This is a very sweet volume of four short stories, each centering around high schoolers having their first kiss and first relationships. There is a nice variety of relationships offered here, from two shy nerds to a cool upperclassman and a serious girl in a calligraphy club. Each of them has to work their way through misunderstandings and nerves to get to the first kiss. I liked that after the first kiss, the continuing development of the relationships was shown and the importance of communication and being open to each other was highlighted. All of these relationships seemed healthy and consensual, which is always a relief to see in manga, which has a lot of tropes that don’t lend themselves to fictional portrayals of romance that start off healthily. But all of these do!
I liked all of these stories, so it’s hard to pick a favorite, but I especially enjoyed “Miyabi and Miyabi,” about an intense girl and a more laid back boy who share the same last name. The tenor of their relationship wasn’t one that I think I’ve seen in a lot of fiction, with the boy providing a space for her to rant and hang out with him away from the pressures of school and socializing. He also has pressures from his family and the way in which they balance each other out was nice to see. I also liked “Double Glasses,” about the two shy nerds. Again, I felt like there was a good subversion of tropes here, with the girl wanting to move their physical relationship further and being unsure if the boy liked her as much. The art here is super cute and expressive. I look forward to reading more by this author, hopefully, if the whims of English translation work out.
Warnings for: Kissing, discussions of sex
