The Spring 2023 Manga Guide

Sunbeams in the Sky

What's It About? 

Himari Akeno can't wait to start high school! Even though she's parting ways with her twin sister, Mio, Himari's enthusiasm to start this new chapter of her life is palpable―that is, until a traumatic incident sends her home to hide in her room…Watching Himari's dreams shatter is more than Mio can bear, especially when her sister still longs for an ordinary student life. Determined to see her twin get back out into the world, Mio “catches a cold” and convinces her sister to fill in until she “recovers.” As long as the shy, introverted Himari can pull off impersonating the bubbly, energetic Mio, nothing could go wrong…right?

Sunbeams in the Sky has story and art by Monika Kaname, with English translation by Julie Goniwich, lettered and touched up by Rochelle Gancio. Yen Press released the first volume digitally and in physical format on April 18.

Content warning: This series deals with some references to assault

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

This one comes with a content warning for assault – not sexual, but no less traumatizing for Himari, the girl who goes through it. One of a set of identical twins, Himari is ready to strike out on her own without younger twin Mio, but when she refuses to date the son of a higher-up at her new school, he has her snatched and assaulted on the street. Believably unable to return to her boarding school, Himari returns home and hides away in her room, and Mio, hurting for her sister, comes up with a brilliant plan to reintroduce her twin to school: go to Mio's school as Mio.

So yeah, Mio's perhaps not the smartest of people, but it's hard to fault her earnest desire to help a twin she bawled at the thought of being separated from. The more logical approach would have been for Himari to attend school with Mio, but this is manga, and that's not going to happen, at least not in the first volume. Because how else would Himari, whose personality is distinctly different from her twin's, end up with the best friend of the boy Mio has a massive, obsessive crush on? And in some ways, Mio's plan is spot-on. Himari really does want to go back to school, she just doesn't feel safe doing so. By attending as Mio, she gets to have the school experience in a way that makes her feel safer – after all, the bad things happened to Himari, not Mio, so if she takes on her twin's identity, she's essentially wearing a mask. It's not always a comfortable mask, because even before Himari's trauma the girls were pretty different personality-wise, but we can see it helping her to confront her fears to a degree.

Naturally, Mio's classmates aren't quite as oblivious to the switch as Mio assumes they will be. Tsukiyono and Asaka, the two probably romantic interests, both seem to zero in on the differences between the twins, mostly because Mio's love for Asaka is something that she proclaims loudly and often, which Himari is in no way comfortable doing. Both boys are also present when Himari has a PTSD flashback, and we get the sense that this is what really makes them question her identity because Mio has never exhibited any discomfort with physical contact. The makings of a love triangle or two are definitely present here, because again, both boys are much more fascinated by Himari than Mio, and that could gum up the sisters' relationship. This isn't the most stunning shoujo debut, but it has some real potential now that the scene is laid, so if you're looking for a classic example of the shoujo high school story, this is very likely a safe bet.

Christopher Farris

Rating:

The ol' twin switcheroo is a tried and true trope. It goes double (as it were) when you mix in some romance to entertainingly complicate things. So while Sunbeams in the Sky isn't set to be an automatic slam dunk, it does have that constructive card in its favor. But it's what you do with your premise that sets you apart, and just in this first volume, Sunbeams in the Sky doesn't seem terribly certain of its intent for its gimmick other than simply having it around. And even then, I found myself continuously rounding back to questions of its continued narrative utility.

Just to start, Sunbeams in the Sky makes itself jump through several hoops of surprisingly heavy narrative setup in order to make its structure work. Himari's status as a survivor of assault could lay the groundwork for a story about trauma, healing, and how others help us in that. That forms the core of the sweeter element at play here, as we clock that Mio pushing her to go to school in her place is absolutely a ploy to help her sister's recovery. Even past Himari's initial freak-out at Tsukiyono, we come to understand that Mio's assessment that everyone at school is nice, and therefore a safe environment for Himari to build herself back up, is earnestly true. We witness characters like Shizuku, who hits a perfect balance of cool and quirky. And we can see a genuine bond forming between Himari and Tsukiyono, compounded by complications like Shizuku's feelings for him, and Himari's noting that it's actually "Mio" he's being nice to.

Unfortunately, considerations like that last point can turn the whole premise questionable as the reader's mind wanders through the book. After a point, we start to wonder how functional it is for Mio and Himari to keep returning to the twin-switch scheme. It feels particularly worrisome as you realize that, even if it's for the good cause of her sister, Mio is willingly tricking her friends and risking her relationships for reasons that become unnecessarily tenuous as the story goes on. Situations dramatically spiraling out of control are a staple of stories like this, yes, but they need to be founded on better Best Laid Plans than "Mio impulsively decided to trick her friends into rehabilitating her twin sister". And that's before we get into Himari's trauma-response issues just sort of disappearing after the first chapter (though a preview does indicate that they'll return in the next volume), or Monika Kaname's occasional odd issues with portraying space and distance, or going overboard on filters and screen tones filling in for backgrounds. It's possible that the premise of Sunbeams in the Sky will firm up as it goes on, but this first volume feels only fleetingly sweet with little to work with.

Jean-Karlo Lemus

Rating:

Ah, twins! Will they ever not be a source of literary chicanery? Himari and Mio both have the “mature and in-control vs human puppy” dichotomy down. The basic shtick is outlandish, but it works: Himari gets roped into Mio's schemes and passes herself off as Mio while she gets involved with the mysterious and princely Tsukiyono. It's surprising how often they can get away with this trick in the story, and they even manage to rope it into some of the ongoing plot (like when the subtle differences between Himari and Mio cause their cookies to come out differently). Even my concerns that the gimmick gets old are addressed easily, as the preview hints at Mio's boyfriend being able to tell the two sisters apart somehow. There's a lot to look forward to.

As for the content warning: the story is very discreet and subtle as far as the assault that made Himari retreat from socializing. Mio is very respectful in approaching Himari and her trauma. There's some good development from Himari in terms of her becoming reacquainted with socializing. The story otherwise doesn't dwell too much on Himari's assault, mostly focusing on how she handles her trauma and overcomes it. It's nice to see, and it leads to her making some good friends.

Sunbeams in the Sky isn't terribly deep, but it's a cute story about cute characters being happy together. There's a nice romance plot in there somewhere, too. I might be a bit careful in suggesting this book to younger readers, but I give it a recommendation.