The Spring 2025 Manga Guide

Koupen-chan & You

What's It About? 

Everyone needs a little help to get through the day—and who better to provide it than Koupen-chan, the adorable baby penguin who has stolen Japan's heart! Did you cook a meal, show up for work, or just get out of bed in the morning? Koupen-chan is here to say, "You are amazing!"

Koupen-chan & You has a story and art by Rurutea, with English translation by ren. Published by Tuttle (May 27, 2025). Rated E.

---

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Until I read this book, I didn't know that I needed an adorable fuzzy baby penguin to tell me that they were proud of me because I brushed my teeth or did the dishes. It's silly, and more than a little corny, but Koupen-chan & You fills a very specific need for validation, not because you did something remarkable, but because you're just out there doing your best. Although there isn't a story per se, this is a cozy, warm little book that's clearly meant to function as a paper hug.

The downside is that it reads very much like what it actually is: a collection of social media posts printed as a book. Each page is obviously a separate post, and there's no real rhyme or reason to the order, apart from things like “brushed your teeth in the morning” coming before “brushed your teeth at night.” There's a gentle sense of seasons progressing as Koupen-chan and their friends mention the temperature outside, but mostly this isn't meant to be the sort of book you pick up and read through. The closest comparison in a book I can make is Alice in Tumblr Land, but really it's more like reading through a page-a-day calendar all at once instead of revealing a new page each day.

Still, it's hard not to be at least a little charmed by this. Koupen-chan is joined by adult penguins (including Adelie, who enjoys cooking), a polar bear who can turn into a bear(cat)bus, and my personal favorite, Evil Enaga, a tiny Japanese tit who enjoys doing evil deeds – or at least thinking they're doing evil deeds. The book is three-quarters little comics or affirmations and then one-quarter gallery, with the latter printed on glossy paper. It's a neat volume and a good introduction to a character getting an anime in the future, but don't pick it up expecting a story.

Though if you just need someone to tell you you're doing great, definitely give this a look.

---

Dee H.
Rating: 10 spiral flowers

In the interest of journalistic integrity, please note that I have an impressive penguin collection, including a pair of Koupen-chans on my desk, and have been nonstop stressed for the past few months. I am in no position to be unbiased about a book where a baby penguin says I'm awesome and gives me a spiral flower stamp just for getting out of bed in the morning.

Koupen-chan & You is the quintessential gift book: a well-made, full-color hardcover on quality paper that's meant to be picked up, flipped through, and put down at the reader's leisure. I keep pausing in writing this review to admire the design and run my hand over the embossed cover.

The book is divided into two sections: a series of comics and affirmations, and a glossy “gallery” at the end containing more detailed, watercolor-like paintings of Koupen-chan and friends exploring Japan or enjoying the seasons. The gallery includes some splendid prints I'd love to hang on my wall, but most of the content is in the comics. I say “content,” but this is a gift book, not a narrative. Aside from recurring characters and a handful of connected comics, each page is a standalone piece of affirmation or sympathy, as Koupen-chan and their buddies congratulate us on brushing our teeth, encourage us to eat a square meal, and commiserate with our troubles.

Koupen-chan acts as a supportive friend, not a life coach, and the fact that the book never tries to spin into self-help advice goes a long way to maintaining its charm. The other major charm point is Koupen-chan's saucier friends, especially Evil Enaga, an edge lord long-tailed tit who reminds us that self-care is the first step to world domination. Touches of humor and character interaction help the comics from blending together too much.

Collected in book form, are the Koupen-chan illustrations a little repetitive and corny? Sure, but they're so gosh-darn sincere and soft that I appreciated them even so. Koupen-chan & You is mostly fluff, but it could be the little pick-me-up that someone needs. Consider gifting this to a friend who loves penguins or is Going Through It. They may appreciate the cuteness break as much as I did.

---

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

This book is just cute. It's a little difficult to call Koupen-chan anything more than that, considering that this is a large collection of cute little pages featuring mascot characters under the Rurutea brand. Some pages have cute little short stories in them, but they're not divided specifically, as much as it is just a bunch of cute pages featuring these characters one after the other. A lot of these pages feature, at most, one line or one small sentence describing what is going on about how a character is feeling on the page. I would probably give this to the kids at the elementary school where I work because it is a cute attention-grabber. The art is adorable, very pastel with a child-like art style.

The book is very thick and quite durable with a fantastic hardcover. I could easily recommend this to any parents looking for a cute little mascot character book to show their kids. They'll love the artwork, and it might even be a good way to teach them how to read. It's a little hard to recommend something like this to older audiences, but I think we all need a little bit more cute stuff in our lives as a distraction from the deep-rooted horrors of everyday life. It might be just a distraction at most for older people, but it's a very well-presented and good-looking distraction that will make your heart squee over its cuteness.