By Miku Sakamoto. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine The Hana to Yume. Released in North America by CMX.

CMX seems to have a knack for choosing lesser-known but underrated shoujo works, and this one is no exception. In runs in one of Hakusensha’s spinoff magazines from their regular Hana to Yume. The spinoff, called The Hana to Yume (yes, ‘The’ is meant to be the English) runs 6 times a year in Japan. So it allows the creators a bit more time and care than they get with a regular twice-a-month shoujo series. The author has been with Hakusensha for about 10 years now; her first sries, Nadeshiko Club, will be coming out by CMX later this year.

Stolen Hearts, like many shoujo manga, starts with an incredibly cliched premise. Small cute girl accidentally splashes milk on bag of huge scary-looking guy. Turns out it had a rare kimono in it. Now she’s forced to work it off by modeling kimonos! Say, what do you want to bet the scary-looking guy is just misunderstood? You’d be right.

But no one reads shoujo for originality. You read it to see if the author can draw you in with likeable characters and sweet situations. And this series has that in spades. The two leads go well together almost immediately. The series was likely created as a ‘one-shot’ chapter, as they get together and declare their love right away. However, that works in the book’s favor, as we don’t have to deal with the usual ‘I can never say what I truly feel’ shenanigans.

I also really liked Shinobu, the lead heroine. She may be tiny, but she’s no wilting wallflower. She takes the lead in their relationship, confessing to him and not letting him pull away ‘for her own good’. And she can think on the fly, solving a kimono crisis in Chapter 4 and turning it into a huge success. As for Koguma, our hero, he’s the standard ‘I am bad at social interaction’ hero, but Shinobu is slowly getting him to open up (possibly to her detriment, as now that he isn’t scary girls notice how handsome he is.)

And of course there’s Koguma’s grandmother, who is simply awesome. I always warm to tough old grandmas, and she’s a great example of one. I loved the implication of a Yakuza past.

It’s hard not to overuse the word ‘adorable’ in describing this manga. From the kimonos themselves (which look lovely, and show the author did her research) to Shinobu and Koguma, who look cute and get lots of couple moments, the manga is designed to simply put a smile on your face. I look forward to seeing more of it, and now have added expectations for her other series that CMX is starting in June.