pastelwriter's reviews
1099 reviews

This was nice! It’s written very much in a way to be informative, so it can be helpful to others. 

As someone who is familiar with trans issues, this didn’t bring much to the table. It was still a sweet and informative perspective on the life of a Japanese trans woman. I very much hope it reaches more of its target audience (those more unfamiliar with trans issues and the trans experience). 

I’m also glad that Chii’s experience (all things considered) was a more positive one. Her life certainly wasn’t easy, but she had her family to support her. She found a loving husband. Seems like things worked out well for her!

I can’t believe this series is over 🥺 I thought there would be more to the story between Gaku and Yuriko! 

Still, I really enjoyed the conclusion of this series. We get to experience both Gaku and Yuriko’s family, and the overlap between their perspectives of what happiness is. I really liked how central the idea of happiness was in this volume, and how it resolves with the notion that happiness is different for everyone. 

I wasn’t expecting though the drama at the end with Sousuke and his girlfriend! That was a chaotic turn 😅 However, I hope it served for him to learn that happiness isn’t always just having a girlfriend. He needed to pick better for himself. I’m also glad that his friendship with Gaku survived it all 🥺

All in all, I’m happy I picked up this series. I greatly appreciate its view into different ways of making a happy life and a family. 

Now that I’ve picked this up, I’m sitting here wondering what took me so long! I really enjoyed this volume ✨

I appreciated the time spent on Subaru! She’s a pretty neat character, and I’m glad that what she said left Asahi with food for thought. I do think though that Asahi can’t help but be a pushover 🙄 At least Fuuka had enough human decency to not let Asahi do something that clearly seemed like she didn’t really have her heart in. 

I do also love how sweet Asahi and Hinako are together 🥺 Their interactions in this volume made my heart feel warm. They both clearly mean so much to each other and bring each other so much comfort. The tenderness there is clear. 

Hoping I’m able to get the fourth (and last) volume soon!

I had a bit more conflicting feelings about this volume than the previous one. I still am enjoying the series, but one of the characters is bringing me down. 

Sakiko’s whole vibe is off. I don’t quite get her. I hope we get more about her specifically as she doesn’t make much sense to me. I can see why Chika would be alarmed by her behavior and how that becomes the way they get closer. However, I don’t really get why Sakiko would engage in such risky behavior in the first place. I also don’t know if it’s just because we’re seeing it through Chika’s pov, but her aloof way is unnerving. At least the ending of the volume made it seem like Sakiko really does love Chika, she might just be a bit of an oddball. That’s how I’m hoping things will progress since their whole relationship is just a bit iffy for me at the moment.

Now, if we focus on my beloved Minato and Hibiki 🤩 They continue being my everything. I loved that we got to see Minato break out of her shell a little during their festival performance. I also found Hibiki’s whole investigation trying to figure out Minato’s feelings super endearing! She can’t see what’s right under her nose, which is that she likes Minato right back! She’s just a little bit of an airhead when it comes to that, and it can make her say dumb things that agitate poor Minato’s delicate constitution 😂

Anyway. I’m definitely planning to continue this series!

I’m so glad I finally came back to this book 🤩 I had to soft DNF it last year for reasons I can no longer recall, but boy is it good to be back!

Although originally I was upset this became a trilogy, as I saw no need for it, I still found myself enjoying this sequel. It’s bloody and gruesome, and at the heart of it is a character I love: Jade Daniels. 

Jade is just That Girl. An icon. The moment. Everything. She comes out of prison hoping to put her past behind her, but she can’t help being a badass bitch. A heavy weight, but man does she carry it well 😩👌🏼 

Letha, as well, is iconic in her own right. I loved having her back in this installment! She’s ready to kick ass and take names in order to keep her loved ones safe, and I love her for it. 

I had to admit… I also loved the inclusion of essays (emails) in this book as well. I know Jade’s essays are a kind of “you either love it or hate it” thing in My Heart is a Chainsaw, and I definitely fall into the category of loving it. I also think it brings some cohesion and unity to the series. I’m hoping Stephen Graham Jones finds a way to incorporate something similar in the last book in this trilogy! 

All in all, I had a great time with this. Although my slasher knowledge I mostly gained against my will (and there’s still plenty of movies I haven’t seen in the genre!), reading this series always feels not just like a good refresher but also an expansion of my knowledge. 

Now THIS is what I want from gl. I’ve been blessed at last 🙏🏼

I’ve really struggled to find my footing with gl manga because too many of them I just don’t get invested in the dynamic between the characters. This one immediately swept me up tho 🤩

I love that we have loner Minato who loves music but has had negative experiences with other girls, so she now avoids social situations. I love that Hibiki is the total opposite. I wouldn’t necessarily call her a social butterfly, but she has her group of close friends. She’s confident enough to go after what she wants. She’s not worried about pushing Minato out of her comfort zone. It’s great!!! 

I also just feel like the mangaka draws so clearly the interest both Minato and Hibiki have in each other. You can see especially in Minato’s longing glances, and blushing, and nervous fidgeting. I’m OBSESSED. 

In general, I have also proven I can enjoy manga about bands (*cough* I’m looking at you Given), so this was right up my alley in terms of the premise. Super excited to continue the series!

I wanted to love this…but I very much didn’t. I’m glad I didn’t buy more volumes of this series before trying out the first one! 

The biggest issue I have with this manga…is the way Kasuga’s teeth are drawn. It gives me the biggest ick! Inherently, the premise of the series seems to lean heavily towards a feeder kink…and the repeated close-up of Kasuga’s teeth are not helping this series beat the allegations. This isn’t my first rodeo with a series that plays with the notion of that kink…but at least the other one didn’t have this straight-up oral fixation 💀

If the manga hadn’t had that, I would have genuinely enjoyed this! The food was drawn beautifully. I love the genuine love Nomoto has for cooking. I enjoyed seeing Nomoto and Kasuga go out shopping together and just seeming to enjoy each other’s company. I also personally really enjoyed Kasuga’s personality. Some may say she doesn’t have one, but I’ve met people like her before. She gives off a very “deadpan” vibe, but it’s just cause she’s chill. We don’t get a lot of female characters like her, so I thought that was a breath of fresh air!

However, I simply will not be continuing this series. What a bummer ☹️

The love I feel in my heart and soul for this series cannot truly be put into words. I love Oogami and Mitsuji 🥺💖

I want this series to be eternal 😭 I just love the dynamic between Oogami and Mitsuji so much! Their whole “will they won’t they” when there’s so much clear chemistry between the two melts my heart every time 💖

I do have to say that Kamiya and Mikado are so annoying tho 🙄 Tbh, the unnecessary “love interests” are the only thing about romance manga that I can just barely tolerate. Other things annoy me to the point of not being able to read or watch some romance stories, but this series at least has one of my pet peeves that I can swallow. And tbh, I wouldn’t find Kamiya and Mikado so annoying if they weren’t so stubbornly obsessed with getting their way despite how obvious it is that who they’re interested in isn’t interested in them back! 

Anyway. I sure hope we end up getting more content about this side couple we’ve been getting hints and pieces of 👀 I think they’re also cute, and I’d be all over a spinoff series all about them

This was a pretty mid read 🤷🏻‍♀️

I didn’t think this was particularly bad, but I also didn’t think it was outstanding. Mostly, this was just too rushed for me to fully love it. I liked the concept fine enough, but it needed a bit more time to be developed. 

Still, the smut was well drawn 👌🏼 At the end of the day, I did enjoy the relationship between the two. 

I’m absolutely loving that the pace of this series has slowed down! It now fits more with my preferred style of slice of life! There’s not too much tension in the narrative, but Hatoyama and Hitsuji still have issues in their relationship to deal with. 

In this volume, the two main characters really contend with getting each other on the same page about how they feel for each other. Sure, they’ve said they love each other before, but the depth of feeling is ambiguous to them. They work through that, in no uncertain terms, in this volume. 

Anyway. I also really enjoyed being able to see both Hitsuji and Hinata as waiters! They’re adorable 💖

So glad I decided to stick with this series despite my original uncertainty because of the fast pace of the first two volumes 🤩