Archive for the English Manga Category


A Curtain Call For You, Volume 1

October 28th, 2025

On a scarlet background, a girl with long black hair tied into a thin ponytail, makes a dramatic gesture and holds out her hand for us, as she smiles directly at us while a spotlight shines on her.Over the years here at Okazu, I have written about many nuances of relationships between women. Love, sexual desire, akogare and crushing, deep emotional connections and more. All of them fall under my personal interests and often well under the umbrella of “Yuri.” Today I’m going to talk about a kind of relationship which might be, or might become a “Yuri” relationship or might not, but that is wholly irrelevant to the magic of the story.

In A Curtain Call For You, Volume 1, Sakura Akutsu is a character we’ve come to recognize. She has difficulty speaking, and is overwhelmed by the fast-paced conversations of her peers. Prone to overthinking and missing her moment, Sakura’s anxiety keeps her from just being part of the flow of school life. Instead she confines herself to writing. When Tsubame comes in to the classroom, speaking in oddly formal, over-dramatic words, Sakura becomes swept up in the wake of Tsubame’s energy. And that is the relationship I want to talk about. There is a very specific kind of person who just *is.* They exist in full 3-D wherever they are and by doing so, they provide both a role model and a figure of authority for people around them who are merely going through the motions. I have been fortunate in having a few of these people in my life at key moments and I endeavor to be that kind of person for other people. Tsubame is exactly this kind of person and it gives Sakura the spark she was unable to give herself to become herself.

Tsubame is cringe. Boring people always see passion as cringe. Tsubame give Sakura permission to express herself. Society rewards conformity, not expressivity. Tsubame catalyzes action.  Fears keep people from acting. Tsubame is a wave of change and action in a world that rewards stagnation and inaction. Despite everyone labeling Tsubame as cringe, they come to see the play she and Sakura have created and, friends, it was magnificent. 

Is this “Yuri”? I don’t know. I don’t care.  Shiho Satou and Kiki Emoda have created a story that is exactly as captivating to me as Tsubame is to Sakura. 

A Curtain Call For You, Volume 1 is  available for pre-order now from Vertical Comics/Kodansha, with a November release date. I think you should read it and tell me what you think. I thought it was amazing. 

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – ?

Overall – 9

Thank you to Kodansha for the review copy, and thank you to ANN for giving me a chance to read it early. I already look forward to Volume 2.





The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 7

October 26th, 2025

Two young women in brown maid costumes with pink aprons and wearing cat ears walk arm in arm down a school hallway during a culture festival, smiling and laughing as they talk. Please allow me a moment of self-indulgence as I note that when I reviewed this volume in Japanese I re-read this volume 3 times, (and cried every time.) I  called this volume “absolute perfection” in my review. Now that I have read this volume once so far in English, I stand by my words.  The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 7 is absolute perfection. 

Every theme that this story has been building upon, every plot, every conversation, every moment leads us to a climactic school festival in which Kanon is about to face all of her fears all at once and find that with the help of the people around her, failure and success all have meaning. 

But first, we spend some time withKanon’s younger sister Rinne, whose new friend asks her what she wants to do. It takes a while before Rinne will admit she has some genuine desires, she’s so used to putting Kanon first. One of the repeated themes in this manga is how friendship works. Chiyama and Rinne are going to be good for one another, as each is there to help the other break out of their self-imposed boxes.

Then it’s time for Kanon to face her own limitations and fears. First, she fails and in failure learns a bit about her own pride. She’s reunited with Ayano, and now unexpectedly has yet another ally (and let’s spend a moment thinking how completely amazing that the old, broken relationship that festers for ages tropes is just…not. Good riddens to that!) Fortified by the support of the people around them, Kanon and Saki lead their class in the chorus competition. I want to address the choice of song here for a moment. It is true that Ebony and Ivory is a saccharine piece of music, but it was McCartney’s first-ever duet and the intention was, quite obviously to be a piece about racial equality. While this may seem simplistic, the South African apartheid government banned it, so even that simplistic a message terrified them.

When we consider that a high school class is meant to be singing this, we can understand that while we might not respect the music ourselves, it is an excellent choice for the story as a metaphor for diversity. And for this story, the song does it’s job. Kanon and Saki lead their class in a successful performance.

Kanon,  having achieved something so significant for herself with Saki’s help, for the first time realizes how little she knows about her friend. Not to beat up on a closet metaphor (because I don’t doubt we’ll be doing that with Saki soon,) but even Kanon understands that she’s able to step out of her little world into a bigger one now.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – Maid costumes with cat ears? Someone’s gonna be happy about that. 
Yuri – Holding at a muted 4, but it’s not not there.

Overall – 10

This series just keeps getting better and better. Every volume is fantastic. Volumes 1-10 of Amayo no Tsuki are out in Japan and I am just waiting with baited breath for Volume 11.





Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 9

October 21st, 2025

Two girls, one with shoulder-length blonde hair and the other with long black hair, wearing Japanese school uniform hold hands and look deeply into one another's eyes.In Volume 8, Shiho finally admits to the “other” reason she split from Aki’s band. Yes, she does want to be a pro and is driven to excel beyond just having fun, and yes, she lives with the memory of a dead friend and rival she can never surpass haunting her…but mostly, it’s because she’s in love with Aki. It is this last that proved the impassable barrier, until Himari forced Shiho and Aki to have it out. 

Here in Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 9 Himari isn’t done. In her role as cupid, she knows that it’s Aki’s turn to say something, so she forces Shiho to be there to listen. Aki take the opportunity of the finale of their Battle of the Bands set to talk intimately to Shiho…in front of the entire school. 

The school festival comes to an end. Unsurprisingly, Laurelei wins the battle. It would make no sense for it to be otherwise. (This was something that the anime did very well. SS Girls had cute music, but Laurelei’s song were amazing. ) Shiho, having had every one of the many wounds she let fester finally lanced, has no choice now except to try and be the person she was avoiding being. She must embrace joy and love…and everyone is watching over her to make sure she doesn’t fuck it up this time. ^_^ This arc took a long time to come to this point, but I think Shiho and Aki are perfect idiots and will be just fine together. Now we can all move on.

This volume reminds us that Hajime and Momoko are a story we have yet to address, but they are not where the next arc will take us.  The fantasy element of this story means that it isn’t going to drag these characters through the next morning angst of having to go to school where everyone knows your business. For the moment, we’re all free to just be a bunch of happy teens in and around a band.

Ratings:

Art – 8  The art is good, but the closeups are getting so close at this point, it is sometimes hard to see what we are looking at.
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

Who will be paired up next? IYKYK!

9 Volumes in, and with only a very few scenes as exceptions – and those, only mild exceptions – I still think this story is one you can give to just about anyone to read. It’s sweet and earnest and occasionally intense. Kodansha’s team continues to do amazing work on it. As schoolgirl Yuri goes, I consider this one of the best series I have read. 





Girl Crush, Volumes 1-2

October 15th, 2025

Cover of volume 1 of Girl Crush. On a hot pink background, a young woman with long blonde hair, wears a black and red halter top and skirt, and a white short jacket, smiling at us, her left hand curled at her lip.by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

Originally hailing from Shinchosha and released by Line Manga online, Midori Tayama’s Girl Crush has been released digitally in English by Comikey since 2021, but has now been picked up by Viz Media for a print release.

In Girl Crush, Volume 1,Tenka Momose protects herself by being better at everything than anyone else, standing atop her pedestal where she’s admired and idolised by everyone else at school. But one day, she learns of her seemingly very average classmate Sato Erian’s ambition to become a K-pop idol. Scornful at first, Erian’s determination to achieve her dreams soon draws Tenka in and now’s she’s auditioning in Korea as well…

“Girl Crush” – “K-pop slang for a cool girl that other girls idolise” (volume 1, p33)

I have to admit, the first thing which drew me to volume 1 when I saw it on the new releases shelf was the title, but I did find the premise interesting enough to buy it as well. There’s plenty of idol anime and manga out there, but K-pop centred stories are much rarer. I also stayed a night in Shin-Okubo (Tokyo’s Koreatown) when I was in Japan in 2018 and found the K-pop fandom there fascinating, especially given the political relations between Korea and Japan. These days as well, one of the most popular K-pop groups, BLACKPINK, has several international members so the idea of a Japanese person getting into a K-pop group isn’t so far fetched.

At first Tenka seems to be your typical perfect protagonist, but thankfully there is more to her than that. Right at the very beginning of the story we learn that as a small child she was actually rather shy and preferred to sit in the corner with a book. She also lives only with her father, it’s implied that her mother cheated on him when Tenka was a child, so there’s definitely more to learn about there. Fast forward to high school and Tenka still has a crush on her childhood friend Harumi, but when she asks him how he feels about Erian, he says he likes her, and Tenka’s world suddenly turns upside down. She knows she’s better than Erian in every way, so what does he see in her?

“She scares me. That sincerity of hers. A girl like that could steal everything.”

Cover of Girl Crush volume 2. On a bright blue background, a girl with brown hair in twin tails, holds her right hand coquettishly at her mouth. She poses, wearing a white t-shirt over a fishhnet long-sleeves, red short skirt.

As Girl Crush, Volume 2 opens, Erian and Tenka head to Korea together, and audition at one of the big agencies, not before an impromptu singing session on the street when a strange man approaches Tenka and gives her his business card, inviting her to audition at another agency. Volume 1 ends with Erian being called back for a second round of auditions at the original agency, while Tenka is not, and for the first time in her life she realises that it’s not just perfection which makes people like and respect you. Determined not to lose to Erian, Tenka visits the mysterious agency, meets the strange man again, is accepted as a trainee there and our rivalry is set up by the end of volume 2. Conveniently, her father is supportive because he trusts her to not do anything half hearted. Erian’s mother is briefly mentioned as being supportive, but unlike Tenka’s father, she doesn’t appear on the page, it’s just in a passing moment.

I enjoyed the moment when Tenka does Erian’s makeup for her and I hope their relationship continues to develop. I feel like these two volumes read together are a good introduction to the story and characters, and I am interested to see how the rivalry develops in future volumes as well as if Erina’s “girl crush” on Tenka becomes something more.

 

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6 Some cliched moments but not enough to ruin it.
Characters – 7
Service – 1 A bath scene but not detailed
Yuri – 1 It has potential but I think most of the yuri will be in the readers’ imaginations.

Overall – 6.5 . An interesting take on the rivals premise, and I’m rooting for both girls to succeed.





Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Volume 5

October 10th, 2025

Two women stand in the yard of a Japanese home, laundry in a basket behind them on the veranda, as they dance. A woman with short dark hair, draped in a sheet as a dress, laughs as she is dipped by a taller woman with long blonde hair, wearing denim jeans and jacket.It has been a bit of while since we took a look at Suga Asako and her landlord, former idol group leader Miyako. This adult slice of life story by Yodokawa is the perfect manga to sink into for some emotional comfort food. 

Asako and Miyako are comfortable now thinking of themselves as a couple. After visiting Miyako’s family, Asako is looking forward to her days with her landlord, but when Matsuba stops by and makes her truly consider what that future means, Asako finds herself once again at a loss. 

But all that needs to be put aside, because Miyako has been found by paparazzi hanging out with the current Elm members and it has created instability for all of them. Miyako and Elm suggest a bold plan to quell rumors and set the past behind them.

There is something charming and special in this slice-of-not-everday-life. Few among us are ever going to have to live the life of an idol, or be partner to one. (I admit to spending surprising amount of time thinking about just that, as our Yuricon mascot Yuriko is exactly that kind of mega-popular idol and I think about the next novella about her when I am not able to sleep, which is frequently. ^_^;) But there are so many things in this story which might resonate with anyone – navigating complex feelings, letting someone into one’s life, meeting family, building a future. All of that is something any adult might experience, even if one’s partner is not mega- (or even micro-)famous .

Yodokawa’s art has grown into this story, as well. Along with fantastic expressions, body language here is exceptional, particularly as the story builds up to the climax.

Ratings: 

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 9

Overall  – 9

This is an immensely satisfying end to an entertaining and satisfying series. I look forward to more from Yodokawa-sensei, for sure.