February is the month of love and one of the most beautiful and heartwarming holidays of the year that many look forward to is Saint Valentine. It’s a day when time seems to pass more slowly and the air is filled with a slightly sweeter scent than usual. It’s that romantic time of the year when it’s very cold outside and you prefer to stay warm inside, perhaps enjoying a good read in company. If you are then Japan lovers, surely you already know that for them it is such a special and heartfelt holiday that exactly one month later they celebrate White Day closely linked to Valentine’s Day. Here, then, are some manga which we advise you to read for Valentine’s Day. These are romantic works that touch various settings, but which do not take delicate and forbidden topics often recurring in Japanese comics.

Valentine’s Day: manga for lovers’ day

Curiosities about Valentine’s Day in Japan

February 14 is recognized as a significant cultural and religious celebration of love and romance in honor of Valentine’s Day. On this day in many countries of the world, people give each other boxes of heart shaped chocolates as a sign of appreciation and above all of love. In Japan, this day is an occasion for women to give the men in their lives some Giri-choco (obligatory chocolate) or Honmei-choco(true feeling chocolate) to show their affection.

Tradition would have it that to impress and win the heart of the man, the woman must go to the kitchen and prepare the chocolates by herself. The funniest part is that exactly one month later, the March 14thWhite Day is celebrated: in this case, if the man feels the same, he should hand her some white chocolates.

Fruit Basket

Fruit Basket is a shjo manga written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya who also won the Kodansha award in the category shojo (manga generally recommended for a female audience). The manga contains an intricate story that perfectly enriches each character. The protagonist is Tohru Hondaan orphan girl who lives camped out in a tent in the woods since her paternal grandfather asked her to find new accommodation while waiting for her house to be renovated.

When she is invited to live by her classmate, Yuki Somaand his cousins, Kyo and Shigure, accidentally discovers that they and all family members are affected by a curse whereby, when embraced by a person of the opposite sex, they transform into chinese zodiac animals. The girl’s kind and strong heart could only help Yuki and her family, however, discovering that the curse is more bloody than she can imagine. The mysterious episodes and twists in the relationships of the characters pay off Fruit Basket one of the romantic bestsellers of all time and an ideal Valentine’s Day read.

Fruits Basket is available for purchase online

Emma

Emma is a manga by Kaoru Mori Of Victorian setting very successful which was awarded the Excellence Award at the 2005 Japan Media Arts Festival, the English translation was listed by Library Journal as one of the best graphic novels of 2007 and was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as one of the top 10 graphic novels for teens for 2008. This series manga follows a young woman who has left her home to find work as a maid to survive.

Being poor, everyone just expected her to do her job and that’s it, however she falls in love with William, a young scion from a wealthy family. While the feelings are mutual, their class differences will make it difficult for them to be together. This love story is entirely set in London therefore you will love the dresses and scenery of the Victorian age.

Emma is available to purchase online

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is a manga written and illustrated by Fujita which, after the excellent success in Japan, was also translated into Italian from 2020 to 2022. The series was nominated for the forty-first Kodansha Award for manga, it was ranked ninth among the most recommended manga in 2017 by Japanese bookstores and ranked first in the 2016 edition of the annual guide Kono manga ga sugoi! by Takarajimasha.

The story sees you as the protagonist Narumi Momosea young one office lady who has always had a great passion for the world fujoshi And dojinshi, but which she keeps hidden because she is convinced that many of her problems derive from this passion: in fact she has never had a stable relationship, as all men run away from her as soon as they discover her interests. One day, in a new office, Narumi meets his childhood friend after a long time Hirotaka Nifuji, a fervent video game enthusiast who doesn’t care in the least to hide his hobby. Two protagonists with a double life otaku, Will sharing a 100% nerdy soul be the easiest way to find love?

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is available to purchase online

Mars

Mars it’s a manga shojo Of Fuyumi Souryo appreciated all over the world for the complexity and characterization of the characters, for topical issues (juvenile crime, bullying and violence). In the comic we note the presence of the style of Gustav Klimt in the drawings of the protagonist and various references to true events such as Biaggi’s record in Japan and topics relating to the world of motorcycles and Ducati. The series sees as protagonists Kira Asoa shy and lonely sixteen year old who lives to paint, e Rei Kashinoan arrogant and shallow playboy who loves motorcycle racing.

The two are so much different that they inexplicably find themselves not only in the same city, but also in the same school. A chance encounter in the park intertwines and totally disrupts their lives, especially that of Kira who, in a sudden moment of courage, asks Rei to be her model. What will the boy answer? A sweet and tormented love story to read on Valentine’s Day that will teach Kira and Rei how to have trust in others and above all, in themselves.

Mars is available for purchase online

Bloom Into You

Bloom Into You is a manga written and illustrated by Nio Nakatani which in 2018 alone sold well 700 thousand copies in Japan. The protagonist is Yuu Koito, a first-year high school student, who has never been in a relationship and doesn’t know what it’s like to fall in love with someone. After finishing her exams, a classmate and close friend of hers confessed his love for her. However, she found that she could not have romantic feelings even though she wanted to, coming to the conclusion that she could not fall in love with anyone.

During the first day of high school Yuu meets Touko, famous for being the best girl in school (but also the most beautiful student who refuses all confessions of love that are made to her) and the vice president of the student council, accompanied by Sayaka Saeki, her trusted friend almost as intelligent as her. Although Touko has never reciprocated the love of someone, as soon as she sees Yuu she falls madly in love with her at the first sight of her, and when the latter is proposed to join her council, she Touko tries in all ways to get them accepted. From here begins their story, which gradually (with many problems) turns into a real one relation.

Bloom Into You is available to purchase online

Your Name

Mitsuhaa provincial girl, and Taki, a young man from Tokyo, strangers both disappointed by their daily lives, one day they find themselves living each other’s lives in a dream. Leaving each other messages for the “awakening” they will begin to communicate and get to know each other, trying to understand their strange relationship and the bond that unites them and strengthens night after night, dream after dream, while the passage of a mysterious comet looms…

The manga was made immediately after the great success of the animated film of the same name made by Makoto Shinkai. The latter was, by many, defined as the heir of Hayao Miyazaki and is currently one of the top names in the current Japanese animation industry. Your Name speaks of an impossible love, desired yet apparently unattainable, seen as a superior force that overcomes the laws of space and time just to show itself.

Your Name is available for purchase online