Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon

by Shio Usui

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 174
Series: Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon #2
Rating:

Synopsis:

The distance between Hinako and Asahi is closing! What started as a typical coworker relationship has blossomed into friendship. But now, Hinako has started to wonder if her feelings for Asahi go even deeper. Could this be love?!

Volume two of Shio Usui’s Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon continues to a be a slow-burn: at times, it’s not obvious that there’s a romance angle coming, because it just focuses on Asahi and Hinako’s friendship. That said, Hinako’s feelings are pretty clear, even if she struggles with and doesn’t understand them, and it’s obvious that Asahi has been way too focused on looking after her sister to even think about romance, but maybe now’s the time.

The handholding is so cute, and the fact that their new friendship clearly gives them both a boost. There are a couple of odd moments that I notice other reviews picked up on, e.g. Asahi surprisingly commenting that it seems like Hinako loves her mother a lot. That said, it’s worth remembering that Asahi doesn’t have the same perspective as we do: she knows that Hinako’s always quick to pick up her phone for her mother, and always thoughtful about her. Hinako hasn’t really explained her history and where her insecurity comes from, so how would Asahi know?

Anyway, this continues really cute, and I’m interested to see how things work out.

Rating: 4/5