In this scene though, Shirono captures Gaku’s shock and awe at discovering that there are books in the same genre in a fun series of panels. The little image she used to explain how she felt about fictional romance and romance involving her, I related to that deeply.

The long-awaited second instalment in Samantha Shannon's Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling series Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. The story follows Yuriko, an asexual BL (Boys’ Love) fan and her husband Gakurouta, a gay man in love with his (at least for now) very heterosexual male friend, Sousuke.This Yen Press trade paperback edition is ably translated by Emma Schumacker with lettering by Alexis Eckerman. Non sono molto fan poi dei matrimoni a convenienza usati in epoca moderna; comprendo le pressioni familiari e sociali, specie per una donna, ma date le premesse assurde e il tipo di personaggi protagonisti, non ne è venuta fuori una bella storia. The blood of Yuriko and Gakurouta’s covenant and pact, the promise to continue forging a bond where they get to be asexual and gay and don’t have to force themselves to put on masks, is beautifully optimistic. These two do indeed make a charming couple but I have so many questions about their futures that I hardly know where to start! That being said, this was a lot of fun to read and has a lot of potential to be one of the best LGBTQA+ manga to date.

We’ve had longer to get to know Yuriko and Gakurouta and understand them better as they embark together on their marriage of convenience. I related to Yuriko immediately, especially when the story gave a glimpse of her life in high school. On the one hand, Yuriko and Gakurouta were a sweet pair, and I enjoyed watching them try their hardest to make their marriage work despite not having a clue what a marriage that doesn't include sex or romance should look like. And this premise is all it took to suck me in, because sweetie, I need me some central queer friendships and I need more aspec characters who like fictionalized romance and/or sex because as an alloace woman myself with friends across the a-spectrum. I just wanted the miracle of fitting in: I wanted, much like Yuriko in I Want to Be a Wall, to feel like I was doing the thing that would make everyone happy.It reached a point where people were trying to figure out why I wasn’t dating, coming to conclusions like “you’d be cuter if you lost weight” or “maybe she’s gay. Is the support they offer, the walls they chose versus the walls forced on them, any less important?