Reading the synopsis, I was expecting a story where the guy, Sakura, confesses a lot to the girl, Sawa, and doing everything he can to get her attention. But these two literally starts dating in the first chapter, after Sakura tells her he likes her for like... 3 times? Talk about insta-love, which I'm really not fond of 😩

I think it would have been much nicer if Sawa accepts to be in a relationship with Sakura (after much more persuasions) and maybe telling him she wants to take it slow? But she tells him she likes him too IN THE FIRST CHAPTER AS WELL, which does not make sense at all? I need more confessions and persuasions!

Sawa just went through a breakup, and she was not even on talking-terms with Sakura before that, so for her to suddenly confess that she likes him too does not make sense. There's no build-up, no reason apart from the random confessions from Sakura, to make it make sense that Sawa will reciprocate his feelings. It feels forced.

I do find Sakura to be amusing though, because he reads a lot of books about love and even psychology of love just to understand more about it, so he can be good to Sawa, and he also has no limits on showering compliments to Sawa. He even asks for consent before hugging Sawa! He's lovely, he's definitely a good boyfriend-material.

And some of his interactions with Sawa are cute, I admit. But I don't really like how "shy" Sawa is though. I feel like it didn't fit her character somehow. In her defence of course, this is only the first volume so I can't say much, but I have to say that I don't really like Sawa's characterisation.

I don't think I'll continue reading the next volume; I find things to get too cringey for my taste 🥲 Although I didn't quite enjoy this one, I do love the artwork! Both Sakura and Sawa are really beautifully drawn!

This manga turned out to be way more sweet than I was expecting and I absolutely loved it! Where can I find a guy like Sakura? He was sweet! This whole concept was a breath of fresh air and I really like the dedication that Sakura put in. It really made my heart flutter. I honestly can’t wait to read more!

Sawa just broke with her cheating boyfriend.
Sakura, one of her classmate eavesdropped her conversation with a friend about his jerk ex-boyfriend and he confesses his love right away: "Hanasaki-san, please be my girlfriend.".
He's not her type and she rejects his confession, but he continues to confess to her, day by day.


Reading the plot before requesting this book I was expecting something totally different.
A courtship by Sakura to win Sawa's heart.
After a few pages though, despite Sakura not being Sawa's ideal type they end up getting together.

While reading I was like: "what?" If someone is not your type you can't change your mind in just few minutes.
It all felt too forced and the romance part was totally ruined.
Summing up this first volume: Sakura giving compliments and Sawa blushing everytime, all of this happen for every chapter.

I give two stars 'cause the art syle is really beaufitul.

The artwork is very pretty with cute characters and a nice amount of detail, as for the plot it's quite fast paced! It's straight in with the confessions and they're dating fairly quickly which I hadn't been expecting. I thought there'd be a lot of confessing and rejecting but that wasn't the case so I was pleasantly surprised.

There's strong slice of life vibes as they navigate their new relationship and it was also very relatable in that regard as well as when it comes to the scenes set at the school. There's plenty of fluffy and cute moments like the confessions and their date etc, but there's also a little bit of drama sprinkled in to spice things up and a few heart fluttering moments between the two main characters.

All in all, it's an easy to read, sweet and fluffy volume that's sure to lift your mood if you need a pick me up!

Cute. This story follows Hanasaki who struggles with conveying intimacy and her outspoken boyfriend, Sakura, who as no issues saying exactly what’s on his heart.

Two very interesting leads that grow on you. The main male protagonist comes off as creepy at first but as you read on you really see the story's direction.

Thank you Netgalley and Kodansha once again for granting me access to cute coming of age manga about young love, Sakura's Dedication Vol # 1 by Fuyu Yukimiya.

Young Sawa just got out a semi-serious relationship and wishes nothing more than to meet a good guy who actually cares about her. However, one might say be careful what you wish for, because to Sawa's surprise her classmate Sakura stands up one day to her and loudly declares his love. Surprised but seemingly unbothered she straight out tells Sakura that his not her type, thinking that's the end of the strange encounter, until he comes back the next morning to confess again.

Read about this duo was interesting, I honestly thought at first that Sakura doesn't know what the meaning of those words meant or that he was just toying with her. Until I read further and discovered that Sakura has a sweet and honest nature. I loved getting to see the two slowly come to an understanding and being more honest about their feelings, especially Sawa who's ex (a real jerk) keeps coming back to discourage and emotional bully her.

This was a really cute story and I can't wait for vol 2!

5/5 stars!

This shoujo manga was a bit of a mixed bag for me - there's certainly some classic cute romance elements, but I feel like plot and pacing may let this down as a sustainable read.

Bits I liked:
- lovely art-style, in that sparkly shoujo style that many readers will love
- playful, sweet characters with a shy/flustered vs loving/patient relationship building
- some comic moments, tender insights, and some hints at further romance to come

Bits I liked less:
- there was little sense of pace or timing, and everything felt very rushed
- the forceful nature of the initial confession put me off somewhat
- having such an insta-love relationship doesn't give me the same enjoyment as that slow burn, but it does seem like the main focus is how they develop together

I'm sure this will appeal to anyone looking for a light, fluffy read, and any fans of simple rom-com shoujo manga. I imagine it will continue but I'm sure how much is actually plotted out - perhaps we'll get a deeper understanding of our characters better in future volumes.

Thank you so much to the author, Kodansha Comics, and NetGalley for the complimentary ARC!
This review contains my honest and unbiased thoughts and opinions. 🌸

I am always looking for new manga to try and this one caught my attention. The cover is interesting and from the blurb, it sounds like a cute story.
First - the artwork is beautiful. For me, artwork can make or break a manga, beautiful artwork enhances the story and helps bring characters to life while bad artwork can make reading difficult and unenjoyable.
The artwork definitely helps in this case. 
The story just wasn't all that for me. It's cute, it's okay but its probably one I won't continue.
For me, the beginning starts way too abruptly. I feel like I walked into a random classroom, overheard the girls talking and was completely clueless. I need a little more story at the beginning to help set things up, introduce me to the characters, etc. I really felt like a chapter or two were removed and we were just thrown in without the entire script. 
The characters.... I don't know... the girl I didn't find all that relatable and slightly annoying and even the guy was a bit much.
There are a few cute parts, some good parts, and overall it was an okay read that I did finish. I'm sure many will love it, it just didn't work for me. I might wait a bit and try rereading it.

Sakura's Dedication is your basic shoujo, but still quite nice actually! Our main character is Sawa, who's just broken up with her cheating boyfriend and is now mourning. Sakura, the nerd boy, sees this as an opportunity to confess and get the girl to date him. At fist it's not going anywhere, but soon our girl warms up to the boy. Sakura keeps telling her how he feels and makes our heroine shy and embarrassed all the time. A school romance surely and slice of life too. Once again we get to the dating part too soon though, which is a shame. I would want to see more of Sakura trying to win Sawa's heart and their relationship growing realistically instead of Sawa's insta love. This bothered me a lot, since the chase is better than the catch.

The art looks cute and delicate, very romantic even. Everything happens mostly during school hours, but it works to a point. In a sense I wish that we'd get past this shyness and embarrassment, since they go nowhere story-wise. The series needs more plot elements, but it's cute still. If you like your romance light and fluffy, then this is for you.

what can I say, I am a sucker for a cute love story, our main character had her heart broken by boy in her school, and this boy sakura declares his feelings for her and ask her to date him, he is so insistent that she starts to have feelings for him, this book has the first 4 chapters of this manga, and I must say that I would love to read more ^_____________^

I got a free ARC of this manga through NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Sawa discovered her boyfriend was cheating on her and broke up with him. When she's discussing this with her friend before class Sakura, another boy in the class, approaches her and asks her out. She politely but confusedly turns him down. He's known as the nerd of the class and Sawa doesn't think she's that interested in Sakura but he says he won't give up so he keeps asking. But Sawa decides to give him a chance and it turns out he's had a crush on her for a long time and he's incredibly nice and thinks Sawa is adorable. Every time he tells her this he embarrasses her and she blushes and tells him off and sometimes runs away. One day her ex says in passing that this will disinterest Sakura and why does she want to be with a nerd like that anyway. So Sawa tries to be an affectionate girlfriend but embarrasses herself and Sakura thinks she's being out of character. It's a sweet beginning romance that has some interesting talking points if you want to use it for a club.

Well, I requested two mangas blindly at the same time and expected this to be better than the other one, but turned out wrong. Honestly, I do not know what this book is about, so I'm not sure if starting the manga with zero ideas of the plot is a wise decision.

This book begins its story very abruptly. It started with Sawa who was talking about her recent breakup with her jerk ex-boyfriend to a friend before Sakura overheard the conversation and immediately confessed his feelings. I believe the mangaka had a different idea for starting the book as it is, but I feel like it ruined the chemistry between the 'potential lovers' since it was rushed.

After reading the summary, I know a few people might perceive the manga as predatory romance, which can be a turn-off to some. While I wouldn't consider that as the case, I still find Sakura a bit weird and adamant as he was forcing his feelings towards Sawa. Instead of seeing this as a cute fluffy romance, I'm a bit disapproved of how Sakura was taking advantage of the situation when Sawa just had a breakup. And while also at that, I find romance to be insta-love. The moment I thought I could run from insta-love in the manga, I was wrong 💀

What I love about the manga though was how it captures the pith of young love where you are still shy around your new boyfriend and trying to figure out what was the right thing. Sakura is so confident and devoted while Sawa is still so new to the experience. In some way, I admit that the moments between them were adorable. I also love the extra chapter on Sakura's perspective the time Sawa wanted to be more expressive with him.

Be that as it may, I still didn't enjoy the book as much as I hope it would. The art style was up to my alley and the characters are not entirely unlikeable, but the plot and the pace just went to rack and ruin the enjoyment. Personally, I don't find myself continuing the series.

What a strange and funny couple. His sincere determination and her tsuntsun shyness make a so fun match. I enjoyed this story simple and vivid at the same time. Really cute, I'm looking forward to it.

After a rough break up with her cheating boyfriend, Sawa just wants to take a break from boys. But when her classmate Sakura confesses his feelings, what's a girl to do? No matter how many times Sawa rejects him, Sakura continues to express his love for her over and over. Soon Sawa realizes that she might just be a bit love shy in the face of all Sakura's advances.

A cute high school dating manga, but sometimes the romantic scenes feel a bit cringy. That might be a matter of opinion, but it was sort of a tepid love story so far.

If you like school romance manga's, then that's the one you need to read.
Cool characters and beautiful love story.

ARC was given by NetGalley and Kodansha in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published after the release date (February 22nd, 2022)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of cheating, scenes of brief verbal abuse

Calling all lovers of the manga Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku and just any slice of life manga! Put this manga series on your radar because this was really cute and I couldn’t help thinking about some of my favorite manga that’s more slice of life. Yet, this manga also gave me very brief vibes of Ouran High School Host Club. Look, if you know, you know. I really enjoyed my time reading this and it was a nice pick me up when I needed something light yet sweet, borderline wholesome.

We follow Sawa Hanasaki, a high school girl, who recently broke up with her boyfriend after finding out he was cheating on her. While she’s still trying to work out her feelings, Sakura Yuma has decided to confront Sawa to ask her to be his girlfriend. Despite rejecting him, Sakura is even more determined he can be the boyfriend that she needs.

“I feel like you’ll get lost and I don’t want to let go of you.”

I feel like my opinion is going to be on the minority side of things, but I actually enjoyed Sawa and Sakura together. In the aspect of them acting like high schoolers, still navigating feelings, and even learning what it means to find true, genuine people who care about you is hard. I think the mangaka did a fantastic job of translating all of this into the manga itself. I think readers, like myself, who’ve been out of school for a while sometimes forget how much a whirlwind high school really was and some of the things that we endured during that time. And I truly believe with my whole chest that the mangaka really brought that to life in this book. Even more so when it comes to navigating the waters of love.

There’s also this whole minor theme of appreciating the little things. You all know, I love a good sprinkling of appreciating the little things in anything I read. And oh, it was delivered so beautifully for us in this manga. Not to the point that it’d be really obvious or overwhelming, but just the right amount that when you do notice, it’s such a burst of warmth. I think we need more literature that has this theme casually sprinkled throughout it.

“But I find myself wanting to touch him like this longer.”

The main theme, though, is what really caught my attention. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a whole theme of discovering what it truly means to be loved, to be valued as you are, and what that can look like when you finally find those genuine caring people. I think Sawa and her relationship with Sakura is such a good example of what it means to truly navigate leaving behind someone who was clearly very toxic, potentially abusive, or even an absolute jerk of a person and find people who value you as you are. It’s not an easy thing to do. I think this manga was a great example of showing a very realistic relationship of love and self value, but the relationship shows us a bit of Sakura and how new it is for him to be with a person he cares so much for. I really loved this theme a lot and this is the main reason why I can’t wait for the next volume.

I will say, I did have one issue with this manga and to be fair, it’s still the first volume. There could still be more on the horizon that we as the readers are unaware of. I really wanted to see more of the scenes with the ex-boyfriend. The few scenes we get of him show that he’s a bit of a verbal abuser, but I also feel there’s a whole lot more to things with him. Even more so with the very first scene we have with him and Sawa. I’m not going to lie, I was on the edge of my seat, but I wanted more. I really wanted to see how those scenes would play out just to get a better feel for his character as a whole. I’m really hoping in future volumes we’ll see little more details.

Overall, I had a really fun time reading this manga. I feel like I say this a lot, but I’m not the biggest slice of life manga reader, but when I do pick them up, I typically enjoy them. Again, I’m really excited for the next volumes and really eager to see what the mangaka has for us. So far, I haven’t seen any announcements on the next book or anything, but you bet I’m keeping my eyes peeled for any bread crumb of news!


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

I am starting to think I may not be a big manga person. While the art style in this was cute there didn't seem to actually be anything happening plot wise. I probably won't be continuing on with this manga series . Overall it just seemed to have a basic plot, which was barely there at all, and the relationship started way faster then I thought it would. While yes I feel bad for the amount of bad boyfriends the main girl has had in the past there was really nothing else that made me want to continue on this journey of these two characters. Overall it was just boring.

Seems to have been a lovely read. The cover and art style alone is enough to captivate a reader and derive them to pick up this manga and read it

This was so CUUUUUTEEEEE!!!! The characters were adorable, the artwork was pretty and I really enjoyed the sweetness of the storyline. I can't wait to read the next one in the series!

4, highly recommended if you like shojo, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.