I loved it so much! I followed it along as it was released and decided to get the limited edition volume when it was announced. I wish you could see the holographic sparkles in the cover :( but I'll try to make a reel showing it later on! This edition also came with an extra booklet, a 4 page extra and a small one page extra. I'll post about these later!

Kumai is sooo cute I loved seeing all his expressions and how hard he tried to make things work while discovering himself and his sexuality. Sasahara is a great ML, super cute and caring, the gap moe between his appearance and his doting personality as a boyfriend were so cute... as an avid gap moe lover i cannot thank Suemachi enough for how she makes her characters so appealing to me!

Seeing as Yen Press started to license a couple of Suemachi's works I hope they license this one someday!🥺

Check out my post on Instagram for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#キューピッドに落雷 • Cupid is Struck by Lightning ⚡

Author: Minta Suzumaru Publisher: Tokyo Mangasha; Futekiya (English digital) Tags: Boy's Love, Romance, Drama, School Life

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"Shingo has found his niche: gathering information on people's crushes/types for clients (his classmates) in exchange for... food. With a 100% success rate, the Cupid of Freshmen Year has taken on his riskiest mission yet: finding out more about the mysterious and popular Ao from the grade above. Shingo is ready for the challenge. What he wasn't ready for was succeeding in his mission and learning more about the Ice Prince of Sophomore Year..."

~~~

This has been one of my fav BLs for a while and it recently got this beautiful new edition print and I'm sooo happy about it. If you look it up you'll see the cute original covers, but these ones give it such a beautiful and meaningful twist... I won't spoil the story but let's just say rainy days play an important part in how these two characters got to know each other, so the umbrellas are a great detail. Their gaze towards each other is also a beautiful detail in how their dynamic is in the beginning... One is apprehensive towards the other, while the second is in awe at what he learns about the former. These new edition covers, to me, aside from being visually breathtaking, are also full of meaning that ties beautifully with the story.

I love how they learn to love each other and themselves, the art is beautiful as per usual from this author, and their cute, cozy moments at home are my favorite.

Some of Minta Suzumaru's works have been licensed for English prints so I hope a publisher comes around to licensing this one too, sometime.

Check out my Instagram post for more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#ふたりで恋をする理由 • Futari de Koi wo Suru Riyuu 🪻

Author: Chihiro Hiro Publisher: Shueisha (JP) Tags: Shoujo, Highschool, Love Triangle

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"In her first year of high school, Urara Andou fell in love at first sight with the kind stranger who saved her on the train. Too flustered to ask for his name or contact information, she swears to take action the next time she falls in love. But it turns out he's a senpai at her school!? Reunited, Urara believes it must be fate. But before she can take action, his childhood friend Misono-kun tells her "I won't hand Aiji-kun over to you." What will she do?"

~~~

This is one of my favorite romances! In large part because of the boy in these covers: Jun.

This starts out as what seems to be an odd love triangle, then turns into a normal love triangle and when you think we're done going around, it introduces yet another love triangle. This might seem confusing ahah, there's 2 love triangles it's just that the first could be interpreted a different way in the beginning.

Despite all the drama and cliches, this story is really heartwarming and an overall feel-good series. It's far from perfect, it's flawed in some aspects but it still delivers an enjoyable and rich highschool romance full of fun moments and the fair share of sadness, drama and goofiness too.

Jun is undeniably my favorite character. This post is kind of a spoiler so I'm sorry to any who hasn't read yet 🥲 but you can kind of put 2+2 together as you read in the beginning. He's a very loving and sweet person and he treasures the female lead a lot, even before he's aware of it himself. He's one of those guys that'll leave you thinking where are guys like him in the real world, but he's also written very realistically, he's just really, really great. Plus he's suuuper cute and I love all his expressions. I love him!!

I hope this gets published in English one day... I'll keep asking for it.

Let me know if you've read this and who your favorite character is!

Check out my post on Instagram to see more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#鯛代くん君ってやつは • Tashiro-kun, Why're You Like This? 🦐

Author: Yamada

Publisher: Animate International (digital)

Tags: Boy's Love, RomCom, University

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"Is it because you're a member of the Manga Research Club? Is it because you're obsessed with a certain rhythm game? Is it because your family is filthy rich? Is it because you're awkward af? I don't know the reason, so tell me: Tashiro-kun, why're you like this?"

~~~

Here it is. My fav bl series. I've been following this series since around 2017-'18 so it's very dear to me.

I first fell in love with how silly it was and how much I loved the dynamics between the two main characters. There's so many funny moments! I love seeing how much the characters have developed over the years and also how much the art has improved!! It was always super cute but it just got better and better over the years. Everyone's so handsome. (especially a certain character in volume 4...👀)

One thing that does make me sad about this series is the pacing, as it's quite slow and the releases in japan are a bit inconsistent. This manga started in 2016 and as of vol 4 we've seen more development for the second couple than the main couple 🥲 I love the side couple so I'm not complaining about that on itself but I do wish we saw more development from the main couple first... It's been a little over a year since vol. 4 came out and there hasn't been new chapters yet (tho I believe they're resuming soon) so hopefully we'll see more of the main characters soon 🙏

Despite everything it's still my fav bl and I love the characters so I'll always recommend it!!

Animate International is announcing a print release at the end of this month so I'm hoping, praying, manifesting that this will be the chosen series 🤞😣

Let me know if you've read this or if it's your first time hearing about it!

Check out my post on Instagram to see more pics!

[otsuki-mii]

#陰キャギャルでもイキがりたい • Inkya Gyaru Demo Ikigaritai! 🍬

Author: Tsukiko Kashiwagi Publisher: Ichijinsha (JP) Tags: Yuri, School Life, Gyaru

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"Ichiko and Kuran are members of the pop-culture research club. They like pop culture. They like cute things. These two "gals in the shadows" spend their days in a new kind of youthful moratorium."

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This is such a fuuuun yuri!! It's the prime example of "cute girls doing cute things"!

I've been meaning to get this physically for a while and I finally got around to it. I love how it's lighthearted but you can feel the love the main characters hold for each other. There's no major dramas and it starts as an established relationship so if you're looking for something that starts differently beware of that. However, I would still recommend this to everyone who loves cute things and cute girls because it's really, really nice.

The art is wonderful and super cute (I wonder how many times I'll write cute today...) and I love seeing the character's different expressions, especially Ichiko, she's suuuper expressive and it's adorable 🥺 I love Kuran's personality as the more quiet/composed but ever so loving girlfriend who's always there to support Ichiko. I really love how their relationship is portrayed, it feels like a nice and genuine teenager love, the kind where you just want to be with each other and do all kinds of things, free of worries.

I'm excited to see what new and fun things they get up to in the next volume, and I really hope an English publisher picks this up in the future. More people in the world should witness how cute this is!!! 🌈

Check out my post on Instagram for more pictures!