The premise of Monster and the Beast is a bit demented, but in ways that are right up my alley. It’s a man/monster love story where opposites (very opposite) attract. Cavo, a lonely forest monster, rescues an older man, described as “slightly eccentric” (an immense understatement), from being raped by his traveling companions and guides. Liam, the man, turns out to have quite the appetite, hitting on the monster first thing and objecting to the idea of having sex with […]

The thing about Yotsuba&! is that I could pretty much repeat the first half of my review of the previous volume, because the series is that consistently good. It’s still the reading equivalent of really well done comfort food. There’s still a number of years between releases. It’s still about a child’s imagination mixed with humor and good feeling and family and the occasional moment of poignancy. The main difference with Yotsuba&! volume 14 comes in the activities Yotsuba and […]

Laid-Back Camp volume 5 came out last year, but given that the theme of the book is New Year’s, it seemed a good time to catch up with the series. I can’t believe it’s March already; I’m still thinking we’re barely into 2020. There are many holiday-connected traditions in this volume: One of the girls has a part-time job delivering New Year’s cards. Most of the camping club members are working over the winter break in order to make money […]

Whenever Our Eyes Meet: A Women’s Love Anthology is a wonderful read if you’re interested in yuri manga or simply sweet romance. The characters are working women, not schoolgirls, which makes this a pleasant addition to the types of stories that are being translated. Each short story is by a different creator. Most are about how a couple meets, including: a one-night stand turns up at work the next day as the new employee former co-workers meeting again by chance […]