My Thoughts:
This manga follows high schooler Chika who feels that she must be an alien. When her friends keep talking about romance and dating, she realizes that she must be from another planet because she has no desire for dating and even touching. She is sort of sure that she is not gay, but she just does not understand why she feels zero desire for anyone. Although her friends tell her she just has not met the "right one" yet, it is not until she goes to college and meets a professor who seems to understand her does she start researching ideas about why for her, love is not the answer.
What makes this manga valuable in the classroom for the right reader to find is that even if this is a coming of age experience from a teen who realizes that she may be ace (part of the asexuality umbrella), through her research, readers also see that there is a whole spectrum, and that even within this definition, there is no "normal."
April 20-26, 2024 is National Ace Week for awareness and celebration. If you would like more information, there are resources on the PFLAG website linked above.
From the Publisher:
When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just "hasn't met the one yet," but Chika has doubts... It's only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside--asexual--and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all--and that that's perfectly normal.
Publication Information:
Author/Illustrator: Uta Isak (they/them)
Publisher: Kodansha Comics (January 17, 2023)
Papberback: 256 pages
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