Title: A Yuri Love Story That Begins with Getting Dumped in a Dream Vol. 1
Author: Hijiki
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 144
Genre: Yuri, Romance
Publication Date: January 13, 2026
The Story
Tsukushi has a dream where she confesses her love for her best friend Hinoka; however, Hinoka responds by just wanting to be friends. Tsukushi wakes up and is convinced that her feelings for Hinoka will go unanswered. Because of this, she tiptoes around her, nervously reacting to everything she does, but all the while, begins to experiment to see just how far she can take things before things get a little too weird.
First, it starts with wanting to hold hands, then it gets a little more… invasive… when she stays over at her house for the night. Although nothing truly comes of it, Tsukushi is well aware that she has feelings of love for her best friend. She reflects on when those feelings started, but she’s still not convinced that she can ever confess with that dream weighing heavily on her mind.
Things seem to be going okay with Tsukushi in control until her friends and classmates, Sara and Yuu, intervene. Unlike Tsukushi, they are very forward, especially Sara. She flat-out tells Tsukushi that it’s painfully obvious that they are in love with one another, and even assumes that they’re already dating! Even though Sara realizes that she was wrong to assume that, it doesn’t stop her and Yuu from formulating a plan to play Cupid! Could Tsukushi come to confess to Hinoka before Sara and Yuu intervene?
Characters
First, we have Tsukushi. She is just a ball of anxiety that loves to live in her own head. Even though she realizes that she had a dream where she was turned down, she can’t get that out of her head, and it messes with her. It causes her to look at Hinoka quite differently, and even causes her to become quite a bit weird at times. She’s one of those types who knows what she wants, but is always too scared to pull the trigger. For characters like hers, she needs to warm up to things and do things on her terms, but it’s finding that courage that will always serve as the huge hurdle to overcome.
Hinoka is the classic “quiet” character, who seems a little bit more serious, but not all that much. She has some typical girly moments, such as jumping when Tsukushi tried to hold her hand, and flat-out refusing to let Tsukushi touch her boobs during the sleepover. Of course, this is a classic setup with Hinoka, where it’s pretty obvious that she has romantic feelings for Tsukushi, but is too embarrassed to say anything.
Next, we have Sara. While we don’t get to see much of her, you can tell she’s very extroverted and has very little shame. She has no issue just blurting out her thoughts about Tsukushi and Hinoka already dating. She’s a bit pushy, but you can tell that she means well. She’s not mean or anything, but she does need to learn how to read a room or two.
Yuu is the quiet friend… at least that’s how you first perceive her, but right at the end of the volume, when they decide to try and intervene and play cupid, you realize that Yuu is just as invasive as Sara. She’s just not as loud and obnoxious about it. Also, Yuu and Sara are either clearly in love or already dating since they want to have a double date with Hinoka and Tsukushi! I guess because they are already aware of their feelings for one another, they lost sight of the fact that they are already over the hump and things are easy-going for them, versus Hinoka and Tsukushi, who have yet to make it to their side of the hump just yet.
Final Thoughts
This was fun. For 144 pages, the chapters were really short and flew by. Typically, in a manga such as this, the chapters would be seen as episodic or in 4-koma style, but that’s not the case here. It is one cohesive story told in short little bursts. The dynamic between Tsukushi and Hinoka is a bit cute, with Hinoka being much more reserved about things, but if I’m being honest, their personalities and archetypes aren’t anything new and feel a bit run-of-the-mill. The series lacks a lot of depth, but despite that, there are enough sweet moments in here to keep you hooked.
With it being such a small manga by comparison to other series, it becomes a comfortable read that you can polish off in less than thirty minutes, all while giving you a level of satisfaction that you read something good. The first volume doesn’t do much in the way of making you want to read more of it, but it’s the type of series that you can pick up the volumes as they come and enjoy them whenever you’d like. In other words, it’s good enough to keep reading, but not amazing enough to where it’s going to win any awards.
If I were to sum up my first impressions, it’s just a quick love story that you can read, smile at while reading it, and enjoy what you’ve read, but it’s not going to be something that’s going to make you beg for more. There could be some twists and turns later on to make it more interesting, but for some reason, I can see this series being a bit more straightforward than most. Not a bad thing, mind you. I still want to see how something like this plays out!
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