SLEEPTAKU

As someone with a large backlog of Japanese manga to get through and as someone who is being left at home alone for a few days, I have decided to do a Christmas reading challenge taking place from Dec 24th- Dec 26th. The main purpose of this challenge is to kickstart my reading after having an unfortunately long break from my Japanese studies and to relieve me of some of my guilt for consistently buying manga that peak my interest only to let them sit on the shelf.

For the challenge I have selected 10 shoujo manga that I have volume 1 for and will be trying to get through as many of them as I can in the three day period. My current goal is to finish at least 5 of the 10 manga with the stretch goal being to finish all of them. At the completion of the challenge I plan to do a review and ranking for each manga to hopefully help other language learners decide if they would like to give the series a try.

For the ranking and review I will be including the following:

-Time it took me to finish the book

-Overall difficulty of the language used (this is going to be purely subjective as I’m not familiar enough with the JLPT levels to assign them to native material)

-If I plan to pick up the next volume

-Favorite panel or page

-General opinion of the book and who I think it might appeal to

-Also maybe my favorite new vocab or grammar point.

For this challenge I plan to take an extensive reading approach so I won’t be doing much in the way of flashcards I just really want to spend a few days enjoying as much reading as I can while on my winter vacation.

The books I selected:

恋する天使は罪深い

This is an angel love story with a fairly classic premise of unassuming/ earnest girl with a popular student council member. However, in this case the student council is made up of angels representing the seven deadly sins. The art is absolutely gorgeous and it is one of the books I am most excited for!

恋せよまやかし天使ども

I think a lot of people will be familiar with this choice as it is incredibly popular (at least on the part of the internet I inhabit). As for premise, both the leads have cultivated an image of perfection but due to various events the other has seen the true or other side of them. For this story I am expecting a lot of difficulty in the characters ability to communicate honestly as they both generally put on an act and perhaps some power dynamics put in play by them trying to maintain their images while the other may threaten it. Overall, it’s a bit shocking I haven’t gotten to this series yet so I am excited to start it.

ヒモクズ花くんは死にたがり

This is my toxic choice for the reading challenge. With the main premise being the female lead when having an “um exceptionally bad day” encounters the male lead and ends up bringing him home where he decides to stay. Based on the preview I skimmed ages ago I do think there is a chance this story goes a bit in the yandere direction but we shall see.

頼くんとヨリを戻すわけには！

This is another of the books I’m very excited about due to the mystery behind the original break up of the characters! Essentially, the two characters were dating in middle school when suddenly he starts ignoring her leading to the break up and her being heartbroken. Now in college she ends up neighbors with her EX (Yori) and he is determined that they should get back together.

山田の学級日誌

For this pick we have a very serious and studious girl versus a school skipping ladies man. Yamada (FL) is tasked with getting Murata (ML) to come to school and from there…romance. I feel like this is a concept I’ve seen done a few times in various manga so I am excited to see what unique take the mangaka goes with.

昏姫と恋烏

I picked this book up because the ML is a Tengu that’s really all the convincing I needed. It does have an enemy families style plot though.

多聞くん今どっち！？

This is another pick I think people will be pretty familiar with especially since the anime is coming out Winter 2026! This is an idol x fan love story where the idol Tamon is actually very different when off stage. I have had this book on my shelf for literal years (it was too hard for me when I bought it but I really liked the concept) and with the anime coming out soon decided now is the time to read.

ミルクチョコレート

For this pick I have read part of it since I like the mangaka and was reading the chapters as they released originally (back when I had a G-Fantasy subscription). This book really plays at character dynamics with the focus being on two sets of siblings. The main FL is doted on by her best friend who becomes increasingly upset and possessive when her older brother begins to take an interest.

ヤン先輩はひとりで生きていけない

This book falls 100% into the ジャケ買 category. I saw it online and found the art to be stunning so I immediately added it to my cart. It features a strong FL dealing with the concept of “being not cute” due to her being strong and independent and how that impacts her relationship prospects. I find the premise incredibly relatable as it’s something I’ve seen my friends struggle with so I am excited to see how it is addressed.

青は難く春は易し

For my final pick I have an age gap focused book (20 and 26 I think) where the FL goes to university at the age of 26. I am very excited about this book as it has an older character so I think the topics and dynamics will be more relatable to me than those set in a high school. I also appreciate the fact that its focused on a character whose having to start over and rebuild herself after an abrupt career end.

If you made it this far thanks for reading and check back soon to see how the challenge went and my review of the books!