Bless by Yukino Sonoyama is a young adult manga centered around the fashion world with an inspirational tone and an amazing art style that could steal anyone's heart!

With a runway fashion show on the horizon, Aia and Jun see themselves with the responsibility of creating a look to represent their class: Jun would be the stylist, 'cause nobody else wants the job and Aia would be the model since he had modeled before. But they may have other ideas…

Aia dream is to be a makeup artist, though he gave up since nobody seemed to see his potential. On the other hand, Jun would like to model and have the spotlight people seem to take from her. Supporting each other and believing in their abilities, they start a journey into the fashion world, reclaiming the space they always yearned for themselves.

I'm totally infatuated by it! This is a fast read and devour it. It may feel a little bit choppy, yes. But I still find it inspiring and fun. Also, Yukino Sonoyama's art is crazy good. The art style is enchanting and with a solid foundation, the composition is well-thought-out, and the backgrounds are well-designed, adding life to the scenes portrayed.

The biggest issues I found were that it could feel rushed, or as I said before choppy, due to the way the plot evolves. Also, some compositions could be improved (just a couple of them).

I would love to see the evolution of this story and author, and I would recommend it because it has a lot of potential.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend and I can’t wait to buy a copy for myself and read volume two 🙂 tea like the art style

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really like this book.
The artwork was so beautiful and the story was easy to go with. Two things that I would criticize:
1) I wanted to see a bit more in depth in how they started to show their feelings for each other, it was kind of rush in that sense.
2) Personally for me there were pages where there are a lot of text in a bubble, and it was hard for me to read.

But overall, It was cute, and as I had mentioned before the art really was a big plus for me.

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I needed to read it. The idea that it is about a makeup artist and a model, or at least people who want to become these things, was a fascinating idea to me. Plus the art is beautiful. Aia Udagawa is a recently retired model, who secretly wants to become a makeup artist. He doesn’t believe he has the talent for it. Jun Sumisaki is a class rep who wants to be a model. The two are chosen by their classmates to join the festival contest. Problem is that Aia was selected as the model and Jun as the makeup artist. They do change positions after finding out that they want each other’s position. The theme is transformation and Aia wants to highlight Jun’s freckles.

As I stated earlier, the art itself is amazing, but I also found the plot enticing as well. The story really drew me in. You have two people who have a dream; a goal they want to achieve. The two help each other in this first volume to help them achieve a step toward that goal. They work together to help push each other to go for what they want. Jun is shy, but Aia is able to pull some confidence out of her so she can walk down the runway. Jun helps Aia realize that he does have a talent for makeup. The way the two help each other is a nice thing to see. I like that they are trying to help each other instead of just using each other. There is a brief moment where they could have used some communication to understand each other better, but once they got past that, they were able to promote confidence in each other again. This is a series I am sure I will want to pick up immediately as each volume comes out.

i'm such a sucker for manga like this; gorgeous art, extremely well structured and interesting plot, and a cast of dynamic characters. honestly this was such a good set up and I'm definitely going to look for the second volume once that releases. i love the plot style - a cast of characters trying to be the best in a specific field. plus i love art and makeup definitely counts as art!

this series might fall into potential tropes in later volumes, but i hope these situations get managed in a good way. currently it's a tiny bit tropey which can be annoying for other readers. for me, though, i found it fun and managable.

* thanks to the publisher via netgalley for an arc!

At 12, I wanted to do Ice Skating. I quit before I started because I was told that I had to start at 6 for it to be "worth it". I wanted to do it because I thought it would be fun, but the people around me discouraged me from it, so I didn't even try.

Growing up, I always felt like I had to have a talent or affinity for something to get started. If I didn't have that talent, then it was useless for me put in time and effort. Later, I learned that this is called a fixed mindset. I still fall into it here and there, but I try to avoid it as best I can.

Bless follows two dreamers: Aia, who dreams of being a makeup artist, and Jun, who aspires to be a model. Though they were beaten down and discouraged from their dreams after being compared to others, they persevere and free themselves from other's expectations of them.

This book hits close to home in the way that the characters are encouraged to go outside of their comfort zone to do the thing they love and dream of. They go to the place that everyone discouraged them from approaching. The only reason provided? Their competitors are better than them and more skilled than them, so it's useless to try and it would be more fruitful to put in effort in something else. I think this mentality encourages people to compare themselves to other people, rather than themselves - which is a healthier mindset to have. There will always be someone who is more skilled than you, and someone who knows less than you. This applies to any field.

I love the character arc that Aia and Jun go through. Even a single chapter holds a huge impact with a lot of character development and relatability. It has phenomenal art, and the quality doesn't decrease at all throughout the volume. My favorite line has to be "The scariest type of people are the ones who accepted they don't have talent and fought harder because of it."

I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the sequel!

3.5 rounded up. this was a fun start to a new manga series. As someone whose high school time was dominated by handing out Beauty Pop manga to my friends from locker like a drug dealer, this one gave me such a wave of nostalgia.

That being said, this manga felt extremely rushed and the characters needed some time for us to get to know them and their motivations. The art was wonderful and very pretty and especially loved the sunflower look. I do wish that the make-up was easy to tell on the page but that might just be a failing of the black-and-white medium. If this manga had taken the time to show the background and motivations of the characters and shown Jun transforming more over time I would have rated this higher.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this manga

This was a lovely story about two people who have no confidence in themselves, but while they get to know each other they help each other gain confidence as well as see themselves in different lights. The way its shown is beautifully done seeing the grow but also how someone having confident in you can change everything because everyone deserves to reach out and achieve their dreams, dreams are passions of the soul and as the manga goes on you see how the characters glow when they are indulging in their passions shining bright to show the true them.

I look forward to reading the next volume

This is a really beautiful manga and I really enjoyed the themes of stepping into your own identity and self, instead of trying to fit into preassigned boxes. I’m intrigued to see how Aia’s makeup journey will continue and how Jun will progress in modeling spaces

Not my favorite unfortunately, as it didn't particularly hold my interest. I didn't feel particularly attached to the story

The art style is mysterious and mesmerizing. I love that both ML and FL had interesting visuals, The story is engaging and enjoyable. I was rooting for our protagonists and I'm looking forward to see their romance blossoms. I liked that a lot of panels looked fashionable. I am excited for the second volume.

this is your typical shojo manga with a quirky set of characters. This isn't the best or the worst just mid

“Draw it out of me. A me I don’t even know myself”


Unfortunately, I did not like this book as much as I wanted to. I was looking forward to a really cute story between two people who lacked qualities that the other person had but I didn’t really get that.

The story moves too fast to really flesh out the main characters and their relationship is somewhat confusing. I didn’t get to care much about Sumisaki and Udagawa because I didn’t know anything about them. There’s not much of a backstory so we don’t really understand the characters motives. The characters don’t spend a lot of time getting to know each other or building a relationship. It is unclear if they are just friends or if they are going to date, but I guess that will be solved in the next book?

I just wish the author would have used this first book as a chance to better introduce the characters and develop the relationship/friendship between them. There was too much of a focus on the makeup and modeling part of the plot that even when the author tried to have moments of inner conflict, it didn’t feel like a crucial part of the story or like I should care. Also, although there was character development I would say that it was somewhat unrealistic as it all happened too fast. This is another reason why I wish the author would have used the first book as an opportunity to focus more on the characters themselves and the inner conflicts they faced.

I did begin to become interested at the end when Yoyogi was introduced but the competition between them never gained a sense of tension. I wanted to feel as if the stakes were high, but unfortunately I didn’t get that feeling at all.


*I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Aia, a former model who wants to be a makeup artist, and Jun, bullied for her freckles but aspires to be a model. We follow our main characters working together to achieve their dreams. This was a cute start to a manga series. I enjoyed the plot, and am interested in seeing where their romance is going.

My favourite part of this was definitely the artwork in this manga. The story follows Aia Utagawa, a former model who's dream is to become a successful makeup artist and Jun, a quiet classmate who grows in confidence to become a model at their school's runway fashion contest. I felt like some parts of it were unrealistic, especially the speed at which Jun's confidence grew and she suddenly became popular in the school. I also expected the whole story to be about the fashion contest. Instead that story was over by halfway and then there was another rushed story which I think could've been fleshed out in its own story.

Thank you so much to the author, Netgalley and Kodansha comics for giving me a free e-arc in return for an honest review.

This is a story about a girl and a boy who are put on a job for their school. A girl who is just a pushover and a boy who used to be a model. Though the girl wishes she could be a model and the boy wants to be a makeup artist. They end up switching jobs and being the best team on the runway. Can't wait to see what is in the future for this team.

Picked this up on a whim as an arc from Netgalley because it was short and it looked super interesting. I don’t read many slice of life type mangas but I was intrigued by this and decided I needed to read it.

Overall I really liked the story here. Both of the main characters were fantastic. Aia and Jun both had a lot of depth to them. I liked watching them work through their insecurities and doubts to make their dreams a reality. I liked their relationship too and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops in the future. They play well off of each other and their scenes together are a delight to read.

The fact that this was in black and white made it a little hard for me personally to see how the makeup looks translated to the page but I don’t think that will be a problem for everyone.

Overall I really enjoyed this and recommend it. Looking forward to reading more volumes in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for the e-book copy!

Bless is about two high schoolers who want to branch out into the fashion scene but struggle to find the confidence. Until they start working together on a runway fashion contest and gain the boost they need to pursue their goals. Their passion for their respective interests is what grabbed my attention. As I was reading, I just wanted to root for them to succeed. If you like a good underdog story set in the fashion world, then Bless will definitely be worth the read.

Bless is about Aia Utagawa who aspires to become a make up artist and June Sumisaki who is a bit awkward and shy. Both are paired up for an event called Aoi con.

Many had expected for Aia to becoming a model but that wasn't his dream. June dream was to become a model but she thought that that didn't fit her. June and Aia pushed one another to keep chasing after there dreams and not giving up.

I felt that the Aoi con event took place really fast. It felt like it was going to happen towards the end up it took place around the middle. I really liked both Aia and June as characters. Overall I enjoyed reading the manga.

This dive into the world of makeup and models is so cool. Aia has a deep passion for makeup and when he makes friends with Jun and decides to go into a modeling competition with her where he can show off his skills things click.

Aia is passionate and his deepest desire is to share his artistic perspective with the world. He sees the freckles that Jun has been teased about and decides to highlight them. Showing her that she should embrace and be confident in the woman that she already is.

I love that they both bring out the best in each other. Jun shows Aia that he has the strength to take the leap and that he doesn’t have to be perfect as long as he’s doing his best. Aia shows Jun that she should be confident in the woman she is and shows her how he sees her and he never changes her just accents the best parts of herself.

This manga series is going to be so good and I am really happy with the first volume and I can’t wait to see how this goes in future installments. I highly recommend this manga.