I loved the art style and how it contrasted with the darker themes in this book. I'm curious about the magic system and history of the world, I wish we learnt more. I always struggle to rate volume one's because they are introductory, and it feels unfair to judge them based on that.

The fact that they are 10 year olds made me uncomfortable This book has a lot of the problematic "tropes" that are typical in manga. Since it's a quick read I might pick up future volumes.

It’s been a while since I last read a manga, and I have to admit, it was fun—short, sweet, and entertaining. However, the healing magic system left me really confused. Some aspects of the story felt a bit too much... but other than that it was a fun read. But will most definitely continue the series.

Thank you Netgalley for the early read!

I wasn't sure what to expect about this first volume, but by the end I was desperately curious and wishing for more. It's a bit more gruesome than I first expected, but it fits the storyline quite well.

The cast of characters seem very similar at first glance, but they all have their own personalities despite some similar qualities. I really enjoyed this first volume and can't wait for the second one.

In this volume you’ll find a mix of adorable magical girls and hints of gore in an academic setting. I love reading stories about witchy girls in dark worlds and am always eager to read anything in the same vein; however, I have a lot of mixed feeling about this story. There are strange beats of pedophilic teachers, children “innocently” exploring relationships, and casual transphobia. If you’re familiar with manga you’ll recognize these are so prevalent they can be considered tropes, but I can’t help but warn prospective readers to read at their own comfort level.

A yuri manga (where the focus is on relationships between girls, not necessarily romantic/sapphic) taking place at a magical school, where young magic-users train to fight in wars. The art style is really soft and cute, which is an interesting contrast with the content, which initially doesn’t seem so brutal until students turn up covered in blood and we learn that students die on a regular basis. The main character is Sheena, a quiet girl who isn’t very skilled at combat and unlike the other students, is disturbed by the violence that’s become commonplace. After her roommate dies, she’s paired with a new girl, Mimi, who’s rumored to be the strongest student at school, even though she presents as a bright, naive little girl.

I like the contrast between the art and the content, and there’s some mystery woven in regarding who Mimi really is. It’s a little hard to tell where the story’s going or what the purpose behind the war that these students are training for and why it requires these students in particular to fight it, so the worldbuilding felt sparse. It is just the first volume, so there’ll probably be more explanation and grounding as the series continues. It seems like the focus is on the characters, though, who are quite interesting to follow so far.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I picked this manga up on a whim because of the art and I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed it! The art is obviously gorgeous and really helps sell how dark this series is. There is surprisingly little worldbuilding for the first few issues of a serialized manga which would be more of a problem if I were to read it issue by issue but I think makes it a more enjoyable experience reading it as a collected volume; I don't tend to like a lot of front-loaded exposition. There's enough world, plot, and character revealed in the first volume to encourage me to continue reading the series.

I saw some reviews before reading with concerns about the oversexualization of young girls and the depiction of the nurse (a trans woman). Re: the former, it does not read to me as too much, given the subject matter (it's a story that treats young girls' bodies as disposable!) and isn't really anything that's worse than you would find in your average, more mature magical girl manga, for better or for worse. Re: the latter.... yeah, a trans woman nurse acting vaguely predatory towards young girls doesn't sit well with me. It's tolerable for now but I only hope that it doesn't get worse.

Overall, I'm intrigued by the potential that this series is promising and look forward to reading more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for an advanced reader copy of I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day in exchange for an honest review. I found this book to be very intriguing because who doesn’t love magical girls fighting a war? However although the premise was fantastic and the storyline was catchy - everything was VERY overly sexualized. I found it to be distracting and pulled me away from wanting to continue reading the series.

The cover of this instantly drew me in and the illustrations on the cover are stunning! From the title I assumed this would be a sweet lighthearted read but it didnt take long to realise I was very wrong lol. Still a very entertaining and immersive read I might carry on this series

adorable art and lovable characters, seeped is mystery and violence. The relationship was sweet, rice balls and all. I really enjoyed this book.

ARC Review:

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy manga a majority of the time, it’s stories like this where I’m extremely torn.

On one hand, the story itself and the characters are developed well and the plot is something that I’d be interested in continuing to read about. A magical school (somewhat Harry Potteresque) that is also is training orphaned children how to harness their powers to be weapons.

But on the other hand you realize that this story sexualizes children and has a magic trading system that is set up for the sole purpose of facilitating a way for an adult to kiss children. As an American reader I find this to be something common in mangas and I find it extremely unfortunate because it immediately discourages me from reading any further.

I picked up a review copy of this story due to the title and description. I was initially interested because Violet Evergarden is one of my favorite animes and this had a similar feel to it. I enjoyed the elements of magic and other abilities, but wish that there was more added to the story to show the difference it makes in the battles. This is the first installment, so introductions were needed before possible progression of the story. I feel like there could be a lot added to the world and reflecting more of the psychological aspect of the choices Mimi must make. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others looking for a more unique approach to these topics.

*I received a review version of this and all opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author/artist and publisher for the ARC I received.

Unfortunately this manga wasn’t for me. The art style is really beautiful and I thought the world/plot was interesting, but one of the two main characters is 10 years old and they have to kiss to use healing magic and it’s just kind of a weird thing to read about as an adult. I think maybe this is just made for younger people. I wasn’t interested in getting farther into it than that so I’m not sure if the healing magic gets worse than that, but it’s not my cup of tea.

This was a strange blend of dark while trying to be cute? I wanted to enjoy this but it missed the mark for me

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It's an intriguing story overall, but there are a few.... uncomfortable moments involving the school nurse. I understand manga can sometimes be a bit unconventional in those terms by nature but it was still alarming for me. Otherwise, it's got lgbtq+ themes, love that. It's an interesting story with a unique magic system. I do see myself continuing, as long as the questionable moments are few and far between lol

I won't lie, the concept for this story reminded me of parts of Gunslinger Girl and Little Witch Academia. There isn't quite enough substance to the story (yet?) to be either of those things. The main character is a girl who really doesn't want to be a magical soldier and isn't very good at combat. After her roommate dies on the field, she gets paired with another girl who shows up one day covered in blood. This story has some potential, but it feels like it doesn't know what it wants to do with itself right now. I had seen some people raise concerns about the way healing works in this world. I'll admit, I didn't realize THAT was actually how healing worked until one of the adults said it. I thought the explanation of "Oh, they're not kissing, she's just healing her with mana and that's the most effective way" was meant to be a lame cover story to excuse the two girls who got caught kissing in the stairwell. But uh, no. kissing is how you heal someone in this story's world. You hear a teacher/nurse in the background of one scene say something along the lines of "Oh she got injured so badly I'm going to have to kiss her to fix it", which is...hm. The mental image of an adult macking on a 13-year-old is NOT something I want in my brain. I honestly just don't think the author thought it through since you never SEE an adult kissing any of the minors. You only see the girls with each other. But really, that should have been thought through a little bit better and realized that making "kissing = healing" could create some hairy situations. All that aside, the art is gorgeous. I really feel that the biggest thing it has going for it is the art.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I don't know how to feel about this one. I like it... in theory? I like the premise; a mysterious school that raises orphans with magical powers to fight in a war, cool. The abilities and magic are interesting and I enjoyed the main characters, Mimi (a consistent optimistic and perky light even as she faces war) and Sheena (a sensitive and isolated girl who is questioning everything she knows). BUT... there are definitely some questionable parts of this story: the girls are young (I'm not sure, I think they're ten) and there's a character who is, perhaps, misgendered? They're referred to as a 'perverted man' but appear as a woman in the art. Also, the panels containing art of a main character (again, I'm fairly certain they are ten years old) completely naked--concealed only by their hair. It seems like this is all pretty standard fare for manga, but it's definitely not for me. And it very well might not be for you either, that's why we write reviews.

I think this really is a "know your audience" type of read. I just don't think it's meant for a western audience at all.

The concept seemed cool, and I wasn't expecting anything too serious, but it felt like the story played second fiddle to the kissing and death. The healing process through kissing felt like an excuse to include as much kissing as possible, and the frequent death of characters we didn't know was brushed over in a strange way. Mimi was a cute character, but wasn't written in a way to make you feel attached to her either, and so far Sheena isn't very likeable. Maybe this could be fixed if this volume were longer, but it felt like there were elements that didn't need to be in this volume that could've been replaced with better character introduction.

The synopsis was really interesting and drew me in however the story fell flat.
The story felt really disjointed and I found myself confused as to what was happening and the why/who/what/where/when of it all. It wasn't fleshed out enough for me to connect to any of the characters. I actually found myself feeling icky with some elements of the story, mainly the age of the characters. They are very young and the fact healing only happens by kissing to 'transfer' magic did not sit well with me at all. Especially considering it was used in a sexual manner at one point between the main character and a side character.
The art was cute and probably the only thing I really enjoyed.

3.5

The art is stunning, and its cute and sweet, but it's clear from the beginning it's going to include darker themes. It's a romance between Sheena, who isn't a great fighter and has a soft heart, and Mimi, who is more outgoing and is used as a deadly weapon.

The characters are way too young for my liking, but I was intrigued by the story and was hoping for a possible time skip.

I actually really liked the overall story and thought is was extremely well done. However, I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call it fanservice. But of course, in this world, wounds are healed with kissing magic. It stays relatively innocent—that’s maybe not the right word—but it’s not super graphic with the kissing/healing magic (thank god). The nurse was the worst part, and it still made me uncomfortable given how suuuppper young they are in this.

This is Volume 1, so there aren't many answers yet about why they're fighting or what they're fighting for. Instead, the focus is primarily on the dynamic between the two main characters in this somewhat twisted schoolgirl romance.

I’ll definitely continue reading this if there’s a timeskip where they’re older. If not, I might not keep going, which is a real shame because I truly love the plot and storytelling.

*blog post scheduled for Feb. 17th*

***My Rating: 3.5

This was definitely an interesting read. I went in blind and was not sure what to expect. But it was as cute as it was dark. I did really enjoy the art style and the characters!

It’s about a school of girls are trained in magic to be used as weapons in a war of unknown origin. The so-called best and most powerful is cheerful and oblivious of the rules, after being placed in the same class as a girl whose roommate died only days before. It’s a bit confusing, but I would have liked to see more of the world-building for a first volume.

I’m happy I was able to get this via NetGalley as an ARC, and I’m pretty sure I would want to see what happens in the next volume.

***Content Warnings: Child death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying