Tsubaki-Chou Lonely Planet vol 1 by mika yamamori

Fumi Ohno is a dutiful daughter who is often left on her own as her father pursues jobs away from their home. One day, Fumi’s father comes home and tells her he took a loan from a shark, and they have to vacate their apartment to be able to afford to pay the loan back. Fumi takes a job as a live-in housekeeper, which will help her earn funds to help pay back the loan. Even though she’s in high school, she’s extremely adept at taking care of everything related to a home. The owner she has moved in with is a prolific writer, Akatsuki Kibikino-sensei, who turns out to be much younger than Fumi expected! In case her life wasn’t complicated enough, a boy from Fumi’s past, Isshin Imamura, has come back into her life. Imamura forces Fumi to be his lackey to make up for something that happened ten years prior, so now Fumi has to figure out how to balance her time for Kibikino-sensei and Imamura!

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This is a sweet romance with a lot of the typical shōjo tropes - a distant, cold main love interest with other sort of rude boys chasing our heroine. It’s clear both boys are going to pursue Fumi, and readers will probably side with one over the other and root for Fumi to find happiness through this relationship. There is a moment where Fumi thinks she can get away with not being in a relationship and not relying on a man for anything, which might resonate with some readers, but this is quickly rejected after a run-in with a thief. Depending on how further volumes develop, this should be a decent story for romance fans.

The art is very soft and typical for shōjo manga. There are some beautiful scenery shots with very detailed buildings and gardens. Characters are well-drawn with expressive features.

Yen Press rates this for teens. In volume one, there's nothing to make this inappropriate for younger readers, but there's definitely potential for smooching in future volumes.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 8-12

Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781975346201 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Romance, School Life, ​Yen Press