First of all, I want to thank Kodansha Comics for giving me an access to an early copy of this manga.

This is the story of Eito and Hachi, who both of their names sound like a variation of the number 8. Eito in english and Hachi is the word in japanese for 8. They meet one day at school and bond over the silliness of their names’ resemblance. Eito will soon realize that he enjoys being around Hachi more than he thought…

I enjoyed it throughly, the chemistry between Eito and Hachi is very wholesome. Though sometimes the expressions were lost a little bit in translation. I liked the dialogue and the story was very believable. I would love to see more of them, maybe in college? Who knows ! 🤍

I also have reviews posted on Instagram and Goodreads linked below !

Thank you, NetGalley and publishers for this arc.
Number Call by Nagisa Furuya follows two high school boys who both have a name related to the number 8. You get to share their moments of meeting and forming a friendship…and more.
This is seriously the sweetest manga I’ve ever read. I love Eito and Hatchi and how much they care for each other. It truly shows how deeply they feel for one another and want the best for the other.
The friends to the main character are also so adorable and supportive, even if they tease him a lot.
The only part I don’t like about it is that sometimes I couldn’t tell the blonde people apart. It was a little confusing, but I got the hang of it.
I still give it 5 stars. It was amazing!

Loved this! Such a cute story with loveable characters and a very cute story arc! Loved the coincidence of names that bring two people together :)

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend and I can’t wait to buy a copy for myself 🙂

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This title was just 'fine'. The artwork was nice and made good use of negative space, the prose however was uninspiring. The two main characters seemed to talk rarely and then not about anything interesting or deep. I felt bored the whole time as if I was just waiting for something significant to happen.

Genuinely really loved this but the writing, potentially due to the translation, is super stilted at certain points. I found myself skipping back a page to figure out if I missed part of a conversation as it would change so dramatically from one page to another.

The art was a simple style that I'm used to but had some really cute panels which made it feel more fresh.

The story itself was very cute. I like how it feels contained with just enough characters to make it feel fully developed.

It was a cute slow burn boyslove. The storyline was nicely written although I sometimes confused some of the characters cause some of them look similar.

This was too short. I absolutely LOVE Nagisa Furuya. She is one of my "must read" manga authors. I absolutely love the Boys Love stories that she writes, but this is her first one and you can definitely tell. The story concept is there, the execution is slightly lacking. It's understandable because she only has this one volume to flesh out and entire relationship, I just would have liked to see more. Out of all the works I've read by Nagisa Furuya, this is my least favorite, but I still enjoyed it!

This is a very low conflict manga about first love. It's a good blend of humour and sweetness.

The artwork is lovely and really fits the vibe. I would definitely recommend it as an easy, happy read

a sweet short read. kept mixing up the characters with the same colour hair, i think that could've been made more clear.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this!

This manga was so cute and I truly enjoyed the characters within the story. Plus, the artwork was so lovely! I don't feel like I was able to completely vibe with this story at the beginning but the second half has left me curious to read others. If you're thinking of picking this one up I still think you should give this one a shot. I do want to give the next volume a go because it still brought me a lot of joy to read. Plus, the translation notes at the end were such a wonderful add!

This book is sadly not for me. The art style was not my favorite and I had a hard time telling apart characters who had the same color hair. The plot was similarly not engaging. I wanted to like this manga but I am not the right person to enjoy this.

Number Call is a short and sweet story following Eito and Hacchi. Drawn together by their names, they find that the connection between them runs deeper.

If you like sweet romances with minimal conflict then this is one for you!

Thank you for the Arc.

A sweet and short endearing read. I would definitely recommend this book to a younger audience.

A sweet and cute short story about friendship that blossoms into first love.

The number 8 puns and jokes were funny. I’m glad the author also added pages of Translation Notes at the end to explain the language and local references.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Author and the Publisher for this ARC.

This was such a cute standalone!
Due to an unexpected meeting, Eighto & Hachi meet and start to build an unlikely connection all because of the number 8.
This was short, sweet, and to the point. It didn't do anything super unique or different, but the art style was so beautiful and sweet, perfectly reflecting the feelings of the story.

I always enjoy every manga I read by Nagisa Furuya. They always have such a sweet story and are beautifully drawn, I will always and always do look forward to reading their work !!

Nagisa Furuya does not MISS. I repeat NEVER MISSES.

Every book is absolutely amazing, the character are so relatable and real, that they journey to their relations ships and the obstacles they face. Her love stories are so sweet, and full of so many heartfelt moments, she is an automatic buy for me.

Number call is another great success, hating his name Eito Tachibana with all the jokes and puns attached to it, but when a faithful meeting with classmate Tomoya Hatta, his rather unlucky name, could be the key that brings him the biggest change of his life.

This just like any of her books are a brilliant introduction to her work.

My Thoughts:

I seem to be reading a lot of LGBTQIA+ books on my queue and perhaps this is in preparation for LGBTQ awareness month in June. Maybe this is in preparation for Asian Pacific American celebration month in May. However, I am reminded that a few years ago, I changed my reading mantra on this blog to say "Diversifying YA Bookshelves one book at a time." That is really what this is. This book, out of Japan and translated into English is not an Asian American book, however it is a diverse book and it is a LGBTQIA+ book. That is what gets it into your classroom. But at the end of the day, this is a cute book where friendship is friendship and love is love. This is a manga story that needs to be available for the student that is waiting to read this.

The awareness of this odd feeling of friendship and perhaps more starts with a pun in both English and Japanese. The final "awakening" at the end is not a surprise. We as readers are much more emotionally awake than either "Eito" or "Hachi." However, the cute factor of this is that these two high schoolers from different programs of the school meet over the 8 pun that shows up in many ways besides their names. That is what makes this meet cute different from the endless others.

From the Publisher:
High schooler Eito Tachibana has always hated his name, including all of the jokes and puns about the number 8 that have come along with it. It's as if the number has haunted him like a ghost ever since he was a child. One day, he meets a classmate named Tomoya Hatta, aka Hachi-the Japanese word for “8.” What begins as casual greetings and small talk in the hallway soon becomes something much deeper, and Eito realizes that it's more than just a similar nickname that draws him to Hachi. Could the number that Eito resented for so long finally bring him something he'll love-and is that someone Hachi?

Publication Information:
Author, Artist: Nagisa Furuya (she/her)
Publisher: Kodansha Comics (March 12, 2024)
Print length: 196 pages

This is a sweet and cozy manga about two high schoolers whose names mean eight so they get closer to each other because of that coincidence. The realisation that they like guys is also very matter of fact and no drama ensues and the story itself is calming. The art is very neat and it hasn't many details but it doesn't detract from the story

Overall a nice, sweet and cozy gay romance