Archive for the Artists Category


Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Koushaku Reijou-sama o Taburakashite Ikite Imasu, Volume 2 (平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています)

October 2nd, 2025

Two girls in the same white an red uniform lean back to back on a red cover. One girl has short purplish-black hair and purple eyes, the other has long, pale silver-blue hair and eyes, They both smile at us. In Volume 1, we met Laila, a commoner set adrift when her useless parents sell her off to slavers. She reconnects with a childhood friend, a noble who sponsors Laila to the Royal academy. Laila has the ability to adapt to any magic simply by mimicking what she sees and she quickly gains notoriety, both good and bad at school on account of being a commoner.

In Volume 2 of Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Koushaku Reijou-sama o Taburakashite Ikite Imasu, Volume 2 (平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています), nobles continue to harass Laila, trying to drive her from the school. When religious extremists attack an innocent student, Martha, Laila and Touka, Laila becomes more friendly with Eva, a powerful noble and magician at school. Eva extends the protection of the ducal house of Mayer to Laila, angering her father and brother. 

The King, concerned about religious fanaticism, declares a competition between the 4 ducal houses, meant to showcase the magical strength and ability at his side. Representatives of all 4 houses will compete, using their physical, mental and magic skills.On the day of the competition, House Mayer starts down 3 competitors and, facing sabotage at every turn must defend Laila’s right to compete, and Eva’s status as the most powerful magician at school.

I absolutely love this story. I’ve followed Kitao-sensei’s work for decades and generally adore her hapless butch characters, but Laila being confident and smart (and powerful doesn’t hurt) is fantastic. Laila’s honorable nature means that people who don’t like her can be persuaded to at least be her ally, like Touka, and her fighting skills means she doesn’t need protection, just friends.

It is important to note that only Volume 1 is available as a print manga. The remaining 4 volumes are digital only. I am comfortable with this, and indeed bought a new tablet for the specific function of reading digital manga this past year. I’m not in the habit of shilling for new tech, but it is absolutely outstanding being able to read a whole page at a time on this tablet. I really don’t use it for much else, but it has completely changed the way I consume digital media. (And, as I am reading more for ANN, I need to be able to quickly pull up a lot of PDFs.) So, if you, like me, are interested in Laila’s continued adventures, you’ll be reading it in digital format..

And, I am interested. I want Eva and the Mayer team to stick it to the other houses. I want Laila to find the allies and power she needs for some stability in her life. And if Laila and Eva can find happiness together, that would be very nice too. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – Not much this time around, as genteel hostility was ramping up
Yuri – 4, who has time when everyone wants to fight you?

Overall – 9

 

 





Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 10 (雨夜の月)

September 25th, 2025

Two girls in a classroom. One, in a dark school uniform, the other wearing a satin jacket over hers. Neither speaks, the air hangs heavy between them.Saki’s recital was a grand success and, although Kanon’s essay did not win an award, she is motivated to continue writing.

But, watching Kanon enjoying herself, Saki is reminded of Ayano’s warning about getting too caught up in Kanon’s life. When Kanon’s mother, Saki’s music teacher, suggests music college…and not living with Kanon, Saki begins to question her own motivations. 

Kanon, likewise, is not sure what she will do in the future, nor does she know what Saki and she are to one another. Although they are only just heading into the end of their first year of high school, the future hangs over them heavily, in Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 10 (雨夜の月).

In the meantime, Kanon is not disposed to modeling for a photo, so she asks the photographer to be real with her…and she is! Kanon sees another perspective. As the volume ends, we’re going to have yet another eventful day in the lives of these two young women, when they become models.

This manga is realer than just about anything else I read. These girls feel like people, dealing with problems and emotions that they have never before felt. I’ve always said that “maturity” just means you lived through shit and this is some of the stuff they are living through.

Ratings: 

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – bubbling just under the surface at a simmer

Overall – 9

I know I say this every time, but I truly love this manga.

The Moon On A Rainy Night is out now in English from Kodansha!

 





There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… Light Novel, Volume 3

August 29th, 2025

A girl with long, pale hair in a Japanese school uniform of a white blouse with red trim and tie and grey plaid skirt holds a finger up to her lip as if to shush us with a smile.

by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

Volume 3 of  There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… changes things up a bit with the cover design. Unlike the Volume 1 and Volume 2 where the covers feature Renako and whoever is the the main character of that volume, volume 3 omits Renako and is purely the next member of the harem, Ajisai Sena.

We know from the previous volumes that Renako already has something of a crush on Ajisai and that Ajisai is often responsible for caring for her two younger brothers, so it seems inevitable that we’ll find out more about both now. This volume is also the “summer vacation” volume, so we can expect traditional hijinks like hot spring trips, beach trips and and festivals, as alluded to on the back cover.

But maybe Ajisai isn’t as angelic as she appears. Perhaps she’s just a normal teenage girl who’s been looking forward to her summer vacation and hanging out with her friends/crushes but instead, she’s stuck staying at home and looking after her brothers. Parentification is a word which has gained traction in recent years and refers to older siblings being thrust into a caregiving role because the actual parents are either absent or negligent. Ajisai’s parents both work long hours, so she is inevitably forced into this position, and in this volume things finally come to a head. Ajisai has had enough and runs away from home, compelling Renako to go with her to, ostensibly, look after her.

This is where Ajisai feels like a normal teenage girl, much more so than either Mai or Satsuki. “Supadari” Mai is obviously meant to be over the top and unreal, whereas Satsuki is her opposite, being quiet, cynical and almost disinterested in romance unless she can use it to get at Mai. Ajisai, by contrast, feels much more grounded in reality. Renako arranges to come over to her house one day during summer vacation so they can play video games together, and this is when she snaps. Her brothers are hogging the game console, and she’s barely had a chance to speak to Renako. She’s had enough of having to put everyone else first and whilst running away is a bit of an extreme reaction, it is believable in this context. One thing I have particularly enjoyed about this volume is the little sections at the end of each chapter retelling the story from Ajisai’s point of view.

The rest of the volume is mostly devoted to the usual summer harem adventures. Renako and Ajisai inevitably end up staying at an onsen with a private hot spring attached, taking the number of members of the group Renako has seen naked and bathed with up to 3. It’s also a good excuse for an illustration of Ajisai in a yukata and a ping pong battle to determine who pays for this whole adventure.

And then enter Mai like the tornado she is, and yet another person to disrupt Ajisai’s time with a friend. She arrives at the inn having used Renako’s sister to find out where they are, so we now have a high school girls’ sleepover party or something like that, and now we’re all off to the local festival together (and bathing together).

We end with everyone back home and the rest of summer vacation passing relatively normally, apart from Ajisai asking Renako out (in front of Mai!)  just in time for school to start again in the next volume, when Renako must also answer Ajisai’s question and figure out where her feelings lie.

This series is ultimately about exploring the difference between friends and lovers, where the line between them lies, how blurry that line is and what it all means to different people. With one more group member to properly introduce in the next volume, my main question is where do we go from there?

If the anime continues at its current pace and it is a 12 episode season, this will be the last volume adapted for now. At the time of writing, there is no news of a season 2.

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 8 Ajisai is definitely the most realistic teenage girl of the group so far.
Service – 6. Some of the illustrations are definitely on the more servicey side in this volume.
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.,Volume 10 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

August 28th, 2025

On a background of a dark reflecting pool of water, with a dark-red leaved plant Two girls stand with the arms crossed, wearing the red jackets and blue skits of a school uniform. Behind them are the heads of two princess, one with dark hair, one with long silver hair. All the figures look determined. The “Revolution” arc is moving inexorably towards a climax. In Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.,Volume 10 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) we have set aside almost all of the happy-go-lucky Rae, as she shepherds her friends into what she knows must be a new world order. She is driven to make this the right new world order.

Rae, accompanied by Clare and Lily, have completed their investigation and Rae now knows who is behind the corrupt nobles….but there is a lot standing between her and her desired outcomes.  Rae still knows what the game has in store for her, for Clare and for Bauer Kingdom. Time is running out.

Together they confront Salas, and find themselves at a dead end. They go to the leader of the Revolution, Arla Manuel, where Rae negotiates terms the others cannot understand. And it becomes clear that Salas did indeed have an affair with the former Queen, and Thane is indeed his son, which makes Lily his sister. Thickly knotted ropes of fate pull tighter around our principles.

And then – too early by Rae’s calculations – Mt. Sassal erupts, throwing everything into chaos.

There is no more goofing around in this story, we are at the edge of the precipice and the ground beneath us is about to crumble. We know what will happen, in the larger sense. Individual scenes are changed slightly and additional content is given to us with every volume. Arla’s underlings have stories and faces, and that, and being able to see Arla as she talks about the corrupt noble who destroyed her family brings a lot of the horror of commoner life to the front. That forces both Clare…and us…to really look and think about it.  Which is all that more effective as we watch as our world stands on a similar and just as precarious edge. 

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters –  9Thane is very relatable
Service – Not really
Yuri – 7 The love stories here have to be shelved. Revolution is coming.

Overall – 9

This volume is not an easy read, not if we’re paying attention. But it is an excellent, and deeply moving volume. I know we have a little more very hard stuff to read, but I can’t think of anyone better to tell it than inori.-sensei or better to illustrate it than Aonoshimo-sensei.





Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko, 2nd Stage

August 10th, 2025

The promotional poster for season 2 of Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko. On the left the actresses embrace, wearing Hawaiian patterns and a lei on the right Hiroko holds a blowdryer over Ayaka's hair. by Frank Hecker, Okazu Staff Writer 

The live-action adaptation of Sal Jiang’s manga Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko! ended with Hiroko agreeing to accept Ayaka as her girlfriend. Although the live-action series covered all three volumes of the manga, its producers decided to create a sequel going beyond the original story. Thus we have Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko, 2nd Stage, now streaming on GagaOOLala (along with season 1).

Any sequel faces the problem of matching the appeal of the original while creating a new story that doesn’t retread old ground. Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko, 2nd Stage attempts this by moving almost completely away from the office setting of season 1 and focusing on Ayaka’s relationship with Hiroko and (to a lesser degree) Hiroko’s relationship with her family.

As 2nd Stage begins, Ayaka has been living with Hiroko for half a year. Hiroko caters to Ayaka’s every need, including making her breakfast and cleaning up after her, but (as Ayaka’s friend Risa implies) Hiroko treats her more like a pet than a lover. Ayaka wants them to be a “real couple” (i.e., to have sex), Hiroko is reluctant to do so, and Ayaka doesn’t understand why. And, quite frankly, neither do we: Hiroko offers excuses to Ayaka (she needs more time to sort out her feelings) and to herself (she’s worried about her “selfish desires”), but this part of the plot requires a major suspension of disbelief, especially now that Hiroko knows that Ayaka’s feelings toward her are genuine.

As in season 1, Hiroko’s ongoing misunderstandings and miscommunications provide the springboard for multiple comedic moments. But comedy isn’t as funny when someone’s getting hurt, and it becomes clear through the course of the series that Ayaka is more and more distressed and confused about Hiroko’s behavior. It’s almost a relief when the show turns to the secondary plot concerning Hiroko and her family (she’s still not out to them) and to the goings-on at Bar Kiyoko (where Risa’s new girlfriend Kyoko informs everyone that Risa has gone from a “clueless puppy” in bed to “a wolf who’ll bare her fangs”). But these digressions can’t compensate for the fact that the show drags on for too long. The plot threads finally resolve in episode 6, thanks to Ayaka’s actions and the innocent intervention of Hiroko’s young niece, a sweet ending that I can’t help thinking could have come one or even two episodes earlier.

As Hiroko, Kanna Mori once again excels at wide-eyed reactions, mixed in with more subtle acting in the final episodes. But the real star of 2nd Stage is Shiho Katō, whose performance as Ayaka is the beating emotional heart of this sequel: We feel her pain, echo her confusion, and cheer her on as she forthrightly declares her love for Hiroko to Hiroko’s sister and mother: “This is how I truly feel. There’s not a single bit of pretense.” Riria Kojima joins the cast as Hiroko’s sister Keiko, who offers some cringey (meta)commentary in response to Ayaka’s outing herself (“I’ve been really into Thai dramas, so I know a bit about this kind of thing”), while former otokoyaku Hiroki Nanami brings sultry sex appeal (along with advice for Ayaka) to Bar Kiyoko as lady-killer Jun.

Ratings:

Story — 5
Characters — 8 (+1 for Ayaka, -1 for Hiroko)
Production — 7 (the subtitles are occasionally clunky)
Service — 4
LGBTQ — 10
Overall — 7

Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko, 2nd Stage provides a satisfying ending to the story of Ayaka and Hiroko, but it takes its sweet time getting there. Fans of season 1 should expect less comedy, more angst, and increased frustration at Hiroko’s cluelessness and self-delusion.