Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy. This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I normally like to start with the good things/what I liked, but there's not much of that in this manga, unfortunately. Sooo.... I think I'll start with why I decided to read it and then how it disappointed me.

I found out about this manga through Kodansha's IG page, and it caught my eye, both with the cover and the story description. And I thought that I'd probably read it once it was out. This led me to finding it on Netgalley and being able to get an ARC of it. Which ultimately led to this review.
I thought I would like the manga, I like war stories that also make some type of social commentary, in the case of this manga: the exploitation of kids and teens at the hands of institutions with the power to do so, treating them (children) as weapon and the effect all this has on both the people, but also in the society it takes place. And yet, I couldn't have been farther from the truth.

I know that, when is a series, the first volume tends to be introductory, and it was also the case here, so if some things have been done differently, I would have liked it more and would probably feel incline to wanting to read the second one. But i can't bother after it all. And it comes down to the magic system, how it is presented to us.
Context: some people can do magic and, for that, they use mana. So, in this world, they go around kissing each other to exchange mana and get healed. I would have seen it with better eyes if it had happened between consenting adults, not ten year olds being trained to be living weapons that are sexualized all through the pages (in my opinion).

There's two situations here:
Mimi kissing Sheena to heal her, which wouldn't be bad if Mimi, who is supposed to be a 10 year old child just like Sheena, knew what a kiss was or wasn't portrait in an infantilized way, making her appear even younger than she is (a fact that even Sheena comments about on the page).
And then, the situation with the school nurse, a full grown adult, that is said to go around kissing the students (children and teens, all underage) to heal them when needed. If that doesn't spell predator... What is even worse, is that, from comments from the students and, more specifically, Mimi, is implied that she's either a transwoman or a crossdresser, two groups that have been accused of exactly that for ages. Harmful stereotypes will always be harmful, even if they're done with "humor", even thought is not humor, is straight up disrespect for real life people. If I have read some reviews mentioning this, I would have most probably avoided this manga.

If I had to point out some good points, it'd be the art and the potential of the story, which I would have enjoyed if executed other wise. I won't be reading the second volume, that for sure. And I hope we can leave these deplorable depictions behind us.

Disappointed, but at least it was a short read and I didn't have to suffer much

Orphaned children are trained to become magical weapons of war. Sheena meets Mimi, an immortal child soldier, whose fighting skills terrify and intrigue her.

Art work is stunning. Everything else was not. I genuinely do not feel comfortable with scenes featuring nudity of underage characters.

I chose to read this manga based on the cover and the gorgeous art style. I liked the premise but really did not enjoy the story. The whole concept of an adult woman kissing small children feels weird to me and made me feel very uncomfortable. I couldn‘t finish this book.

There’ll be a more detailed later on my blog but wow! What a striking first volume.

Magical girls with dark elements have always existed (and yes, even before Madoka Magica) and there were side queer couples or hints of them in some. So it’s a pleasure to read one that is actually focused on a wlw relationship. The fight scenes are so dynamic and the plot hits hard from the first chapter. There’s body horror too, andI loved how the creator handled those scenes. They are neither jarring nor undermined.

I only wished the creator handled the nurse better. Maybe it’s a cultural thing that I don’t understand but I can never wrap my head around the school nurses in anime and manga in general. Why are they always portrayed as perverts in super unhinged ways? This isn’t even the ‘mad scientist’ trope anymore. They are always highly sexualised for some reason.

Again, it’s possible that I don’t get it. But what really fel unfortunate was that the nurse was either a trans woman, non-binary or a cross-dresser. I don’t expect characters with these identities to be angels who have done nothing wrong in their lives before, but when you barely see them as anything but as someone ‘who gets too excited over having to kiss a much younger student to heal them’ is… well.

It doesn’t deter me from continuing the series because the characters and the series’ approach to war, love and longing are very compelling! Now that there’s an anime adaptation as well, I hope the series sells well!

This is a fantasy manga about two orphaned girls who are child soldiers fighting in a war with magic. In this orphanage and military school, it's normal for classmates to die and never come back. The protagonist, Sheena, struggles with the loss of her roommate when she gets a new roommate, powerful but childish Mimi. Sheena does not like fighting, and initially dislikes Mimi for her involvement in the war, but once she finds out Mimi also dislikes war, the two begins to get closer.

Je suis très mitigée quant à cette lecture...

Utiliser les baisers de façon innocente et de transfert de mana me gène à chaque fois. Cependant, en prenant ça au second degré j'ai trouvé cette série légèrement drôle ! Je ne sais pas trop quoi en penser, je ne continuerai pas, mais je ne déconseille pas non plus.

This was such a cute graphic novel!! I loved the art style and the characters themselves. I only wish that we learned more about the magic system as I never fully understood it even as I finished the novel.
I liked that this was more on the sweet side, and it was also a little bit of a slow burn. I loved how the two went from strangers to somewhat of lovers. Their personalities were very individualized but matched perfectly with one another. I thought the secondary characters were also very sweet and I liked how they were given attention as well.
I would be excited to see how the story progresses in the next edition!

Can we not sexualize children, please? You can write a first love without making it creepy.

I honestly wish this wasn't as creepy and disturbing as it is.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I finished volume 1 and my main thought was that the story had great potential and depending on how the story develops in future volumes I could really like or dislike it. With all stories of this nature, the first volume only touches the surface of the world building and I personally think it needs a lot more fleshing out and could do with a lot of work. I did not like the 'kissing for healing' aspect especially as it is implied to happen between adults and minors.

I did like the main character and following her struggles with her life as a trainee killer. The best parts were when it leaned into the horror and tragedy aspects.

I will say - I went into this completely blind and only found myself gravitated by the art style. The premise itself sets up what one would assume is such a capturing story BUT - it does lose me. It feels as though the kissing was just so out of place! I mean, it just feels weird that an adult is going around kissing all of these younger kids to heal them. It just didn't do it for me!! It sucks because it's so pretty but the content inside is too weird for me.

This was so good!! Love the storyline and premise and the art! And the characters of course! Excited to read more of this series! And finding about Mimi's origins (?)

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha for providing me with this eARC.

This is the first manga book I have ever read and, oh boy was it a disappointment. I will definitely not be continuing with this series.

All I could think about while reading this is how disgusting the fact that the nurse (She's an adult and way over 18+) KISSES her underage students in order to heal them. There is also more questionable content that does not sit right with me at all.

To be honest this book gets 1⭐️ SOLELY because I like the art style.

The plot is interesting and the drawing style is very nice, however is not quite my cup of tea.
I didn't like that the characters are 10 years old, the drawings don't look 10 y/o, also the plot seems a bit older.

I understand the plot of kissing someone to heal them, but then again, they are 10 and I feel like it lacked explanation and you would have to address the consent and age issue.

I know its a genre but its not for me, I enjoyed the story but couldn't get pass the age of the kids.

(I will not be adding this to my good reads)

Problematic, badly written, and with the wrongest representation that we could have asked for. The script is all over the place, the plot is not existing, and the pace is erratic at best. Then there the thing about having 10 year old girls kissing to heal... in a manga titled I want to love you till your dying day... are we now making eternal love promises in children's stories? No. No, no, no, and no.

Had the characters been around 15, or the nurse not joked about kissing them, or the whole volume re edited, it would have been a good story.

I was very surprised by this manga. I went in blind and didn’t even read this synopsis. I enjoy dark fantasy, and it seems like It will be very dark. I like the complex nature between the two main characters, how one is often going to battle, and the other is training for battle, and how their perspectives about the war differ, affecting how they see each other and interact. Sheena is slowly waking up to the realities of war against their ideologies. Mimi and Sheena are both young, but this reality has been placed on them since birth. I want to see how the Sheena pushes Mimi and how Mimi pushes the Sheena. I like the concept of a training school for magic users and a mysterious war. Themes of death and love. Excited for this release and volume 2.

Mimi's age being 10 -- and later finding out the others are the same age only AFTER they kissed for "healing magic" -- was not the best reveal. It's like when guys are attracted to me because they think I'm 15-16, then tell me I look like a 15yo after finding out I'm in my early 30s -- and people thinking it's okay because I'm NOT actually a teenager, I'm legal.

The kiss healing magic also gave me the ick because the school nurse has kissed people before. It wasn't shown in this volume, but the joking about it alone was not cool. Mimi jokes about the nurse being an "old man dressed in drag" -- regardless, having her potentially being a drag queen OR a trans person who ALSO gets excited over kissing CHILDREN is extremely problematic. This is NOT the representation the LGBTQ+ community needs. While the author may have intended these as jokes...they're not.

I've lived in Texas my whole life...this is exactly why LGBTQ+ books get banned. The story was/is really cute, and I AM interested in the second volume...but it's NOT one I can recommend. 10-year-olds kissing is not it for me. If these girls were teenagers, it would be completely different.

I've also read manga regularly since 2009...I've seen how such themes have changed in Japanese literature. I looked up when this manga came out in Japan and found 2019 the earliest -- really? I thought we were past these kinds of attitudes, but I guess not in yuri/GL. For an English-speaking audience, because cultural differences are also being accommodated, I think the English version should've had more appropriate lines or "jokes", even if it would change this part of the story, because this is NOT it.

Healing magic requiring kissing in a book with 10-year-olds is a slippery slope into sexualizing children -- which I daresay has already been accomplished, because Sheena didn't consent to the kiss. Prior to needing to be kissed to heal her arm, she had shared whether she consented to kissing.

I'm...no. Not feeling this. I love the premise -- that's the tough part. This was a complete miss.

Also, they don't really even act like 10yo kids. They literally could've been older. The kiss healing magic could've been left to the teens to do on each other, rather than putting it on the teachers...

This had some aspects that made me deeply uncomfortable. I regret asking for this manga. It sucks because I really liked the premise. However, had I been given content warnings I wouldn't have requested this manga.

⭐ Rating: 1.5/5 stars
🗓 Publish date: Feb 18, 2025
🏷️ Tags: GL manga, fantasy world, mysterious war, wouldn't recommend


I'm very disappointed by this manga, unfortunately. I'm always on the lookout for fantasy GL/BL, so I was excited to request this.

The concept of orphans trained in a magical school for battle with (currently unknown) enemies is very intriguing. This first volume only had time to establish the characters and some of the world, but I imagine future volumes will include more intense plots and twists. I must say, part of me is still curious about what happens next.

Unfortunately, there were some aspects of the story that really ruined it for me. In particular, the character of the school nurse (Ms. Fran) who is referred to as an "old man" and as being "in drag." She is also called a "pervert" by students and honestly acts like one (particularly when she is giggling excitedly about being able to kiss a teen girl in order to heal her). This made me extremely uncomfortable and it's difficult not to interpret this as anything other than a very transphobic portrayal of trans women (using the typical stereotypes transphobes make up in their heads).

And I liked the art, overall, but Ms. Fran was always drawn in a way that's very... Provocative? Also, I had mixed feelings about how the young girls were drawn, often coming across more as objects than people. I know it's supposed to be a dark manga with dark themes (which we saw some of in this volume), so I'm guessing the mangaka is choosing to draw these girls as cute and innocent as a sort of contrast to the killing they are forced to do. But mostly, I just felt uncomfortable every time they kissed because it seemed the audience is supposed to enjoy it?? I honestly don't know, it just felt off to me.

As well, the trope of "oh no, we have to kiss to transfer spiritual energy/mana/magic" is one I've enjoyed in many books, but I didn't enjoy its use among such young girls (and the implication that adults like Ms. Fran are also kissing these kids to heal them). Overall, I was left with an icky feeling from this manga and I doubt I will continue and I can't see myself recommending it to anyone.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts shared in this review are my own.

Gorgeous art for a story about children being raised to be magical soldiers. The first volume does a great job of introducing the main characters and doing some basic worldbuilding and I hope to see more about this long running magical war in future volumes. I also heard this is getting an anime adaptation and I'm excited for that!

It has been a while since I read yuri manga, especially with darker plot, but I am happy I picked this one up.

Teens with magic abilities trained to be weapons of war can be a very emotional story and the scene of Mimi's second return from battle was truly heartbreaking. But the sadness is balanced quite well with very cute dynamic between the quiet, contemplative Sheena and the bubbly, seemingly naive Mimi.

Overall, a beautifully drawn, well-paced, very promising first volume with an intriguing plot (I do want to know who Mimi truly is). Honestly, I would have loved this one as a teen and I am looking forward to both volume 2 and the anime adaptation.

P.S. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.