romance comics

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Lenni Reviews: “Last Quarter” Vol. 2, by Ai Yazawa

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

The kids have found the ghost’s identity, Eve, who is in a coma at a hospital. But the spirit doesn’t want to return to her body. As the kids try to find out more, it’s clear Eve’s memories are not reliable.

All of this is getting more complicated and it doesn’t feel overly contrived; it’s just really sad. It’s all very different from Yazawa’s other works but it’s a beautiful love story. Things seem to be wrapped up for me but I see there’s three volumes. I wonder what will come next. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” Vol. 11, by Ayuko Hatta

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

This time Erika falls ill and Kyoya takes care of her. After this, it’s time to plan for the senior trip and since Kyoya is on the committee, Erika gets a job to save up some money for it. But with Kyoya and Erika busy, it’s hard for them to have time for each other.

We also have the trope Erika getting jealous of a girl Kyoya is working with on the school trip which may be a standard YA type of deal and she’s a teenager, Kyoya is a lot of things but a cheater isn’t one of them. I’ve clocked a bunch of red flag behavior with him but not this so, I wasn’t that invested in that side of things. It was nice to see Kyoya continue to be a better person/boyfriend but we’ll see if Kyoya can keep that up since we’ve got some rivals: Kyoya has that girl helping with the class trip and Erika has a childhood friend who has confessed his feelings before. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Like a Butterfly” Vol. 10, by Suu Morishita

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

Suiren wants to be more courageous in her relationship with Kawasumi but she gets advice from Atohira who realizes he has feelings for her too and this gets in the way of their friendship.

Even though this series is supposed to be about Suiren and Kawasumi, the latter’s friendship/rivalry with Atohira is interesting. I genuinely want them to work things out and be friends again. And it’s not Suiren deliberately coming between them. She’s way too much of a cinnamon roll to be like that. It’s Atohira kinda reacting to the fact things have changed. It’s not just about the two of them anymore; now Kawasumi has Suiren taking up some of his time. I still feel like I know Atohira more then Suiren but progress has been made. 3.4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Marriage Toxin” Vol. 5, by Joumyaku & Mizuki Yoda

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

Hamster Master Arashiyama has been taken under Gero’s watch and he teams up with the Hitman Hunter, Piichi, to save her. But facing the leader of the Beast Master clan will be a monumental challenge.

Piichi’s back story is just violent hilarity and I have to give it to Kinosaki. They really go above and beyond for Gero. He’s lucky to have good people with him. The Beast Master’s ultimate form/abilities are impressively disgusting. He reminds me of too much splicing in Batman Beyond; just squirming parts of animals competing for space. The battle is well done and again, all the different assassins’ abilities working together is very entertaining. I had hoped Arashiyama would have done more but the fight isn’t over yet. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Neighborhood Story” Vol. 4, by Ai Yazawa

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

When Mikako wins the Grand Prix award, she is offered the chance to study in London for a year and a half, all expenses paid. She hesitates to accept because it will separate her from Tsutomu.

After Mikako makes her decision, we fast forward to our cast as adults and then transitions to the characters from Paradise Kiss; which is an interesting choice. I think it would have been better to use the time to see how (spoilers) Mikako’s studies in London affected her relationship with Tsutomu because that could be some good drama right there. It didn’t quite stick the landing for me. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite” Vol. 1, by Julietta Suzuki

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

Hina is a vampire who loves anime and since she’s never bitten a human, she gets permission from her father to move to Japan where she can be closer to the media she adores. Her neighbor, Kyuta, looks exactly like her favorite character but has none of the fictional man’s personality. Despite this, they do become friendly even though Kyuta is hiding something from not only Hina but his own friends as well.

Hina is adorable. She really makes all this fun and I love characters who are bubbly and cute but will flex their considerable power when necessary. Of course, Kyuta is the perfect deadpan foil to her otaku energy. I wonder if this series will keep it’s light hearted tone or if it will go a more serious/dark route as I can see the potential for both given what happens but we’ll see as the series continues. For now, I’m enjoying the positivity. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Metalhead Next Door” by Mamita

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

Kento is a broke college student who moves out of the dorms to abnormally cheap apartment to save money knowing the place has no heat or hot water. When he almost freezes to death outside, his neighbor, Soushi, saves him. They become friends but the outgoing Kento hasn’t told Soushi he’s gay. After a year of friendship, Kento vanishes; leaving Soushi to deal with some confusing feelings.

This manga takes place over three  years and at 200 or so pages, there are some time skips that are pretty clear. I would classify their relationship as a slow burn but there’s not enough pages to get bogged in that. Since Kento works with kids, there’s some funny interactions he has with them and while it’s probably not the best to get relationship advice from a kid, their interaction was pretty funny. You have to get to the end to see any smut which is not overly detailed but you absolutely get what’s going on. And I’m not even going to pretend the metal head in me wasn’t biased towards the misunderstood shy guy who likes metal music. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Rainbow Days” Vol. 12, by Minami Mizuno

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

Mari has confessed her feelings to her best friend, Anna, and leaves the way clear for Hashiba to do the same but, he decides todo it at the school festival as they’d promised to go together.

Alright, if this boy doesn’t spill his guts soon, I’m gonna lose it. This back and forth hesitation is getting less and less cute the longer it goes on. Yes, they’re kids and Hashiba is very nervous at Anna’s been going through it lately but as a reader, I’m getting frustrated. “Will they, won’t they” has it’s limits after all. 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Colette Decides to Die” Vol. 1, by Alto Yukimura

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

Set in Ancient Greece, workaholic healer, Colette, feels overwhelmed so she jumps down a well that leads to another world where she ends up tending to the god Hades, who is suffering the consequences of an allergy and overworking himself.

With that title, I did NOT expect a fairly light-hearted romance. I thought I was in for more depression like Boy’s Abyss, but instead, I got a grump/sunshine dynamic that’s pretty fun! The love story is predictable but since the characters are interesting, it’s a decent read. The contrast between the detailed characters and simply designed spirits is amusing. You’d think such a huge difference would clash but it works. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Komi Can’t Communicate” Vol. 31, by Tomohito Oda

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

It’s Summer Festival time again; an ideal time for Komi and Tadamo to have a nice date but through a series of mishaps, it’s hard for them to have time together.

The stories around our couple are amusing but things feel disconnected. It’s best when we’re focused on our main couple, especially when they’re fretting about their first kiss or thinking about their futures. It totally made up for the scattershot feeling of the rest of the volume with the other characters. Kawai’s family dynamic really is… Something. Why are so many of the side characters so ridiculous? 4 out of 5.

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