LGBT manga

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Lenni Reviews: “Golden Sparkle” by Minta Suzumaru

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Himaru is just starting high school and is pretty naïve about how his own body works. So when he starts having a problem with wet dreams, he askes his friend, Gaku, what the heck is going on. Gaku offers to teach Himaru about these things and their experimentation begins to turn into something more.

Again, I HAD to reimagine these characters as adults because they are 15 and it makes me so uncomfortable to see the explicit scenes, of which there are plenty. I get it’s a different country and I won’t even pretend at 15 I didn’t know damn well my peers were sexually active and managing to get their hands on smut if they wanted but still.

Himaru is funny and his interactions with Gaku are great; only surpassed by his mother and sister. I like the general vibe of this comic. Himaru is the type to just say whatever he wants, since he doesn’t know how to be discreet because nobody ever taught him and it plays off well with Gaku as he becomes more honest with himself. They have a great dynamic and are sweet together. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Megumi & Tsugumi” Vol. 1, by Mitsuru Si

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Tsugumi is an omega who hates all alphas due how to they treat omegas like playthings. When he beats up the wrong group, Megumi – an alpha – comes to avenge his friends only to fine Tsugumi irresistable.

I like the energy of this couple. The typical balance is the hot headed one and the cool headed one but neither of these guys qualifies as cool headed. They’re both ready to fight and have big personalities, which makes their relationship more interesting. There’s plenty of spice and smutty scenes (where my head cannon is they are in their 20’s so I don’t throw up) but I honestly enjoy them interacting overall. They made me laugh. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend” by Mieri Hiranishi

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

Meiri is an awkward college student with bad luck in love and desperately wants a girlfriend. When her search leads her to Ash, Meiri believe she’s finally found her dream girl only for it not to turn out like she hoped.

This is Meiri’s journey through love, loss, and healing. Told with honestly and plenty of self deprecating humor, this is a story I’m sure people of any sexuality will empathize with. Mieri draws every character but herself in a normal style, while she is much more cartoonish and has bombastic, super-deformed expressions. I found this to be very touching and I really related to her feelings. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reivews: “Hello, Melancholic!” Vol. 3, by Yayoi Ohsawa

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Minato admits her feelings for Hibiki and things go back to normal until Misato gets a change to play with a professional band, putting a strain on their relationship.

I’m a little sad this series is over but it ends in a natural place, Minato and Hibiki have great chemistry and if you like lower dramatics, this story fits the bill. There’s conflict but it’s not high angst, it stays chill and jovial. It’s also pretty clean so there’s no issue with smut if you’re looking to avoid that. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Love Mix-Up!” Vol. 6, by Wataru Hinekure &Aruko

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

Aoki is working hard at his part time job in order to buy his boyfriend, Ida, a present. They are spending more time together but Aoki is curious about being more intimate as for as long as they’ve been dating, they’ve only held hands.

Even though the super-deformed drawings can still get creepy, the story and the characters are so charming and adorable that this is still a warm, comfortable read. Aoki and Ida are slowly growing in a natural way that is nice to experience as we go through this journey with them. 4.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Coyote” Vol. 4, by Ranmaru Zaria

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Now that Coyote knows who Marleen really is, Marleen is put on house arrest to keep him away from Coyote while the wolves and wolf hunters conspire with their respective groups behind the scenes. Coyote takes a huge risk to try and rescue the man he loves.

While Coyote and Marleen are sweet and they have their spicy scenes, I am all about what is going on with the wolves gearing up to take on the mafia family that’s hunting them down. I am super excited to see all this come to a head (no dirty pun intended) in the next volume. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Love Mix-Up!” Vol. 4, by Wataru Hinekure & Aruko

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

 Prepared for rejection, Aoki confesses to Ida but Ida accepts his feelings and they start dating. Aoki wants to keep it a secret but Ida doesn’t think they should and has no issues being honest with their friends and classmates. However, Ida isn’t very good at expressing how he feels to Aoki.

This is relentlessly cute. I’m enjoying watching the story just play out and it’s written well enough that I’m rooting for them. This is a fun little romance that’s clean, fun, and has low angst (so far). 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Hello, Melancholic!” Vol. 2, by Yayoi Ohsawa

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It’s time for the community festival but Hibiki’s hand injury won’t heal in time. So, Minato comes up with a solution so they can still perform. After the show, Minato discovers Chika and Sakiko have a deeper relationship than she’d assumed.

A good chunk of this volume is dedicated to how Chika and Sakiko got together and the nature of their relationship but we also get Minato and Hibiki on a date. Hibiki wants to find out if Minato has any feelings for her or not. There’s a little forward momentum but I’m guessing the big plot points will happen in the next volume. The date is cute and the other couple’s story has some interesting elements to is. This one is spicy but not overly explicit. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Our Colors” by Gengoroh Tagame & Anne Ishii (Translator)

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Sora, an aspiring artists, is in the closet with a crush on one of his classmates and his childhood friend, Nao, has an obvious crush on him. The pressure of hiding who he is from everyone he knows sends him to a strange little cafe where Amamiya, an older man who is not in the closet, gives him a safe haven where he can be himself.

This is really touching and I won’t even lie that this feels like Tagame wrote this as something very personal and important to him. An out gay artist born in 1960’s Japan, it feels like he reaching out to gay youths to say the things he needed to hear when he was younger and the LGBT kids need to hear today. It’s overall positive but bittersweet. Highly recommended if you’re looking for good gay comics. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl” Vol. 1, by Azusa Banjo

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Midou is one of the most popular boys in his school and his close childhood friend Hiura is considered quiet and glum in comparison. Hiura is also the only one who knows Midou’s secret passion for makeup and allows Midou to practice his skills on him. Midou completely changes Hiura from a plain quiet boy into a beautiful young girl. So beautiful in fact, Midou’s feelings towards Hiura change when Hiura feels more comfortable in the female clothing.

This is absolutely adorable. I like how progressive and understanding everyone is around Midou and Hiura. Not very realistic but in this case, it gives space in the story for the main two to workout their relationship and figure things out.

Since this is about make up mostly (and a bit of fashion) I wish more of this was in color so we get the full effect as readers. But I understand that’s expensive to print and a lot of work. I’ll take the color pages we get. 4 out of 5.

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