If you’ve spent any time on MangaDex or scrolling through the shoujo side of TikTok lately, you’ve seen those tall, leggy silhouettes and the strikingly sharp jawlines of Mika Yamamori’s latest masterpiece. Honestly, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk (or Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki) is doing something to the shoujo genre that we haven't seen in years. It’s flipping the script. It’s not just another high school romance where a girl trips and falls into the arms of a stoic boy. It’s way more nuanced than that.
The story follows Yoi Takiguchi. People call her a "prince." She’s tall, she has a deep voice, and she possesses this effortless, cool-girl energy that makes all the girls in her school swoon. But here’s the thing: Yoi doesn’t necessarily want to be a prince. She’s just living her life, feeling a bit detached from the "feminine" ideal, until she runs into Ichimura-senpai. He’s the school’s other prince.
And that’s where the sparks—and the identity crises—really start flying.
The "Prince" Problem and Why It Hits Different
Most romance manga rely on a very specific power dynamic. Usually, it’s a small, "relatable" girl and a towering, dominant guy. Yamamori-sensei threw that out the window. In Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki, we get two people who occupy the same social niche. They are both beautiful, both admired from afar, and both deeply lonely in their own ways.
Yoi’s struggle is incredibly real. It’s that feeling of being perceived as one thing when you feel like another. She’s tall. She’s "handsome." Because of that, people treat her like a protector or a fantasy rather than a teenage girl with her own insecurities. When Ichimura looks at her and actually sees her—not the "prince" persona—it’s a total gut punch.
It’s about the gaze. How we look at people and how they look back.
Yamamori's art style helps carry this weight. If you’ve read Daytime Shooting Star or Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet, you know she’s the queen of "the look." Her characters don't just talk; they have these long, silent moments where a single panel of a hand twitching or a shifted gaze tells you everything. The linework in Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki feels more mature, more refined. It’s moody. It’s atmospheric. It feels like a crisp autumn evening.
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Breaking Down the Ichimura Dynamic
Kohaku Ichimura is... a lot.
At first glance, he’s the classic playboy. Wealthy, bored, effortlessly talented. But as the chapters progress, you realize he’s just as much of an outcast as Yoi is. He’s tired of the superficiality. He’s drawn to Yoi because she’s the only person who doesn't immediately fold under his gaze.
Their relationship isn't built on a "rescue" trope. It’s a slow-burn discovery of mutual respect. They’re basically two tigers circling each other in a high school hallway.
One of the most refreshing things about their interaction is the lack of forced drama. Yeah, there are misunderstandings—it’s a manga, after all—but they usually stem from genuine personality clashes rather than "I saw you talking to another girl" nonsense. They’re trying to figure out how to be "normal" in a world that treats them like celebrities. It’s awkward. It’s kind of messy. It feels like actual dating.
Why Mika Yamamori Is Modern Shoujo Royalty
You can't talk about Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki without talking about Mika Yamamori's evolution as an artist and storyteller. She has this uncanny ability to capture "vibes." You know that feeling when you're walking home and the moon is huge and the air is cold and everything feels a little bit magical? That is her entire aesthetic.
In Daytime Shooting Star, she broke everyone’s hearts by subverting the "first guy wins" trope.
In Tsubaki-chou, she explored a more domestic, quiet kind of love.
In In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, she’s tackling gender coding and social pressure.
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The fashion is another thing. Most mangaka give their characters one or two outfits. Yamamori dresses her characters like they just walked off a Pinterest board for Tokyo street style. Oversized coats, wide-leg trousers, perfectly messy hair. It adds a layer of realism that makes the characters feel like people you’d actually meet in Shibuya.
What People Get Wrong About Yoi
There’s this misconception that Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki is a "gender-bender" manga. It’s not.
Yoi isn't pretending to be a boy. She’s not trans (at least, not as written currently). She’s just a girl who doesn't fit the "kawaii" mold. The story isn't about her "becoming feminine" to win the guy, either. That’s a trap a lot of older shoujo fell into—the "take off the glasses and put on a skirt" reveal.
Instead, Ichimura loves her because she’s the "prince." He loves the height, the coolness, the directness. The series is a celebration of being different. It tells the reader that you don't have to shrink yourself or change your style to be worthy of a sweeping, cinematic romance.
The Cultural Impact and the "New Era" of Shoujo
We are currently in a shoujo renaissance. For a while, it felt like shounen (action) was dominating everything. But titles like In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, A Sign of Affection, and My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 are proving there is a massive hunger for high-quality, emotionally intelligent romance.
Kodansha has been doing a great job with the English release, and the sales numbers reflect that. People are tired of the same old tropes. They want characters who have hobbies, anxieties, and complicated social lives.
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Yoi and Ichimura are the poster children for this shift. They aren't caricatures. They’re teenagers trying to navigate the weird space between being a kid and being an adult, all while dealing with the fact that they’re both "too attractive" for their own good. It sounds like a first-world problem, but Yamamori makes it feel deeply human.
How to Catch Up
If you're looking to dive in, here is the deal:
The series is currently serialized in Dessert magazine in Japan.
In North America, Kodansha USA handles the digital and physical volumes.
The pacing is deliberate. It’s not a "confession in chapter three" kind of story.
You need to appreciate the art. Don't rush through the pages. Look at the backgrounds. Look at the way the light hits the characters' eyes.
There are currently over 7 volumes out (depending on your region), and the story is still developing. We’re moving past the initial "do they like each other?" phase and into the "how do they actually make this work?" phase. That’s usually where romance manga gets really interesting or really boring—but with Yamamori at the helm, it’s definitely the former.
Actionable Steps for New Readers
If you're ready to start this journey, don't just binge-read it in an hour. You'll miss the nuance.
- Start with the physical volumes if possible. The art is so detailed that it truly looks better on paper than on a low-res phone screen. The cover art alone is worth the shelf space.
- Follow the author on Instagram. Mika Yamamori often posts sketches and fashion inspirations that give you a deeper look into how she constructs Yoi’s world.
- Read her previous works. If you find yourself loving the pacing of In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, go back and read Daytime Shooting Star. It will help you understand her "visual language" and why she makes certain choices with Yoi and Ichimura.
- Pay attention to the side characters. While the focus is heavily on the main duo, the way their friends react to their "princely" status adds a lot of necessary humor and grounding to the story.
The best way to enjoy In the Clear Moonlit Dusk is to embrace the mood. Put on a lo-fi playlist, grab a tea, and let yourself get lost in the moonlit halls of Yoi’s high school. It’s a masterclass in modern romance that proves shoujo is more alive and relevant than ever.