Review
An e-arc of the book has been provided by the publisher, Tokyo Pop – Love x Love, in exchange for an honest review.
“You can enjoy books in a unique way, all your own.”
Yagi is a goat and he works in a bookshop.
It may not be much of a shocker for you but in the world he lives in, it is bizarre to see a goat working near any sort of stuff made of paper. Why, you might ask? It is because goats like to eat paper, apparently. And so, Yagi’s dream of becoming a book seller and this stereotype (that is actually true) collides with one another. Until he found a store in the carnivore zone who employed him. Little did he know, there’s a story behind it.
Yagi the Bookshop Goat is a cute read and refreshes some of the good memories I had when I started reading. Reading the manga made me reminisce of the parts of my life when I also wanted to work in local book stores or in libraries.
I adore the simplicity of the manga art and paneling. The story was easy to follow and the emotional expressions of each characters are well portrayed by the simplistic and (as for Japanese art standards) less exaggerated expressions. Additionally, the straightforwardness of the paneling made it such an easy read. There wasn’t any complicated skips and cuts that are common within overdrawn manga. It is appealing and quick to read with respect to these decisions.
It did not ruin the entirety of the book for me however, I found (at least) two reasons why I was bothered by this book: (1) the obvious age gap of the characters and the story behind their meeting. In trying to avoid spoilers I will leave it at that. I didn’t think much of it as a big deal but it can become detrimental for some people; and, (2) the mandatory sex scenes that, perhaps, most BL manga cannot seem to shake off.
Overall, I adored this book. There was so much I was able to relate to and I find the characters charming and cute. As I’ve said, you have to look out for the reason why I was pretty off by the story, but aside from that, it was an entertaining read.
