Ibuki and Kippei are next-door neighbors and have known each other since they were little. They go to the same school, chat about their favorite music, and watch the summer fireworks together—no two friends could be closer. But when Ibuki kisses Kippei, their relationship changes...

A Long & Short Love Story has a story and art by Kei Ichikawa. English translation is done by Katelyn Smith and lettering by Aila Nagamine. Published by Yen Press (April 28, 2026). Rated 16+.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

There isn't much to this story, and yet there's everything. As the title suggests, A Long & Short Love Story is about the years that pass as a couple comes together, collected in a spate of very short chapters. Things feel like they're left out, but that works, because the entire volume has the feel of catching glimpses of your neighbors' lives as you pass by, or brief, infrequent conversations with friends you don't see often. It's about the collection of small moments that create a lifetime.

When we first meet Kippei and Ibuki, they're in high school. They've been best friends for years, but they're starting to realize that they may want something more. When a kiss threatens to upend their relationship, they spend their first summer festival apart before realizing that they really do both want the same thing: each other. By the time the book ends, they're adults, possibly out of college, and an established couple. But there are precious few “landmark” moments such as we see in other romances – apart from the one kiss, there isn't really a “first kiss,” “first holding hands,” “first date,” or any other manga milestones. Or rather, there is, but we don't get to see it. That's not important, because Ibuki and Kippei's romance belongs to them alone. We're just occasional bystanders.

It's strikingly similar to a GL series also in this guide, Shino & Ren, which shares a lot of visual techniques as well. Like that title, A Long & Short Love Story has full-color splash pages for each chapter, as well as pops of color in the otherwise black-and-white art. In this book, those colored bits tend to be background images – an autumn leaf, a flower – although there is one chapter when a blushing cheek gets the bright touch. I do prefer this book over the other simply because it does the basic conceit better. Kei Ichikawa has a quiet, deft hand for the small moments that make up a life, and there's something peaceful about reading this. It's a calm volume that reminds you to slow down, because happiness could be just around the corner.