A poignant coming-of-age story about a young woman coming into her own as she discovers her identity as aromantic asexual. A complete story in a single volume, from the creator of "Mine-kun is Asexual."
When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just "hasn't met the one yet," but Chika has doubts... It's only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside—asexual—and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all—and that that's perfectly normal.
lighthearted discussion of an inner coming out as aromantic and asexual
4 stars
it's a pretty light-hearted read about a girl that thinks she's broken, but with the help of new friends realise she's actually aromantic and asexual!
read it a while ago, after it got recommended in a local aro/ace group (turned out a local library had a translation of this book, but we read it electronically in the English version).
there was a scene about "cheating" that we didn't like so much, but otherwise it was a nice read 💚🖤💜
A thoughtful and well-illustrated exploration of asexuality and the ace spectrum.
No rating
Chika feels out place in a way that she can't describe. The version of love that everyone assures her will show up someday seems unattainable - even undesirable. It's a struggle many ace people have been through - how do you define something by its lack? Especially in a world where sexual attraction and romance are considered as universal and as "normal" as breathing. But as Chika discovers, not all love is expressed sexually or romantically. Not everyone is wired to be that way, and that is, in fact, entirely normal. This isn't a story as much as it is a really well-illustrated exploration of asexuality and the ace gradient, with a cast of really fun characters. I appreciate that the story also covers the fact that there's no one way to be asexual, and that terms and words are only useful until they aren't. It's a very sweet coming-of-age …
Chika feels out place in a way that she can't describe. The version of love that everyone assures her will show up someday seems unattainable - even undesirable. It's a struggle many ace people have been through - how do you define something by its lack? Especially in a world where sexual attraction and romance are considered as universal and as "normal" as breathing. But as Chika discovers, not all love is expressed sexually or romantically. Not everyone is wired to be that way, and that is, in fact, entirely normal. This isn't a story as much as it is a really well-illustrated exploration of asexuality and the ace gradient, with a cast of really fun characters. I appreciate that the story also covers the fact that there's no one way to be asexual, and that terms and words are only useful until they aren't. It's a very sweet coming-of-age one shot, that works as a great introduction to what it means to be ace.
Thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for the review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!
Absolutely loved this. A lot of books and manga that address asexuality do it on a relatively surface level. These characters are very layered. It starts out sort of very basic, but as it opens up and Chika considers herself and the world and listens to her friends and other people in the world around her there is genuine complexity to how sexuality and gender and romance and relationships are discussed without it feeling too preachy or non-fictional. It still feels like a nonfiction manga while still being very informative. Great bit of lit.
Absolutely loved this. A lot of books and manga that address asexuality do it on a relatively surface level. These characters are very layered. It starts out sort of very basic, but as it opens up and Chika considers herself and the world and listens to her friends and other people in the world around her there is genuine complexity to how sexuality and gender and romance and relationships are discussed without it feeling too preachy or non-fictional. It still feels like a nonfiction manga while still being very informative. Great bit of lit.
It’s incredible and crazy how much I relate to each of the characters views, even though they’re so different. The author’s amazing. I feel like they interviewed me before making the manga and then made a character out of each of my opinions, lol.
Although it was a bit cliche at times, and started with the toxic hetero trope, overall the representation is great. You can tell the author did lots of research. It's not that the protagonist simply concludes that she's ace, but the fluidity of sexuality also is explained. That asexuality is an umbrella term and that there are so many different kinds of labels underneath it, and everyone feels different about it. Aro/Ace identity is probably the only one section of attraction that is so unique to each person. It's not like being gay where it's just "oh yea i only like the same gender", …
Sweet ending!
It’s incredible and crazy how much I relate to each of the characters views, even though they’re so different. The author’s amazing. I feel like they interviewed me before making the manga and then made a character out of each of my opinions, lol.
Although it was a bit cliche at times, and started with the toxic hetero trope, overall the representation is great. You can tell the author did lots of research. It's not that the protagonist simply concludes that she's ace, but the fluidity of sexuality also is explained. That asexuality is an umbrella term and that there are so many different kinds of labels underneath it, and everyone feels different about it. Aro/Ace identity is probably the only one section of attraction that is so unique to each person. It's not like being gay where it's just "oh yea i only like the same gender", but really is much more complicated. Some still feel sexual attraction, but don't act on it; some masturbate, but wouldn't want to have sex with someone else; others really don't feel any attraction; some want to feel that way but can't; others do but don't want to; and so much more. Which the author also digs into. It’s also probably the only time I’ve seen a gay character (in manga) mention bisexuality. Oh and there's also an agender character. <3
There's also unlabeled representation. You feel that label might fit you, but also not. You don't want a label, you just want to be "you". I've said it so many times already, and it's nice to finally see another likeminded person (the author/character).
