Title: Tears of a Lamb
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2008
Publisher: CMX
Writer: Banri Hidaka
Artist: Banri Hidaka
Editorial Director: Jim Lee
High school romantic drama that starts light and builds into more serious issues as it goes. Kei Hasumi only wants one thing from her classmate, Kyosuke Kanzaki. She wants to get into his apartment. She's lost something, and she believes the apartment, when it was rented to a previous tenant, is where she misplaced her treasure.
It begins as something of a silly argument, with Kanzaki reluctant to show Hasumi his place because it was previously rented to his sister and still has all of her feminine decor. But as the story continues, additional layers of drama and misfortune are revealed about the two lead characters and their families.
The romantic direction is clear, but it's on slow-build, and the lead characters don't start off with much chemistry between them. The relationship between Hasumi and her older twin brothers does more for character development than here interactions with Kanzaki do.
This had a slow start, but it does do a good job of building some tension and complexity. Possible trigger warning: An eating disorder is a major plot point, and it's not always handled as sensitively as it could be.
Rating: 5.5/10
