So Cute It Hurts!!, Vol. 1

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 29 JUN 2015

Megumu and Mitsuru are twins who go to separate high schools. When Mitsuru is in danger of failing a class, he convinces his sister Megumu to take his place at the exam table though he must take her place as well. Mitsuru goes to an all-boys school for delinquents, and Megumu is the top otaku (manga fanatic) nerd of her coed class. The initial switch goes off without a hitch, but when both fall in love with strangers under their sibling's identity, their reasons for continuing to keep up the charade become ever more complicated and potentially damaging. Delicate, refined art allows readers to tell the characters apart even in disguise, and critical moments of humor deliver the story's theme of being accepted for who you are. Veteran Ikeyamada (Get Love!) delivers a quintessential shojo manga: a story of empowerment, spiritual blossoming, and achievement through adversity that handles personal responsibility, gender, class, and disability (Mitsuru falls for a deaf girl, and Megumu falls for a semiblind boy) with a rare poetry.