I admit, it can be difficult keeping up with Ooku: The Inner Chambers. One volume comes out every year or so, and the premise — an alternate history of Japan in which most of the men have died, causing the women to take over leading the country — can be complicated for most readers, who don’t have any knowledge of Japanese history. Yet it’s so well done! I adore Fumi Yoshinaga’s art, with its thin-line detail and expressive characters. She […]

I keep hoping for deeper themes in this series, which is a mismatch, since by this point, I should realize that Happy Marriage?! will always go for the misunderstanding and refusal of the characters to talk to each other as symbolism for troubled relationships that still hold together. I suspect a certain type of reader likes that certainty, the reinforcement that problems can be overcome (and probably the reassurance that “at least my marriage isn’t that bad!”). Chiwa has previously […]

The final volume of the short Sweet Rein series by Sakura Tsukuba is also a kind of romance, as Santa Kurumi finds out that spring is mating season for the human Reindeer. As a result, Kaito, already handsome, is nearly irresistible to girls, making Kurumi jealous. The story that results has potential, but the relationship aspect falls strangely flat, with most of the chapter devoted to Kurumi’s waffling about what she wants to do. It’s a younger-aimed series, so that’s […]

The two have finally admitted their love for each other, a particularly difficult revelation for the vampire Kyohei, who sees humans as inferior. However, that in some ways makes their boss/secretary relationship more difficult, particularly when attending social events. He’s willing to go public with their relationship, although when Kaya dresses up, she looks remarkably young, a callback to her struggle with her “baby face”. Also complicating volume 6 is the presence of Kyohei’s parents, a human father and vampire […]