YA romance manga

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Lenni Reviews: “Rainbows After Storms” Vol. 2, by Luka Kobachi

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

Nanoha and Chidori’s relationship is still a secret from their friends and Chidori thinks back on her past love.

This volume continues the very light, slice-of-life tone. Just a bunch of cute moments of their relationship as they study, hang out, etc. Since we still don’t have any particular stakes, it’s a cozy read where the reader can just enjoy seeing these girls be happy with each other and live life. I appreciate the positivity after some of the depressing stuff I’ve been reading (you’ll see those reviews soon) but it can get repetitive. Every chapter starts with how they’re keeping their relationship a secret; as if each one was serialized in separate issues so it could be picked up in any spot. It’s not as enjoyable when it’s all put together, though. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Rainbow Days” Vol. 13, by Minami Mizuno

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

Natsuki and Anna are finally at the school festival together but will he finally be able to tell her how he feels before the day is over?

Now that they’re together, we’re in the “figure out how to couple” stage and move on to other possible pairings in the series as they all head into summer vacation. These bits of slice of life scenes was so much better than it has been in the previous volumes. There’s something about the energy here that’s more entertaining and interesting. We’ll see if we get more pairings to follow in the future but I’m cool with we just get more of these teen shenanigans for a bit. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Let’s Do It Already!” Vol. 3, by Aki Kusaka

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

Keiichiro has a packed summer schedule and Yuri manages to get a summer job just so she could see him more often. But when they attend an overnight study camp, through a series of misadventures, they end up in the same bed.

I’m glad the feelings between these two are genuine. There’s wacky moments and to me it’s a little much for Yuri to keep going so far for just a scrap of Keiichiro’s attention in his absurdly packed schedule but he clearly cares about her and is trying to do what he feels he can within the confines of his family’s demands. It’s sweet and nice to see with the other series I’m reading where one partner has deeper issues or ulterior motives. 3 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: “Komi Can’t Communicate” Vol. 32, by Tomohito Oda

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

Waka finally confesses to Manbagi, Ogiya teaches Komi tea ceremony, and Tadano and Komi struggle to have more time together that isn’t school or studying.

This volume is very episodic exploring a wide range of characters and situations. It’s fun, amusing, and reads really fast. With such a collection, I realized just how wacky a lot of these kids are more than normal. You kinda forget when Komi and Tadano are the focus when one of them has a creepy obsession with Komi and another wants to be a baby and will not remove the pacifier from his mouth. Absolutely wild. Oh, and Komi is now up to 80 friends! 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Special One” Vol. 8, by Momoko Koda

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

After multiple misunderstandings and misadventures, Kanato decides it’s time to confess his feelings to Emika.

These two teeter between adorable idiots to annoying bumblers, if that makes any sense. They can be so damn cute but also make me wanna facepalm because they’re so keyed up about what MIGHT happen or what the other MIGHT be thinking that they fumble with what is ACTUALLY happening. They so talk it out but it happens so often that it’s not always funny. It starts slipping into frustrating. I didn’t wanna rage quit the book or anything, though. They’re silly and totally fit the tropes of a young adult romance 3.6 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: “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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Lenni Reviews: “Sakura, Saku” Vol. 5, by Io Sakisaka

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

Saku is working with Iryu at the cafe for the summer and since Haruki is also working, they have a hard time getting together. We check in with Kotono’s nasty ex and there is some evidence that Iryu may have been the one to save Saku.

The side story bumped this volume up to a 4 for me because it was sweet. Other than that, Saku and Haruki are still just friends while it’s so damn obvious at least Haruki has some feelings brewing. I would love if the ending of this is we never find out whoever Saku’s guardian angel is and she just moves on with her life as yeah, she was rude as hell to Iryu and is missing out on who is currently in her life in favor of this other mysterious hero. Again, 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Wolf Girl and Black Prince” Vol. 10, by Ayuko Hatta

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

Erika and Kyoya are on their first trip to a hot spring together and as usual, Erika is much more excited than her boyfriend. Both of them are nervous due to how much their friends talk about what could potentially happen when they’re alone overnight. After this, Erika struggles with what she wants to do after she graduates.

They’re in their senior year now which is why Erika is freaking out. All her friends seem to know what they want and when paired with the couple’s first overnight together, I like how in both cases it’s okay to progress exactly as comfortably as you want. Just because it’s your first night together doesn’t mean you have to have sex and just because you’re graduating, you don’t have to have your whole life mapped out in front of you. Since I’m not fully on board with green flag Kyoya, I am glad the story decided to take the route of being okay with not being ready. These are decent messages for teenagers who may be reading this and it’s not overly preachy about it. 3.4 out of 5.

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