books & more

akuma ni itsukushimi no te wo

• romance (HL) oneshot
• immortal demon sexyman x mortal pianist girl

the demon's kind of pathetic, which is really the main draw here. he is the blueprint for every immortal oc i've ever made, so i can't not put this manga on this list.

handsome girl and sheltered girl

• romance (GL), shenanigans
• sheltered girl is extremely sillay

oh i was very in love with handsome girl, this was just cute and fluffy... she also reminded me of yuri von fire emblem so LMAO

🌟 look back

• AUGH....... (oneshot)
• friendship! the passage of time! what could have been! the bonding experience of making art together!

this just hurt me so much, and made me think about all the art friends i had growing up. awoo...

🌟 mud

• romance (HL) oneshot, kinky themes ahead
• student finds out her teacher is a sub

i think i read this in high school but looking back i'm amazed at 1) how me-catered this manga was LOL i just happened to find it? and 2) how... good it is? that ending always gets me.

prism

• romance (GL), there is sex if i'm remembering correctly
• girl finds out her childhood crush was actually a girl, continues to have a crush on her anyway

a manga i read as a baby gay that made me happy to read... i just had a big yuri phase in high school lol. i don't remember it much but it was formative so it goes here!

🌟 unicorns aren't horny!

• uhhh... slice of life with fantasy elements? kind of a romance between her and the unicorn too, or something close to romance
• the star rec is for weirdos (positive) only, everyone normal should probably scroll past (and also not be on my site)

virgin femC lives with a unicorn, who loves that she's a virgin lmao. this is the kind of shit i want to make... extremely cute, simply drawn, indulgent, and truly not for everyone.

🌟 bakuman

• unsure how to categorize this. two high school guys team up to make manga
• a nice look into the manga industry!

read this first when i was in 4th grade if i'm not mistaken! i thought it was really well drawn and a lot of fun, and i learned a lot about manga through it. i should pick it up again...

gokushufudou / way of the house husband

• really mostly comedy
• yakuza guy is now a house husband

i love the shenanigans tatsu gets up to and how much he loves his wife

🌟 haikyuu!!

• my one and only sports manga/anime (free! doesn't count)
• never have i been more satisfied with a timeskip

very very good, and fast-paced without rushing (fast-paced media my beloved!). i started with the anime and then continued with the manga after s3, because s4 wasn't out yet. was really impressed by how easy it was to follow the vball games in comics, lol.

i managed to catch up in time for the official english release of the final chapter and i can't describe the fulfillment of completing this story along with everyone else reading it...! if you choose to start now it will still be fulfilling i promise you.

my favorite boys are noya, lev, and kunimi. my favorite characters are hinata, kenma, and oikawa (against my will - brazil changed me).

🌟 hourou musuko / wandering son

• very lovingly drawn manga about queer kids
• don't know how to describe it - just really sweetly told, with lots of different perspectives

for some reason i found this as a wee youth (age 10), and i remember really loving it wholeheartedly. i didn't realize its quality would keep so well in my adult eyes – it's really well done and still very relevant. a quiet, compelling manga about gender and adolescence.

🌟 kimi wa pet

• romance (HL)
• careerwoman has a pet boy (he lives at her place and gets to eat)

sounds tropey, but very sincere and treats the characters seriously. i particularly like how they handled the love rivals, and how the relationship between the two MCs developed over time. them being adults in a relationship as equals felt believable, despite their beginnings.

seriously, i still think about this manga all the time... no one is doing it like them!!!

magical pokemon journey

• this manga is so deeply unserious i love it so much
• non-canon pokemon trainers (named after different kinds of nuts) able to talk with their pokemon

if anyone has volumes 9 & 10 of this manga please sell them to me. i loved how many stories focused on the pokemon characters (vs the humans) and their personalities & adventures... arbok having a crush on wigglytuff is so special to me

🌟 our precious conversations

• romance (HL), high school, slice of life, lotsss of talking (see title)
• pretty girl has a crush on guy and unwittingly befriends him because he cannot fathom her liking him lol

i'm a gemini venus so i love a relationship with lots of talking lol. the main guy and girl learn a lot from each other's perspectives, and learn a lot about each other as well... it feels very real and organic to see their relationship develop

the side characters are also cute. hamarin is me. caffeine is super cute... any tension that occurs doesn't get drawn out (hard to miscommunicate when all they do is talk) so it's very feel good, but also v full!

🌟 sweat and soap

• romance (HL), office setting
• asako sweats a lot and works in accounting for a soap company, where she meets kotaro who works in product devt and likes how she smells LOL

sounds pervy and there are eventual sexual themes, but this manga is honestly very wholesome and cute, all the sniffing aside!!

they communicate well and it's nice to see them move through the stages of their relationship. also bonus points for asako's younger brother's slight siscon

i love amy

• romance (GL), kind of fucked up themes too
• bibi uses amy to get closer to her crush peter, but their relationship evolves

the art is so cute for something with a kind of disturbed protag LOL. i like the contrast between unhinged bibi and sad wet cat amy... i didn't get to read this in full but want to

the stories of those around me

• romance (HL), slice of life
• a very "this is you as an adult" kind of comic - not full of adventure, but exciting in its own right

revolves around a girl friend group and their different issues and lives. very sweet and reflective, and even funny!