#Yamada Fumie

[glorifiedwalkinggun]

obssessed with this woman

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[devilsrains]

eroica 35th anniversary book

by keiko yamada, waki yamato, yuuki masami, yoshikawa utata & yoshinaga fumi

[dr-rarepair-week-blog]

My favorite rarepair is HifumixGundham because of how sweet and extra they are when they geek out over their nerd shit. Like they're so enthusiastic that Kiibo gets fully into hearing about the anime villain backstory they invent for him. And Gundham has obviously read Hifumi's doujin because he knows about the nsfw ones.

They sneak off together all the time to read manga. Gundham is always 100% in the cliche shounen stuff with 8500 panels of powering up before a battle while Hifumi reads his moe Piggles shit but whenever they hit a cool scene they swap volumes so the other one can read it too.

Also they hold hands.

Oh YES finally someone mentioned them!

Hifumi bounces his ideas off of Gundham and works out the kinks in his stories. They have the most intense conversations about manga and art and which characters could beat who. Forget what I said the other night, THEY call their friends and discuss these things and their friends try to keep up. Years later if you bring up The Great Piggles Debate they'll immediately start up the argument again, but it's all in jest.

When they're not talking about that, Gundham is rambling about animals. He loves showing Hifumi the animals he's currently working with, and sometimes Hifumi ends up taking inspiration from them! Gundham also has trouble with physical touch, so when he lets Hifumi hold his hand for the first time it's An Event™.

[saccharinescorpion]

when i saw that today’s Skip and Loafer episode partially adapted the bonus strip where Mitsumi freaks out Fumi with a sea slug i was kind of hoping they’d squeeze in the return of Doggy Shima too but alas (Yamada strip also included because it’s cute)

[haru-rain]

One thing I noticed while rereading the Skip to loafer chapters: the reaction Sousuke has when Fumi asks him if he likes Mitsumi, he also has when Yamada and Mukai ask him if he's dating Mitsumi but also when Kanechika asks Sousuke if he'd be interested in becoming the new president of the drama club.

I think it shows how much he puts being president and loving Mitsumi on a pedestal. He has no right to be in that position, that's what he surely thinks.

It's very sad because even if Sousuke doesn't see his qualities, Mitsumi and Kanechika do. He's a good mediator, which is an important quality for a president.

[lesboymetaknight]

A friend of mine did this a while ago, you know who you are ;D, and it made me want to do one of my own. It took so long, because this went through many edits.

Anyways here they are from left to right, top to bottom:

1. Utenanthy (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

2. Madohomu (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

3. Anis x Euphie (The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady)

4. Rupphire (Steven Universe)

5. Midzel (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)

6. Diakko (Little Witch Academia)

7. Usarei (Sailor Moon)

8. Alphyne (Undertale)

9. Kyosaya (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

10. Catradora (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

11. Bumbleby (RWBY)

12. Ao x Mira (Asteroid in Love)

13. Princess Amira x Princess Sadie (Princess Princess Ever After)

14. Flutterdash (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

15. Harumichi (Sailor Moon)

16. Yamada x Kase (Asagao to Kase-san)

17. Rankane (Ranma 1/2)

18. Papicoco (Flip Flappers)

19. Starfruit (Super Mario Series)

20. Akira x Fumi (Aoi Hana)

21. Chibitaru (Sailor Moon)

22. Rin x Miku (Vocaloid)

23. Nanofate (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)

24. Bubbline (Adventure Time)

25. Whispangle (Sonic IDW Comics)

[saffronapplemanga]

Recent Read Manga Recommendation Round Up (plus anime!) - Part 4

Manga/anime I’ve been enjoying recently! Links to part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Twitter link to this post here.

~Links to my other manga posts~ My personal favs/ones I super enjoyed will have a ✨ on them :)

Some of these don't have official (or unofficial) EN translations since I read a lot of JP-only manga and I’d like to make people aware of those titles too! My hope is that bringing awareness to them will help get them licensed :) I guess if any sound interesting, ask publishers to license them!

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

SLICE OF LIFE

✨ Aquatope of the White Sand by P.A. Works

(24 episodes)

I worked on the subs for this anime for an Asian streaming service and it was a lot of fun! I feel like this anime was overlooked though. It has beautiful animation and we follow a fun cast of characters living in Okinawa and working in aquariums!

ALTERNATE HISTORY

✨ Ooku: The Inner Chambers by Yoshinaga Fumi

(19 volumes, complete)

Available in English (hats off to the EN localization team, excellent work!)

Ooku is an alternate history taking place in Edo period Japan where a plague wipes out a large portion of the male population. This story is insanely well-written, gripping, and nuanced. It's not "lol men get wiped out and we get girl bosses". I can't get over how big-brained Yoshinaga-sensei is for writing this masterpiece. No words I have will do it justice. Just read it!

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

FANTASY

✨ Love Condemns Her by Hana Chatani

(one shot)

Support the creator and pick it up here!

Hana Chatani is one of my favorite artists I've been following for years. Their artwork is mesmerizing to me and I can't get enough. This is a lovely short story inspired by The Little Mermaid.

HISTORICAL, WW2

COCOON by Kyou Machiko

(one shot)

JP only

A one-shot manga based on the real-life events in Okinawa during WW2 and the school girls who were made to be nurses.

MYSTERY

Kujaku no Dance Dare ga Mita? by Asami Rito

(5 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

A former cop is killed and leaves a letter behind for his daughter, thus setting in motion the mystery of who was the real murderer.

HORROR, SUPERNATURAL

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window by Yamashita Tomoko

(10 volumes, complete+extra volume)

JP only

From the same author as Ikoku Nikki. Honestly, I'm not sure how to explain this title LOL. It's very strange and creepy and silly and... yeah. It was super fun to buddy read it with Colleen from Colleen's Manga Recs.

DRAMA

Hibari no Asa by Yamashita Tomoko

(2 volumes, complete)

JP only

Another one by Yamashita Tomoko! Be warned, this title is upsetting. It's a very good and important manga, but lord... I did not have fun reading it T-T

We follow 14-year-old Hibari, who is sexualized and treated adversely because of her more "developed/sensual" body.

ROMANCE

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 by Mashiro

(13 episodes, 9 volumes, ongoing)

Available in English

A fun rom-com :)

DYSTOPIAN, POST-APOCOLYPTIC

Heavenly Delusion by Ishiguro Masakazu

(13 episodes, 10 volumes, ongoing)

Available in English

This OP didn't have to go so hard.

I'm sorry idk what to say about this one either other than it's a dystopian. I watched it a while ago and it's not super fresh in my brain right now.

DRAMA, SUPERNATURAL, ROMANCE

My Happy Marriage by Agitogi Akumi

(12 episodes)

I didn't realize the series had supernatural elements at first so I think that was a cool addition. And the character dynamics are also quite interesting.

[princess-of-the-corner]

CC!NextGen

Other random shit you can take or leave (sometimes, you just need to share!) : )

Hirokazu (surname to be determined)

- absolutely looks more like his “Mom”

- Unlike Hawks, who has red wings, or Nijiko, who has the whole rainbow of feathers, but her most prominent controllable ones are red, Hirokazu’s wings are shades of blue. (And you’ll never guess what colour his flames are, when they finally come in!)

- Hirokazu would probably connect more with Dabi 

- timeline for the Program’s “Future Heroes”: Edgelord came first; Nijiko and Hirokazu, within a few months of each other; a few “defects” (kids that didn’t, uh, “make it to term”); Nijiko’s Mom books it; Nijiko is found by Fumi; a few months later, her adoption is made public; program scrambles, focus switches to the two they’ve got; by the “present”, they feel the program has “proven itself”, so are starting on more “projects”. They have three “up-and-comers” (all under age five) that they are planning to train.

Possible Heroes “Involved” in the Program (Who’s DNA they could get, * next to who they’d WANT BADLY)

All Might*

Miruko

Dynamite - Katsuki Bakugou (unlikely)

Best Jeanist

Gang Orca

Eraserhead - Shota Aizawa*

Kurogiri/Loud Cloud - Oboro Shirakumo*

Present Mic - Hisashi Yamada (unlikely)

Nezu

Tentacole - Mezo Shouji

Phantom Thief - Neito Monoma*

Recovery Girl

Back Up! - Eri Aizawa-Yamada*

Deku - Izuku Midoriya (unlikely)*

-

Honestly they’re just wanting to yoink a lot of people but I think one thing we need to go back and nerf in some way is how they got Edgelord because like.

There’s a difference between how Nijiko and Hirokazu were made and Edgelord. Because the former two were essentially just surrogacy via IVF. But Edgelord was more properly cloned. And while he still needed work and isn’t fully a clone due to stitched DNA, if we leave it at that then the Commission could just get hair or something easy to yoink from all of those options and clone them willy nilly and we’d have a lot more experiment kids running around.

Hm.

I’m thinking we go full Jurassic Park and have a Lysine Contingency but accidental? Like there were other attempted clones before they figured out that there was some genetic default where they couldn’t produce some enzyme. This can be fixed with some kind of routine supplement, but without it they’d fall apart.

While some felt this was a bonus, as the defect meant that the resulting clone babies would be even more dependent on them and less likely to leave lest they die, it was generally agreed that having a Hero that would die without being given a supplement every few days is a Bad Thing™ that would lose them too many. They halted the project and aren’t going to make any more attempts before they can hammer out the kinks in the cloning process.

That said: they are using Edgelord as a bit of a guinea pig, in part because they don’t have any more AfO DNA samples to work with, to see if the defect will either fix itself or become worse with age.

[armchairsoapbox]

I’ve had a bit of time to think about Skip and Loafer after binge-reading through it after someone posted and said it was the best ✨aro✨ representation they’d seen recently and

When I was browsing through the tag in Tumblr I saw so many other fans talking about how Shima is beginning to realise he loves Mitsumi, following the most recent chapter with the beach trip, the chats that Shima had with Fumi and Mukai, and the crab moment.

And it could go that way, and it would still be a pretty nice story to read because it has still taken the time to ask what love and romance really means. Love is not treated as the obvious goal from the start and it’s not even taken for granted what it means, and what Shima ends up feeling is love, the development is organic enough and not forced.

BUT

What I would find more interesting and appealing is if Shima realises that Mitsumi is important to him, but that emotional connection doesn’t have to fit or be shoehorned into “love” or “romance”. Or alternatively that it is “love” — but it’s a broader conception of love that doesn’t fit neatly in the much more typical person/friend/lover schema that Mukai raised.

It would be much less amatonormative, yes, and of course I’m writing this here as someone who wants aro representation, but it would also be much more interesting to have that exploration of what love and romance means across the story (as seen eg. in Mitsumi and Yamada’s conversation, or Mitsumi asking Fumi what love feels like and being unsure if it’s something that’s that important to her) continue in this way.

Also, I’m wary of how Shima’s views on love are tied to his own experiences — I say “his experiences” and not “his trauma”, because I think the issue is that the hypothetical “Shima is learning that despite his past experiences love isn’t so bad and he can love after all” narrative path would also imply arospec feelings towards those they care about are damaged and should be healed, rather than fully valid in themselves.

Shima and Mitsumi are happy with one another’s companionship. They like each other for who they are, and care for one another. That relationship is important to both of them. Isn’t that enough?

[skipandloafer-anime]

Skip and Loafer chapter 51

There’s so much to say about these but yamada getting a soft boy filter surprised me. Also fumi. Why is fumi shaded in a way that she’s about to be the catalyst for drama. Mukai is just Mukai. bless him

[doumekiss]

My personal favorites of 2022

Books (Fiction)

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (Singshong)

The Murderbot Diaries Series (Martha Wells)

In other Lands (Sarah Rees Brennan)

Nona The Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Carrie Soto is Back (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

Nettle and Bone (T. Kingfisher)

The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks (Mackenzi Lee)

A Wizard's Guide to defensive Baking (T. Kingfisher)

The Iliad (Homer)

The Odyssey (Homer)

Tracy Flick Can't Win (Tom Perrotta)

Amber and Clay (Laura Amy Schlitz)

Nothing to see here (Kevin Wilson)

Sorrow and Bliss (Meg Mason)

Sea of Tranquility (Emily St. John Mandel)

Books (Non-fiction)

Nothing to Envy : Ordinary Lives in North Korea (Barbara Demick)

Empire of Pain : The Secret History of The Sackler Dynasty (Patrick Radden Keefe)

On the move : a life (Oliver Sacks)

The Road to Jonestown : Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple (Jeff Guin)

This is going to hurt (Adam Kay)

Voices from Chernobyl : The Oral History of a Disaster (Svetlana Alexievich)

Rogues : True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks (Patrick Radden Keefe)

Mean Baby (Selma Blair)

An Anthropologist on mars (Oliver Sacks)

I'm glad my mom died (Jennette McCurdy)

Killers of the flower moon (David Grann)

Awakenings (Oliver Sacks)

Last Night at the Viper Room (Gavin Edwards)

The Man who mistook his wife for a hat (Oliver Sacks)

Cultish : The Language of Fanaticism (Amanda Montell)

Mangas/Manwhas/Comics

Dungeon Meshi (Ryoko Kui)

Witch Hat Atelier (Kamome Shirahama)

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (Singshong, Sleepy-C)

Sousou no Frieren (Tsukasa Abe, Kanehito Yamada)

Beware The Villainess (Bbongdda Mask)

The Trash of The Count's Family (Yoo Ryeo Han)

The S-Classes I Raised (Geunseo)

Fun Home (Alison Bechdel)

Semantic Error (Jeo SuRi, Kim Angy)

I think our son is gay (Okura)

Villain Initialization (CuZn Moyou Tangman Culture)

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon (Coolkyousinnjya)

Couple of Mirrors (Li Zongchen)

Antique Bakery (Fumi Yoshinaga)

Sign (Ker)

TV Shows

Severance - S01

Yellowjackets - S01

Interview with the vampire - S01

Abbott Elementary - S01-S02

The Sandman - S01

Taskmaster - S12-S14

Spy x Family - S01

Dexter : New Blood - Minisseries

Our Flag Means Death - S01

Ghosts - S01-S02 (US)

Kevin Can Fuck Himself - S02

Kotaro Lives Alone - S01

Bocchi The Rock - S01

Chernobyl - Minisseries

Beastars - S01-S02

Movies

Pearl

Encanto

Fire Island

Everything Everywhere All at Once

X

What did you eat yesterday : The Movie

Perfect Blue

Bright Lights

Luca

House of Gucci

The Last Duel

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Spiderman : No Way Home

Class Action Park

Our Father

[animebw]

The Anime Binge-Watcher's Queer Anime Ship Tournament: Round 1 Results!

The first round has come to an end, and what a round it was! Huge blowouts, shocking reversals, hard choices, and many worthy opponents struck down by even worthier ones before they even got a chance to shine. This is already proving exactly as chaotic as I'd hoped, and I couldn't be more proud of y'all for it. So before we head on to round 2, here's a breakdown of how all the match-ups went and the most dramatic moments!

Most Voted Poll: Far and away the poll with the most votes was Bumbleby vs ToukoYuu, with a staggering 797 votes! No surprises there; both these ships are true all-timers with incredibly passionate fanbases who battled back and forth until the Bloomers pulled into a lead the RWBYheads just couldn't make up. But it was a well-fought battle! Second place goes to ChisaTaki vs MadoHomu with an equally impressive 698 votes, and NanoFate vs KobaTohru pulled an impressive third place with 497 votes.

Least Voted Poll: In a shock I didn't see coming, KukuFuuka vs KumiRei came in last with a measly 164 votes. I guess it's no surprise more people haven't heard of the criminally underrated Aquatope, but Kumirei??? One of the beloved gay ships in all of 2010s anime and so few people turned out for it? The mind just boggles, I tell ya. Second place goes to CocoPapi vs The Doukyuusei Boys with just 183, with AoiHina vs YukiTouya coming just behind with a 188 vote third place.

Biggest Blowout: Meanwhile, in the complete opposite of a shock, UtenAnthy absolutely demolished Ymir x Historia with a staggering 90.2% to 9.8% victory. Listen, I love my Attack on Titan girls, but they never stood a chance against one of the founding titans of queer anime love stories. Ditto poor ShamiMomo who went up against the newly crowned patron saint of anime lesbians SuleMio and got stomped 87.1% to 12.9% in second place. Compared to them, YukiTouya's third place finish against AoiHina with 74.5% to 25.5% doesn't seem like much, does it?

Closest Nail-Biter: In another big shock for me, the blowout victory I expected for NanoFate turned into the narrowest of losses against Kobayashi x Tohru, 50.5% to 49.5%- only a single percentage apart! Clearly, I underestimated how powerful the dragon lesbians have become in the years since their arrival. Kase x Yamada also just barely eked out a win against ReoMabu with a 51.2% to 48.8% second place finish. Third place went to Aoi Hana vs RekiLanga with a narrow 54.8% to 45.2% victory for RekiLanga.

As for me personally? Believe it or not, it was almost a perfect split! 9 of my picks made it through while the other 7 fell short. I'm shocked how close that ended up! Hopefully I'll have better luck in round 2, yeah? So gird your loins, everyone, cause the next round of voting will start very shortly!

COMPLETE STATS

1-A: Wei Wuxian x Lan Wangji (44.9%) vs Adachi x Shimamura (55.1%), 243 votes

1-B: Chisato x Takina (27.8%) vs Madoka x Homura (72.2%), 698 votes

1-C: Kase x Yamada (51.2%) vs Reo x Mabu (48.8%), 426 votes

1-D: Eiji x Ash (58.7%) vs Malori x Velverosa (41.3%), 283 votes

1-E: Suletta x Miorine (87.1%) vs Shamiko x Momo (12.9%) 325 votes

1-F: Anis x Euphie (29.7%) vs Claudine x Maya (70.3%) 316 votes

1-G: Aoi x Hinata (25.5%) vs Yukito x Touya (74.5%) 188 votes

1-H: Nanoha x Fate (49.5%) vs Tohru x Kobayashi (50.5%) 497 votes

1-I: Nozomi x Mizore (37.6%) vs Shinji x Kaworu (62.4%) 242 votes

1-J: Kukuru x Fuuka (29.9%) vs Kumiko x Reina (70.1%) 164 votes

1-K: Hibiki x Miku (72.2%) vs Mafuyu x Ritsuka (27.8%) 288 votes

1-L: Sasaki x Miyano (32.3%) vs Victor x Yuri (67.7%) 436 votes

1-M: Yang x Blake (61.7%) vs Yuu x Touko (38.3%) 797 votes

1-N: Cocona x Papika (65.6%) vs Hikaru x Rihito (34.4) 183 votes

1-O: Fumi x Akira (45.2%) vs Reki x Langa (54.8%) 241 votes

1-P: Utena x Anthy (90.2%) vs Ymir x Historia (9.8%) 378 votes

[deviouswhiz]

My wishes for Skip and Loafer

Makoto appreciates her own cuteness

Mika gets a partner/bf/gf (idc) and she also gains self-confidence in herself without downgrading herself or others.

Yamada and Tomoe remain a cute couple (Tomoe is so freaking cute)

Yuzuki DOESN'T get a BF (cuz honestly, I hope she's gay)

Nao gets the world because she deserves it.

More Mitsumi/Fumi moments because their relationship is precious and so genuine. I love how there's that connection between Mitsumi's hometown and school life.

[hinasblogg]

‘Big Feelings.’💛💚

Pairing; Makoto Naegi / Byakuya Togami (Romantic)

⚠️Content warnings?; Crying, upset baby babbles, H!fumi Yamad@

Makoto sat on the floor, curled up with his knees to his face. His chest rose and fell as he sobbed, wetting his face. Byakuya walked into their shared apartment, sighing as he finally got out of his study group with Toko, Hiro, Mondo and Taka. It was a stressful group, but he enjoyed their company regardless.

Makoto looked up, and dashed into his closet, wiping his eyes. He didn’t want Byakuya to see him cry. He didn’t want Byakuya to make fun of him or even yell at him. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at how quiet it was. Usually Makoto would run up and greet him. Maybe he was asleep? He walked into their shared room and looked around. He curiously opened the closet, huffing in release when he saw Makoto.

“Are you okay, Naegi? Why are you in here?”

“…I didn’t want tou swee me cwry!”

“Crying? Why-what happened, Naegi?”

“..you nawt gonna yell at me..?”

“No, of course not. You can tell me whatever ails you.”

“I was talkin to Hufumi n he yelled at me ..

Byakuya nodded, and wiped Makoto’s face. He carried Makoto on his hip to the couch, and sat him down. Makoto smiled as he buried his head into their shoulder. He walked to the kitchen, fixing a small snack of cereal and fruits. He handed it to Makoto, and kissed his forehead, wiping the tears that fell again.

“You’re okay. You’re okay, Makoto.”

He said, his voice as flat as it normally was, though some warmth was there. He was always softer with Naegi, like he was a fragile bowl. Makoto realized this during their investigations when he would hold Makoto’s hand and quietly shush him when they found something horrific.

“ ‘gami?”

“Yes, Makoto?”

“Cab we watch the movie?”

“Of course, Makoto.”

Togami went to a streaming service and turned on a old fashioned mystery movie, in black and white. Makoto seems to automatically cheer up, watching it intensely. Togami sat down and patted Makoto’s head, brushing his hair down. Makoto sucked his thumb as he started to rest on Togami’s chest.

“Makoto, I love you, you know that, yes?”

“Ya.”

“..then I don’t understand Why you’d be scared to tell me you were upset.”

“…hifumi told m you didn’t like me..”

“I’ll have to have a talk with Yamada. Makoto, I’ve not tired of you.”

Makoto leaned into Togami, as he felt his chest raise and fall. His eyes drifted closed as the sounds of the movie faded off.

“I luv you, gami.”

[ahb-writes]

Manga Review: 'Skip and Loafer' #5

Skip and Loafer #5 by Misaki Takamatsu

comedy

coming of age

romance

wholesome manga

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The thin, pearlescent line between adolescent affection and early-adult romance grows thinner and more transparent with each passing season. For some of the girls and boys of SKIP AND LOAFER v5, the signs are obvious. For others, it's a bit more complicated. Regardless of the nature of the inconvenient venture toward that thing called love, one truth is for certain: It's a journey best had with a good friend by one's side.

The end of the calendar year brings with it all sorts of hilarious ponderings from the manga's central cast about the destiny of their relationships. When is it okay to push for romance? How does one deal with the anxiety over pressing too hard? If popularity doesn't bring one comfort, then are reputation and admiration overrated? What the heck is the deal with Christmas gifts? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. But these kids will figure things out, sooner or later, for better or for worse. Probably.

Image and identity have served as stealth themes for much of this manga. Readers haven't had much reason to think the creative team would lean too far into these topics when their characters so wildly and fondly traipse through sports events, exams, school festivals, and the usual gossip. But SKIP AND LOAFER v5 is a much-deserved punch to the gut. Mitsumi's plainness grows more apparent the longer she lives in Tokyo, and the girl dreads the possibility that her comfort in being who she is (i.e., absent most aesthetics of modern femininity) presumes her incapable of navigating her nascent adulthood. And Makoto, the bookworm, takes a chance on witty banter with a guy from her lit club, and all the while she's fighting against the exhaustion and the insecurity that come with stepping out of one's comfort zone.

There's plenty more, too. But on these character notes, readers glide through the frustrations of Mitsumi and Makoto, observing the painful truth that the reason teenage life is so fraught is because it takes so much effort to survive without giving in to dishonesty.

Mitsumi turns to Fumi, Mika, and Auntie Nao for a pep talk and for inspiration. Is makeup necessary? Is femininity necessary? What is femininity to a teenager? And how much is enough? Nao's six-page heart-to-heart on trusting in oneself to know what's "beautiful" is exquisite. As for Makocchan? She has a totally-not-a-date date with Honda, a second-year guy in the lit club. Makoto has the same battle with self-esteem and self-understanding that Mitsumi has, only further magnified by her own earnestness. A trip to book-town, Jinbocho, could bring Makoto and her senpai closer together. How nice should she dress? Should she put her hair up? Why are contact lenses so troublesome? Makoto seeks help from Yuzuki, whose increasingly reliable disposition foretells more best-buds shenanigans in the future.

SKIP AND LOAFER v5 once again validates Takamatsu's manga series as one of the most genuine and sensitive, yet humorously pragmatic titles on the market. And while the girls are the focus of the current volume's main stories, readers engage plenty of awkwardness on the part of Sousuke, Tsukasa (Mukai, Sousuke's even-tempered, childhood friend), and Kento (Yamada, the excitable guy). In a pair of delightful twists, it turns out the girls respect Kento for his honesty, the guys worry about Mitsumi being Sosuke's blind spot, and everybody likes bowling.

❯ ❯ Manga Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads