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.

Thanking Netgalley for making the ARC of this manga available for the readers.

The plot seems so very interesting and the drawing style is stunning, but there are some important issues that I have to address here.

I do not like that the characters are 10 years old, the plot would not have been hurt at all by them being older. You can have high school or even better, college students who are sent there; you can make them all lose their parents at a certain age so it is compulsory for them to attend and in that way you won’t have literal CHILDREN of 10 years old kissing in the mouth and interacting with a nurse called “perverse” by the students when you know what the expected audience for this can be: pedos.

The device of kissing on the mouth in order to heal someone can be quite interesting if explained well, but you will have to address the consent and age issue. It is assumed that those who heal the kids hurt in the combat are ADULTS kissing kids ON THE MOUTH; something not inherently sexual, but can lead to it if your protagonists can get to experience romantic feelings. Which should not happen. Because we have ADULTS kissing children.

I’m sorry, it seems like a big issue to me maybe because I’m too conscious of the quantity of perverted people that can read this. Let’s all try to protect kids people, either fictional or real. There are people out there who do not know the difference between fiction and reality, and that is scary.

I think that if the issues talked about in this and many other reviews is solved, this manga can become so popular for its originality. I will be checking the second part to see if this is addressed in any way. If not, this is a nono for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for this ARC!

As an avid Yuri reader and fan of magical girls, when I heard the premise of this manga I knew that it was going to be right up my alley, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The story is set in an orphanage where girls and boys are being raised as magical weapons of war, I thought that was a very interesting angle reminiscent of the system of exploitation in Madoka Magica (a favorite series of mine), the first volume sets a very good introduction to these themes and I’m curious to learn more about the worldbuilding and how this system affects the characters as the story progresses.

The art is very pretty, and I loved how it conveyed the different emotions of the characters, I’ve never heard of this mangaka before and I really want to check out more of their work after this.

Overall is a really great start to a promising series, and I would recommend it to any fellow yuri readers (especially with the anime coming out this year!)

Also as a note, there seems to be a mistranslation regarding Mimi’s age, is shown as 10 in the dialogue when she’s supposed to be the same age as Sheena (14), since I noticed some negative reviews about it.

I’m not sure what kinda sexualization or nudity the other reviewers are talking about. There was no nudity and no sex either. Yes, there’s kissing, but there’s also kissing in kids movies/books (Disney), so i don’t see where the problem is. Sure, they’re a little underage, but it’s not kissing in an intimate way, it’s a form of healing someone (transferring mana). Like mouth-to-mouth CPR. You wouldn’t call CPR sexual either, would you?
Someone is on the verge of death during war, and if the only way to save them is by 'kissing', are you really gonna call the sexual assault police first??

Okay, the perverted nurse (who’s either a crossdresser or a misgendered mtf) might be a bit unnecessary and I’m not very fond of her – though mostly cause she called Mimi’s dismembered body “disgusting” –, but also nothing new in Mangas.
Perverted teachers are a thing in Japan like it’s a thing in American movies to wear your outdoor shoes at home. Does that mean every author should include it in their work? No, but it’s unfair to rate it 1 star because of something that happens in 80% or more works.

~

The story is quite slow-paced, just like the protagonist, Sheena. Sheena is an orphan living in this orphanage where magic-users are sent to train for the war. What exactly the war is about or what’s going on, isn’t touched upon (yet) because Sheena hates war and killing, and would rather hide than fight. She’s quiet and keeps to herself, always stays low. Using just a little magic tires her out.

That is, until her roommate dies and she gets a new one, who also is a new student: Mimi. Rumored to be the secret, most powerful weapon that the school’s been working on. Sheena is quite surprised that that killing machine is a girl her age, smiling ever so brightly like a cute, innocent child.
But Sheena has seen her before, covered in blood, so takes a bit of a distance from her.

Not for long though, as the next mock battle comes up, and now that Mimi is part of her class, using her usual strategy doesn’t end very well this time.

~

I’m really curious about the world building and where the story will lead. It’s giving ‘The Irregular at Magic Highschool’ (but set during the war) and ‘The Promised Neverland’ (although I’ve never seen/read this one) vibes so far.
The art is really cute and soft, just like the protagonist. Poor girl just needs some peace. And a home, cause she sees the orphanage as nothing but a school.

I also like the names of the characters: Seiran, Sheena, Ari, Fran,
Not the usual Japanese first names.

Seiran and Ari a couple, albeit in secret, and I pray nothing happens to them. After Sheena, of course.

~

Thank you to Kodansha on Netgally for an e-ARC!

-03.03.25