Despite the fact that Im an adult male I really REALLY enjoyed Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon. This was my first Yuri manga so I wasnt sure what to expect either. But for something so short it really packed a wallop. Theres just so much to unpack and frankly Im not even sure where to start. I like to try to avoid any spoilers with reviews I write but not sure if thats possible for this one. I think what Ill do is have my nonspoiler review in the first half then do my opinions/analysis in the second. Dont worry anything that I feel is remotely a spoiler Ill black out and Ill also put a warning before that section. Review SpoilerFree Although this is a romance and a Yuri one at that this is mainly a story about two adult women Hinako Uno and Asahi Sato trying to figure themselves out. Lots of internal struggle and questioning. Although I am a guy I related to a lot of what they were going through. Some of it struck too close to home Id even say. Ill go into more detail in the spoiler section. The big question our two girls try to answer is: What is love? What does it mean to love someone? After reading this I realized this is one of those things that seems simple enough but when you sit down and think about it its really not. I have a lot to say about this question and how the story tries to answer it. Unfortunately I dont think its possible to do so without spoiling anything so Ill also leave that for the spoiler section. All I will say is the execution of addressing this question is done really well and I was satisfied with it. Id be remiss if I didnt point out the obvious draw of this manga: the heavy LGBTQ+ themes. I could be wrong but from I can see there isnt a whole lot of manga that put LGBTQ+ front and center like it is here. While I myself am not a part of that community I know people who are and support them and anyone else in it. I hope we see more of this in manga and even anime and other forms of media too. I think its difficult to explain how this all fits into LGBTQ+ without spoilers so again Ill expand on this in the second section. I think the last major component I wanted to address was the art and symbolism used throughout the story. Shio Usuihttps://anilist.co/staff/130662/ShioUsui really kills it with the illustrations. Seriously its all just beautifully drawn. Depending on the mood/emotion theyre trying to convey their use of shading and empty space is sublime. 85https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1021291413838770189/1126362748788408340/image.png I really love how this panel looks. Also notice whats in the night sky there? I see what they did there. I really liked the symbolism behind the moon and doughnuts. Theres a reason theyre included in the name of the manga and the way theyre tied in is done extremely well. I also just thought their meaning was interesting and clever. Ill discuss this more in the spoilerfilled section of course. To close this off I think theres a lot to get out of this manga. And I dont think you need to necessarily be a fan of Yuri or even romance as a genre either. As I said I didnt read any Yuri stuff prior to this and I still enjoyed it a lot. Its also pretty short so its not that huge of a time commitment. I give this one a 10/10 100 100 5 etc. For me a perfect score such as this means I highly recommend it to others regardless of their individual tastes. Its just that good. My Thoughts/Analysis Spoilers 40https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1021291413838770189/1126656906975526922/SpoilerAlertPNGFile.png As I indicated above there will be spoilers in this section. Youve been warned. The big question this story tries to answer is love. What is it? What does it mean? Hinakos journey in this short story is a challenging one and her growth is just so satisfying to watch. Shes always felt this pressure to find someone because of her mothers wishes and her friends/coworkers and honestly Id even say society as a whole pushing for it. Hinako herself doesnt even know what she wants. She doesnt know when or if shell find someone to love. Hell she doesnt even understand what love is or what it means to love someone romantically. God the struggle for love... is a subject that resonates with me deeply. Im 25 and never dated so similar situation to Hinako and have constantly felt this pressure around me to find love. I want grandchildren so find a woman soon Did you know your classmate got married and has a kid? When will you start looking? Ugh... way too real. Asahis journey was quite different from Hinakos but was equally satisfying. Last but certainly not least we have Fuuka. Okay so thats all the love aspect but now the doughnuts and the moon. How do those fit into all of this? Doughnuts make an appearance in the story pretty early on with Asahi giving Hinako a doughnut. But its what she says to her that really stands out: Doughnuts are good because they have a hole you know. Just a simple sentence and admittedly a bizarre one at that. What? Just like how Hinako was puzzled by what Asahi meant I remember being a bit confused too. What could she mean by that? But then a few chapters later Hinako starts to put together her own meaning and says to herself: Im starting to think I might not be so bad after all. Even though Im full of holes pathetic and imperfect I have someone who knows that. I wouldnt be confident in this interpretation until several chapters later when Hinako says to Asahi: The shape of me or maybe the shape of my heart? Its just like a doughnut. There may be a hole right in the middle but I end up thinking Hey thats okay Because without it I wouldnt be me. Now the moon is probably the more interesting of the two just because its more show than tell. But there is one quote I really liked where Hinako uses the moon: Just like the moon waxes and wanes. The good and the bad Will surely come in turn. And thats just fine. Fuck I love this quote. I think its really clever how the different phases of the moon are used to represent how everyone has good and bad days. At least thats how I interpreted this. So good. But what I really liked is how at the end at almost every chapter we get a glimpse of the moon. And each time its at a different phase. Maybe it was coincidence and I was just reading to much into it but if it was deliberate I thought it was well done. Hopefully I highlighted all thats good about this manga. I think more people should give it a shot. If you read all of this then thank you. I really appreciate it.