A Sign of Affection
Volume 1
Rating: 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC given through NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own.

I really liked this manga! It's such a sweet story about a girl, Yuki, who is falling in love for the first time. I liked how Itsuomi-san wants to learn sign language so he can communicate with Yuki.
I'm looking forwards to reading more!! The graphics and text were easy to follow.

4.5 Stars
This book is a shoujo romance manga.
It’s fantastic!
The use of Japanese Sign Language is wonderful.
It’s so rare to see visually impaired characters and these are terrific.
I loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

A Sign of Affection Volume 1 is a new shoujo romance manga by creative duo suu Morishita. Shoujo fans might recognize that name from another title: Shortcake Cake, which is currently being localized and released by Viz Media.

A Sign of Affection Volume 1 was translated by Christine Dashiell while Carl Vanstiphout handled lettering. Additionally, Lys Blakeslee—a powerhouse of a letterer that all fans should keep an eye out for—will be doing some additional lettering on this series. Both Ben Applegate and William Flanagan serve as Signs of Affection’s editors. Finally, Adam Del Re handled the cover design, which is just so, so pretty.

Yuki is your typical college co-ed. She likes her friends, loves social media, and delights in catching a good sale. Yet when she has a meet with a cute fellow student, and tall boy, Itsuomi, her world starts to open up. Still, there’s a bit of a gap between them. While Itsuomi-kun is well versed in multiple languages, Japanese sign language isn’t one of them. Can these two learn to communicate on equal ground, right as their budding feelings begin to bloom?

I will admit, upfront, that I am a writer who, while living with non-visible disabilities, can see and hear in a non-disabled way. After all, the world is structured for abled bodies. That’s a horrific priviledge, but a priviledge nonetheless. As a reader who tries to read outside my own experiences, I find this is extremely common in manga. So, it’s nice to see A Sign of Affection Volume 1 pushing back against that kind of world.

Specifically, I think this manga pushes back on the norm well because suu Morishita did a lot of research. In fact, this was a deliberate decision on behalf of Nachiyan, the half of suu Morishita that serves as the artist. In fact, a Kodansha interview with the creators mentions them doing extensive research, including consulting members of Japan’s own Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

Because of the deliberate decision to center on Japanese Sign Language (JSL) and disabilities, A Sign of Affection Volume 1 transcends being another well-written shoujo. It becomes an important text that sees disabled readers and gives them a character to relate to directly.

Yuki, our female protagonist, is your everyday girl. She likes fashion, dresses super cutely, and goes to classes. Sometimes, she goes out for dinner after school or hits up a sale. True, Yuki lives with a disability. However, the story doesn’t pity her for that. Actually, when other characters try to baby her, the story clarifies that that’s not the way to treat others.

If anything, A Sign of Affection Volume 1 heavily reinforces the simple fact that everyone deserves a seat at the table. If they desire it, a romance that treats them like a person with a full life and identity. I think it’s really quite wonderful to see that in a manga. Hopefully, readers who are hard of hearing or deaf will find themselves in this series. I think we all have a right to see ourselves in the content we engage with.

In the end, I found myself engrossed in this really tender love story. It’s not just a story about a cute boy meeting a cute girl. It’s a story about love and communication. Rather than just constantly texting Yuki, Itsuomi has to become a more flexible person. For him, that means regularly meeting Yuki where she and her needs are. I find this much more valuable than Yuki changing to meet the demands of an inherently ableist world.

In fact, I think Yuki is a really lovely character. A Sign of Affection Volume 1 treats her with a lot of respect. In fact, the story treats Yuki’s as a natural part of her life. Her friends also meet her where she is. Eventually, Itsuomi starts to do the same. Ultimately, Yuki’s deafness isn’t what she needs to overcome. Rather, the ableist world we all inhabit needs to adapt to her and meet Yuki where she is. I really feel like suu Morishita realizes that world in A Sign of Affection Volume 1, especially as two (presumably) non-disabled creators.

I read A Sign of Affection Volume 1 in 2020, back when it was released as part of Kodansha’s Digital-First line. My second—perhaps third or fourth—read of it was just as delightful. I really fell in love with Yuki and Itsuomi, and want to see their love grow. And honestly? I can’t wait to cover A Sign of Affection Volume 2 for the site and myself.

Fans who want to see disabilities centered and celebrated in manga would do right by themselves to pick this volume up. Get it digitally, get it physically, or be like me and double-dip. Just get it, period, especially if you’re like me and want to see disabilities become normalized in manga.

Such a cute love story in manga!
It brings the sweet feeling in the air!
Also brings me back to the middle school time.
Enjoy reading this one.

<b>This is super cute!</b>
I loved it. The plot is amazing. the heroine, Yuki, is a deaf college student. The hero, Itsuomi, is also a college student who is travels all the time. He is a polyglot who's interested in learning languages and discovering new cultures. I swooned when he asked Yuki, <i>"show me your world."</i> Great supporting characters as well: Yuki's best friend Rin is fun-loving. By contrast, Oushi, Yuki's childhood friend is brooding with a sweet side (he learned sign language to communicate with her.) .The art style is amazing - everything about this manga is so cute and sweet. I can't wait to read the next volume!

This is so sweet it will give you cavities, yet I loved the innocence and loveliness with which Yuki's experience and feelings are explored.
It's not often one gets to enjoy a shojo manga with a heroine with different abilities, much less one so complicated to show visually as deafness, but I commend Suu Morishita for doing it so well and with such consideration. Not only do they manage to fully express the sign language, but they also do so in a way that shows how complex and nuanced it is.
The art is simple but very expressive. It works really well with the story and I appreciate how easy it is to differentiate the characters. Once again, kudos to the artists for being able to express sign language so well on the page.
I'm definitely going to be following this one.

Many happy thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the early read!

3.5 but rounding up because 3 stars have bad optics. The premise is cute and does address themes and issues the deaf community face but I've seen it done better in other manga. I'm still going to read this series. It seems to have a lighter more sweet story to tell then disability stories tended to get which is exciting.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cute shojo manga, and the art was so beautiful! This story has a university setting (which I love!), and follows a deaf girl called Yuki on her pursuit to befriend Itsuomi, the charismatic trilingual friend of a friend. I really like how the author introduces us to Japanese Sign Language and the many difficulties that deaf people face in their lives, that abled people take for granted.

I know we're meant to be rooting for the main couple, but I think I'm getting second-lead syndrome!
:(

Can someone get me the next volume pleaaase. I really want to know what happens next. I think this is my new favourite shojo. The art is amazing. I love it. Yuki is the cutest, so pure and innocent and funny. I also really like Itsuomi, though I feel like he is keeping some stuff to himself right now. They are all so pretty, I think they all became part of my crush list. I felt like the way sign language was expressed in this manga was very well done. It is really interesting and I liked the change in the text’s colour depending on through which media they talked. I definitely recommend this manga.
Also, now I want to learn Sign Language. But maybe in English. We’ll see.
5/5

This is one of the most beautiful shojo manga I've read and the art style just makes it better. I've never seen a manga/anime (besides A Silent Voice) that has a deaf protagonist in the lead and it's one of the reasons I loved this even more. Yuki is such a lovable protagonist and seems like such a sweetheart and she is the type of girl I would immediately want to be friends with. This volume had a lot of cute, adorable and romantic scenes. I'm excited to see how things progress for Yuki and Itsuomi (the lead male character)!!

I LOVE YUKI. Amazing representation in this, and the art style was stunning and heart warming. Absolutely loved it and the plot had me in tears. Wish we got to know a bit more about the side characters (some of them literally felt like they were brainstormed in about 2 seconds) but overall a fan :)

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adore this story! I love the incorporation of sign language and the way they portray the different kinds of speaking (texting, signing, speaking, etc.). I also really enjoy the way they incorporate the struggles of lip reading into the story. The first time the lip reading error happened I was really confused about why the word was SO misspelled, but when Rin wrote out what she was trying to say instead, it made much more sense. I also liked that she had one friend (Oushi) that was able to sign with her, though I get the feeling that he wants to be more than friends.

The story is very cute and I really enjoy Itsuomi and Yuki’s interactions and budding relationship. I really appreciated Itsuomi trying to accommodate Yuki by speaking more slowly to potentially make lip reading easier, makes sure she has something to write with to ease communication, and asks about different signs to be able to communicate with her. I am not part of the Deaf community, but I really love this portrayal and think the story handles things very well. I especially appreciated the note midway through the book that explained the difference between Japanese sign language and signed Japanese and which was used in this manga. I can tell that the author has put a lot of thought into this work and is trying to be respectful.

I cannot wait to read more of this series in the future and have already pre-ordered a copy at my local bookstore! I already recommended this volume to a friend that loves manga!

A Sign of Affection presents a beautiful story between Yuki, a girl who was always been deaf, and Itsuomi, who enjoys travelling and learning about other cultures. He and Yuki meet in a fortuit incident, where some tourists ask Yuki for directions, it's Itsuomi who gives them instructions in their language, english. Yuki suddenly recognizes him as member of a university club where her friend is part of too. By just reading the tittle I knew I had to read the full story. I really enjoy learning about languages and how linguistics can explain some of our daily communication, so this manga was right up at my alley

This first volume is filled with adorable moments. What I really liked about Yuki is how independent she is and straight forward (like when she is decided to get itsuomi's number). She's also a good friend and is surrounded with people who form part of her daily life as a college student.

The art style is truly gorgeous, specially when it comes to facial expressions and the way the hands represents differents signs or meanings to our protagonist. The panels are well distribuited all along the story.
At the end of this 1st volume there is a brief interview where it can be read how much effort it took to create this story, i'm glad they actually reached out to people who is deaf, such as teachers.
So i'll definetely will be waiting for volume 2. I recommend this manga for anyone who enjoys the shojo type of story with fun characters and a heart-warming story.

(Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review)

When I think of a rating for this story, it's an easy 10/10 for me.

The ethereal art style, the sweet innocence of the story and the darling main characters make this story easily one of the most enjoyable things I've read this year.

If you enjoy A Silent Voice or sweet wholesome romance in general then this is definitely for you!

I really enjoyed my read of this swoon-worthy volume! I'm so excited to continue on with this series! For more details about this particular volume, please check out this video, where I go into detail about it, and some other volumes I read recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etfX4yuShBQ

<i>arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This story was just absolutely adorable, heart-warming and exactly the type of story that I needed at this moment in time!

We follow our main character, Yuki who is deaf and Itsuomi as they meet and develop a friendship and possibly more!

The way they met was right off the bat such a cute interaction and every other instance afterwards was just as sweet. I loved the fact that Itsuomi never made Yuki feel bad for being hard of hearing, he wanted to make her feel more secure and comfortable. The fact that he wanted to learn sign language to better be able to communicate with her just melted my heart.

I loved every sweet, soft moment in this first volume and I eagerly want more. From this story and these characters! I will for sure be continuing on with this story.

Please check this out if you love a slow burn, soft and warm-hearted romance story!!

5/5 ⭐️

I'm super excited to see more books of main characters with disabilities. As soon as I was able to get my hands on this book to pre-read it, I forced it into my Baker & Taylor cart and sent it off for purchase.

A Sign of Affection stars Yuki, a college student who has been deaf since birth. Though she has an inability to hear, this does not stop her from living a perfectly normal life as she and her friend Rin fall for two males who work at a cafe. Itsuomi, Yuki's crush, both brightens her world and confuses her to no end as he moves closer into her world, but at the same time, she is unable to figure out if it's because he likes her as well or if it's because he's never met a deaf person before.

All in all, A Sign of Affection is a cute series and displays the concept of a one-sided romance (with a difficulty curve of 100) in a great way. I'm super excited to see the continuation of the series and will be purchasing the rest as they release.

A Sign of Affection is just TOO CUTE.
I really hope that there is a happy ending somewhere down the line for Yuki.
I really want Itsuomi to take Yuki travelling.
I wish there was more content in each volume. I understand that a lot of the pages had sign language on them that takes up more space but I'd be happy with a longer book to get more of the storyline across.

I heard this was recommended for fans of A Silent Voice, a manga and film I love, and so I was ready to dive into this and love this too. It’s a love story between a deaf girl and a multilingual, who try to communicate to each other with sign language, and they start to fall in love. It’s an interesting concept, and one I was intrigued in. But...

It’s boring.

The only link to A Silent Voice is the fact our main character is deaf. A Silent Voice had a complex story of bullying, redemption, and growing up. It was a unique story that had more layers to it as you read it, and not to bash it, but A Sign of Affection is just a shojo love story. It’s cute, and if you’re looking for that then this is perfect for you, but it feels a bit misleading to say it’s perfect for A Silent Voice fans when they are completely separate and different stories. Yes they deal with hearing disabilities and sign language, but that’s it.

The story falls flat, the characters are bland, and just didn’t feel any chemistry between our leads. While I appreciate the mangaka’s use and representation of sign language and their efforts into portraying it correctly (their interview at the end was interesting), it doesn’t hide the fact this story was incredibly basic. I’m not compelled to read more of this.

If you’re looking for my deaf representation then maybe I would recommend this, but if you’re going into this because you were expecting another A Silent Voice then I would warn you that it’s not what you’re going to get. It’s not a bad manga, just not what I was looking for.

This was such a cute and diverse manga to read! When selecting this manga, I honestly wondered how the artist and writer were going to depict the movements of sign language and lack of speaking, however it all turned out really well. I thought the relationship growing between the two main characters was a little confusing on the blokes end and I still am not sure whether his intensions are true, However the main girl in this manga is adorable and so sweet. She is the main reason I would continue to read this series.