In the Clear Moonlit Dusk is a romance where the heroine is not the typical tomboy. Yoi Takiguchi isn't particularly athletic nor does she go out of her way to wear the boys' uniform, she's just androgynous enough and cool enough that the girls at school deemed her a prince and it seemed like too much of a bother to argue about it. Yoi is what makes this manga unique, and I'm curious to find out more about her parents. Ichimura, the other prince, doesn't seem that interesting with the looks and the wealthy background, but I suppose that leaves room for developments in future volumes (his curry-blogging friend seemed more interesting in this volume). Volume 1 is a fast read and it feels like Yoi is carrying the title on her own merits, but Yoi and the beautiful art has me interested for Volume 2. (I received an free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk is shoujo and I'm not usually a fan, but this was awesome! Finally a romance series that's actually refreshing and different! Wow! Yoi is tall, has low voice and looks handsome and thus is called a prince, even though she's actually a girl. She ends up meeting this handsome boy, who's also called a prince and they start hanging out. Ichimura is cunning and very much interested in Yoi and their relationship or friendship is extremely well depicted. They talk a lot and the whole thing grows realistically and is still full of glances, butterflies and those looks. It's no wonder that this has been translated into English, even though only two volumes are out in Japan. This is one of the best shoujos I've read and that's a lot to say.

The art is amazing. The characters are their own individuals and they actually look handsome. The other characters are there to support our main pair and I do hope Yamamori takes time to build this story, since there's so much potential and I don't want this to turn into an easy series. I love the facial expressions and the humor a lot. Also, the cover looks so different to your basic shoujo too, so try this!

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, Volume 1 by Mika Yamamori is an adorable romance that will appeal to fans of classic K-drama You're Beautiful or classic shojo manga Revolutionary Girl Utena. The biggest misconception that you might get from looking at the cover is that this is a BL (boy's love) manga. That is not true. The dark-haired character is Yoi Takiguchi, a girl with a handsome face who is often called a "prince" and mistaken for being a boy because of her masculine appearance. Because everyone thinks of her as a tomboy-ish girl, she's never experienced love or a relationship with a guy before. Enter Ichimura-senpai, another handsome, popular prince. When he first meets Yoi, he thinks that she's a beautiful boy. Once he finds out who she really is, he becomes fascinated and wants to get to know her better.

If that synopsis sounds interesting to you, then I would highly recommend this manga to you. I am giving this manga 5 amazing stars! The best part of this manga for me was the beautiful art. Mika Yamamori did a really good job drawing the characters, and every page looks like a work of art. Another highlight was the romance that develops between Yoi and Ichimura. It is absolutely adorable and full of misconceptions at the start. I also loved that Yoi doesn't look like a typical shojo manga heroine with long hair and make-up. It's refreshing to get a protagonist that is so different from a typical high school girl. The story is also very compelling, because it's so different from what you would expect from a shojo manga. If you're in the mood for a sweet romance between a boy and a girl who defies societal conceptions of beauty, you won't regret checking out this book, which came out in July!

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha for the copy.

I love reading shoujo manga. And it's usually surrounding girls who are cute, aloof, have long hair or adorable hair cut and who happened to have a crush on a guy for the first time in the longest time.

So, reading about a female lead who is “handsomely beautiful" and “like a prince" is something else. I love that because seriously, girls don't always have the same trait as one another.

The arts are wonderful. The story flows smoothly. The pace moving on is not too fast and not too slow. When you are hooked you don't care about the speed; you even go back to the previous pages for the sake of admiring. I can't wait to see what happened in the next volume.

The first volume of In the Clear Moonlit Dusk reads so quickly that I found myself at the end when I only meant to check a few pages out.

The premise feels like a relatively unique one from my experience with romance manga. We have Yoi, our main character who has 'masculine' features in the face and is tall, lanky and deep voiced. And she's often mistaken as a perfect bishi boy winning hearts at first sight from the girls she meets. This is combined with a personality that makes her want to help and be a 'hero' as her friends put it. So she has the nickname Prince. But early in her first year of high school she learns her school has another prince, an unruly haired, attractive boy named Ichimura.

Knowing more volumes are coming, the fact that this first volume seems to have not gotten to any sort of resolution point is understanding. But if you are coming in to see the effects of being in a relationship, you'll definitely have to wait. This is a nice slow pace with a number of interactions to build toward it - which is honestly my preferred romance style.

Its got a fair number of common elements to the genre, the misunderstandings, the strange intensity in the pursuing boy. A lot of really over the top compliments that said in reality would get made into a twitter punchline so fast. But here they are tablestakes and what a lot of people are going to be looking for.

The art itself is clean and consistent throughout despite the way the artists apologizes in the forward. There's a few places where the lettering and placement feels a little hard to read but I think it may have gone better in a physical book instead of the digital review copy. The act of having to move down another page broke up some of the dreamy ellipses that the protagonist uses in her internal monologue.

Overall - if you want a cute, reasonably sweet, not gross romance manga, this is a pretty good start to one. Also - the frame where Ichimura is a cat is pratically worth the cover price alone.

4/5 ★

Review copy provided through NetGalley. Not going to lie, the cover attracted me first! However, I'm pleased that my expectations are met.

Yoi has a handsome appearance despite being a girl and she's been nicknamed as the "Prince." Everything seems to turned chaotic when she met another Prince, Ichimura but this time he's a man and to her surprise, he has taken a liking to her.

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This reminds me of all the mangas I've read in middle school. It's cheesy, it's fluffy and it's so much fun to read about! Honestly I was taken aback with the insta-love but somehow it suits Ichimura's personality as well.

I really love Yoi's supportive friends too! They're very fun and chaotic, I LOVE THEM.

I cannot wait to see how the series unfold, especially after THAT ENDING? I need Volume 2 now :)

4.5 - The artwork was gorgeous but I found some of the translation to be a little clunky. I appreciated the heroine for being tall and kind. Usually you get one or the other characteristic. I’m interested to see where the story goes in the future since we jumped right in to the romance and didn’t really explore the heroine’s life or friendships (aside from her being popular).

the art and character designs were really nice, and the characters were cute too. I kinda like the concept, but I'm not sure about it yet. Still, I'm interested to continue reading the series

3.5 stars.

I am until now unfamiliar with Mika Yamamori's works as I havent read anything from them before, but this was a really enjoyable read.

I must admit when I first requested it I did think that it was a BL story (which I guess means the cover is doing exactly what it's meant to do). Yoi (female) is a high-school student with a deep voice and masculine looks, she's popular with the girls and this has earned her the nickname 'prince'. She meets Ichimura (male) who is also popular with the girls(although he doesn't seem to be too into it) and his wealth has earned him the nickname 'prince' as well.

He quickly becomes infatuated with Yoi and how beautiful and unique she is. Since she hasn't been shown this type of attention from boys before, Yoi becomes a bit awkward around Ichimura but she also can't stop thinking about him and can't seem to stop running into him! The typical romance story begins from there.

For a romance manga it was very good. Beautiful art style, adorable characters who have cute interactions throughout and some humour too which is always nice! There is not really any overarching plot at the moment, I dont know if there will be or if this is simply a romance story, but either way it was a fun and enjoyable read and I will want to carry it on in the future!

I knew Yamamori Mika already by her previous works (and really enjoyed them), so I got incredibly excited for having the opportunity to read this one too. For the art, there isn't anything to complain; I love the style, and it always matches Yamamori's stories very well - it's so pretty!

The premise of the story isn't anything too deep, but I quite enjoyed reading this volume, especially since it's a bit different from her previous works. Yoi is a (girl) prince, Ichimura is a (boy) prince, he shows interest in her because she's pretty, she's being treated not as a prince for the first time, and there we go. This time, the main characters show interest in each other quite soon, and decide to go out to explore things.

It's a nice shoujo, with the possibility of getting better and also getting worse, depending on the path the future chapters take. I'm not the biggest fan of "girl not being treated as a girl because she's different from other girls" but I guess I can forgive this one because I just liked a lot the dynamics between Yoi and Ichimura. I'm sure with time they'll get more depth and development, so I'm excited to read that!

4.5 stars,

This is an adorable high school romance with a twist.
Loved the main characters more than I expected, Can't wait to read more.

This is a tale of two princes.

On one hand, we have Yoi … who’s actually a girl. She got her nickname because she looks a bishounen prince and has a habit of stepping up to help others. However, guys never ask her out and it’s typically girls who fawn after her.

Then, on the other hand, we also have Ichimura who is also nicknamed “Prince” because he comes from a wealthy family, yet he's a bit of a rebel. He wears piercings and constantly has unkempt hair.

However, once Ichimura starts showing interest in her, she becomes flustered. She doesn’t quite know how to respond because, for once, she kind of feels like a princess.

Now, I think what makes In the Clear Moonlit Dusk by Mika Yamamori so interesting is that it plays around with and questions social expectations. It’s about not judging a book by its cover. People are complex and more than they appear.

It’s also really cool to see an androgynous female lead who can hold her own. The two are equals and it’s entertaining to see the tension and dynamics between the two of them.

On top of that, the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s a nice extra touch seeing the characters drawn in different everyday casual outfits.

All in all, I would recommend this manga if you’re looking for an introspective, fun, and unconventional romance somewhere along the lines of Horimiya.

This is super tropey and fun! It reads a lot like a classic shojo manga, and I love the effects that constantly appear around Yoi. I'm excited to see how it'll continue with Yoi and Ichi dating, especially as he tried to brush it off initially. Is it going to be a fake-dating situation or something different? Definitely curious! And the art is so beautiful! A delight to read!

Yoi Takiguchi is called “prince” despite her being a girl. She is considered to have an extremely handsome prince like face and personality, but one day she bumps into Ichimura-Senpai, another person who is considered a “prince” for his wealth. Ichimura takes an instant interest into Yoi, first thinking she is a beautiful guy but when finding out she is a girl has suddenly become more invested in her. He sticks to her and wants to find out more about her. He is popular for being a bit distant but very popular with girls. However, he is now slightly confused as to if he is actually falling for Yoi and kind of puts her through an emotional roller coaster with his hot and cold demeanor, while Yoi is experiencing a guy actually flirting and showing interest in her for the first time in her life. Thus begins the story about two princes. The artwork was gorgeous and I actually loved Yoi so much, though Ichimura is going to take a bit more to actually win me over. He just seems so wishy-washy and I just don’t want Yoi to be put through the emotionally ringer, she’s just too cute and nice for that,

*Thanks Netgalley and Kodansha for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to Kodansha Comics for this eARC of the first volume of "In the Clear Moonlist Dusk" by Mika Yamamori. Although I was gifted this for free, my opinion is purely my own.

This was such a cool concept and this volume was absolutely amazing. The art style is beautiful in every panel and made the story much more effective. I am very excited to see how this story continues.