欠けた月とドーナッツ

KAKETA TSUKI TO DOUGHNUTS

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
4
RELEASE
May 18, 2022
CHAPTERS
20

DESCRIPTION

Uno Hinako throws herself into makeup, fashion, and falling in love, hoping that will make her seem “normal” to the other people at her job. But no matter how hard she tries, she’s a self-doubting mess inside, and her attempts at “normal” romance with men just keep failing. When she starts to think she might be alone forever, a new normal presents itself–in the form of her relationship with Sato Asahi, a level-headed woman who works at her company, which starts as respect until it becomes far more intimate.

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

CAST

Hinako Uno
Asahi Sato
Subaru Sato
Fuuka Yokoyama

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

70ny
100/100
What is love? What does it mean to love someone?
Despite the fact that I'm an adult male, I really, REALLY enjoyed Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon. This was my first Yuri manga, so I wasn't sure what to expect either. But for something so short, it really packed a wallop. There's just so much to unpack and frankly I'm not even sure where to start. I like to try to avoid any spoilers with reviews I write, but not sure if that's possible for this one. I think what I'll do is have my non-spoiler review in the first half, then do my opinions/analysis in the second. Don't worry, anything that I feel is remotely a spoiler I'll black out and I'll also put a warning before that section.

# Review (Spoiler-Free)

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 I'd even say. I'll 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, it's really not. I have a lot to say about this question and how the story tries to answer it. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to do so without spoiling anything, so I'll 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.

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the obvious draw of this manga: the heavy LGBTQ+ themes. I could be wrong, but from I can see, there isn't 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 it's difficult to explain how this all fits into LGBTQ+ without spoilers, so again, I'll 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 Usui really kills it with the illustrations. Seriously, it's all just beautifully drawn. Depending on the mood/emotion they're trying to convey, their use of shading and empty space is sublime.
#####I really love how this panel looks. Also notice what's in the night sky there? I see what they did there.
I really liked the symbolism behind the moon and doughnuts. There's a reason they're included in the name of the manga and the way they're tied in is done extremely well. I also just thought their meaning was interesting and clever. I'll discuss this more in the spoiler-filled section of course.

To close this off, I think there's a lot to get out of this manga. And I don't think you need to necessarily be a fan of Yuri (or even romance as a genre) either. As I said, I didn't read any Yuri stuff prior to this and I still enjoyed it a lot. It's also pretty short, so it's 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. It's just that good.
--- My Thoughts/Analysis (Spoilers) ---
As I indicated above, there will be spoilers in this section. You've been warned.

The big question this story tries to answer is love. What is it? What does it mean? The angle this story takes is a unique one; Hinako is asexual (or ace for short)! Okay, the doughnuts out of the box. Terrible? Yeah, that sounded better in my head I think. Anyways, yeah Hinako is ace. Now, since this is something that can only be extrapolated from Hinako's dialogue throughout the entire manga (and never stated outright), I consider this a spoiler. But this is how this has heavy LGBTQ+ themes!

Hinako's journey in this short story is a challenging one and her growth is just so satisfying to watch. She's always felt this pressure to find someone because of her mother's wishes and her friends/coworkers (and honestly I'd even say society as a whole) pushing for it. There's actually a part of the manga where coworkers talk about someone at work who they see as alone and wonder why that is (who actually happens to be Asahi, rip). And this is only because everyone seems to push for finding someone to be with. So, when they see someone alone, they immediately assume that person is doing something wrong or has some awful trait. Hinako comments on how horrible it is to do that, and I agree. Fuck that. But damn, is all this so relatable. I get it mom, you want me to be happy and have kids. But chill.

Hinako herself doesn't even know what she wants. She doesn't know when or if she'll find someone to love. Hell, she doesn't even understand what love is or what it means to love someone romantically. And as the story progresses, you see her constantly try to figure it all out. Even if this is only 20 chapters, it's a slow progression, but when she reaches that finish line, oh is it so satisfying. Eventually, Hinako realizes that she just wants someone she vibes with. Someone she'd always be happy to hang out with. Who be the first person she'd want to tell something funny to. Someone who likes her for who she is, makes her smile and helps her accept herself. Then she comes to the realization that the person who does that for her is her female coworker Asahi. Oh snap.

God, the struggle for love... is a subject that resonates with me deeply. I'm 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. But this story decides to take all this and drive a bulldozer through it. Nah, love isn't that simple. Sometimes, people want to just be close to people and not necessarily be with someone of the opposite sex (or even have sex). Or maybe, like Hinako, not even kissing or any of that other stuff. Asexuality is a spectrum and how it's shown here is just one piece of it. If you're like me and need to read up on it a bit to better understand it, there are plenty of sources online that break it down. Here's one my ace friend shared with me and that I found helpful!

Asahi's journey was quite different from Hinako's, but was equally satisfying. In her case, she simply just didn't understand romance at all. She couldn't feel romantic feelings towards anyone and wasn't sure how to either. This was something that I can kind of relate to. I never experienced love myself, nor have I ever been in a legitimate romantic relationship. So I don't think I'm in a position where I can say I know how to feel that way or if I ever have. But I do think I can at least relate to not being sure how romance works. As the story progresses though, we see Asahi start to realize she's capable of finding someone to be with if she adjusts her perspective a little. I don't think Asahi has thought of romance past the traditional ideas (man and a woman and so on). But after Fuuka (who I'll talk about next) confesses to her, she realizes that romance can be with other women too. I think that's when she realizes that she might have something going on with Hinako that she wasn't even fully aware of.

It was great seeing Asahi break out of her shell more and more. And doing stuff she wouldn't typically do, like paint her nails. Another aspect of Asahi's struggle was her younger sister, Subaru. With her parents gone and having her grandmother (who raised them after) also no longer around, she had to step up to take care of Subaru. Which is totally understandable and honestly expected. However, all Asahi has ever thought of was what was best for her sister. Never for herself. And the not understanding or caring for romance thing was totally a result of that. But after some chapters of back and forth fighting and all that, Asahi finally gets it. She can still care for her sister while also starting to do stuff for herself. Subaru is finally at the age where she can start to think for herself and be less dependent on Asahi and Asahi has finally let that reality sink in. Which lead to her realization of wanting to be with Hinako, despite still not understanding/feeling romance.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Fuuka. Oh Fuuka, you poor girl. You confessed your feelings to Asahi, someone you've known for like a decade and always had feelings for. Just to get shot down. All the while seeing her get closer and closer to some other girl she met from work. Honestly, I thought she was such a kind person given how she was after that. Despite that she still stayed in touch with Asahi and even became friends with her rival in love, Hinako. Honestly, mad respect. It's a real shame she got shafted though. I don't think I fully understood her relationship with Subaru (I assume sort of like a mother or another older sister). But some parts made me think it was more than that. Either way, I think it's kind of a letdown that we don't see her find someone and be happy like Hinako and Asahi. F for Fuuka.

Okay, so that's 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 it's 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:

I'm starting to think I might not be so bad after all.
Even though I'm full of holes
pathetic and imperfect
I have someone who knows that.

When I got to this part of the manga, it started to click for me. So the doughnut... it's a person? And the hole in the doughnut is an imperfection or flaw that person has. Alright. I don't know if that was why Asahi said what she said or what, but at this point I had a vague idea behind the symbolism of the doughnut.

I wouldn't 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?
It's just like a doughnut.
There may be a hole right in the middle, but,
I end up thinking "Hey, that's okay!"
Because without it, I wouldn't be me.

So I think my understanding of the meaning behind the doughnuts in this story was mostly correct. Here Hinako refers to her heart (in regards to love), so I think the meaning here would be a tad different? Or maybe it's about the same as what I previously thought and I'm overthinking it. Either way, I think the main takeaway is that doughnuts represent people (who like doughnuts, all have "holes" or flaws).

Oh, and this last quote here was particularly important, because it shows when Hinako finally starts to come to terms with her own flaws. Ah, character growth. You love to see it.

Now the moon is probably the more interesting of the two, just because it's 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 that's just fine.

Fuck I love this quote. I think it's really clever how the different phases of the moon are used to represent how everyone has good and bad days. At least that's 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, it's 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.

To close off, I just wanted to take a moment to discuss the ending. I've seen quite a few people mention how they didn't like it or that it was disappointing. Not sure if people weren't aware that Hinako was supposed to be ace or simply didn't care, but that's why it ended the way it did. Honestly, the ending is beautiful and if y'all wanted more than that then go watch hentai or something.

Hopefully I highlighted all that's 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.
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bloominlotus
100/100
the type of love i've always wanted
maybe i'm liking this manga a bit way too much than i expected. it's a story about self-discovery, self-acceptance, and falling in love. also meeting your soulmate. innocent adult love life. i've always dreaming of a love so innocent i just want to spend the rest of the day with the one i love by just go out together, talking about our interests and our day, holding hands, sleeping together just to keep each other warm by cuddling. typical of innocent and sweet love. the manga hits close to home.

from the moment hinako pushing herself to fits the society norm. wearing make up just to look pretty for inviting guys' attention, going on a date just because she wouldn't feel lonely, and act like she's always looking for a love in a man. just for the sake of "not being alone" she's way too relatable in so many ways. to know that she grew a lotㅡmakes me so proud of her. she went from being afraid of being lonely to telling others that it's okay to be alone and accepting herself just the way she is. she became so brave at saying no to others, doing things on her way, and accepting herself more. that time when she realized even she bought those make ups and skincares were just showing up pretty in front of others, those are still things she chose to have, and the things that gave her happiness. the moment when she realized that was so beautiful.

her change was also encouraged by the sweet words someone (now a lover) said to her. i think that's lovely.. when asahi adviced hinako to clean up her room for the starter and that's where hinako's life changed by each days. from the littlest thing managed to encouraged hinako to do other big things to change her life. even until the end she changed her life and keeps her room clean, making herself satisfied with a clean room and become kinder to herself everyday.

the moment they had lunch together for the first time.. i still remember it clearly. the whole part was wholesome it tored my heart into pieces. hinako was so stressed out by the omellete she thought she messed up because she mistaken sugar for salt but a second later, asahi came to eat together with her and happenee to prefer omellete with sugar rathen than salt so she ate hinako's omellete and complimented her for it. saying it's good just the way she likes it. i'm.... crying..... imagine stressing out by something you think you messed up but someone says they love it because it's their style...

asahi is so kind and such a nice character. she favors the life of being alone and she's pretty. with her words alone, she can manage to changed other person's life. with her words alone, she can give someone warmth and comfort. those tender touches on each others's hands.. the warm hand holding of them two together.. perfect.

this manga made me cry, i'm just all crying reading this manga.. so tender, so soft, and so pure. so many moments making me cry, like how asahi been living her life for subaru and won't ever fall in love because of that, where these two spend time together and they love every single time they spend together, when they held hands.. ?? i think they are so adorable.

i love this kind of story.. this is my kind of story.. yes i love it when the main couple being lovey dovey, i love that kind of romance too. but this kind of romance just hits different. exactly what i want to find in love. those days to spend the rest of the day with the one i love just to talk to them, holding hands tenderly and sharing lovely words, being with each other for a long time. such a dreamy adult love. this is exactly why i love yuri.. always so beautiful, so perfect. taught love in so many ways.

so thankful for this manga to exist.. we need more representation of asexual characters. def recommended. especially those who favor slow burn and innocent love.

i have so many words for this one right here but all i can say is i love this so much. no words could ever define how much i love this manga. x
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