I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend into a Girl #7

Azusa Banjo's heartfelt shōjo series reaches its seventh volume, and the cover sets the emotional tone beautifully — a brown-haired girl in a school uniform and cozy pink turtleneck gazes at the viewer with teary, luminous eyes and flushed cheeks, her hand clutched to her chest in a quietly vulnerable pose. It's the kind of image that captures everything this series does so well: tender feelings simmering just beneath the surface. If you've been following along, volume seven looks like a deeply affecting chapter in this charming story.