Perfectly Angsty Romance Manga

It’s been raining up a storm recently! My dog and I have been cowering indoors, cuddling for warmth under layers of blankets and listening to ambient Minecraft music while we wait for the sun to return. When it's been gloomy outside for days on end and all your best shoes are covered in mud, it becomes too easy to sink into a bummer attitude. But, as they say – April showers bring May flowers! And, thankfully, nothing lasts forever!

If you’ve also been trudging your way through this wet and somber month, I hope you’ll find some catharsis – and some much needed lightness – through these perfectly angsty romance manga!

Featured Book One

Silent Voice 1

Title

Silent Voice 1

Price

$10.99

Available In Store

LEARNING TO LISTEN
Shoya is a bully. When Shoko, a girl who can't hear, enters his elementary school class, she becomes their favorite target, and Shoya and his friends goad each other into devising new tortures for her. But the children's cruelty goes too far. Shoko is forced to leave the school, and Shoya ends up shouldering all the blame. Six years later, the two meet again. Can Shoya make up for his past mistakes, or is it too late?

Read the manga industry insiders voted their favorite of 2014!

"A very powerful story about being different and the consequences of childhood bullying... Read it." -Anime News Network
"The word heartwarming was made for manga like this." -Manga Bookshelf

SKU

9781632360564

Silent Voice 1

$10.99

Available In Store

Description

Read the manga industry insiders voted their favorite of 2014!

"A very powerful story about being different and the consequences of childhood bullying... Read it." -Anime News Network
"The word heartwarming was made for manga like this." -Manga Bookshelf

Description

Read the manga industry insiders voted their favorite of 2014!

"A very powerful story about being different and the consequences of childhood bullying... Read it." -Anime News Network
"The word heartwarming was made for manga like this." -Manga Bookshelf

ISBN

9781632360564

Oima Yoshitoki

Publisher

Kodansha Comics

Publication Date

May 1, 2015

Binding

Paperback

Item Condition

New

Language

English

Ages

13-17

Pages

192

Series

Silent Voice

Series Number

Keywords

Comics & Graphic Novels | Romance; Comics & Graphic Novels | School Life; Comics & Graphic Novels | East Asian Style | Manga - General

A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima

Shoya is an elementary school bully. When Shoko, a girl who can't hear, joins his class, she becomes the target of Shoya and his gang. After their cruelty forces Shoko into transferring schools, Shoya ends up shouldering all the blame and becomes the new target of his former accomplices. When Shoko and Shoya unexpectedly reunite six years later, both are struggling to find reasons to keep going – and, against all odds, begin to see possible futures in each other.

A Silent Voice does not shy away from difficult topics like mental health, isolation, and regret, but what truly sets it apart is how approachable and accessible it makes these uncomfortable themes for kids and adults alike – and how it ultimately focuses on growth, redemption, and healing through community. In the immortal words of my 14-year-old sister: "I love it, one of my comfort series." We cannot recommend it enough!

Featured Book Two

Your Lie in April 1

Title

Your Lie in April 1

Price

$10.99

Available In Store

A LIFE IN MONOTONE
Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother died suddenly, changing his life forever. Driven by his pain to abandon piano, Kosei now lives in a monotonous, colorless world. Having resigned himself to a bland life, he is surprised when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style. Can she bring Kosei back to music, and back to life?

Praise for the hit anime
"Your Lie in April is about two things: loss and love... A sight to behold." -Kotaku
"A happy melody... about the power of music to inspire, to energize, to bring sunshine back into a life that's lost it." - Anime News Network

SKU

9781632361714

Your Lie in April 1

$10.99

Available In Store

Description

ISBN

9781632361714

Naoshi Arakawa

Publisher

Kodansha Comics

Publication Date

April 21, 2015

Binding

Paperback

Item Condition

New

Language

English

Ages

13-0

Pages

224

Series

Your Lie In April

Keywords

Comics & Graphic Novels | East Asian Style | Manga - General; Comics & Graphic Novels | Romance

Your Lie in April by Naoshi Arakawa

Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother died, changing his life in an instant. With his love for piano now drowned by his pain, Kosei resigns himself to living in a monotonous, colorless world. When he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style and zest for life, he begins to rediscover his passion and allow color back into his life. But Kaori is dealing with pain of her own…

It’s April, so how could I not recommend this one? Your Lie in April is considered by many to be one of the best manga/anime dramas of all time! This series handles themes of trauma, love, and rediscovering passion after great loss in a way that is sensitive, dramatic without the melo-, and emotionally compelling.

Featured Book Three

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, newly orphaned high schooler Tohru Honda ends up being taken in by the mysterious Sohma clan, a family plagued by a terrible curse: when touched by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac! But behind surface-level silliness lies buried secrets and generational trauma – and it’s up to Tohru to help her adopted family break free from their turbulent pasts.

Fruits Basket was my first manga, and has lived rent-free in the back of my mind now for nearly two decades. A perfect blend of goofy, tragic, and romantic, Fruits Basket is a great reminder of the power of care – caretaking, caregiving, and, simply, caring. Tough and gentle Tohru was my hero as a kid, and I hope that she can continue to inspire readers for many years to come!

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1: Volume 1

Title

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1: Volume 1

Price

$20.00

Available In Store

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, plucky high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out...into a tent! Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn't long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own--when touched by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac!A perennial favorite of fans and librarians alike, Natsuki Takaya's beloved bestselling Fruits Basket series returns to print in gorgeous deluxe English-language omnibus editions with beautiful full-color illustrations that are not to be missed!

SKU

9780316360166

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1: Volume 1

$20.00

Available In Store

Description

ISBN

9780316360166

Takaya Natsuki

Publisher

Yen Press

Publication Date

June 1, 2016

Binding

Paperback

Item Condition

New

Language

English

Ages

13-17

Pages

400

Series

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition

Series Number

Keywords

Featured Book Four

Run Away with Me, Girl 1

Title

Run Away with Me, Girl 1

Price

$12.99

Ships in 2-3 Days

A dramatic, funny, and painful romance manga between two women about how, sometimes, you need to run away in order to find where you truly belong. Perfect for fans of coming-out yuri like How Do We Relationship? and masters of adult drama like Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish) and Takako Shimura (Even Though We're Adults).

You know that one person you just can't forget? Not the one that got away, but the one you had, until suddenly you didn't?

Maki's first love was her high school classmate, a girl named Midori. But Midori broke up with Maki at graduation, saying they were now "too old to be fooling around dating girls." Ten years later, Maki still can't get Midori off her mind, and when the two women reconnect after a chance encounter, Maki realizes that, while her feelings haven't changed, Midori has long moved on--in fact, she's engaged. Yet the more Maki hears Midori talk about her soon-to-be-husband, the more red flags she notices. And Midori has another secret, one she hasn't yet shared with Maki. Will it be the last blow to Maki's hopes that their romance might be rekindled? Or will it be the push that sets them on a new path--one they'll travel together?

SKU

9781646515004

Run Away with Me, Girl 1

$12.99

Ships in 2-3 Days

Description

A dramatic, funny, and painful romance manga between two women about how, sometimes, you need to run away in order to find where you truly belong. Perfect for fans of coming-out yuri like How Do We Relationship? and masters of adult drama like Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish) and Takako Shimura (Even Though We're Adults).

You know that one person you just can't forget? Not the one that got away, but the one you had, until suddenly you didn't?

Description

A dramatic, funny, and painful romance manga between two women about how, sometimes, you need to run away in order to find where you truly belong. Perfect for fans of coming-out yuri like How Do We Relationship? and masters of adult drama like Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish) and Takako Shimura (Even Though We're Adults).

You know that one person you just can't forget? Not the one that got away, but the one you had, until suddenly you didn't?

ISBN

9781646515004

Battan

Publisher

Kodansha Comics

Publication Date

December 1, 1922

Binding

Paperback

Item Condition

New

Language

English

Pages

208

Series

Run Away With Me, Girl

Keywords

Comics & Graphic Novels | East Asian Style | Manga - Yuri (Girls' Love)

Run Away With Me, Girl by Battan

Ten years after Maki’s painful breakup with her high school girlfriend Midori, the two women reconnect after a chance encounter. Maki realizes that, while her feelings haven’t changed, Midori, pregnant and engaged, has long moved on… or has she? As the red flags pile up, Midori and Maki must face decisions that, once made, will transform their relationships – and their lives – forever.

I tore through this little trilogy in a single day; I couldn’t put it down! Run Away with Me, Girl is realistic, heart-wrenching, and complicated – and ultimately has a sweet and happy romantic ending. I found this manga’s depictions of compulsory heterosexuality to be refreshingly three-dimensional and nuanced, and I will be a Midori defender until the day I die.

Featured Book Five

Touch Within the Abyss by Moyori Mori

Hitman Chinatsu once failed to pull the trigger on his target and it cost him his brother's life. That day, the sole witness took Chinatsu's trembling hand and gazed at him with clear eyes that stared right through him... straight into the abyss within. Five years later, the still-struggling Chinatsu reunites with his savior: Kasumi, a young blind man searching for a way out of his own lonely world. But does Chinatsu have the strength to protect Kasumi from the bloody horrors of his world… and of himself?

First released in 2021 to lasting acclaim and out now for the first time in English, Touch Within the Abyss is a lovely and memorable read. Its gentle, gorgeous art perfectly encapsulates its touchingly rendered themes of redemption, loneliness, and love. A BL masterpiece!

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Perfectly Angsty Romance Manga

A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima

Your Lie in April by Naoshi Arakawa

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

Run Away With Me, Girl by Battan

Touch Within the Abyss by Moyori Mori

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