Thank you to NetGalley fot providing an eARC of this volume.
I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if the pacing just calmed down and let me enjoy the characters a bit more. I really really loved Jun for a reason that I cannot explain and I truly wish that she was the main character. From a narrative standpoint Aia is surely more interesting due to his past modelling career but the speed at which the book went on did not allow me to get attached to him at all. Regardless, Jun was absolutely wonderful and the author did a great job at showing that she was a future IT girl the moment she did that first walk. If the volume had ended with Aoi con and taken its time to get there this would have been a 5 stars.

A guy who used to be a model but wants to become a make-up artist. A girl who wants to be a model despite all the insecurities she has. An alliance between the two in order to fulfill all of their dreams.

I loved the drawings, they are really beautiful and there’s a lot of work to create each scene with a lot of details. The story is also interesting, showing the world of makeup and modeling. And the connection between the main characters is very special, I loved how it develops as the story progresses.

Also, this manga has a really nice message about following your dreams and not giving up, about not being too hard on yourself, and bringing out what makes you unique instead of hiding it.

However, some things were a bit confusing, especially the closing scenes, as well as some reactions from the characters that seemed a little exaggerated. But it was okay, it's a good start to a story that promises a lot.

A cute but easily forgettable story.
I was expecting something more but practically nothing happens and the characters are not well characterized.
It's a shame because the illustrations are gorgeous.

This was just alright.

The characters didn’t have the depth that I would like for them to have.
And while I liked all the challenges that was shown in book 1…it felt like the pacing was too fast.

In this YA manga, Aia, a model-gorgeous high school student with a talent for makeup and classmate Jun, a pretty, shy and quiet girl team up to organize a school fashion show. Throughout the story, Jun builds up her confidence while Aia continues to master and turn his love for makeup into an art form.

This is a cute story with lovable characters, you want to root for. Although it seems that the transitions “between scenes” were awkward this did not overshadow the central themes. The artwork was stunning.

Mangas and comics do have themes and Bless 1 demonstrates that confidence and pursuing one's dreams and passions is key to a happy life. Also that self-confidence especially during the teenage years can really have an impact on one's future. I liked that Bless 1 did not stick to traditional gender roles. It shows Aia, a boy doing and loving something that is normally associated with girls, makeup. This should be applauded. Some of the best makeup artists in real life are men. I would read subsequent installments of Bless.

Thank you to #NetGalley, the author Yukino Sonoyama and Kodansha Comics for a digital copy of #Bless in exchange for my honest opinion.

Found this manga refreshing and very on brand with today's society standards. It shows that you can be whatever you want to be in this world as long as you put your dedication and hard work into it. Loved reading this manga!

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The art in this manga was absolutely beautiful. However I think it really deserves a full color edition since the makeup artists and models are constantly talking about the use of color in different make up looks, but in the traditional Black, white and grey manga format some of the supposed amazing beauty of the looks are lost. The plot of the manga so far isn't really anything special, but it's still just back story and set up, so it's not a super riveting story yet. I'll definitely check out volume 2 when it comes out though.

-- 2/5 Stars -- ★★☆☆☆

Trigger Warnings for Bless 1: Failure, self-doubt

Bless 1 is the first volume of the Bless manga series by Yukino Sonoyama. In this volume we follow Aia and Jun, two first-year high school students with varying understandings of the fashion industry. Aia is a former model with a true passion for make-up and Jun is a lanky committee executive with a face and body for modeling.

The illustrations alone are stunning. I absolutely love the art style of this manga and the passion depicted through it. This all being said, Bless 1 felt like volumes one, two, three, and four shoved into a singular book. What is Aoi Con? What kind of "art" school do Jun and Aia go to? Who are these characters both main and otherwise? I had a hard time keeping track of why I should care about these characters with little-to-no knowledge on them. I thought the first book would end with Aoi Con, but then the first chapter ended with it and I was none the wiser on what it even was.

Overall, this manga is gorgeous. If you're into make-up and modeling, you may have more excitement than I did for this. That being said, the break-neck pace was too harsh for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Yukino Sonoyama, and Kodansha Comics for providing me a digital copy of this manga in exchange for my honest review.

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The manga's stunning artwork caught my attention immediately and is definitely one of its strengths. Although the story is pretty interesting, there were times when it felt a bit unrealistic and rushed. For instance, it was difficult to believe how Jun's confidence suddenly grew. If there had been more depth in the character development department, it would have helped to create a stronger emotional connection to the story.

This is a story of being put down and turned in other directions, and then finding that opportunity to follow your dreams and let the world see who you really are. Being true to yourself and find that place that makes you happy. I found that once make up was being applied to transform I had difficulty in working out which character was actually in the drawing. This was confusing but I still enjoyed the comic overall. Thank you to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for the comic ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

(Thank you to Kodansha Comics for providing me with an eARC to review.)

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters. Both the storyline and the characters' personalities pulled me in. The art was lovely, and I loved Jun's flower makeup look. I'm excited to read more of this series.

Bless by Yukino Sonoyama is a young adult manga centered around the fashion world with an inspirational tone and an amazing art style that could steal anyone's heart!

With a runway fashion show on the horizon, Aia and Jun see themselves with the responsibility of creating a look to represent their class: Jun would be the stylist, 'cause nobody else wants the job and Aia would be the model since he had modeled before. But they may have other ideas…

Aia dream is to be a makeup artist, though he gave up since nobody seemed to see his potential. On the other hand, Jun would like to model and have the spotlight people seem to take from her. Supporting each other and believing in their abilities, they start a journey into the fashion world, reclaiming the space they always yearned for themselves.

I'm totally infatuated by it! This is a fast read and devour it. It may feel a little bit choppy, yes. But I still find it inspiring and fun. Also, Yukino Sonoyama's art is crazy good. The art style is enchanting and with a solid foundation, the composition is well-thought-out, and the backgrounds are well-designed, adding life to the scenes portrayed.

The biggest issues I found were that it could feel rushed, or as I said before choppy, due to the way the plot evolves. Also, some compositions could be improved (just a couple of them).

I would love to see the evolution of this story and author, and I would recommend it because it has a lot of potential.

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 and read volume two 🙂 tea like the art style

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really like this book.
The artwork was so beautiful and the story was easy to go with. Two things that I would criticize:
1) I wanted to see a bit more in depth in how they started to show their feelings for each other, it was kind of rush in that sense.
2) Personally for me there were pages where there are a lot of text in a bubble, and it was hard for me to read.

But overall, It was cute, and as I had mentioned before the art really was a big plus for me.

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I needed to read it. The idea that it is about a makeup artist and a model, or at least people who want to become these things, was a fascinating idea to me. Plus the art is beautiful. Aia Udagawa is a recently retired model, who secretly wants to become a makeup artist. He doesn’t believe he has the talent for it. Jun Sumisaki is a class rep who wants to be a model. The two are chosen by their classmates to join the festival contest. Problem is that Aia was selected as the model and Jun as the makeup artist. They do change positions after finding out that they want each other’s position. The theme is transformation and Aia wants to highlight Jun’s freckles.

As I stated earlier, the art itself is amazing, but I also found the plot enticing as well. The story really drew me in. You have two people who have a dream; a goal they want to achieve. The two help each other in this first volume to help them achieve a step toward that goal. They work together to help push each other to go for what they want. Jun is shy, but Aia is able to pull some confidence out of her so she can walk down the runway. Jun helps Aia realize that he does have a talent for makeup. The way the two help each other is a nice thing to see. I like that they are trying to help each other instead of just using each other. There is a brief moment where they could have used some communication to understand each other better, but once they got past that, they were able to promote confidence in each other again. This is a series I am sure I will want to pick up immediately as each volume comes out.

i'm such a sucker for manga like this; gorgeous art, extremely well structured and interesting plot, and a cast of dynamic characters. honestly this was such a good set up and I'm definitely going to look for the second volume once that releases. i love the plot style - a cast of characters trying to be the best in a specific field. plus i love art and makeup definitely counts as art!

this series might fall into potential tropes in later volumes, but i hope these situations get managed in a good way. currently it's a tiny bit tropey which can be annoying for other readers. for me, though, i found it fun and managable.

* thanks to the publisher via netgalley for an arc!

At 12, I wanted to do Ice Skating. I quit before I started because I was told that I had to start at 6 for it to be "worth it". I wanted to do it because I thought it would be fun, but the people around me discouraged me from it, so I didn't even try.

Growing up, I always felt like I had to have a talent or affinity for something to get started. If I didn't have that talent, then it was useless for me put in time and effort. Later, I learned that this is called a fixed mindset. I still fall into it here and there, but I try to avoid it as best I can.

Bless follows two dreamers: Aia, who dreams of being a makeup artist, and Jun, who aspires to be a model. Though they were beaten down and discouraged from their dreams after being compared to others, they persevere and free themselves from other's expectations of them.

This book hits close to home in the way that the characters are encouraged to go outside of their comfort zone to do the thing they love and dream of. They go to the place that everyone discouraged them from approaching. The only reason provided? Their competitors are better than them and more skilled than them, so it's useless to try and it would be more fruitful to put in effort in something else. I think this mentality encourages people to compare themselves to other people, rather than themselves - which is a healthier mindset to have. There will always be someone who is more skilled than you, and someone who knows less than you. This applies to any field.

I love the character arc that Aia and Jun go through. Even a single chapter holds a huge impact with a lot of character development and relatability. It has phenomenal art, and the quality doesn't decrease at all throughout the volume. My favorite line has to be "The scariest type of people are the ones who accepted they don't have talent and fought harder because of it."

I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the sequel!

3.5 rounded up. this was a fun start to a new manga series. As someone whose high school time was dominated by handing out Beauty Pop manga to my friends from locker like a drug dealer, this one gave me such a wave of nostalgia.

That being said, this manga felt extremely rushed and the characters needed some time for us to get to know them and their motivations. The art was wonderful and very pretty and especially loved the sunflower look. I do wish that the make-up was easy to tell on the page but that might just be a failing of the black-and-white medium. If this manga had taken the time to show the background and motivations of the characters and shown Jun transforming more over time I would have rated this higher.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this manga

This was a lovely story about two people who have no confidence in themselves, but while they get to know each other they help each other gain confidence as well as see themselves in different lights. The way its shown is beautifully done seeing the grow but also how someone having confident in you can change everything because everyone deserves to reach out and achieve their dreams, dreams are passions of the soul and as the manga goes on you see how the characters glow when they are indulging in their passions shining bright to show the true them.

I look forward to reading the next volume

This is a really beautiful manga and I really enjoyed the themes of stepping into your own identity and self, instead of trying to fit into preassigned boxes. I’m intrigued to see how Aia’s makeup journey will continue and how Jun will progress in modeling spaces