.png)
Mita Ori is a mangaka who remained in my memory for many years because of her one-shot Our Dining Table.
With Lion Hearts, another of her works appeared between October 2018 and February 2023 in the Japanese boys’ love magazine Canna, whose ten chapters were later collected into a single volume. Seven Seas published the volume in August 2025.
How was it?
With Lion Hearts, mangaka Mita Ori presents a sensitive work that lingers with its quiet emotionality and realistic portrayal of adolescent inner worlds. It is a story about friendship, love, uncertainty, and inner change, but above all, a story about how difficult it can be to be true to yourself when the world wants to impose other rules on you.
At the center are Leo and Shishimaru, two childhood friends who have known and loved each other since kindergarten and even once promised to marry in the future. What began as a naive children’s game has long since grown into a quiet feeling that neither dares to voice. The words “two boys can’t love each other” were etched into their hearts early on like a curse.
Leo, who grows up in an open, supportive environment, develops an awareness of his feelings early. He knows what he feels, even if he cannot say it. Shishimaru, on the other hand, lives in an environment where traditional role models and subtle expectations drive him to suppress his feelings. Outwardly he appears strong, almost unshakable, but inwardly he is trapped in self-doubt, fear, and the pressure to be “normal.” He locks his feelings away in a symbolic box he never wants to open, even though he senses that Leo means more to him than his other friends.
The story gains momentum when Shishimaru one day sees Leo walking closely with a girl. Shishimaru’s world collapses. He withdraws, believing he has hoped and felt too much without ever having a chance. A misunderstanding follows, a painful retreat, a flight that leaves traces on both sides. Yet it is Leo who finally finds the courage to follow his heart and seek Shishimaru out, to tell him that he loves him.
What follows is not a simple happy ending but a cautious, believable approach to what a romantic relationship between two boys can mean in a society that is not always understanding. The manga tells in quiet tones of insecurity, vulnerability, and the deep longing to simply be oneself. The story remains pleasantly restrained, free of kitsch, and realistic. It is not about physical intimacy but about emotional closeness - about the growth necessary to truly love oneself and each other.
Mita Ori succeeds in giving her characters real depth. Leo is sensitive, but open and emotionally mature. He seems fragile, but he is not. He knows pain and rejection, but he handles them in a way that reveals a quiet strength. Shishimaru, on the other hand, faces the harder path. He must learn that strength does not lie in staying silent or hiding, but in opening up. His fear of disappointing others, of losing his place in a normative world, feels authentic and relatable. His actions are not always fair to Leo, but they are human.
Especially fitting is the way Mita Ori highlights the contrast between two worlds. Leo is surrounded by people who accept him, yet feels inwardly lonely. Shishimaru, by contrast, is popular, embedded in social expectations, yet isolated at his core.
The supporting characters are also well developed and play roles in the story beyond that of mere extras.
Mita Ori’s artwork underscores the manga’s atmosphere perfectly. The style is soft, expressive, and full of small, lovingly crafted details. It is not only the characters’ faces that convey emotion, but also the settings and natural imagery the mangaka employs. Everything feels harmonious, delicate, and at the same time full of emotional density.
Lion Hearts is a work that treats the subject of queer youth consciously and sensitively. It shows that homophobia does not always have to be loud and that sometimes a careless sentence, a look, or an unspoken expectation is enough to sow deep self-doubt.
Unlike Our Dining Table, this volume is published by Seven Seas in a large format, which makes it comfortable to read at over 300 pages. In addition, there is a color page at the beginning depicting the two protagonists.
Is Lion Hearts worth reading?
Lion Hearts is a sensitive story about growing up, about love, doubt, fear, and the courage to accept yourself. Mita Ori offers an honest look into the inner lives of two young people whose feelings do not fit into conventional norms.
Fans of tender boys’ love manga with depth will definitely get their money’s worth here.
Lion Hearts
€15,29
€17,99
A sweet Boys’ Love story about young love and how it can withstand the test of time.As children, Shishimaru and Leo were inseparable. Shi-chan was so infatuated with Leo that he proposed to him! But as the years went by,… read more
