Archive for the Uozumi Ami Category


Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 4

February 25th, 2026

Cover of Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 4 by Ami Uozumi.Two women in green dresses embrace, lightly, looking forward at us, with soft unfocused eyes.by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Reviewer

At the very end of volume 3, which I also reviewed here on Okazu, an unexpected character from Ema’s past reappears. It’s her mother and there’s clearly some history between them, as within the first two pages of of Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 4 she makes a snide comment about Ema’s hair and clothing choices. Ema also contemplates how long it’s been since she saw her, and how much older her mother looks. Hario does at least stand up for his wife, but the cruelty is very pointed and definitely hurts Ema in a way that I’m sure many of the audience will be able to relate to, so much so that she’s ready to give up on the cafe and have Hario handle it instead. There’s nothing like a mother’s love and support is there? At the end of this chapter, Takara asks Ema if she wants to run away. The next chapter opens with another confrontation with Ema’s mother, but this time it’s Takara standing up for her.

The “will they won’t they” dynamic continues to be the crux of this series, although I do worry about how much longer it can carry the story. We’ve known for a while now that Ema and Takara are head over heels for each other, and I just hope that we get a proper confession from someone sooner rather than later, since we did not in this volume. The characters are still wonderfully messy, flawed and above all, realistically human. For that reason, Pink Candy Kiss continues to be one of my favourite ongoing Yuri series, and I’m eagerly awaiting volume 5. I also think it would make a fantastic live action drama, if a company would be brave enough to produce it.

Ratings: 

Art – 7 It’s still a shame there aren’t colour pages with the chapter art on.
Story – 8 The living apart situation is still a little contrived, but the rest works very well. 
Characters – 10. Ema’s mother is vindictive, cruel and totally realistic, as is Ema’s reaction to her. 
Service – None. It still doesn’t need it. This is a story about women’s feelings, written by a woman for other women.
Yuri – 10 So much yuri.

Overall – 8

 





Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 3

December 3rd, 2025

Two women, one with short hair and one with long hair. The long haired woman has her arms around the shoulders of the short haired one. by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

In Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 3, we start out with Ema looking for an apartment which she can live in separately from her husband so of course she enlists Takara the real estate agent’s help. This volume mostly deals with Takara’s internal conflicts as she finally realises the strength of her feelings for Ema, and also the fact that Ema is married to a lovely man who seems to absolutely adore her. It would definitely be much easier for her if Hario was an awful deadbeat husband but he’s quite the opposite, kind, caring and completely supportive of his wife. Cruicially though, we learn that she wasn’t interested in him at first, in his words he “wore her down but she chose me in the end” even though other guys were also interested in her.

What I especially like about this series is that it’s very nuanced. It’s very easy to come out with the blanket statement that “all cheaters are automatically irredeemably bad people and homewreckers” but often it’s a lot more complicated than that because people and feelings are messy and complicated. That’s what makes us human after all. Takara clearly loves Ema, she says as much but she’s also very aware that she could ruin Ema’s life. This is also fiction, so no real people are going to be hurt.

It seems that Ema is wanting to relive the summer of 20 years ago with Taka, and do all the things they never got to do back then, as well as using Taka’s blog for inspiration. Whether they’ll actually kiss this time remains to be seen. I of course, hope they do.

Overall, I’m still really enjoying this series. I still need more josei yuri in my life and I’m looking forward to volume 4.

Art – Still a fan. It’s a shame there aren’t colour pages with the chapter art on.
Story – My only quibble with the story is that I find it very hard to believe that Ema’s husband would just be so accepting that his wife suddenly wants to live by herself. Apart from that, still lots of complicated and messy feelings.
Characters – As before. I’m rooting for no one to get hurt. And for them to just kiss dammit.
Service – None. It still doesn’t need it. This is a story about women’s feelings, written by a woman for other women.
Yuri – So much yuri.

Volume 4 of Pink Candy Kiss by Ami Uozumi will hit English bookstore shelves from Viz Media in January 2026.