Archive for the The Guy She Was Interested In / KiniOto Category


The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 3

December 26th, 2025

On a vivid green background, drawn in black and white, guitar picks flying around as in a high wind, two girls look at us. One, in t-shirt and jeans, holds a guitar, the other in blouse and skirt, their hair and clothes flying wildly.We left Mitsuki and Aya at the end of Volume 2 (which I apparently never reviewed in English, sorry!), becoming closer, in a charmingly awkward way. Because of Mitsuki’s rescue of Aya’s previous relationships, her fashionable friends Mau and Chizuru have not dumped Aya. As a result, Mitsuki has found herself adopted by a bunch of fashionable girls, and Narita, who is the nicest narcissist we’ve ever met. It’s all good, but exhausting for an introvert.

Volume 3 of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, will encompass the school trip, a music festival, the school festival, exams, and a surprise prom. More importantly, bolstered by Aya and her friends, Volume 3 will give us Mitsuki coming out as the butch she is, in one of the finest comic chapters of the year. ^_^

Sumiko Arai’s manga about two girls bonding over “Dad rock” is absolutely grin-making for this Gen Xer. I don’t have the least bit of nostalgia for the music of the 90’s and 00’s, but I’m enjoying the ongoing soundtrack of this series, and the quiet ways it’s stomping on tropes of coming out in school. 

There are a number of laugh out loud moments as well. “Narita Geographic” make me giggle in Japanese and I was looking forward to reading it again in English. I also just loved the retrospective of Chizuru giving relationship advice without really caring what she said. ^_^

Quick shout out to Brandon Bovia for fantastic lettering.

I imagine that many of use are also following the manga online, so I don’t need to tell you what happens, but I will tell you that Volume 4 will be released in Japan in February and I am ready. In the meantime, it was wonderful that this volume made it in before the end of the year.  This manga is definitely a bright spot in this dark winter. ^_^

Ratings: 

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – Yes, Mitsuki in the lesbian uniform of slacks and vest is 100% service
Yuri – 7…8…9…

Overall – 9

We are about to embark on our Okazu Top Yuri list journey and this and a few other titles have been so extraordinary, they will get their own list! Keep your eyes peeled for both lists. ^_^





The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t Guy At All Wins Best New Manga Award

August 22nd, 2025

Last night at the American Manga Awards, hosted by Anime NYC and the Japan Society, Sumiko Arai’s contemporary Yuri romance manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t Guy At All won the Best New Manga Series award.

This series has been a game changer, from breaking the walls on merchandise and marketing to significant sales. Of course Arai-sensei’s art and story are phenomenal, with likable characters and a romance we are all invested in, plus a great built in soundtrack. ^_^ But there’s more going on here – Yen and Kinokuniya have mad massive investment in promoting this title, and that’s paid off in a way that has let Yen know that Yuri is worth promoting. 

I have a lot of thoughts about this of course, but let me just say, congratulations to Arai-sensei, to the team and Yen Press and to all of us here at Okazu!





Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった)

March 23rd, 2025

On a bright neon green background, drawn in black and white, guitar picks flying around as in a high wind, two girls look at us. One, in t-shirt and jeans, holds a guitar, the other in blouse and skirt, their hair and clothes flying wildly.

Up until this volume, there has been almost no conflict of any kind in Arai Sumiko’s school and music Yuri series. In Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3, (気になってる人が男じゃなかった), we are now meant to take this story seriously enough that there are several situations that pass for conflict.

But first! A music festival. Aya, Mitsuki, Narita, Jo and Kanna all got to Fuji Rock, and have camping/festival fun and trauma. If you have ever done a massively large camping/event all of this will be so familiar to you that you, like I, smiled – and grimaced – with renewed memories. It rains. I remember that.

The music festival is the catalyst for everything else in this volume. Mitsuki, enamored of the acts on stage fantasizes about joining them. Aya is of course egging her on, as she too loves to see Mitsuki on stage. This precipitates several crises. I will avoid spoilers here, as this is the plot, but the crises are, simply, Mitsuki shedding her “school” persona for her truer self which then reverbs into a crisis for Aya who is 10000% Mitsuki’s fan and friend and also disproportionately jealous about Mitsuki in a way that causes her to create distance between then in order to preserve their “friend”ship over the “relation”ship they were building.  This all builds up to a very funny scene, in which Narita narrates “Narita Geographic.” I laughed out loud at that.

The other crisis is…the prom. Narita comes across the school principal crying at a movie that culminates in a romantic prom scene. In one of those moments where the series chooses to 86 reality for plot sake, Narita encourages the idea of prom at their school and the principal, says, “Great, you handle it.” Thus, a prom will happen. There will be yet another conflict, exacerbated by all the previous conflicts. If you are concerned at the outcome, I suggest you follow Arai-sensei on one of her several socials. The spoiler is worth it. I amend that to, the spoilers are always worth it. ^_^

I have mentioned several times that my wife and I do not like the same things much of the time. Even when we like a thing, it is often for different reasons. In the case of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, she reads Volume 1, then Volume 2, then starts again and is impatiently waiting for Volume 3. I, on the other hand, am impatiently waiting for Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 4. YES, I know what happens. I want the whole book anyway.  We must both wait as Volume 2 in English and Volume 3 in Japanese are recent releases, but we can foot tap if we want. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 3  Mitsuki being cool is still this series’ service
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

As I pointed out upon returning from New York City, knowing that mid-town Kinokuniya is fully decked out in green advertising for this series is nice, but actually *seeing* how much expensive retail space this series is taking up, is something else. Like, a whole order up of “holy crow.” Kino, Kadokawa and Yen are advertising this series in a way I have never, ever, seen for a Yuri story. As the series in question is lovely and sweet and charming and fun, it feels extra wonderful. No “yay for Yuri, but ugh, what a shitty series.” We can offer this our full-throated, full-hearted support…and we can get merch! By buying a copy of this volume at Kino, I now have an adorable standee and a rubber bracelet “signed” by Mitsuki, as well as a wonderful volume of a delightful Yuri manga. ^_^





Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった)

September 30th, 2024

Pictured: On a green background, a person in a hoodie, glasses and a mask, with a wrist tattoo of a musical frequency, crouches down to look at us, while a high school girl with long, wavy hair stands above them, looking down at them with a shocked expression.Last week, I was able to review the upcoming Yen Press release of Sumiko Arai’s popular manga The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All. It was a pleasure to share that review because Yen had done a very good job.I hope you’ll all read that review, and pre-order the book.

While I was on vacation, I took the Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった) with me to listen to on the plane.  And it, too, was fun. The cast did a terrific job, with the OTT reactions of the story. Ise Mariya as Mitsuki and especially Kito Akari as Aya really carried the narrative.

Going into this, I was very interested in how they would handle the issue of the music, since 90s 00s music are at the heart of this story. As popular as this series is, there was no way they were going to license every song mentioned in the manga. The approach they took was interesting. We mostly hear the music as if we are listening to someone else listening to them on earphones, so the notes are muted and the tune is implied by a short riff or a bass line. It worked well if you are familiar with the songs in question.

At the climax of the CD, they did license one song, Radiohead’s Creep – a great choice for the story and for Ise’s voice.

The Special Edition includes an booklet with a new, short manga showing us little Aya’s discovery of western rock, and a cute scene between her and Miysuki in story time.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Music – 9 The climax is on point
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Like most Drama CDs, nothing new is added to the story, but it gives us a new perspective on the characters as we hear them now as they torture themselves. ^_^ It was a fun time with characters we’ve already grown to like, which is what we want from a CD. And if Ise and Kito are the voices used for the anime…they’ll be great. 





The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1

September 22nd, 2024

Because Sumiko Arai’s school life rom-com is absolutely one of this year’s most-anticipated Yuri series in English, I’m going to give it straight to you right up front. You know I have never pulled punches when I review Yuri before and I will not now.

I have read this edition through twice now and Yen Press did a REALLY GOOD job.

I can say with absolute conviction that you should run right out and pre-order The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, Volume 1, which will be headed your way one month from today. ^_^

Aya is a popular and fashionable young woman, who has a secret. She finds comfort in listening to western rock music of the 1990’s and 2000’s. When she’s by herself, lost in her music, she finds her own rhythm. She can’t share her musical tastes, they are too obscure and she kind of likes it that way. One day Aya walks into a grungy CD store and is blown away by the cool guy behind the counter. As days pass they share music and Aya realizes she’s got a full-on crush. But she’s not the only one with a secret. Sitting next to Aya at school is nerdy background-type Mitsuki….who is the “guy” in the CD store. It’ll take some intervention, but Mitsuki and Aya will start to open up to one another in the first volume of this popular online Yuri manga.

What most first-time readers will notice right away is the unique color scheme. As I noted in my review of this volume in Japanese, “With its uniquely visible color scheme of black, white and a vivid green, new pages of this comic were always super noticeable whenever they came across my feed. The art in this manga reflects the online sensibility too, I think. With unique perspectives on panel structure, body language and expression, this comic feels somehow grounded in street art and manga art at the same time.” You can see how the angles (what we in my house refer to as “Batman angles” after the kitschy 1960s television show) and the breaking of the panel walls, create a dynamic feel to a story in which, realistically, people are mostly not “doing” anything. It’s a great look that I’ve already seen adopted elsewhere.

The plot is not new, but the handling of it is gentle and kind-hearted. Nosy classmate Narita is rooting for these two just as we are – he pushes them into each other’s way in a fun way. Both the angst and the comedy notes hit just right. As the volume comes to a close, a classic plot complication is revealed, which is resolved in a not-classic way, thankfully.

Volume 1 is a fun read that leaves you wanting more. As I said, Yen did a terrific job reproducing the story. The color is vivid and so is the language. Ajani Oloye did a fantastic job on the translation, really nailing the core concepts in English. It felt natural and fun all the way through. I have no criticisms except Yen’s house style for lettering. Brandon Bovia does amazing work and should have been give the chance to retouch more. That’s an ongoing whinge though, nothing to do with this book, particularly.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9 Even the side characters are fun
Service – Admiring the cool onii-san that turns out to be a chick is always great service.  Oh, and page 49. ^_^
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

As highly-anticipated series go, this may well be Yen’s best effort to date. Fun, colorful, charming, you’ll definitely want this book.