Anime Review - Onimai: I'm Now Your Sister

 

I'd say this series is very high up there on the "WTF Japan" meter. 

Genius high school girl concocts a drug that turns her useless, NEET older brother into a middle schooler. And a girl. If you're one of the people who morally objected to Mushoku Tensei because the MC was a dirty rotten scoundrel before getting killed and given a second chance at life... this series is ALSO probably not going to be for you. This one's a magical gender-bending yuri series, and will probably not survive the upcoming purge when any all "problematic" media gets removed from streaming services (probably somewhere during wave 2 of the Fahrenheit 451 future we're currently knee deep in).

This show came out in 2023, and at time of writing this review in 2026 it's got a MAL rating of... 7.64???? Curious if the show was actually good, I decided to see for myself before it becomes media restricted to Japan.

The series got to me by the end, especially with the scene on the train. Mihari was truly a real one for giving her brother a second chance at life; think she was my favorite of the side characters by the end. The return to school arc was where the show peaked for me, and I found the relationship Mahiro had with the two boys in her class to be some of the funniest scenes in the show.

I don't know that I'll watch it again, and glad I watched the SFW Crunchyroll version. Take my 7/10

Manga Review: "I Don't Know Which Is Love" vol.1

I don't know if this is the only harem yuri series that exists...

but it's the only one I think I've ever read.

I'm a sucker for cute romance series. So, when I saw that we were getting a light-hearted new yuri series from Yen Press I decided I had to pick it up. I'd say I'm a pretty big fan of the harem romcom genre to be honest, since I grew up on a steady diet of Tenchi Muyou and the like. So, the idea of a yuri harem series intrigued me. I did a quick google search for "yuri harem manga" and couldn't really find much - certainly nothing on my shelves. So, this would be a first for me.

The plot for this one: In high school, Mei was in love with a girl who left her when she found a boyfriend, now in college, Mei is determined to get a girlfriend. I'd say the struggle in this is going to be making JUST ONE girl happy, because from her first day of school Mei already has a sea of admirers, each of whom falls for a differnet aspect of Mei based on the five senses.

There's:

Riri Shirosawa, a fellow freshman, who's also a pin-up idol, but is very shy, and doesn't like being surrounded by men. She's soft, and squishy, and loves holding Mei's hands. 

Next up:

Maria Todomeki - she's a teacher in the psychology department who becomes Mei's advisor. She's great at reading body langauage, and especially likes looking at all of Mei's different adorable reactions to things. She's got that mommy-energy too, which Mei might be a bit into.

Then we've got:

Minato - she's a bit boyish and works in the cafe (reminds me a lof of Kashima a.k.a. "The Prince" from Nozaki-kun) She's a couple years older and Mei's senpai. She's an audio tech for the drama club - and she's really into sound; bordering on ASMR fetishist. She falls for Mei's voice

Also:

Karin Ajima, also of the drama department! She's an actress, but only as a hobby. She's also really into taste: especially the taste of girls lips - she's very, very kissy and aggressive. How in the world is Mei going to fend off her advances?? 

Lastly:

There's Kaoru - who's got a very good nose. She's going to be Mei's roommate in the dorms. She hates the smell of fabric softener, but loves the smell of Me (I can't believe I just wrote that sentece). She's a bit silly, but also smart; strict, but fair. Seems like a really nice senpai to have around.

And thus the stage is set for an epic battle for Mei's heart.

I was delighted by volume 1 of this series. I went in knowing nothing about it other than yur+harem, but what I got out of it far exceeded my expectations. All the characters are fun, and the art is really great. Mei's blushing, normy-in-distress vibe is a perfect compliment to each of the over the top characters gunning for her heart. 10/10 for a volume 1. I'll be eagerly awainting volume 2! Looking forward to reading more from Tamamushi Oku! You can give them a follow on twitter @tama_64.

"I Don't Know Which Is Love" is published by Yen Press and comes out on August 22nd! (probably in your local book store already!!)
Retail price is $13.00
Find it at your preferred retailer, none of these are affiliate links, I just want you to buy this book!
Barnes & Noble 

Right Stuf

Amazon

Manga Review: "Run Away With Me Girl" vol. 2

I had Norah Jones's "Come Away With Me" stuck in my head after reading this for some reason

I was on the fence about whether or not I was going to continue this series after the first volume, despite giving it five stars, but after reading the 2^nd book I’m glad I did. The ‘running away’ starts here and I definitely enjoyed seeing them escape. I’m very hopeful for the relationship between Maki and Midori and I wish them the best (reasonably sure we’re heading toward a happy ending now not some lovers’ suicide/tragic thing, but who knows). More than anything I just want Midori’s fiancé to disappear from existence. Dude is a scumbag. Hoping he’s not in book 3 much. This manga has this weird way of flittering between beautiful and depressing that it’s rather tough to read, but I think it’s worth it. When we see Midori from Maki’s perspective and she’s always sparkling it really hits me with a sense of wonder – but then you see the world from Midori’s side and things are rarely ever that dazzling. On a side note: really enjoyed meeting Komori for the first time. Her addition was welcome.

REVIEW OF VOLUME 3 COMING SOON!

If you'd like to purchase, do so at these links (not sponsored):

Barnes & Noble

RightStuf

Amazon

Manga Review: "Run Away With Me Girl" vol. 1

The Cover was Beautiful until I realized it reminded me of Midsommar

When I started to think "I really wanted to YEET Midori's Fiance into the sun." I realized that this series was going to be one I couldn't drop.

I bought this book on a whim when I was on a Yuri reading kick not really knowing how dark the plot is. TW: there’s some very serious and disturbing content. The plot centers around two high school more-than-friends reuniting after many years. When they were in school, they ‘played’ at being girlfriends, but for one of them, Maki, the relationship ended up leaving an everlasting impression. For her, their reunion means a LOT. The other woman, Midori, is now in a very serious relationship with a man, but the relationship is so TOXIC it might as well be radioactive. I found the first volume to be a good hook for me, but half of me is reading just to make sure that I see the horrible relationship Midori’s in come to an end. I suppose it comes off as kind of a footnote, but I want to add that I adore the art in this book, especially with the way Battan is able to shift from SPARKLES to glooooooom. Strong recommend as long as you’re able to stomach the sensitive material.

REVIEW OF VOLUME 2! 

This manga is published by Kodansha.

Buy it here (currently, I get nothing out of this, just think you should read the damn book lol)

Barnes & Noble 

RightStuf

Amazon

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 2

Hungry for Volume 3

Sorry, I couldn't resist the urge to pun. But for real. When is volume 3 coming out, cus I need another serving of this pronto. (again, I apologize for the food jokes).

With that, my thoughts...   ...5/5 by the way. I'll say that up front. 

There's your TL;DR if you only wanted to see a score.

If you missed my review of volume 1, you can find it here.

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 1 

Book 2 was great. Just great. There were a number of new and delicious looking dishes and each and every one of them made me hungry. Actually, physically hungry. This manga is a feast for the eyes. It's been years since I lived in Japan (I left in 2015 to return to the US for health reasons), but this has me hankering for Japanese cuisines I've not had in ages. Roll Cake, Character Bento, Stollen, Anko. Good lord I need to go order food.... 

Hopefully listing a bunch of the foods they eat in this volume didn't spoil anything, I'll talk some very spoilery things later, but i'll be sure to put a warning. In typical manga fashion, one of the characters gets sick in a chapter here (not really a spoiler, I promise! it's a regular occurance in all slice-of-life series); the other prepares a glorious bowl of kitsune udon. 

Oh. My. God. 

It really struck me, both in the heart and in the stomach. 

Having someone make you a big bowl of soup, when you’re too weak to do it yourself. It has a very comfy, healing warmth to it, even when you're just reading it happen to someone else. Almost makes me want to pull a Ferris Bueller and call out sick today (but who’d be there to make me Udon?).

 Beyond the food though, this volume really expanded on the relationship between Nomoto and Kasuga and cements the romance plot. In my mind, this volume moves it from the sub-plot to the main plot. I'll discuss more in length just after wrapping up the review portion here...

Lastly, I really appreciated learning more about each character’s backstory. They've definitely gotten more depth of character after this volume. This elevates the manga for me in a big way. I like three dimensional characters. Just like I'd like a third volume of this manga. Nowish. Sadly, there's no pre-order available yet, but hopefully we'll see an announcement of one soon.

I highly recommend this series, so, again, I don't get anything out of it, but here's the links to buy this book at your preferred place of book buying. "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" is published by Yen Press and has an MSRP of $15.00.

Barnes & Noble

Rightstuf

Amazon

.....

NOW

THIS IS WHERE I TALK SPOILERS

You've been warned...

A warning page from the editor. I feel like I've seen a couple pages like this in books before; one in 'Witch Hat Atelier' stands out in my mind. I'm on the fence about them, but I suppose it's a good thing. The way it's done here feels like they're protecting the publisher more than giving a trigger warning though. Still, I understand that I think this is done with good intentions. Probably.

FOR REAL THOUGH

HUGE

MEGA-SPOILERS

Don't blame me.

I warned you.

This page appears before a fairly poignant chapter featuring one of the main characters going through the realizaton process that she's a lesbian and in love with the other woman. It's a pretty dark awakening. I thought it was a very good chapter. Felt like a brick to the face a little bit, but It certainly moves the story forward in a very, very big way. In the first volume, there were hints of a romance subplot developing, but volume 2 makes it extremely clear where this series is headed.

I like this manga a lot. I appreciated that it took itself seriously, when needed, but didn't get stuck being a SERIOUS book. The manga was light-hearted, even if there's a chapter or two that really stand out as being tonally different; that's usually a big offender for me - when a book can't stick to a tone, I end up getting turned off because it puts me in a different mood when I finish it, then when I started. This one didn't. So, I'll take that as a good thing.

I'm eager to see how the romance plays out.

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 1

I'm getting hungry just reviewing this manga

Full disclosure, I'm writing this review after I've already read vol. 2, but I tried my best to review it based on the first impression I got from the first volume when I read it originally.

Nomoto is an OL with an Instagram and loves sharing picutres of her cooking, but she has a problem. She's always wanted someone who can really pack it in. She wants to craft mega-sized dishes like bucket-pudding, or giga-pancackes. Huge omelettes. Great overflowing bowls of curry. The urge to just go nuts in the kitchen is welling up inside her. However, she's just one woman, living alone, and not interested in marriage (and especially not interested in becoming a 'good wife' for some random male coworker).

Then, one night, Kasuga appears, carrying buckets of KFC... which she will eat. By herself.

When trouble happens at work, and Nomoto goes a LITTLE overboard de-stressing with some serious kitchen time; a steak donburi of epic proportions is born, and the only way to keep it from going to waste is by having her neighbor help her polish it off.

And thus begins a beautiful friendship... and maybe, in the future, more...

This volume was great. I’ve reread it multiple times since it came out. I really like food centered manga (but especially ones that have a bit of romance to them - guess the way to my heart, ultimately, really is through my stomach); when the visuals are so good that you can smell the dishes, and get hungry yourself, that’s when you know you've got a hit. This manga definitely did taht for me. Every time I read it (i think i'm up to four times now) I end up needing to go grab a snack. I blame this series for my recent craving for Yaki-onigiri (gonna try it with Miso the way they do in the manga) and going on a hunt for the best Karage in the county… (I ended up finding a really good spot too! I've started getting takeout karage-bowls now after work). I’m sure this book has put a few pounds around my waist. This series also has the ‘Yuri’ tag on it, but I’m not sure if I’d call it a main plot, or a sub-plot; here in volume 1, there is a lesbian romance going on under the surface, but it has yet to develop into a mutual relationship yet. Hoping in the future both Nomoto and Kasuga realize their feelings for each other. But I feel like that’s where it’s going because I don’t see it becoming a one-sided affair.

This is an easy 5/5 for me. I've already bought and read vol. 2, with review of that one coming (shortly, and i'll spoil for you... my score doesn't go down).

She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat is published by Yen Press. MSRP $15

You can buy it at the following. I don't get anything for these links, but I loved the manga, I'ma recommend you just go right over and pick it up yourself.

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Rightstuf


Now, if you'd like to read my take on volume 2... check it out here...

Manga Review: "She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat" vol. 2

Anime Review: "The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady" - 5/10... oof

 
Viva the Yuri Revolution!!

Or that’s what I’d say if this series left me feeling excited about it. Sadly I didn’t really enjoy it as a whole.

I enjoyed PARTS of this show, but way, way too much of it was bogged down in seriousness and depression. Why can’t I just have a cute little yuri isekai slice of life series???? I dislike series that can’t pick a tone, and this series definitely had that issue. It started off with the hilarious antics of this bloody, wild princess, who steals away her brother’s fiancé to take for herself. It’s very comedic. I was legitimately laughing at how the princess shows up the first time. I need a good laugh these days. Life’s too serious to be serious all the time.

But, the problem comes after this, because all of the important obstacles in the story are TOO big, and TOO serious. Really killed the mood.

The titular ‘reincarnated princess’ is from our world, by the way, which is never really used as much more than a B-side subplot device to give her a reason to come up with various magical inventions that look like stuff from our world. Not that that’s a bad thing, but this series definitely puts me into the frame of mind where I’m questioning what the point of this series being an ‘isekai’ is in the first place. The origin world stuff really doesn’t come up that much whatsoever. Could have been default fantasy without a problem.

This is a problem because on the one hand, we have a ridiculous princess who makes flying brooms and magic swords, and there’s vampires and dragons, etc. and on the other hand we have a very serious plot with characters being worried about rites of succession and having to bear offspring that will carry the royal bloodline. There’s a serious divide here. Ultimately it led to me feeling pretty bad about the series in general.

In the end, this series became one I completed mostly for the sake of not leaving something unfinished, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care very much about it. The visuals were stunning, so it certainly wasn’t a drag to watch, but I don’t think I’ll think about anything aside from it having a cute little yuri couple. I ended up buying the manga after the first episode, and with the dramatic tone shift, I actually felt pretty baited. Not likely to continue to buy volumes of this, or watch a season 2 if they make one.