I feel protagonist Muku's situation in my bones. She's in an unenviable position, stuck with both Eldest Daughter Syndrome and being a caregiver for her grandfather, and trust me, that's not a good place to be. After her father's accidental death, Muku, her sister Inori, and their mother moved in with their grandparents, and not two years later, when Muku was thirteen, her grandmother made her the chief cook and bottlewasher for the family, putting household duties and caring for her grandfather on Muku. It's not uncommon – there's a name for the phenomenon for a reason – but it's also soul-crushing, and the burden of caring for someone can add to it exponentially.

Like most people in that situation, Muku doesn't fully recognize what's happening to her. She knows it's bad, but that's about it. The strongest parts of this volume are when creator Haruka Chizu draws Muku dissociating. Muku herself refers to it as “zoning out,” and she sees herself as slowly sinking under the water, with bubbles filled with her grandmother's hurtful words trying to get into her mouth and drown her. She's vaguely aware of what's being said to her, but she's isolated within her drowning tank, and Chizu makes each panel of dissociation feel claustrophobic and suffocating. Muku's life has been stolen from her, and she's starting to lack the will to even try to swim to the surface.

The reentry on scene of her childhood friends, brothers Sakuto and Yuto, could have been played as a knight-in-shining-armor moment. But instead of riding up to save her, instead Yuto and Sakuto offer her the tools to eventually save herself: they tell her that what she's going through is neither okay nor normal. That's more powerful than any extended hand or proffered sword; it's the means for Muku to understand what's happening to her and take her future into her own hands. The opening salvo does go a bit too quickly for good storytelling; the now-adult brothers show up, overhear an argument, and immediately take her to their house. But while I'll complain from a literary perspective, from an emotional one, I have to say that I have no real arguments. Reading more about Muku suffering in that house, being reprimanded for being a person with a brain and ambitions, would simply be too painful.

Caregiving is the hardest work I've ever done. Snow Angel understands the toll it can take, especially if you're not allowed to do or be anything else, and how the added burden of being the eldest daughter can compound everything. Watching Muku learn that she doesn't have to take the abuse and that she can be more than just “the good daughter” or “the caregiver” stands to be a cathartic experience, albeit a difficult one. I don't love Yuto as a character and presumable love interest thus far, but if you've ever been either the carer or the eldest child, there's a good chance this will speak to you.

Thank you NetGalley and Viz Media for this arc!

5/5 stars

This is the beginning of what will surely be an emotional series! Muku has lost any hope of having a happy life since her father died ten years ago and she's been burdened with being a caretaker for her ailing grandfather, alongside her mother, grandmother, and younger sister. She doesn't realize it yet but is suffering from depression and desperately wants to be happy. On a chance meeting she reunites with her childhood best friend Yuto, now an overworked and also down in the dumps adult. I'm very interested to see how they help each other find happiness in the world, find ways to escape the things that make them depressed, and possibly love?! Lol deffo feels like it's heading into a romance but I'm not quite sure how it'll get there, excited to read the next volume!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Viz for the digital ARC.

This is such a sweet start to what is sure to be a great story, and I'm excited to dive into the rest of it!

I'm here for the plot, just not how it was executed. The art was gorgeous, and the characters are fun.

I like that Snow Angels is based on a young adult who's navigating the job market, family responsibilities, emotions, and friendships, but the final piece is not cohesive. Elder daughter syndrome is real and it's shown in this novel. I hope in the following volumes that Chizu illustrates the finer points of being an older sister.

I'll be picking up the second just to read about her and Yuto's budding relationship!

Honestly, I found this to be a bit... weird? I really like the concept of how the FMC is trying to run away from her awful family's burdens and how it shows the way the oldest daughter is always depended on, but the way she ran away was... strange. You're telling me a man you haven't seen in 10 years is just gonna pop onto your porch the exact night you blow your top at your entitled family? And he doesn't even ask you to come to his house, you practically worm your way into it?
I don't know, it felt like too much. Everything else I liked, but that just put me off.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This manga is beautifully drawn and I admire the complexity that the main character is given. The themes explored of guilt, independence, and happiness are presented through the pages in a way that is digestible. I think many young adults will find the main character's feelings/situation relatable. Excited to see how the romance plotline will evolve as the volumes continue.

Long ago, Muku and Yuto used to play together in the snow with their siblings. But as young adults, those carefree days are gone. Muku finds herself saddled with her family’s difficulties, living as a young caretaker for her elderly grandfather. But a chance meeting with Yuto could change everything—if she’s brave enough to make it happen. With Yuto’s help, Muku slowly begins breaking free of the guilt her family saddles her with. And as the first volume closes, she makes a decision that could turn her into a villain in her loved ones’ eyes.

Snow Angel may open like a typical shoujo manga, but it quickly changes tone. Muku’s situation is one that many young people unfortunately find themselves in. Forced to comply or be vilified by her family, she’s put her life on hold. Volume 1 alone is an emotional, powerful read that perfectly encapsulates the struggles of family emotional abuse.

Thank you @NetGalley and @VIZMedia for the ARC. Manga has become a style of writing that I love. This story was so so sweet of lost friendship and found family. The illustrations are so well done. Looking forward to Vol.2.

It's been pretty wonderful to see Viz pick up more josei titles, and Haruka Chizu's Snow Angel really hit me in the feels. Muku is an overworked, under appreciated caregiver for her grandfather suffering from dementia, manipulated and guilt tripped by her mother and grandmother. After meeting a kind stranger on the train, she's surprised when he shows up on her doorstep, her former childhood friend Yuta! Hearing her arguing with her family, he intervenes, and she moves in with him and his brother, starting a new life for herself.

This does a great job with this highly emotional issue; where a lot of comics would have Muku move on with her life immediately, Chizu shows how much of a grip her family has placed on her, having her struck with guilt, and heavy internal markers of shame, especially when her overbearing family comes to demand she return. It sets the stakes clearly, the battle for herself starts with cutting off her family, who treat her with an almost cult-like level of disdain and emotional manipulation.

This was so much more than I was expecting! I was thinking this was just going to be a second chance romance but it's so much more. The way this manga deals with family trauma and passive abuse it amazing. The fmc and the way she struggles with herself and anxiety because of the trauma her family gives her was so well done. Also the mmc and how he not only talks WITH her and not at her but also how its so clear how much he cares for her. I wasn't expecting this to be deep and have me tears but I was absolutely sobbing because I related so much to the main character. I don't know how many volumes this will have but I want to read everything!

Set in a snowy village, Snow Angel follows our main character Muku as she deals with the stress of job hunting on top of the intense pressure of being a young caretaker for her ailing grandfather in a demanding household of her mom, sister and grandmother. Snow Angel is a refreshing series that deals with the unusual topic of being a young caretaker, and all that it entails. Families are complicated things. Her childhood friends help her move out and realize that it is ok for her to feel overwhelmed in her family situation. This is a good title that I would definitely recommend.

Wow! Even though I had read the description of this before starting, I was blown away by how deep and touching this manga was. Our main character, Muku, has given up so much of her life to be a young caretaker to her grandparents after they raised her during her childhood. As someone who also was a young caretaker to a grandparent, I found the main character's complicated emotions and difficulty processing them to be extremely relatable, I think this was extremely well-written. While this plot is very sad, I love that the main character is taking agency of her life, and trying to find a way to support her younger sister in the process. I'm also curious to see the development of the returning childhood friends, as there seems to be a romance that can bloom between the two. This was a delight!

I loved this so much. It isn't that I didn't expect to love it the way that I did; I just didn't expect to connect with it—with Muku—the way that I did. The art is so lovely, and the story is evocative. The depiction of Muku's internal turmoil was perfectly shown, and I can't wait to learn more about Yuto and what he's been through the past several years. I'm so excited to read the next volume. I don't always buy published editions of the ARCs I read and review, but I want to own this series.

"Snow Angel" follows Muku, a young adult trapped as a caregiver for her family when her childhood friend, Yuto, revisits her after a decade. Inspired by his words, she leaves her family and seeks a lifestyle where she can live for herself instead of others. As someone who also felt lost from job-hunting for a while, I liked this series so far and need the next volume released so I can keep supporting the characters and their aspirations.