The Spring 2025 Manga Guide
It's All Your Fault (18+)
What's It About?
It’s All Your Fault has story and art by merryhachi, with English translation by Kashi Kamitoma and lettering by Alexis Eckerman. Published by Yen Press (March 25, 2025). Rated Mature.
Is It Worth Reading?
Lauren Orsini
Rating:
Based on the cover art, I thought this manga was going to be the story of two girls discovering an interest in cosplay. The reality is spicier: it's about two cosplayers discovering a mutual kink. This story stars two girls who are friends and maybe more as they engage in risqué photoshoots at fan conventions. It's all in on exhibitionism, which means it's going to be hit or miss for readers, depending on their predilections. But the story's emphasis on just how gung-ho one character is for opportunities to flash her panties, rather than focusing only on the character who is more reluctant to do so, is an inspired choice.
Shiho is a broke otaku who doesn't have the money or fashion design talent necessary to create cosplay. But when she rescues Yotogi from a tricky situation, the other girl offers her a cosplay of her favorite character to wear. Fast-forward to the next fan event, where Shiho and Yotogi are doing a duo cosplay of their mutual favs. Shiho thinks she's found her person, until Yotogi uses the photoshoot as an opportunity to secretly flash her bra and panties at Shiho—in public! The primary conflict of the story is Shiho's disapproval of Yotogi's enthusiasm for exhibitionism, but since this is a fetish manga, Shiho is into it. Though she won't admit it, the idea of exposing herself in public has her just as worked up as Yotogi—she just doesn't think it's proper for Yotogi to lose control like that. This story is marketed as yuri, but the romance isn't there yet in the first volume. As depicted through naughty art and dialogue, the girls are still trying to find common ground as cosplayers and friends before they can take their relationship further.
Although the anime and characters referenced are all original to the manga, It’s All Your Fault is marketed to otakus. One big tell is the little girl who is the president of Shiho and Yotogi's college club, the Social Media Club (or, as they cheekily refer to it, the SM Club). It's unclear if the President is a little girl or just a very young-looking peer (for her part, the President proclaims she's been alive since “antiquity,”) but this very young-looking character making sexually-charged wisecracks could be a dealbreaker for some. This manga is one big sexually-charged wisecrack to be sure, but its focus on the very specific kink of exhibitionism in cosplay makes it one of a kind.
MrAJCosplay
Rating:
I love series that focus on cosplay because it's a hobby I enjoy. Imagine having an interesting story acting as a jumping-off point for what cosplay is to newcomers. People cosplay for different reasons, and sometimes there can be fights within the community about what exactly cosplay is supposed to be. Some series go into the technical aspects of putting cosplay together, while others focus more on the cosplay culture and etiquette. It’s All Your Fault is a series that seems to fall into the latter category, although I'm a little confused as to what exactly it's trying to say.
The story centers on a young woman searching for like-minded people in the cosplay community. She takes the hobby very seriously and thus gets upset that her mentality causes other people to find her intimidating. She's happy to come across somebody who seems to share the same values, only to realize their values and approaches to cosplay are very different. And this was discovered after our lead was placed in an uncomfortable, publicly indecent situation without prior consent.
I have nothing against people who explore the more lewd and risqué side of the cosplay medium. I have dated people and been involved in some parts of the community. My problem isn't with having a character that's willing to compromise another for the sake of viewership. If anything, that's pretty realistic. My problem is that I don't know what the story is trying to communicate with this setup. While it emerges and acts as a driving narrative force, it doesn't feel like it's been given as much attention as it should. The dynamic between our two female leads is naturally antagonistic, but it feels like the book isn't sure what kind of conclusion it wants to come to regarding the arguments they have about what cosplay should be. I don't mean that this book is trying to keep it open-ended and give every side its fair shake because at the end of the day, there arguably is no answer. Instead, it just feels like we're having a lot of conversation starters that don't go anywhere.
The book tricks you into thinking it's building up to an emotional resolution, only to back away at the last minute and maintain this rough dynamic. This is a shame because there is a lot of potential here despite that incredibly uncomfortable and rough start. There are a lot of strong things that can be said about cosplay and social media culture using these characters. The foundation is there, and there are moments of strong character introspection. I believe it will give the subject matter some respect. If you are already into cosplay, it's worth checking out those moments. But if you're either weirded out by cosplay or don't want to get into it at all, this might not get you invested.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
discuss this in the forum (28 posts) |
back to The Spring 2025 Manga Guide
Feature homepage / archives