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Lenni Reviews: “Call of the Night” Vol. 19, by Kotoyama

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Nazuna is doubting her relationship with Ko and is hesitant to take the final step and turning him so she tries to get blood elsewhere.

Even after all this time, Nazuna’s hesitation makes total sense to me. Ko is still just a high school student with a lot of life left to life, and everyone around him in their little group has lived so long. Yes, we have been building up to this for a while and it’s what Ko wants but I think Nazuna finally realizes what it would mean to do this. She could lose him forever. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out because Ko is already partially changed. Does that just reverse itself or is he trapped in a human/vampire limbo? I guess we’ll see. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “A Star Brighter than the Sun” Vol. 1, by Kazune Kawahara

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Sae and Koki have been friends since they were kids but now that they’re older, their dynamic has changed from her always having to protect him from teasing to Koki being the most popular boy in school. Sae realizes how attractive he is and has developed feelings for him.

This is another light hearted high school romance with really likeable characters. It’s a soft start with – spoiler-ish I guess – no real villainous character. It’s more about these kids not ready to confess their feelings and Saw working through having to share her friend with so many other people. The softness of the art style is relaxing and flows well with the cozy plot. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Battle Royale: Enforcers” Vol. 3, by Koushun Takami & Yukai Asada

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is for mature readers.

The various squads of children deal with their deadly predicament in different ways, either embracing the chance to kill, abhorring the violence, or coming to terms with the hopelessness of their situation.

This volume cycles through each group who, as stated, are all handling things differently. I think the group that’s painting their faces and acting super edgy (very The Jokerz) were a bit silly. Even when they’re threatening violence, I couldn’t quite take them seriously. As such, there’s not much battling going on. It’s mostly talking and strategizing with the resident loony character committing the only violence in the book. It’s not bad but if you’re looking for a bloody mess, this isn’t it. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “I Ship My Rival x Me” Vol. 1 by PEPA & Qualia

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Wei Yanzi and Gu Yiliang are both young up-and-coming actors currently working on the same show but Wei Yanzi feels as if he’s overshadowed by Gu Yiliang’s natural talent and good looks. Since he’s getting some hate from Gu Yiliang’s fans, Wei Yanzi leans into those online shipping him and his costar so he sees more positive things about himself.

This is so goofy. Wei Yanzi doesn’t realize how flirty he sounds when he talks to Gu Yiliang and it’s funny to see him encouraging fanfiction of himself and his costar. I say costar because (spoiler?) they’re not really rivals; they get along pretty well the entire time. Gu Yiliang is clearly developing some feels while Wei Yanzi is clueless. It feels a little scattered but it’s still cute. And a clean read so far at a 13+ rating.3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Cat + Gamer” Vol. 5, by Wataru Nadatani

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In this volume, Riko:

  • Tries out an automatic cat feeder
  • Has a photo of her cats go viral
  • The cats destroy the toilet paper
  • Learns what “chattering” is
  • Has her cats racing around just like in one of her games
  • Forgets her birthday because of a game release
  • Deals with heavy shedding

There are of course fun antics in this volume but the one thing that stood out to me is when Riko realizes it’s her 30th birthday. There’s no freakout, no meltdown about not being married yet or having kids; it just adds to the enjoyment of her new game and she’s fine! She spent her birthday exactly how she’d enjoy it the most and that’s so damn wholesome. Riko is just precious and her adventures with her pets are fun and calming to read. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “A Man and His Cat” Vol. 10, by Umi Sakurai

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Teruaki and Fuyuki go to rescue a cat from the abandoned apartment of a hoarder. While they end up holding on to the cat and try their best to get it not to fight with Fukumaru, Teruaki tries to connect with what made him love playing piano.

The little crying cats shouldn’t tug at my heart so much but damn if my eyes weren’t watering at their little faces. The impact of the hoarding on the cat trapped in it broke my heart and while not as dawwww worthy, the human drama is entertaining as well. All these guys are so passionate about music but the source of all their pain around it seems to come from making it a job and being in fierce competition. It looks like them being around all the adorable cats with simple desires reminds these guys to be more chill about it. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dinosaur Sanctuary” Vol. 1, by Itaru Kinoshita, Shin-ichi Fujiwara & John Neal

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In 1946, dinosaurs were found on an island and through breeding and genetic manipulation, it became a common thing to see dinosaurs in special parks. Suma Suzume has loved dinosaurs since she was little so, it’s her dream job when she gets hired at Enoshima Dinoland a struggling dino park.

Most of this is exactly what’s on the cover: taking care of the dinosaurs in the park with a lot of what they eat, egg hatching, conditions they could be afflicted with, etc. The big story beat seems to be what role Suzume’s deceased father played in these creatures’ existence and how he passed away. That wasn’t brought up until the end of the volume so I guess we’ll see in volume 2 how things shake out. For now, this is more for someone who REALLY likes dinosaurs. Everything else is standard; our plucky lead, the one gruff coworker, the one nice coworker, something else lurking in the background… Again, we’ll see. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Kitten is a Picky Eater” Vol. 1, by Migiri Miki

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Mano Taiyo finds a kitten in the snow and decides to adopt him. However, due to the kitten’s fear of certain foods, Taiyo struggles to find something little Yuki will eat.

Similar to Cat + Gamer, our main character finds themselves suddenly a pet owner and has to learn how to take care of it. Here, Taiyo seems like he wasn’t taking the best care of himself before he adopted Yuki. He learned how to cook for himself by trying out different foods to feed the kitten and only cleaned up his apartment so Yuki would have a better place to live. It’s about both the man and the kitten learning to care about things again and it’s really sweet. The art style is light and handles soft and emotional moments really well. A perfect light read for pet lovers. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders” by Monzusu & Ben Trethewey

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This manga is a collection of nine different adults talking about life with different developmental disorders. It’s sad that so many of these stories involve bullying and abuse but yeah; some parents suck and some teenagers suck. Most of these stories end in the person finding the support they need to live their lives but the important thing is to make sure the reader is educated on these various disorders, how they work, and how they can be more understanding and accepting. It may also give some insight to those who have similar behaviors and maybe inspire them to get tested. It’s informative without being preachy or info dumping. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Spent: A Comic Novel” by Alison Bechdel

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers. 

While called a novel in the title, this memoir details Alison living with her partner on their pygmy goat sanctuary as she tries to come up with and pitch her next book.

I love how self-reflective this is and not because it makes me feel less crazy for doing the same thing: looking at the world and wanting to do something to solve the world’s problems but having no idea where to start. It feels trippy since I’m so much younger than her. I do love seeing her thoughts on watching the show based on her book: Death and Taxidermy and grappling with how while it’s based on her work, it’s someone else’s vision now. There’s also an interesting storyline about her sister writing her own memoir to debunk Alison’s. It all brings out the feeling of being overwhelmed with everything going on, wanting to fix all of it, realizing we can’t, but we can still do something. Even if it’s small. 5 out of 5.

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