Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Volumes 10 and 11 Review

Volume 9 of Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet introduced us to new editor Sayoko Uneda, who is filling in for Kaneishi while he’s out injured. And while Uneda seemed great at first, it soon became apparent that she has a crush on Akatsuki and is coming between him and Fumi. What will this mean for our leads? With two more volumes at hand, let’s find out!

Having got into a fight with Akatsuki in which he defended Uneda, Fumi stormed off. With nowhere else to go, Fumi is taken in by Kaneishi for a while so she can settle her feelings. But little does Fumi know, Kaneishi has feelings for her and is just as mad at Akatsuki for the way he’s been treating her.

Still, as Fumi spends time with Kaneishi, it becomes all the more apparent to him just how in love she is with Akatsuki. And no matter his own feelings on the matter, it’s clear there’s no future for him with Fumi. Instead, he sets his mind to fixing her relationship, which involves dressing her up and inviting her to the end-of-year party where Akatsuki will be in attendance.

But Kaneishi has no intention of going easy on Akatsuki and instead decides to make him terribly jealous of his close relationship with Fumi instead, even if they are just friends. And it’s at this same party that Uneda has decided to finally confess her feelings to the utterly oblivious Akatsuki.

What I appreciate about this volume is that with the help of Kaneishi and Katsura (a bookshop employee Fumi first met in Volume 3), Fumi is able to work through her feelings and how to approach Akatsuki. She might occasionally struggle with the weight of her jealousy and not feeling like a match for Akatsuki, but she doesn’t wallow in those feelings. She always works through them, sometimes on her own and sometimes with the help of those around her, which is always depicted realistically by Mika Yamamori.

I also appreciate that rather than drag things out with Uneda, we’ve had a fairly fast resolution to the arc. Although it was well-paced so as to not leave Uneda’s appearance feeling like it was simply to have a rival for Akatsuki’s affections, she’s an interesting character in her own right. And the time was taken to ensure that was effectively conveyed.

But while matters with Uneda might have been resolved, going into Volume 11, it’s clear that Fumi and Akatsuki both have a lot to learn about each other. It’s now New Year, and Fumi and Akatsuki agree to go on the first shrine visit with her friends Tobiume and Aioi, which leads Fumi to wonder what Akatsuki’s family is like. She asks the questions but he dodges them, and then the group find themselves separated by the crowds… which might be for the best, as Tobiume and Aioi need some relationship advice of their own!

Having spent a lot of time exploring Fumi and Akatsuki’s relationship, it’s refreshing to take a step back and return to Tobiume and Aioi. Having gathered his courage to confess his feelings earlier in the series, Aioi is now waiting on a response from Tobiume. But she doesn’t know what to do because she’s worried about irreversibly changing their relationship. What if Aioi comes to hate her personality once she spends more time with him and shares more of herself? Akatsuki and Fumi use their recent experiences and miscommunications to advise the two, showing how much they’ve grown over the course of recent events too.

With just three volumes left to go, there’s a sense that Yamamori is starting to wrap storylines up and prepare for the end. Fumi is now entering into her last year of high school, and there’s a twist at the end of Volume 11 that’s sure to shake things up. Still, even with that exciting development, there’s no denying that things are beginning to slot into place for an ending. Particularly having readdressed Tobiume’s and Aioi’s relationship, as well as Kaneishi’s feelings for Fumi, there is not a lot left to do. That’s not to say the series feels like it has overstayed its welcome because it hasn’t. Yamamori has paced the story well even if there were some moments early on that looked like they might become repetitive. This is still the grounded and charming romance manga it always has been.

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet Volumes 10 and 11 come to the West thanks to Yen Press and continue to be translated by Taylor Engel with lettering by Lys Blakeslee. Both volumes read well and come with detailed translation notes at the end, which prove quite insightful and are well worth checking out.

Having taken a long break between releases, Volume 12 is now due out in English later this month, with #13 following in November. Although we’re close to the end, it seems we won’t be finishing the story until into 2027, which feels like an awfully long time when Yen Press started releasing it back in 2022 and it was already finished in Japan! #14 isn’t actually listed yet since Yen’s schedule doesn’t yet go into next year, but hopefully it will appear earlier in the year than later…

Overall, these two volumes of Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet are starting to bring the story to an end by successfully wrapping up some of the ongoing storylines. This is still a charming series, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in these final few volumes as we approach the end.

Free previews can be read on the publisher’s website
Our review copies were supplied by the publisher Yen Press
© Mika Yamamori / SHUEISHA, Inc