disability

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Lenni Reviews: “Brooms” by Jasmine Walls & Teo Duvall

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In 1930’s Mississippi, magic is common but either banned or severely restricted for people of color. Despite this, Billie Mae and Cheng Kwan introduce young Mattie and Emma broom racing in order to participate in underground broom racing to earn money to learn magic from a real school.

Despite the abundance of characters, it’s easy to empathize with their struggles and hopes. The racing is a lot of fun and while the representation is wide – there are participants of all races, ages, and ability – it doesn’t feel forced; more like all of these “outcasts” can come together to buck the system and cut loose. I would LOVE to see this as an animated movie. The flying scenes scream for it. Absolutely check this one out! 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love’s in Sight!” Vol. 5, by Uoyama

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

Yukiko is enjoying her new part time job but there’s something about her coworker, Kurisu, who is a very quiet person with a lot of fears.

Once again this series eaves in some insights about making accommodations so an employee can do their job. Just that little bit of help to ne independent and have a job that fulfills them. The manager’s little speech was on point: Everyone deserves the right to work and have a decent life.

When it comes to the rest of the cast, I admire Morio and Yukiko for being open and honest with their feelings. It’s important to listen to the person with the disability and Morio is such a sweetheart who’s doing his best. Just a pleasure to read. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love’s in Sight!” Vol. 4, by Uoyama

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

Morio is having trouble expressing his feelings in ways other than words and is working up to his first kiss with Yukiko. Meanwhile Yukiko’s older sister, Izumi, is coming to terms that her sister is becoming more independent as well as confessing her feelings to Shishio.

This volume really focuses on Yukiko finding a job and the accommodations she needs to perform her duties at that job. Again, this manga does a great job at being informative as well as entertaining with a character that’s easy to root for. She’s determined and hardworking, making her journey really worth following. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 5, by Wataru Midori

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School is back in session and Kikuzato can’t wait to get back to running and testing his new prosthesis. As he prepares for another race, Kikuzato wonders what his motivations are for running and has hopes of reconciling with his old friend from the soccer team, Take.

I love the progress Kikuzato is making; both with his training and as a character. His parents are supportive, his friends are great, and we’ve even got a classic rival, Dojima, who is absolutely a dick. The art style shines when the characters are engaging in their chosen athletics and the story does a great job being informative about parathletes and what goes into these competitions. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love’s in Sight!” Vol. 3, by Ao Uoyama

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

Morio and Yukiko are getting along well and their relationship is growing. Yukiko would like her friend Sora, who is also visually impaired, to be friends with Morio but Sora is hesitant to accept him.

Yukiko’s friends and classmates are hilarious and some much needed levity as this volume gets dark. Sora is a runner and that fact is used to show how a visually impaired person goes for a run; both with a guide and without. Where it gets dark is someone is deliberately leaving things for her to trip over. When they find out who it is and why he’s doing it, it’s messed up. It went darker than I expected it to go. Trigger warning for abuse. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love’s in Sight!” Vol. 4, by Uoyama

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

As Morio and Yukiko spend more time together, Morio’s close friend Tono becomes jealous of Yukiko, as she became close to Morio due to childhood bullying. Yukiko decides the two need to have a good conversation.

This is such a great series to get an adorable little romance along with some education; weaving in some information about how people with visual impairments navigate through life. I also enjoyed the side stories and the origin behind Morio’s scar (not to spoil it but, what the fuck, my guy…). I am really interested in the stories of the other characters now. This is overall very enjoyable. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 4, by Wataru Midori

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Kikuzato has to find new ways to train since the pandemic forced schools to close. But being home also means he has to deal with his indifferent and unsupportive father.

Okay yes (spoiler) I’ll give the dad a little break. He learns but he was really pissing me off.

While it was interesting to see how Covid made all these athletes try new things and adjust to losing out on events, I’d like to move on and see Kikuzato progress with his running. We do get a new character, Rin, who is in a wheelchair and is a fan of the parathletes but I need the plot to move forward. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Love’s in Sight!” Vol. 1, by Uoyama

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

Morio is the local delinquent and his reputation – as well as the scar on his face – make it hard for him to find a job. But when he meets Yukiko, a visually impaired girl who attends the local school for the blind, he instantly has more motivation to get his life together as Yukiko doesn’t judge him based on his appearance.

This story is told in these quick slice-of-life shorts and it’s really sweet how Morio just instantly melts the tough guy act the second Yukiko comes into his life. The tone of this is like a more upbeat and comedic version of Perfect World, telling a story while also informing the reader about how to help someone with impaired vision. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 3, by Wataru Midori

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Kikuzato hasn’t spoken to his old teammate and friend, Takekawa, since his accident and Takekawa has been struggling in school and on the soccer team. and watching Kikuzato throw himself into running makes it harder to repair the rift in-between them.

I think it was a nice tough to include how COVID had an impact on sports, not to mention how important it is for Kikuzato to find ways to keep training and adjusting his prosthetic.

Going in depth into the friendship between Takekawa and Kikuzato and how it clearly needs to be fixed after Kikuzato cut everyone off after losing his leg as well as Takekawa struggling to reconnect. After such an accident, it’s hard to know what to say to the person who was hurt without sounding pandering and while I am loving the running story, I do want to see these two friends find some common ground again.

Also, Kikuzato’s father is a jerk and wouldn’t mind seeing less of him. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Run on Your New Legs” Vol. 2, by Wataru Midori

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After racing in Shibuya in front of a huge crowd and cameras, Kukizato is getting tons of attention from his classmates; including his old soccer teammate, Takekawa, who hasn’t spoken to him much since he lost his leg and stopped playing soccer. His mother finds out what’s being going on and Kukizato joins the school’s track and field team.

Kukizato is finding he enjoys being around people again despite the coldness of Takekawa. I can understand Takekawa not understanding how to talk to a friend after such an accident but it looks like Kukizato isn’t giving it much thought. He’s just enjoying having something to do other than sit around and regret losing his leg. 4 out of 5.

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