Yagi and the Bookshop Goat is absolutely adorable! I loved this so much and I think everyone needs to read it! It's cute and warm and fluffy and so so sweet. Yagi has his own personal struggles and I loved how the main characters' relation evolved over the course of the novel. The story is fairy lighthearted but deeply moving at points.
I've been a fan of Fumi Furukawa for years and I'm so so so glad I got a chance to read this.
I highly recommend this if you like sweet fluffy story about earnest characters. Plus animal characteristics for an extra dose of cuteness! aaah! This was so fun

Yagi The Bookshop Goat has a weird premise, and I still don't know if I understand the idea of this world. The synopsis says carnivores and herbivores have an agreement to live amicably. However, throughout the story, Yagi expresses fear toward the carnivores. He even says he is scared of being eaten! Also, there are some jokes about herbivores being food that strike me as rather strange.
Yagi has a unique ability: he can taste the flavor of books and paper in general. I think the author was going for a funny concept, but it's a bit weird. And it's also an excuse to put Yagi in a bizarre sexual situation, as he's turned on after eating some porn magazine. I didn't enjoy how the scene played out. Yagi seems to be drunk after eating the magazine, and he's vulnerable, so all the consent seems at least dubious in that scene.
The romance is cute and lighthearted, as they discover they knew each other in the past. I think it needed more development, as it felt too fast, and the story didn't give time for the Yagi and Ookami to spend time with each other. I ended up not believing in their romance.
Overall, a cute concept that the execution was weird. A romance that didn't work for me and a wasted bookstore concept.

In the world of Yagi the Bookshop Goat, personified animals have found a way to live together: Herbivores on one side, carnivores on other and the two will rarely meet for obvious reasons. Enter Yagi, a goat who is determined to be a bookseller, but has to live and work on the carnivore side because he was fired or turned down from every book shop on the herbivore side. You see, goats eat books and no one wants a goat book seller who eats books. Sure, it can be a little stressful being around carnivores, but nothing has happened...yet...and Yagi gets to fulfill his dream (and eat a book or two). His boss, a domineering, emo wolf named Ookami, threatens him every time he eats a book, but overall, finds Yagi's talent to actually better understand a book by eating it, a useful tool. Plus, children's book sales are up so what's the loss of a book or two a week if the sales make up for it?

Thus starts this one-shot manga where Yagi is introduced by eating yet another book. The rest of the manga covers a slight history of the world, why Yagi dreamed of being a book seller (astute readers will see this a mile away), and a close call between Yagi and a carnivore author (who is thankful to him but somewhat wants to eat him). It is this close call plus coworkers testing out Yagi's ability to taste test things that sets off a chain of events that this reader did NOT expect because I missed that this is Yaoi (boys-love manga) and the publisher's description does NOT let you know this. ("Charm his way into a job?" TokyoPop, he has the job from the start so that's misleading.)

So, yes, Yagi's coworkers wonder what happens when he eats adult magazines and the result are disastrous. Yagi is overwhelmed, drunk-feeling, and useless. Ookagmi takes him to his home, writes something down, Yagi eats it (habit), and ends up horny (because at this point, he has a crush on Ookagmi and anything he writes on tastes oh so very good). Thus begins the sexual and eventual full relationship with Ookagmi and Yagi.

As far as yaoi go, this is one of the better ones I've read. There's the typical sub/dom relationship going that lines up as you expect (wolf=dom/goat=sub), but it's refreshing to see the dom partner checking in and that there is a healthy sexual relationship portrayed. Sure there's tension in "will the wolf eat him" (oh no, just thought of the Twilight line about the lion and lamb thing), but it's a part of their relationship they have to work out.

I have not read Beastars, but I suspect that readers of it might gravitate toward this. Fans of yaoi who would prefer less bullying and more romance will enjoy this one (yaoi readers, you know the kinds I'm talking about). Best suited for your adult collections.

I adored this manga and all its messages/themes! The characters are adorable and original. Yagi is a goat and everyone knows goats like to eat paper, so goats are officially banished from working around paper products in this world. The world that is created within these pages is a society divided: the carnivore side and the prey (herbivore) side. Both sides have to fight their instincts daily. But some cravings are harder to overcome than others. Yagi has a vivacious appetite for reading and the unique ability to taste a story too. I love how unique Yagi is and I love how sweet and innocent he is as well. Yagi fell in love with books at a young age and single mindedly is determined to be employed in a bookstore once he's old enough, but no one will hire a goat.... except one bookstore... on the carnivore side.
Of course, an epic he's all wrong for Yagi romance ensues... with a... gasp... carnivore. And it's adorable.
There are a few mature scenes in this novel, so I cannot use it in my middle school classroom nor would I recommend it in the HS classroom as a book to check out because of these scenes. HOWEVER, it's a wonderful story and very creative. All the characters are whimsically drawn too.

Thank you to NetGallery for the ARC
This is one of the most adorable manga I have read, it is very short, but I love the world it kind of resembles Zootopia, I would like to read more manga with this theme of herbivores and carnivores living together in the same world. Yagi and Ookami are the sweetest thing ever, they develop a very cute and soft relationship. The manga has some +18 scenes, but despite being a short manga, it didn't feel rushed. It's the definition of a "cozy read". I'd recommend it to any BL manga lover, it's pure fluff, 100% a feel-good story.

Spanish review -
Muchas gracias a NetGallery por el ARC
Este es uno de los mangas más adorables que he leído, es muy simple, me tiene un mundo que me encanta, desearía leer más mangas con esta temática de herbívoros y carnívoros conviviendo en un mismo mundo. Yagi y Ookami son de lo más dulce que hay, desarrollan una relación muy bonita. El manga tienen escenas más +18, pero a pesar de ser cortito no se sintió apresurado, estuvo bástate bien. Es un manga muy corto y bonito, para mí es la definición de un "cozy read", te lo lees en un ratito para relajar y lo disfrutas de seguro.
En general, se lo recomendaría a cualquier amante de los mangas BL, es puro fluff, una historia para sentirse bien.

Ahh I love this!! Since I just got into the boys love genre, this totally clicked with me in the best way. I am totally going to buy this book for both me and my friends!

Even in an an anthropomorphic world full of animal-human hybrids, goats love eating paper. This leaves Yagi, a goat who loves reading books as much as he loves eating them, in a conundrum. He wants to be a bookseller but no one will hire him. When a wolf bookstore owner named Ookami takes a chance on him Yagi is both delighted and troubled by his acerbic boss. Yet, between working together and a shared past, feelings may change between these two?

I felt this was fine. Very middle of the road for the genre but I can appreciate a beastman manga that doesn't give its characters two sets of ears and they all had cute designs. Note: Yagi's ability to understand books by eating them gets even weirder as the manga gets spicy (this is definitely another 18+ license from Tokyopop!)

This was super cute, I haven't read a BL manga in forever. It reminded me of Zootopia but if it was set in a cozy bookstore and was a little spicy.
4/5⭐ 3/5🌶

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC.

This is just a very cute, wholesome story about an herbivore and a carnivore learning to navigate their relationship in a world that frowns upon goats working in bookstores, given their propensity to eat all things paper.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing m with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Before I start this review I want to point out that this story is definitely for 18+ audiences because it features two pretty graphic sex scenes. There are only two, and they are not too long, but it should be noted. It wasn't marked as having explicit content on Netgalley so I was a bit surprised as I didn't expect it.

This story takes place in a universe in which all animals live in peace and harmony, but it is still divided into herbivore and carnivore zones. Our main character, Yagi, is a goat who loves books (and not only as food) and who works in a bookstore in the carnivore zone. The bookshop owner, Ookami, gave him the job right away - even though no one else would. So because of that Yagi is trying even harder to do a good job, and prove that a goat can be a bookseller.

I thought this was super cute for the most part. The pacing is pretty fast and the story progresses at lightning speed. I enjoyed the character interactions, I thought they were fun and sweet. As this is very very fast-paced, there is not much time for too much going on but I felt like the characters were solidly fleshed-out, especially for such a short story. I also enjoyed the art style - it was lovely and it really is a strong point of this manga. I really loved the idea of this world - it was super fun and I enjoyed the world-building. Something that was slightly lacking at times, were perhaps the dialogues. They did feel a bit stilted and stiff at times, but overall it wasn't too big of an issue.

All in all, this was cute and enjoyable even if it wasn't my favorite. I would recommend it if you're looking for a cute, fast read - though take into account there are two pretty graphic sex scenes. If you're okay with that and you're interested, this might be for you!

This was so adorable! I am always a sucker for the trope where there’s a more innocent, naive main character and a stoic, almost cold love interest who is absolutely smitten for them— and this one did not disappoint!

The herbivore and carnivore dynamics were a cool addition to this story. I love that we got to see bits of both worlds and that we got to see how they can intertwine. Yagi’s relationship development with Ookami was my favourite part of this manga for sure. They go from knowing each other as kids to Yagi not realizing who Ookami is until after he’s already been working for him! It was such a cute surprise!

This one does feature some adult scenes so just a little content warning for that!

This was a great, feel good, low angst manga!

4/5⭐️

I enjoyed reading this cute, funny story.
The drawing style is super cute and the setting in a bookstore, together with the fluffy atmosphere is the books strong point. It made me smile time and time again.
The story itself wasn´t something that surprised me and could have gotten worked out a little more.
Futher information about the world and the carnivores and herbivores would have been nice and the unique talent of Yagi made me a bit confused (not telling more, since that would be a spoiler).
I personally didn´t expect the E-rated content and think the book could have done fine without it.

The story is as adorable as the cover art, which I'm very happy to say matches the inside art.
Yagi-kun is a goat who loves books and dreams of being a bookseller despite goats not being allowed to even enter bookstores and libraries because they tend to eat books more than read them. He gets a chance when he's hired at a bookstore in the carnivore side of town, now he just has to keep from eating the books and making his manager, Ookami-san, mad at him. It's a very sweet story of following your dreams and working hard to get the things you want.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley, TOKYOPOP, and LOVE x LOVE for the delightful early read!

Thank you NetGalley and Tokyopop for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Yagi the Bookshop Goat. It was a fun and fluffy read with a cute premise. In a world where animals live in different zones according to their classifications as herbivores or carnivores, Yagi is a herbivore goat workign in a carnivore zone bookstore. He has a special talent for tasting what's on the pages he eats, and he has a bit of a crush on the bookstore owner, Ookami. Yagi the Bookshop Goat follows Yagi as he works to figure out his place in the carnivore zone—and his blossoming feelings for Ookami, who just might feel something toward him as well.

Fumi Furukawa's art is delicate and dynamic, and I'd love to read more from Furukawa in the future.

Manga by Fumi Furukawa
Translator: Katie Kimura
Retouching and Lettering: Vibrraant Publishing Studio
Editor: Lena Atanassova
Marketing Associate: Janae Young
Copy Editor: Tina Tseng
Quality Check: Shingo Nemoto
Proof Reader: Claudia Takizawa
Editorial Associate: Janae Young
Graphic Designer: Sol DeLeo
Editor-in-Chief & Publisher: Stu Levy

I want #goatscanbebooksellerstoo on a tshirt

Yagi the bookshop goat is a comic/manga (im seeing this being labeled as both) about a guy/goat person (Yagi, my beloved) who’s dream is to work at a bookstore, but he keeps eating all the books!

Yagi the bookshop goat is a very cute story. I also wish I could go about life eating my problems the way Yagi does. Ookami tries to fire him? Eat the paperwork.

The art in and of itself wasn’t my favorite but it grew on me the longer things went. I will say that is somehow completely escaped my notice that this is a Yaoi. So I just thought I’d mention it for anyone else who was unaware. This is the first time I’ve ever read one oop.

I loved the characters in this book. I do feel like the relationship progressed VERY quickly, too quickly even, but there was so much that had to happen in only one book, so I get it. I would have loved to see this as a series though. I also wish it was just a tad bit longer.

And here are some random notes i made as a I read, spoilers ahead-

-The “Loving something but still wanting to eat them” scene was so unexpected but GAH

-“Yagi you shouldn’t eat weird sh*t on impulse” CRACKED ME UP

-I can totally imagine the other workers at the bookshop just finding the weirdest things on paper and taking it to Yagi to see what it tastes like (we get to see this a few times in the book) and it was just, so cute.

-The scene where ookami has to take Yagi home because he ate a weird magazine reminded me of that “-aaaaa” “why are you running?? WHY ARE U RUNNING” vine

Like this:

Ookami: AAAAAA

Yagi, ripping off his shirt: why are you running? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?

-Or also

Ookami: making my way downtown, walking fast.

Yagi, ripping off his shirt:

Ookami: waLKING FASTER

Anyways 4 stars, very cute,
I also put this review on Instagram and Herd (Herd doesn’t currently allow links 💕)

First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me an e-copy of this heartwarming manga.

This manga gave me butterflies, and I could not stop giggling from start to finish. The story is light and sunshine-y even though some of the turns are kind of predictable. However, I really liked this BL manga!!! 

I really liked the idea of this cute goat who is working in a bookshop and has the ability to taste the story when he's eating the pages. There are also glimpses of how the staff in bookstores work hard and how the writers feel about their book's impact on the consumers.

All in all, the character designs are so adorable. It was a quick read, but it gave me something to smile about for the rest of my day.

I don’t know why I always go into these types of books expecting some cute, fluffy content and then getting surprised when there’s full-on sex scenes 🙈 I honestly just saw goat and books and had to request this. I didn’t realize this was a BL manga and thought it would be a fun, innocent read about a goat working in a bookstore. You get that, but you also get so much more 😂 I thought the backstory between Yagi and Ookami was so cute and I thought it was so sweet about how Yagi got the job at the bookstore. All that hair petting at the end though, omg that killed me. Head petting is one of my weaknesses and I just couldn’t handle how CUTE they were!

3.5/5 Stars

“ First things first I want to thank NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion “

This was one of the Most Entertaining Manga in a while, the whole concept just makes me giggly. Yagi was such a cute character the whole idea of a Goat that eats anything wanting to work at a bookstore was refreshing and adding his ability of tasting the books and being to tell if they were good was amazing.

Thank you so much NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

Oh my GOD! Where do I start? In a few words this is the story of a human-goat who wants to work at a bookshop, even though he is a goat and likes to eat paper, Yagi tries his best as a human-goat to do his job and not be afraid of his human-wolf boss.

Its queer, its cute and I highly recommend it. I was almost dying every page. It was too adorable and Yagi was the cutest. I loved the way their relationship was developed.

I loved this book so much I recommended it to my sister while on FaceTime with her last nigh.

5/5 stars for me.

This manga is cute and fluffy! The character designs were absolutely adorable. This is perfect fr anyone who is looking for a light-hearted read.