arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

This delightful manga follows a spunky tanuki who comes to the big city to trick humans-- only to find out the days of tanuki mischief are over, and she's left unable to fulfill her dreams until she discovers the art of rakugo. Hilarity ensues when she tries to convince Bunko, a master of rakugo, to take her on so she can learn to trick humans with words instead of tanuki illusions. 

I absolutely adored this! The art style was fresh and cute, and I loved the relationship between Bunko and Mameda. This felt like a wonderful, funny homage to traditional Japanese storytelling and I'm really looking forward to seeing where this series is going! It was well-paced and I enjoyed the hijinks and themes. Can't wait to read volume 2! 

arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

This harem shoujo follows a young atheist (17) who dreams of being a doctor, but finds his plans for the future in a mess when he's taken in by a shrine priest on the condition that he pursue and marry one of his three granddaughters. Finding his beliefs and heart tested, Kamihate has no idea how he's going to survive to get into Kyoto University with three beautiful girls tormenting him. 

I ended up not liking this much. There are some funny moments, but to me, the characters felt flat and the sisters didn't seem to have much competition. The youngest sister (14) is a sporty menace, but I felt her age to be much too young for me to be comfortable with. Right now, Kamihate's scenes with her are a bit uncomfortable. The oldest sister (20) is a spacey ditz who loves art and of course, has a huge chest. On the other hand, she felt too old and very fanservice-y. The clearly viable choice is the middle sister (17) who's the aggressive tsundere, but inside cares about her sister and grows to admire the main character. If he doesn't end up with her, I'll eat my hat, which made the other interactions with the sisters fall flat. 

If he ends up with all three of them, I'll eat my hat, but for different reasons. If the sisters had been closer in age (maybe 16, 17, and 19, for example), I would have enjoyed this book a lot more for just the illusion of choice. I won't be continuing with this series, mostly because I can tell where it's going, and if it tries to go with a different option to subvert expectations I'll be disappointed anyways. 

 arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

This manga was SO funny! The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch follows Yoshida, a man who has had a spectacularly unrequited crush on his oblivious best friend, a scatterbrained mangaka he's been supporting for free since her debut. I loved the team cheering him on and their silly antics! I'm a person who loves books about books, so reading manga about manga was a fun experience! 

Maybe it's me being allergic to slowburn, but I would have hoped for some small development in this manga. Otherwise, I quite enjoyed this and would recommend to shoujo lovers out there! 

arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

Where do I even start with this one.... 

I supposed I'll start with the pros. Lightning and Romance is a sweet high school romance budding between Sumire, a lovestruck, sheltered girl into fashion and cute things and Reo, her bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold seatmate who goes by Lightning due to the scar on his face. Reo has nasty rumors swirling around him, but as he shows Sumire that he's not all he seems, she begins to fall for him and start her first real romance. Which is a concept I love (especially since Reo reminds me strongly of one of my favorite characters ever) but why on earth does he have to be 20 years old?! 

I feel like almost nothing would have changed if Reo was 18. I guess it was to lend some credibility to his actually bad history, but when the first couple pages were his grandpa asking him why the hell he's still there, I had to laugh because he's right! What are you doing here! This romance ended up making me laugh so often because I just... I had no idea why that choice was made. The fact that I tweeted about it and too many people had OTHER manga to share anecdotes about... this is a problem. 

I think it has an interesting premise and despite the unnecessary age difference, I'll be problematic and admit some of the scenes made my heart melt. I am no stranger to manga that start out problematic and end up redeeming themselves later, but I'm also no stranger to manga that start out problematic and keep the train wreck burning. However... their age gap was really the single glaring issue and I'm nosy enough to want to know what else happens, so I'll probably continue the series eventually, if it comes to my library. 

 arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

This new shoujo follows a girl and her four childhood friends during spring 2020 as their feelings for each other slowly change. Starting out with a terrible birthday in 2030, Mizuha reflects back on ten years ago when she had another terrible birthday, one that resulted in her childhood friend Kizuki confessing feelings for her. Over the course of the manga, the mounting anxiety of competitions getting canceled and dreams being dashed somehow makes the five friends' feelings and their springtime youth shine brighter. 

I thought it was really interesting to have a romance story set during the start of the pandemic. I loved the author's intention, but something about the character design and plot ended up falling slightly flat for me. I think if you're someone who enjoys sweet shoujo with a bit of a reverse harem, you'll most likely enjoy this quick read without a problem. 

 arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review 

This precious manga absolutely warmed my heart! A collection of vignettes follows a young woman as she discovers a "dog" who can write and brings him home. The small stories follow their summer together and I absolutely loved every page of this. It was cute, wholesome, and a perfect read. I can't wait to read the second volume! 

This fantasy story follows a young man who, per the title, has been given the worthless 'appraiser' class. Usually the lackey of stronger warriors and higher ranked heroes, our main character finds him sacrificed by them during a surprise dungeon raid-- only to fall to depths and charm the sacred guardian tree hidden within, granting him a special power that may help him rise to the top. 

I enjoyed the art style but, at the risk of this being an unhelpful review, I couldn't find any reason to either like or dislike it. There wasn't anything super special about it, but it wasn't the worst either. I liked the character design, but nothing jumped out about it that made me really want to continue.