Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet

Due to her father's six million yen debt, sixteen-year-old high school student Fumi Oono and her father are evicted from their apartment. In need of a place to stay and a job to earn money, she starts to work as a live-in housekeeper for the young writer Akatsuki Kibikino.

When they meet for the first time, the two start off on the wrong foot, with Akatsuki calling Fumi useless and treating her like a child. Determined to pay off her father's debt, Fumi works hard to prove him otherwise. However, despite Akatsuki's foul-mouthed and mysterious behavior, she begins to realize that he is not as despicable as she initially thought, gradually unravelling the passionate and caring person underneath.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shots:
Volume 7: Hirunaka no Ryuusei Bangai-hen: Blue
Volume 8: Hirunaka no Ryuusei Bangai-hen: Red

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Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet has been published in English by Yen Press since October 4, 2022.

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Kibikino, Akatsuki

Main

Oono, Fumi

Main

Kaneishi, Gorou

Supporting

Aioi, Isshin

Supporting

Tobiume, You

Supporting

Kumamoto, Yukichi

Supporting

Kuratsuki, Eito

Supporting

Katsura, Yoshino

Supporting

Oono, Hideo

Supporting

Reviews

Jun 4, 2020

matchakitkat

Recommended

I could not put this manga down! it was incredibly heartwarming and not as cliche as everyone is saying. I found the relationship in this story to be the most genuine and satisfying out of all the romance manga I've read.

Story: There were a few weird unrealistic blips in the very beginning (which is what most people are commenting on), but after you pass the first few chapters it gets so much better. I never felt overtly annoyed by anything the characters did and I thought the progression of the story made a lot of sense. Nothing felt too rushed or too slow. [SPOILER: there ...

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Nov 16, 2019

glamazon

Mixed Feelings

I first heard about Mika Yamamori because of Hirunaka no Ryuusei. While it was a manga I, overall, enjoyed, I couldn't help but feel that it could have been so much better had it not be rushed. When I started reading Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet, I hoped she had improved by then. Somehow, her writing skills have worsened.

It all starts when Fumi Ohno starts working as a live-in housekeeper to Akatsuki Kibikino, a writer. Not so different from Hirunaka no Ryuusei at this point, considering the main characters are around the same age gap, despite the men having completely opposite personalities.

The beginning is just your average ... shoujo cliche, but it's cool - that's coming from a shoujo fan at least. The problem starts with the characters' development, more precisely, the lack thereof.

The first thing is Fumi's situation. The debt is not properly mentioned until later on. Actually, her father doesn't really appear until later on. Considering that it is the main point of conflict, it should have been handled better and with more frequency.

The second problem is the side characters. Despite being supporting characters, for a manga of over 70 chapters, they are extremely underdeveloped. If Yoh Tobiume, Fumi's best friend, appears at basically two pages in every three chapters to give some advice, I can't even start on Isshin Aioi and Eito Kuratsuki. All three have their moments... which last about one chapter. Basically, they are pretty much useless.

However, Gorou Kaneishi is a particular case, albeit not a good one. He works as Akatsuki's editor, so, supposedly, he should appear quite frequently on the manga, since Akatsuki is constantly working through the series. Let's say... Gorou has two "missions", as not to spoil it. The first one is in the beginning. He completes his mission. He starts appearing way less. The second one is in the middle of the series. He completes it once again. He suddenly vanishes. Yet, Akatsuki keeps working... without his editor. And the character who acts as Kaneishi's "substitute" kind of vanishes at the same time.

Another reason I am not a fan of this manga is Akatsuki himself. It comes off as no surprise, as I'm not fond of characters with a personality similar to his. And while he improves at the end of the story, some of his actions in the way are way too much for me. That being said, the script is also to blame here, as his backstory is poorly explored. They try to do something in the end, but it seems rushed and dull.

Despite all these negative aspects, TCLP has its positive traits. The first one is the art. Mika keeps being one of my favorite shoujo manga artists - if not the favorite! There is not a single chapter where it looks bad. It's simply perfection.

The second one is Fumi. While she is not the best shoujo heroine I've seen, her plain backstory helps her at this point. She is working at such a young age to help her family, which makes her a somewhat mature character, despite her inexperience in love. She is a nice girl.

In the end, my score would have been lower if I didn't have some sympathy with her work. While it's not an insufferable read, it doesn't really do much. Mika, please... focus on your story next time.

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Sep 25, 2020

PixelB

Not Recommended

Preliminary (5/85 eps)

I'm not a particular fan of shoujo, but I still sometimes read them, and admittedly, some of them are pretty good. However, most of them are pretty bad.

For example, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is a pretty popular one. Whatever, I'll give it a try. I mean, the problem with all these romance novels is that they give the same sort of vibes no matter which author you read about: girl main character gets swept up in a hot guy's pace somehow, thet somehow get into a special relationship in weird circumstances before it eventually sprouts into love. Am I missing something?

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet employs all the ...

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Poll: Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Chapter 77 Discussion LastLuminescence - Jun 28, 2019	19 replies	by Jupiterianya »» Oct 5, 2024 2:35 PM
Poll: Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Chapter 31 Discussion shanimebib - Sep 20, 2016	7 replies	by tr25a3 »» Aug 30, 2024 1:19 PM
Poll: Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Chapter 10 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 14, 2015	8 replies	by foofighterz »» Jul 26, 2024 9:24 AM
Poll: Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Chapter 2 Discussion Bakken - Aug 22, 2015	2 replies	by improfessorrose »» Mar 15, 2023 12:28 PM
Poll: Tsubaki Chou Lonely Planet Chapter 1 Discussion Stark700 - May 23, 2015	12 replies	by improfessorrose »» Mar 15, 2023 12:10 PM

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