Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Volumes 7 and 8 Review

Mika Yamamori’s In the Clear Moonlit Dusk is getting an anime adaptation! As her current series continues gaining in popularity, we can’t forget that Yen Press are still in the midst of releasing one of her older series, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet. Having now reached the halfway point of the series and Yamamori having gotten the main duo together, let’s find out where the story is headed from here.

Fumi and Akatsuki are now a couple, but after an awkward first date and Akatsuki treating her exactly the same as before at home, our heroine is beginning to wonder if he sees her as a woman at all. At school, the cultural festival is looming and Fumi has been dragged into joining the beauty pageant with the handsome student Eito Kuratsuki.

Eito is overly touchy with Fumi when they first meet, but he soon explains that as a child, he was picked on by boys for his feminine appearance and spent all his time hanging out with the girls instead. But now he’s older, the girls he was previously friends with have started falling for him one after the other, due to his princely aura. But Eito already has someone he’s crushing on, so he’s left with no option but to run away from his classmates.

Fumi, already having a boyfriend, is in the perfect position to become friends with Eito. And after hearing his story and spending time practising for the beauty pageant together, she finds herself wanting to support him. Unfortunately, this newfound friendship begins to cause problems in her relationship when Eito walks Fumi home, and Akatsuki spots the two hugging. Could it be that he’s jealous…?

Of course, as we’ve witnessed over the previous six volumes that Fumi and Akatsuki struggle with communication. That’s the major theme of Volume 7, where, because they can’t talk to one another, they begin drifting apart. So it’s up to newcomer Eito to talk some sense into Fumi so that when Akatsuki attends the cultural festival, they can make up and perhaps move on from the problems that plague them.

Volume 8, meanwhile, takes the spotlight off of Fumi and Akatsuki and instead focuses on the budding relationship between Aioi and Yoh. With love in the air during the cultural festival, Aioi lets slip that he’s developed feelings for Yoh, and now she has no idea what to do! She’s never thought of Aioi as more than a friend, but Fumi encourages her to give him a chance regardless. Soon she finds herself going on a date with Aioi, but is this the start of a new romance or is someone about to get hurt?

Now we’re at the halfway point of the series, it’s refreshing to see Yamamori introduce a new character in the form of Eito and focus on some of the side character storylines. Back when I reviewed Volume 6, I speculated that Eito might be another rival for Fumi’s affections, which thankfully isn’t the case as they’re a lot more fun in the position of romance-loving friend (he even gets roped into advising Yoh on her situation with Aioi).

However, what might bother some readers is that Eito is in love with their teacher, which means we have yet another age-gap romance. For now, at least, Eito hasn’t confessed their feelings, and there’s every chance that the relationship will go absolutely nowhere. Obviously, Tsubaki-chou is an age-gap romance anyway with Fumi and Akatsuki, but I feel when it involves a teacher, that’s a lot more difficult to justify if it does go forward. Still, it’s early days where Eito is concerned, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of how his story plays out in the volumes to come.

This extends to Aioi and Yoh as well, whom I’ve been looking forward to seeing work through their feelings. They’ve both been excellent supports for Fumi throughout the series so far, but they have their own story to tell, and I’m glad Yamamori has chosen now to see that through. Especially as it’s proving just as interesting and enjoyable as watching over Fumi and Akatsuki.

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Volume 7 and 8 both come to the West thanks to Yen Press and continue to be translated by Taylor Engel with lettering by Lys Blakeslee. Both releases read well and are free of any issues. Interestingly, both of these books include short stories from another of Yamamori’s works: Daytime Shooting Star. These are set after the main story, so will be spoilery for anyone who’s not finished that one, or confusing if you’ve not read it at all. Still, as someone who also enjoyed that series, I was delighted to spend some more time with those characters.

Volume 9 of Tsubaki-chou is available in print already, with #10 following later this month. However, although we still have another four volumes to go after that, there’s currently nothing else in the schedule, which implies we’ll be taking a notable break before continuing. With the In the Clear Moonlit Dusk anime forthcoming in 2026, it wouldn’t surprise me if Yen Press are waiting to capitalise on that. Although I’m sure that’s not the only reason.

Overall, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet enters the halfway point comfortably. With a new character to explore, new relationships blooming and plenty of challenges for our heroine to overcome, this remains an entertaining read.

Our review copies from Yen Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.