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girl meets girl is a story of how, quite literally, girl meets girl. girl falls in love, they share a cute smooch, and everything's downhill from there. or uphill, if you think about it.

this manga serves as proof that love doesn't really need a "label"—sometimes being with a person is enough. we see our main character, anna, coming to terms with seeing meiko as more than a friend, falling in love with the same personality and character traits that she's all too familiar with as a friend. the art and visuals are a consistent representation of jin takemiya's illustrating style, and the story is ... pretty simple and easy to follow as well.

while it may not be one of the mangaka's most memorable or iconic works, it is still worth reading due to its simple and sweet nature.

it feels only right to review a product of trashy shoujo from the good old 2000's in present day 2025. and boy, do i have thoughts.

ichigo jikan tries to deliver a compelling slow-burn, high-school romance story but severely falls short and ends up delivering a mediocre romance that desperately tries to wring sympathy and understanding from its readers. while i don't want my review to be brimming with spoilers, unfortunately those are parts of the story i find myself extremely frustrated with.

our mc ichiko's circumstances are almost laughable, and the way her mother is portrayed is enough to make you age ten times ... quicker. it's almost as if the manga wants to justify "being a mother at a young age is a great thing to be!" and, dare i say the agenda is to be a mother at the age of eighteen. if looked into deeper, it can be seen as how the lines between mother and friend are blurred due to the lack of age difference between mother and daughter. while it's played off as an annoying quirk of ichiko's mother, i do feel like there could be a deeper meaning, and exploration of the same could have really solidified both characters' personalities.

ran…oh, ran, where do i even begin with him? his entire lore is just one big question mark, especially with his role in this story. as i mentioned, i don't want to spoil the story too much, but how did he even get to where he is just at the age of 16-17? even if one is a prodigy, it doesn't sit right and seems illogical at most. again, this could have been explored and made us more sympathetic to ran's character and, hell, even made him more likeable.

aside from poor character development, even poorer clichés and tropes, and a very ghastly ending, one thing that truly makes this manga concerning is the age of the characters—setting a countdown for one's 17th/18th birthday as a story plot to show relationship progression seems predatory at most, and not just that, this is not how high schoolers behave. while this is not the worst romance or shoujo ever made, it is definitely not something to look past either. a true product of the 2000s, both in terms of art, story, and character tropes, and heavily lacking in appeal in the current shoujo market.

simply put, takadai no gekkousou has the potential to be a memorable series if it is chosen to be serialized. but that is a conversation for another day; for now, let us focus on the one-shot.

the premise is pretty basic—yokai co-exist with humans in secret, and there is one such sanctuary known as the moonlight villa on the hill, where most of the story is centered around and takes place in. while said yokai wish to keep their peace and keep to themselves, there are often times when humans wish to have their way with these creatures.

enter keisuke kyoudo, the moonlight villa's property manager ... and the main character of this series, who manages to have the traits of an overpowered MC while also being a shounen character bound by the magic of friendship. what i mean to say is, kyoudo has ideals and values—he's dedicated to his yokai tenants, and i'd go as far as to say friends, and does everything he can to keep them safe.

while the story has the potential to be further conceptualized, what stuck out to me most was the cast—side characters like akashi and koidara, who have brief appearances, are still memorable enough to stick with you regardless of being a one-shot and make the manga seem more lively. the art style is simple yet well-defined and helps in keeping the story engaging.

overall, takadai no gekkousou is a good example of how a yokai manga—or, in this case, a one-shot—must be written. it has the visual and narrative elements needed to capture your attention from start to finish, all while leaving you satisfied at the end of it.

"i will let the lolicon protagonist save the heroines. i, on the other hand, will save all the moms of this world!"

ah, mothers. milfs, even. love 'em or hate 'em, you cannot deny the impact they've had on literally everything. naturally, this manga aims to explore the latter in video games, where our milf-advocating male lead finds himself reincarnated in a video game wherein he can save all the milfs from their untimely demise. oh, joy! feminism has returned!

one thing i did like about it is that they mention how older women (or in this case, milfs, though using the term ... again and again is truly tiring me) are sub-heroines and are either surface-level characters or simply there for fan service. naturally, this issue isn't explored further in this manga once our beloved mc is reincarnated, considering this is an ecchi and an isekai manga—aka one of the most troublesome genre combos of all time—and we all know what that means: a shit ton of fanservice. and if it's done by hot older women, who's complaining? granted, this is not exactly my cup of tea, but there is a milf-loving market, and this series aims to satisfy them.

naturally, does he have mommy issues, or is he simply an older woman lover...? i guess we'll never know. are all milf lovers mommy issue havers? probably. but in the wise words of our protag, "my love for mamas is nothing as pathetic and close to a mother complex. it's my redeeming quality, and i'm proud of it."

well, that explains a lot. but i digress, really, i do. the art style is average at best, with the female lead's boobs taking up 90% of my ipad screen. the story, if it was not obvious so far, is also generic while somehow managing to be ridiculously comedic. go ahead with this manga either if you want to feel better about yourself or want to scream "that's literally me!" when reading this series. no in-between.

as a wise man once said, i came here to goon…and found god instead. rejoice and bless, for if you confess your sin now, the lord will surely forgive you.

no sin, no matter how big or small, is handled by sister right here. been slacking off as of late? a punch to the face. a lover's spat? a resolved kiss between the two. drawing r18+ doujins of sister and god and selling more than a thousand copies at comiket? another punch to the face. this way, our sister with strength maintains law and order in the lawless wasteland that is life and human society, ... preserving purity amongst us sinful humans.

or whatever.

you see, our 'sister with strength' is not a title simply given for show—she's built different, literally. you'd think this is an ecchi manga, but it's anything but—in fact, our sister does not discriminate between humans or devils, for she literally beat up beelzebub for molesting his underlings. truly, the beacon of justice and equality.

dare i say it is somewhat fleshed out in terms of realism—deals with lust and homosexuality (wuh-luh-wuh!?), albeit in a comedic way without necessarily insulting anyone. you have a doujin artist turned nun thanks to the hand of the sister (literally), the devil influencing a young priest to have "immoral" thoughts about the sisters...while it may seem a tad bit exaggerated, for the most part it aims—and succeeds—in being light-hearted and comedic. it tends to get pretty wholesome as sisters and priests and devils come together to form a found family of sorts, and while their interactions are surface-level shotacon bait, it's quickly masked up by some good ol' family and loving sister dynamics.

while there is nothing substantial yet, it's still an amusing comedy series you can read for shits and giggles. if you like women who can—and will—beat the shit out of you, this manga is the one.

amongst the many manga released in 2025, saneka no yomeiri sticks out in a way that makes it hard for you to miss out on. a sweet, slow-burn romance with an eclectic mix of both modern-day and yokai elements that makes this manga a must-read this year.

i have nothing but respect and love for the mangaka for their stylistic choices—everything from the art style, dialogue, characterization, and plot so far has been brought together in an effortless way to produce a very engaging read. each and every character that has been introduced so far is distinct, but not in an overly obnoxious or overbearing ... way—rather, they interact with each other in a way that feels genuine and human.

i have high hopes for this manga, especially with our two romantic leads. i have a good feeling this will shape into a memorable and engaging manga that people will talk about for a long time.

normally when you like someone, you tell it upfront to them sooner or late. our MC does do that, but only after sexually harassing the old man he likes. welcome, girls and gays, to "ten years' worth of love! eat up!" they tell you, "it's time for a bellyful of love—eat up!" but save yourself any sort of expectations of love, and don't even bother to eat anything—lest you throw it over the course of reading this.

terrible visual imagery aside, i don't understand how this author looked at this story and went, "oh yeah, that's a banger right here." it's not even about the age ... gap; it's the lack of consent in this manga from the first chapter onwards that will make you reconsider all your life choices that have led you to even reading this godforsaken manga. i blinked once, and suddenly the old man is unwillingly against a wall by some kid turned adult who's loved him for a decade. someone please check on takayuki, i fear he may have a cardiac arrest due to the undue stress put on him by the youngster shun and meet his untimely demise. but no, that does not happen—in fact, something worse happens.

he develops feelings for him.

cue the sounds of booing and outrageous gasping, because that is exactly what i did as i continued to read this manga.

the mangaka probably got some form of PRC (post-release clarity) and decided to shift the narrative entirely—gone is the shun that forced himself on takayuki to make him love him; instead, for better (or worse), they now maintain the bare minimum distance and consent and explore love together. oh, joy! humanity has returned, but at what cost? the braincells i fried just a chapter or so prior?this manga obviously ends "happily," but i immediately disassociated myself from the first chapter itself.

don't get me wrong, i love reading about queer representation in manga, but the thin line between "yaoi," "boy's love," and "absolute garbage" is something i am not very eager to explore. anyways, if you don't want to find yourself drafting a personally penned apology letter to the gay community, spare yourself a couple of minutes (and your entire sanity) and don't bother with this manga.

feelings suck. the process of finding love in the modern day sucks. this manga? doesn't suck as much as the latter does. it may give you a (suck)er punch in the heart from the amount of feelings it'll evoke in you, but hey, it's nothing short of a good story. maybe i'm a bit biased when it comes to romance, or stories that deal with the realities of modern society, but this one is worth your time.

writing about the plot like how i usually do for my other reviews may kill your enjoyment, but bear with me and this manga—just give it a try ... if you want a manga so profound it makes you close your device and reconnect with nature. if you find yourself staring at your screen for a split second after you finish reading it, just know this manga has done its job in leaving an impact.

love feels impossible these days—messy, exhausting, never quite enough. but this manga gets it. it hits you in all the right places, making you feel every bit of that yearning, that loneliness, that hope. it stays with you, like a quiet ache, like a reminder that maybe there is truly something real out there.

unfortunately, not even a pretty art-style can save this manga.

it's a typical tragic romance story where our female lead struggles silently with a chronic illness, all while wanting to live the last of her days in happiness with her chalkboard personality boyfriend. there's not much to say about this manga considering it's seven short chapters, which build up to her demise and our male character moping about it. i get they wanted to make it a story filled with yearning and soft love, but it came off as stupid by showing the whole thing as "weakness." — loving is weakness, silence is weakness, the ... story is the living embodiment of weakness... you get what i mean.

i just felt pretty frustrated reading this manga because it could have been way better, and the only thing that makes this read somewhat bearable is the watercolor-inspired art style, which blends well with the themes that the mangaka oh so desperately tries to convey.

you'll live (no pun intended, terribly sory) if you don't read this manga, and there's nothing much one misses out on.

if you've never been blue-balled in your life before, you will experience it mentally, physically, spiritually, metaphorically, and vertically in this manga.

meet "holy gentleman" director ujihara-san—boss by day, playboy by night—and "pure virgin" fuyutsuki-san—subordinate by day, nympho (yes, nympho) by night. surely, what can go wrong with such a match, right? turns out a lot of things can go wrong, but for all the right reasons.

i have a very love-hate relationship with smut. oftentimes, in the pursuit of aesthetic art and appealing smut, an author often loses track of the story and pushes an agenda just to get the two characters out of their ... clothes. but [un]fortunately for both you and me, that does happen but not in the way we'd expect it to. you see, both our main characters are reserved in their own way— fuyutsuki struggles with a fear of coming off as overbearing or demanding when asking to get physical, as well as losing her partner in the process, while ujihara struggles with his own past trauma, which makes him think thrice (yes, not even twice, THRICE) before wanting to initiate anything physical. so what happens when these two people enter a relationship? two very sexually frustrated adults who fantasize about the other, of course.

it's honestly quite funny to see these two maintain a line between respect and wanting to jump each other's bones while also highlighting how morbidly sad their situations are that made them this way—i won't go much into their backstories as that would spoil the story, but it deals with very prominent social issues and stigma surrounding men and women when it comes to sex and relationships.

over the course of the story, you can really see they value each other not just based off of a face value or work persona—in the words of our "holy gentleman," "the bitter feeling of a love rapidly fading away...i don't want to taste that again." we see instances where they love each other not just because of looks, but of their attitude and personality, and i find that mighty impressive how seamlessly it's integrated into the story without making it seem like, "oh i love him; now the next panel justifies me pushing him on the bed." if you know, you know.

overall, it is a pretty good smut—possibly one of the only stories i have come across that has a good mix of both porn and plot—and i would recommend giving it a read, even if just for the laughs.