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

The second volume of Stolen Hearts is just as adorable as the first one. Koguma and Shinobu are the perfect odd couple, and meeting Koguma’s odd family seems like an excellent capper. He and his four brothers grace the cover of Volume 2, in blatant female fanservice, but it works well.

In fact, things might be a little *too* adorable. There’s not a heck of a lot of conflict here, with most of the series being devoted to the couple trying to get moments where they can be close and deepen their relationship. There is a crisis mid-volume involving Koguma’s older brother, but this much-needed drama is quickly cut off after only one threat from Shinobu – which is almost nothing by shoujo manga standards, where misunderstandings are bread and butter.

Of course, their love is stronger than a mere threat from an older brother. Indeed, we see in the last chapter of the volume how much closer the two of them want to be. Staying the night in a hotel is a standard manga trope, but there’s a certain sensuality to it that makes it work here – you can feel Shinobu and Koguma’s desire, and it’s always nice to see a cute, adorable relationship that also acknowledges a healthy dose of desire. It also leads to a fantastic kiss.

As you all know, CMX has shut down, so this is all we’re going to get of Stolen Hearts, which is still running in Japan. It’s a crying shame, but at least this volume didn’t end with a hideous cliffhanger, so we can gain a false sense of closure here, knowing that the two of them are going to work things out. Of course, you’d already realize that just reading this.

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.