This manga is a collection of graphic essays about Hara’s life, where she battled weight as a junior high student, developed an eating disorder, and found body positivity in her young adult years. Hara shares a lot about her struggles with trendy clothing, and how she came to terms with being plus sized and still able to wear clothing she considered to be fashionable and cute. Clothes were an initial trigger for Hara, so it is one of the main foci of her essays. She also shares her development of anorexia that turned into bulimia nervosa in college. She continues to struggle with eating enough food, but through therapy and hard work, she is able to keep her eating disorders in check.
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Itsuomi tells Yuki he’s leaving the country for a little over a month, but before he leaves, he asks her to be his girlfriend. Yuki is shocked and still a little doubtful that Itsuomi could really fall for a girl like her, but she accepts. While he’s gone, Itsuomi sends Yuki photos of his adventures and asks her to send sign language videos so he can practice. When he returns, Yuki misreads his lips, and she ends up acquiescing to her first kiss accidentally!
Shino Oshima practices saying her name over and over, but she just can't get out Oshima. Shino has a stutter, and it makes it extremely difficult to say words that begin with vowels. So the next day, the first day of her high school career, Shino has to introduce herself to her homeroom class, but can't get her own name out. The students laugh mercilessly and Shino feels hopelessly defeated. One day, she gets up the courage to apologize to Kayo who she accidentally injured, but Kayo isn't about to let anyone get close to her so easily after being ostracized in junior high for being tone deaf. The two strike up a rocky friendship, and Kayo realizes Shino doesn't stutter when she sings. They practice together and Kayo tries to break Shino of her crippling shyness by performing outside and signing them up as an entry for the talent show.
Kawana is 26 and a budding interior designer whose company just partnered with an architectural firm. At a company mixer with the two groups, Kawana runs into her high school crush, Ayukawa. It isn’t until the end of the meal that Kawana discovers Ayukawa was in a severe crash and is now wheelchair-bound. She’s not sure if she could be in a relationship with a disabled person, but after hanging out more and catching up, Kawana’s old feelings start to bubble up. She cares deeply when Ayukawa has to go to the hospital for one of the many complications spinal-cord-injury patients have, and she gets upset with his defeatist attitude that he won’t live long anyway. He continuously pushes her away and tells her not to fall in love with him because of his many complications and potentially shortened lifespan, but Kawana's heart explains away all of those difficulties and falls for him anyway.
Yuki and Itsuomi get closer as she teaches him more signs and they spend more time together. Rin and her crush go on their first “date” to Costco to pick up supplies for the diner, but Rin is a little too embarrassed to be alone in the car with him for that long. She invites Yuki and Itsuomi to go as a double date, so the four have fun picking out interesting items and necessities that are all oversized. Afterwards, Itsuomi invites Yuki to his place where they eat pizza and she teaches him more signs. They are interrupted by Emma, a former paramour of Itsuomi’s, and Yuki doesn’t know how to feel about the two of them.
Yuki was born Deaf, and the hearing aides she uses allows her to hear some sounds, but not clearly. In order to communicate, she relies on Japanese Sign Language, her phone, notebooks, whiteboards, and her decent ability to read lips. On the train one day, a tourist asks Yuki for directions, and the charismatic Itsuomi-san comes to her rescue. Thanks to the encouragement from her friend, Rin-Chan, Yuki gets up the courage to ask Itsuomi for his number, and the two start texting, but not as often as Yuki would like. Both of Rin and Yuki crushes work at the same cafe, so they encourage each other to get to know the guys. Rin asks Yuki if she is having affectionate feelings for Itsuomi, or if it's love, and Yuki thinks she might actually be falling in love with Itsuomi.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this site
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