Okay, hear me out. I know this is a controversial story. BUT! It’s as though they baked drugs into this one. It’s such a compelling story. If you can push through the drama, you’ll really enjoy this one, I promise.
Spend a day in the world of Colette Decides to Die with my interactive story here!
To get to the point..:
Do I recommend this manga? Yes, but only if you can handle drama.
Who do I recommend this manga to? Fans of love triangles, fans of controversial stories, fans of high school romance.
Will I be reading on? Yes! I’m waiting to be able to order volume 2.
Trigger warnings: This story features a love triangle featuring two step-siblings that don’t know they’re step siblings.
- To get to the point..:
- Information About the Manga
- What genre? What are the vibes?
- First Impressions and thoughts
- What’s it about? *SPOILERS*
- My Favourites
- My Least-Favourites
- The Main Characters
Information About the Manga
Who wrote Love, Out On A Limb?
This manga was written by Yoko Nogiri!
You can check out their X here. You can check out their instagram here.
How many volumes are out?
This series is ongoing with 6 volumes currently out in Japanese.
Kodansha just announced that they will start publishing the English translation next Spring!
Where can I buy it?
For those looking for the Japanese digitals…
Extra info!
This author is also famous for quite a few other manga! They have also written:
- Those Not-So-Sweet Boys
- That Wolf-Boy is Mine
- Love in Focus
What genre? What are the vibes?
- Love triangle.
- Complex family dynamics.
- First loves.
- High school romance.
First Impressions and thoughts
I’m sure if you were to look up the description for this series you may be taken aback – I was. However, because this is a Dessert manga, and because the art is so nice, I decided to buy it.
I ended up leaving it unread on my shelf for a good while until Kodansha announced that they’re giving it its own English publication! Hearing this news sparking my interest in the series again, and I finally sat down to read it.
And… It was so good? To the point that I don’t know how to feel about myself. It deals with the controversial topic in a surprisingly mature way, and the audience is taught that the two siblings aren’t actually related by the end of the volume (though IMO this doesn’t make it any better). I found the story-telling to be very compelling, and I am now invested. While I typically don’t enjoy stories with all that much needless drama, I guess I enjoy this type of drama? Perhaps it’s the horror-lover in me.
What’s it about? *SPOILERS*
Due to their parents getting divorced, Yui and her brother Hayato were forced to separate when she was only 8 years old. While her brother stayed with their father, Yui moved away with their mother. Now, 8 years later, their parents reconciled after their mother had a health scare, and they are all moving back in together.
While this should be a happy time in all of their lives, Yui has quickly noticed herself going through a very large problem – her brother gets her very flustered. While they have stayed in contact these 8 years, it seems like they haven’t seen each other at all. And now that they’re finally together, she’s really not used to being around him.
Trying to push down these feelings, she does her best to just not think about it, and they make their way to school together. On their way, they run into a boy, Ritsu, who seems to already be familiar with Yui.
Yui does quickly remember who he is – the neighbour who she almost exclusively played with when they were children. When he was a child, he was very timid and shy, not really comfortable talking to people besides Yui. 8 years later, he’s incredibly tall, handsome, and seems to have no difficulties talking to anyone.
He seems very excited to be reunited with Yui, and even more so when they realize that they’re in the same class.
At school, Yui quickly learns that her brother is unbelievably popular. As he’s one year older than her, they’re in different classes. However, they were seen by some of his stalkers walking to school together that morning, and even worse, he was seen smiling at her when he dropped her off at her classroom.
On her way home, a few of her brothers classmates / stalkers catch Yui, and question her on her relationship with her brother. While at first they don’t believe that they’re siblings, after extensive questioning they finally accept it. They then talk about how lucky she is that she’s able to see him all the time, even seeing him when he’s asleep, or right out of the shower (like they’re not siblings???). And in Yui’s inner dialogue, she’s lamenting that she can’t even be anything more than his sibling. Like… girl…
After this, she finds herself struggling even more with her feelings, when she tries to confide in her brother without actually confiding in him. Which just left him confused, and her even more unsure of what she should do.
Not long after she’s come to terms with the fact that she has feelings for her brother and may lead to the downfall of her family, she’s caught by Ritsu as she’s kissing her brother’s forehead as he’s asleep.
She quickly begs him to not tell anyone, and confides in him that she really doesn’t know what to do about her feelings. Ritsu takes this as an opportunity to ask her to be in a pretend relationship with him. This will be beneficial for the both of them, he says: he needs a girlfriend to act as a form of girl-repellent, and no one will suspect her of liking her brother if she has a boyfriend. So, naturally, she accepts.
Maddies note: To me, it’s pretty clear that he asked her out her purely because he likes her, and is using any excuse to get her to agree.
And so, they start dating. Much to the dismay of Hayato, Yui’s brother. As soon as they break the news to him that they’re dating, he immediately starts warning Yui about Ritsu’s bad qualities.
They continue dating though, and we get to see a few cute flashbacks of how they used to play together when they were children.
At the very end of the volume, we are shown their parents having a somewhat serious conversation. They are wondering when the best time to tell the siblings that they aren’t actually related is…
My Favourites
- Ritsu – I really like his character design, and how much he clearly cares for Yui. Praying that they’re endgame.
- The parents – They seem like really good parents. 😦
My Least-Favourites
- The fear that the step-sibling couple has a chance of being endgame.
- The fact that Yui has feelings for her step-brother in the first place.
The Main Characters
Yotsuya Yui
- 16 years old.
- Favourite colour is green.
- Is good at cooking.
- Is Hayato’s step sister (but thinks they’re blood-related).
- Has feelings for Hayato.
Yotsuya Hayato
- 17 years old.
- Member of the volleyball club.
- Favourite colour is blue.
- Is Yui’s step-brother (It’s unclear if he knows this).
- His feelings for Yui are unclear. Overprotective brother?
Saimi Ritsu
- 16 years old.
- Member of the volleyball club.
- Favourite colour is yellow.
- Is clearly in love with Yui.
You can check out volume 1 for yourself here!
Maddies Manga 
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