*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Our main character still side steps typical boys love tropes.
This reads like a sampler volume of a bunch of different romance comics that you’d get as promotional material. Then you decide which series you wanna read to learn more. A concept like this could really be something silly and fun, hopefully while not being exploitative, but for now, this is just dull. 2 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+
Shinobu and Hikaru have moved from one night stand to a more exclusive relationship. When Hikaru’s mentor – Osuke Ikurumi –Â shows up, Shinobu is scared that Hikaru’s new interest in men will lead him to fall for the mentor Hikaru still idolises.
Okay, I’m spoiling it! This volume keeps up with the light tone, and Osuke is genuinely looking out for Hikaru and cares about him as a mentor. He wants Hikaru to be happy like a father figure coming in to make sure Shinobu is a guy good enough for his son. This gives Shinobu the push to make things more official. I hope there’s more of this series so we get more of them as an official couple. There is a tiny bit of angst, some cute and funny bits, and of course, plenty of smut. 4 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Red is a talented hunter tasked with protecting her Grandmother and helping to exorcize the Nawa in the dying forest around them. On a hunt, she meets Sil, a wolf girl who got caught in a trap. They become friends, but the threat of the rot spreading through the land still looms, and Red is plunged into a more serious threat than she could have imagined.
Far be it from me to turn town a witch fantasy comic. This one is beautiful and fun with some exciting moments, but as an avid reader, the twist wasn’t as shocking to me as it would be to someone less experienced in the genre. The lore and characters are so well done, and I am SO happy this was towards 400 pages. The story had plenty of time to breathe and is so well paced. The art style handles action, sprawling fantasy settings, and quiet moments with ease, and I highly recommend it. 4.8 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Koton Tsubaki is ostracized at school due to his violent past but there’s one being that doesn’t care: Yuuki Kabuto, a ghost that decides to follow him around.
I guess that’s as good a reason as any to refuse to move on.Â
The pace of this feels off somehow, but for a boys’ love comic, it’s SO sad. It gets dark and violent. Tsubaki is just chronically misunderstood and since Kabuto is dead, he can see beyond the tough exterior and eases Tsubaki’s loneliness. The art is fantastic and there’s no smut. The story does suck you in so I do want to read volume 2. 3.7 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Nanoha and Chidori’s relationship is discovered by Mai, who has a crush on Nanoha. As they go on a school trip, tension forms between them as Nanoha is jealous of how close Chidori gets to Mai, which puts pressure on the entire friend group.
Yeah, the stakes are still pretty low considering Mai has no real ill intentions towards the couple and it’s mostly the friend group just wanting to enjoy the trip without drama. Fair, considering what a breakup can do to a friend group, even if they’re not all aware of the couple. They just need to communicate properly if they want this relationship to work. It’s a nice story beat, even if their fight went on a bit long for me. I was probably just as annoyed as their friends were. 3.7 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
While on the train one day, Fujinaga has another man fall asleep on his shoulder. He doesn’t give it much thought until he sees the guy again at his school. His name is Keito, a fellow student who has congenital hearing loss. Through his journey to learn sign language to communicate with his new friend, Fujinaga also learns how to better express himself.
While this is cute and I’m rooting for the couple, I have hesitations about relating Keito’s struggle to communicate because of his hearing and Fujinaga’s struggle to communicate through acting. Having trouble acting in a way that pleases talent agents is not the same as actual hearing loss. There is an attempt to smooth this over by Keito outright appreciating how animated and expressive Fujinaga’s acting style is, but even so, it still doesn’t sit right with me, no matter how adorable they are. 3 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+
Set in Post-War Japan (1949) Keikitahara is a popular screenwriter who decides to quit when he realizes the people who inspired his characters ended up dead. He isolates himself, believing he is cursed. One night, he’s picked up after a fight by a photographer, Yoichi. Yoichi wants to get to know him, but Keikitahara tries to keep him away, thinking he will kill anyone he allows to get close to him.
Yoichi has his own thing going on, but holy shit, this is SAD. Kei clearly didn’t have any help dealing with the horrific trauma, and he is plagued with guilt. Yoichi kinda enables his worst ways to cope – spoiler/trigger warning for consensual choking during sex. But when they are happy together, it is so beautiful. The art is amazing at conveying all the wild emotions and the smut is light and suggestive. I recommend something light to read to cheer yourself up after reading this, though. 4.5 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Hime is in love with her childhood best friend, Akira. When Akira comes out to her and says he feels more comfortable in girls’ clothes, she is super supportive but wonders what to do with her romantic feelings.
I like this as a start to the series. The focus isn’t on how Akira feels as a trans girl; it’s about Hime’s role as a friend and ally. She’s not perfect, blowing up at people and not considering how her actions make Akira feel or impact how her classmates feel about the whole thing. Then there’s Hime’s romantic feelings throwing a spanner in the works. I’m glad for the representation, but I get this very superficial feeling. A nugget of wisdom will get dropped and then we move swiftly on without really diving into it. Maybe it will get more depth as we go on. 3 out of 5.
I’ve already posted a bit of my experience this year over at O&G (I should be posting there more often…), but I figured I’d talk about it a bit here, too. I can’t believe in the year of our Lord and Lady 2025, I feel the need to attend panels about fighting fascism, but here we are. It did get me thinking about digitizing some old stuff, like union pamphlets from back when my grandmother was fighting for the garment workers and old articles about her. We do need to preserve whatever we can; especially in the age of companies not bothering with physical media, claiming the rights to your digital media whenever they want (so you paid for it but don’t own it), or letting legacy media just die under the weight of relentless drive towards newer technology. But let’s not be a complete downer and take a look at what I brought home.
I had a lot of fun picking out random things to get and everything in that first picture is signed! I can’t tell you how much I nerd out about being able to get my stuff signed by the creator. Speaking of which:
I waited YEARS to get volume 5 of Starfighter simply because at a previous Flame Con, I’d gotten the first 4 and they were signed. I was tempted to just buy it online, but as they were generous to give me a press pass this year and Hamletmachine was going to be there, I was stoked to complete my collection. I probably embarrassed myself by squealing like an idiot, but I’m just some nobody, so she won’t remember.
I’m excited to dig into these and maybe review them for the blog. We’ll see. Sometimes I just like to read something and sit with it, but if there’s something here you want me to dive into, let me know.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+
Tsugumi has transferred to Megumi’s school but as an omega, he’s in danger from all the alpha’s around him and Megumi’s father hatches a plan to use a teacher to drive the couple apart.
The teacher, Mr. Nagaro, is a creep. The story tries to play it off as a joke, but nah, I wouldn’t want him around my kid. While this is about omegas in an alpha school and the school trip, the sex scene in this seems a bit forced in. I wouldn’t have minded if it had been left out to have more time with our main couple navigating this new situation, while Megumi’s father tries to interfere. The sweet moments in this are where the volume really shines because Megumi is so earnest, while Tsugumi is a food-driven, deadpan goofball. I also wish the sex scene was skipped because Mr. Nagaro spied on them. Gross. 3.9 out of 5.
