Review: SAKURA'S DEDICATION

April showers are bringing us a month of manga with flowery titles.  It's also the season for sakura blossoms, so naturally we should start with a schoolroom romance featuring a Sakura.

SAKURA'S DEDICATION (Sakura wa Watashi o Sukisugiru), by Fuyu Yukimiya.  First published in 2021 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Sawa's just broke up with her boyfriend for cheating on her.  Her classmate Sakura confesses to her almost immediately upon hearing this, but she turns him down because he's just not her type.  He's not deterred, though, and soon Sawa begins to understand that maybe what she needs isn't someone who is 'her type,' but instead someone loyal, honest, and true.

Review: VAMPIRE DORMITORY

 Don't think that I'm going to leave the ladies out of this month, though.  There's a long tradition of girls posing as boys in shojo manga and this...is not the best example of that.

VAMPIRE DORMITORY (Vanpaia Domitori), by Ema Toyama.  First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2021.

PLOT:

Mito Yamamoto just can't catch a break.  Her parents are dead, she's been kicked out of school, and now just lost her job.  She's been posing as a man to protect herself, but if anything that just brings her nothing but unwanted attention from girls and women.  It's enough to drive her to attempt suicide...until Ruka came along.  

It's been a decade since Ruka felt the urge to feed on a human, but he can't seem to keep himself away from this mysterious boy.  He makes Mito an offer they cannot refuse: to become his thrall.  Mito will be enrolled in his fancy vampire high school, stay in his lavish dorm, and work alongside him at a butler cafe.  In return, Mito will allow Ruka to drink his blood and accept whatever care and affection he can offer (since it will make Mito's blood even sweeter).  Mito's fine with all of that, but how is she going to keep her true gender under wraps in a school full of handsome bloodsuckers?

Review: YUBISAKI MILK TEA

Puberty is a time when a lot of people (be they real or fictional) explore their gender presentation.  This particular manga is not the best representation of it, though.

YUBISAKI MILK TEA (Yubisaki Miruku Ti), by Tomochaka Miyano.  First published in 2002 and first published in North America in 2006.

PLOT:

Yoshinori isn't entirely sure what to do.  First, his childhood friend Hikari starting acting weirdly around him.  Then he finds himself drawn to his brainy classmate Kurokawa.  When Kurokawa starts tutoring him, jealousies flare and Yoshinari has to come to terms with himself, his friends, and his fondness for cross-dressing even as growing up makes all of these things more complicated.

Review: THIGH HIGH: REIWA HANAMARU ACADEMY

This month we'll be looking at some the ways that manga plays with flipping sexes and genders.  Since March is also the time for the start of the new school year in Japan, this series seems doubly suitable to kick things off.

THIGH HIGH: REIWA HANAMARU ACADEMY (Reiwa Hanamaru Gakuen), by Kotobuki.  First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2021.

PLOT:

Hanamaru High School is a place where handsome young men can enjoy their free and youthful days.  Alas, this is not the case for the uptight, prudish, and socially awkward class representative Kiritani.  Thankfully his friend Harumi is there to help him get over his hang-ups and maybe even help out some of the other lovely boys with their own problems.

Review: HAPPY CRAPPY LIFE

It takes a lot of talent to write a BL comedy about two messy dudes trying to fix their respective lives and make it work, and this manga is the proof of just such a talent.

HAPPY CRAPPY LIFE (Happi Kuso Raifu), by Harada.  First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2023.

PLOT:

Kasuya had it all: a powerful, high-paying job, an engagement to his boss's daughter, and all the benefits of big-city nightlife.  Thanks to a sex scandal, he was shipped out alone to the countryside, left to stagnate in a small town full of gossipy old men and Kuzuya, a jobless, horny mess of a man.  

When a visit to the local bar leads to Kasuya's big secret going public, Kasuya realizes he can't go back to his old life.  Furthermore, Kuzuya is more than happy to indulge Kasuya's love of butt stuff since he can't get laid either.  That one terrible, drunken night might be the beginning of something beautiful for them both...if they can just figure out how to tolerate one another first.