I received an E-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for this opportunity.

This volume offers a short opening to a manga series following a pair of young girls growing up in a magical school where orphaned children are trained for the sole purpose of becoming warriors to fight in an expansive war. The set up is interesting, we mainly follow Sheena, a fourteen year old girl who’s roommate was recently killed and receives a new roommate in Mimi, a young girl who is one in the long line of specially trained soldiers, a deadly weapon honed to kill indiscriminately. However, the overall tone of the story made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as the premise of this story is for it to develop into a romance between Sheena and Mimi, who are adolescents with a 4 year age gap. Personally I am uncomfortable with the way that Mimi was presented in this volume as I felt like her actions and her body seemed sexualized/fetishized. If these characters were older I don’t think I would have these same issues. As a result I will not be continuing this series.

I really wasn’t all too sure what to expect from I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day. My knowledge only came from the recently announced anime adaptation, which will star Rie Takahashi and Rina Hidaka as the main two leads. But wow, for a yuri series, this wasn’t what I was imagining. Dare I say, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day has truly taken me by surprise!

For starters, the world isn’t something you’d normally come across in this genre. It’s a war-torn country, where orphans are used for magical combat. There’s no guarantee of return for any who are set out, as students almost daily hear news of classmates dying in battle. Most recently, student Sheena Totsuki has had to deal with losing her roommate, feeling crushed while her classmates take the tragedy in stride.

Enter Mimi Kagari, whose first impression isn’t the best. Covered in blood, Sheena kind of freaks out over both her appearance and attitude. Despite being trained for war, Mimi is the cheerful type, with an empty stomach the only trouble she deals with. That’s when rumors spread about Mimi, who may be the school’s secret, immortal weapon. Sheena will find out firsthand about Mimi, as the mystery girl becomes her roommate.

The war aspect of I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is hidden throughout the first half of the premiere volume. Yet author Nachi Aono does a surprisingly good job with giving readers a feel of what’s going on. From the dark tension of the classroom to Sheena’s personality, it becomes very apparent that this world the orphans live in is not safe in the slightest. Only when Mimi appears does there seem to be a beacon of hope for both Sheena and the violent world they’re in.

And yet, even when showing a practice battle, this manga doesn’t hold anything back. The fight itself is pretty fast-moving, but watching as Sheena sustains a grave injury goes to show how no one — even the main characters — are safe from pain. There’s blood, amputations, and rough lacerations that these young teens are having to take and lose. However, the most brutal of injuries comes from Mimi, with a sight that’d make anyone sick to their stomach.

With it being a yuri, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day does hint of romantic interests between the students. Sheena’s friends Ari and Seiran are already linked as a couple, and the narrative will certainly push Sheena and Mimi down that path. The fact that people can heal wounds with kisses also emphasizes the LGBTQ+ aspects of the world everyone resides in. However, I was kind of surprised by how students unfairly treat the nurse Fran, who is hinted as being either a drag queen or transgender, an attitude that might raise some eyebrows within and outside the community.

Despite that little issue, the first volume of I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day has me craving for more. Not since 2016’s Izetta: The Last Witch have I seen a mixture of yuri and fantasy work as strongly as this has. After reading these first few chapters, I totally get the hype behind it. However, since I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day will no doubt continue to whittle down the playing field, it’s going to be hard to get attached to any of these characters, as they might bite the dust in a future battle. A small price to pay for embarking on a grim fantasy that’ll surely fill your need for both love and blood.

A creeping, horrifying juxtaposition of cute school girls and violence

EMOTIONAL APPEAL (10/10)
I was genuinely shocked by the brief moments of violence because they were inserted so well into the story. The main character does tell us that it's a school to raise child soldiers, but it's all calm, school-girl typical vibes before we're jarringly showed, oh shit they're actually soldiers. I was amazed by how off balance I felt. There's no extreme gore, no dramatic fight sequences. In fact, I find it more creepy because there's this distant battlefield we don't get to see yet, and the evidence of it feels so out of place on the clean, regular school grounds. The adults also treat the aftermath of violence in a blase way that scared me.

CHARACTERS (7/10)
We quickly see that most of the characters have very different sides to them: they don't feel two-dimensional. The side characters actually interest me the most. One weird part is that the child characters are all apparently 10 years old, but it's confusing to try and tell from their visual appearances.

ART (9/10)
The art is pretty and well done. A few panels felt a bit sketchy and unpolished, but for the most part, the art was consistently high quality. The logical sequence of the panels also made sense other than maybe one or two odd visual transitions.

FLOW (10/10)
I loved the pacing of this volume! There's enough breathing room for us to get to know the characters and school setting and enough frequent juicy tidbits to keep me interested in more. There's many mysteries, like what they're fighting, what the battlefield conditions are like, etc., but from what I've seen so far of the flow and plot logic, I trust the mangaka to reveal everything in time.

REPRESENTATION (7/10)
I highly enjoyed that there was an established wlw side couple already! I thought the trope of transferring magical energy through kissing and making it seem romantic was kind of weird considering they're 10 years old. At least it wasn't depicted as sexy, though. There's also apparently a trans woman? She's literally just a hot woman whom one of the characters directs some transphobia toward, so I guess she's trans? In a way, that's refreshing.

ENJOYMENT (9/10)
I gasped in outrage when the volume ended--I still wanted more! Volume 1 did a great job of keeping my interest. I'm looking forward to volume 2!

This manga does not really make sense. One girl is dead. Her roommate is sad. She’s at a school for witches. But there’s some type of war going on where people have died. And apparently a 10-year-old semi bimbo who was just covered in death but seems to be this amazing killing machine is now moving into the school. And let’s not forget about the nurse that looks more like a prostitute. This book makes little no sense. I get the feeling it was started as included chapters in something else. But altogether I just find this confusing and I have no desire to finish it.

It's amazing how such a short graphic novel can go so deep into the discussions of war, childhood, and sexuality in a very subtle manner. The artwork is astonishing and I am very curious to see the subsequent parts of the novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It is about an orphanage for young children, turning out magical child soldiers to fight in a war.

The story has potential, but I would have liked to see more about the war/what they are actually fighting? Mimi has me curious and I want to know more.

The magic system made me very uncomfortable and was very off-putting.

Nachi Aono's drawing style is both expressive and detailed, which makes the emotions of the characters and the flow of the scenes come across strongly. The manga manages to explore a dark magical girl story in an orphanage for girls. It is also mainly advertised as a yuri manga. From what I've read until now I find the complexity of human relationships and the search for love and understanding in a hostile world written in an authentic way. I personally feel like after reading only the first volume it's hard to draw hard conclusions, especially because it feels like a longterm, slowburn story, But I do think that if the characters were older this would have worked a lot better. There doesn't seem to be a reason for some of the characters to be this young. I’m really curious about the world building though and where the story will lead, I enjoyed this volume enough to pick up the next one and see where the story goes from there.

Sidenote: I also don't see what kinda sexualization or nudity some other reviewers are talking about. I left this read without seeing anything profoundly sexual about it. Sure the healing part can be very specific with the sharing mana by kissing, but as another review already said. There's nothing sexual about performing cpr on someone either

"This dramatic and compelling yuri manga presents a dark and fascinating world. It explores the lives of young characters forced into a brutal existence, where an orphanage serves as a training ground for magical child soldiers in a devastating war.

What truly stands out is the delicate portrayal of innocence amidst this violence. The main characters, despite their harsh upbringing, possess a captivating purity. The author masterfully crafts their interactions, revealing their complex emotional landscapes.

The story delves into a blossoming connection between the female leads, with subtle yet powerful lesbian undertones. This adds a layer of emotional depth to the narrative, and I'm eager to see how their relationship evolves. I'm particularly interested in seeing how the author develops the female leads further.

The artwork is exceptional, enhancing the story's emotional impact and creating a visually stunning experience. The narrative is full of intrigue and unexpected turns, keeping the reader engaged from beginning to end. I highly recommend this manga to those seeking a unique and thought-provoking story that blends action, emotion, and delicate romance."

Sheena lives in an orphanage, which doubles as a school training girls with magic for combat in the war. After her roommate passes in a fight, she’s replaced with the odd Mimi, who arrived at night, covered in blood.

Sheena and Mimi attend classes together, Sheena grappling with both her new roommate’s odd behavior and seemingly not wanting to fight. Oh, and having a gay crisis after Mimi has to kiss her to heal her. Cause that’s how they heal people in this world.

This was a pretty interesting introduction, Im so curious about both what on earth they’re fighting in this war, and what is going on with Mimi. The reveal at the end is wild. Can’t wait for the next one!

I'm not really sure this fully works....

So basically these kids use some type of magic to help fight against something....but we don't see that something they fight. They're basically soldiers in a war but don't see much war.

Instead we get the main lead who begins to fall for her new classmate, and the way you transfer mana/heal is through kissing. But it's odd cause everyone looks 10-12....which is not something that surprises me but it does. But whatever, least all look around the same age.

But then with some transphobe comments, we have a teacher who also kisses these students but is a full on adult....and not a fan of that.

It just feels weird, and while the art is solid, I can't say I fully recommend this one. It feels....weird. Maybe I'm just not the audience for this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This, too, is yuri.

I'm rating this manga a 2.5/5 stars for multiple reasons. One, these children are 10 years old and must kiss each other on the mouth to "heal". There's also a trans(?) nurse who also kisses underage students to heal their wounds. Not to mention there is a section towards the end of the story where the main character Mimi is naked and covered in blood. There was no actual nudity shown but even what WAS shown was too much.

That being said, the art style is beautiful and the characters all have very nice personalities. The story was good and was a nice introduction to the world-building.

The only thing that bothered me was the underage sexual content, the fact that children are the ones going to war killing others and getting killed themselves. 10-year-olds should not be sent to war regardless if it is fiction or not. If the children were older teens, maybe 16 or 17, I would have given this story a 4-star rating. But due to the fear of bad people getting ahold of this book and using it for vile things... I can't.

I would love to see a revision of this manga when they are older! But please... Stop making children do inappropriate things.

I was actually vibing with it pretty much up until the kissing magic system and Mimi’s age (which is 10 by the way) were revealed. Everything after that just felt… very wrong. Included an entirely unnecessary nudity panel of Mimi (still 10 by the way) . Having a bunch of underage girls run around kissing each other is just… not it.

The Story was a bit confusing and I'm not exactly sure what to thing about the age (the younger one is 10 y/o) and the age gap of the characters, especially since it sexualizes pretty much... ok it's supposed to be sapphic I think but nevertheless... Ten years old for one of the main characters?! I don't know ...
But aside from this, the story might be something for people who like mystery, dark fantasy a little horror and action stories.
I'm not sure if I'll continue to read the story tho

I loved everything about this manga, the art in it is amazing. The relationship of our main characters are very fuzzy. I highly recommend and I can’t wait for the next one ^^

I was very intrigued by the premise but the execution was a mixed, problematic bag.

Our two main characters are your stereotypical quiet/shy girl (Sheena) and a killing machine with a sunny personality (Mimi). The dichotomy of their tentative friendship, plus the magical aspect is about where the good stuff ends.

These characters are young; Mimi is said to be 10, the other characters seem to be moreso between 13-15, despite being in the same class. The healing magic/transfer of mana is done through kissing which is a big yikes as these underage kids are being sent to the frontlines of their magical war and coming back injured to be healed by someone proficient in healing magic. The school nurse, who is a very negatively portrayed trans character, is a bit too into kidding these kids. Other students call them a pervert (rightfully so given their behaviour), and the characterization left a really bad taste in my mouth.

Really bummed about this as I was hoping for something akin to Madoka Magica, but it was too overt, and the writing was jumpy and didn't flow well.

A fantasy Yuri set against the backdrop of war and child soldiers. I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day is soon to be adapted into an anime by the ROLL2 studio. I really wanted to discover this manga.
It's a striking title that catches your eye straight away. The themes are dark, despite the bubbly cover and Mimi, who is very positive and naive in her interactions.
The world and the story are intriguing, especially the end of the volume, which really makes you want to continue. We know very little about what's going on outside the school, as Sheena doesn't leave; but Mimi suggests that we'll soon see what's going on outside the school (and it promises to be exciting and bloody!). The manga has potential.
I liked the premise, the only downside being the adult nurse who takes pleasure in treating her teenage pupils by kissing them (even though it's the ‘concept’ of healing magic, it's inappropriate).

I'm going into this blind, but I was excited to read this after seeing a cover from the anime that was recently announced for this.

We're introduced early on into the setting, orphans trained to becoming weapons. The premise is definitely very intriguing!

The biggest thing though that made me uncomfortable was that you find out halfway how old the characters are?! It really threw me off. The mana transfer method also seemed a little too much.

I will still probably read more volumes because I am interested in the overall storyline- it seems like it'll be rather dark and somber based on the title.

Throughly enjoyed the world building and contrast between cute art in the character’s design against the horrific setting.
Tragic lesbian lovers?! Sign me in!!!!

This book started with much potential, but having kissing as how people are healed and having it heavily implied that the school nurse, an adult, kissed the underage girls to heal them often and really enjoyed doing it deeply rubbed me the wrong way and made me uncomfortable. The characters also felt really infantile at times. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!