Title: Love Bullet Vol. 1
Author: inee
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 196
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Supernatural
Publication Date: December 9, 2025
The Story
They say that when someone dies without experiencing love, you get saved by the God of Love and reborn as a Cupid, but this is only temporary. Once you receive a target and help them fall in love, you gain Karma. With enough Karma, you can return to the living, but you will be returned to how old you were when you died on the day you receive your reward, and NOT the day you actually died. Meaning, years could pass before you’re sent back. The world can change, but that is the price you pay for the gift.
Meet Koharu, someone who handed out relationship advice to others, thus gaining her popularity at school; however, she never got to experience love for herself… that is, until one day, a girl named Aki was about to confess to her when an accident happened, sending Koharu to her fate. When she awakens, she finds herself as a cupid. But before we explore that, we arrive at a restaurant where Koharu and three other cupids, Chiyo, Kanna, and Ena, are all trying to decipher who a girl named Hina should date. Should it be her friend Daito or her other friend Aoi?
The problem is that they wish to remain friends forever, and choosing one to pair Hina up with will eventually destroy that friendship. So, the only way to settle this is for the four of them to go to war with one another, shooting each other with love bullets and grenades! Yes, when Cupids all come across the same target, a fight typically breaks out with the winner getting to decide the fate of their target!
Once that’s settled, we go into Koharu’s backstory, which ties into her very first mission as a cupid… to find a partner for the only girl who was about to confess to her before she died… Aki. This is when we properly meet Chiyo, as she has the same target. Based on what happened with the opening to the manga, we know that the only way to settle this is to fight… or is it? We discover some of the cupids’ powers, and an unconventional solution is found other than violence, but can Chiyo infiltrate the group and find a partner for Aki, and will it be a satisfying conclusion for Koharu?
Characters
The main focus of this volume was our main character, Koharu. As detailed above, she loved to give out romance advice when she was alive, which made her quite popular, but it also had the negative effect on her of not being seen as someone who could be loved. Even her friends wondered if it was her time to find someone before her time in high school ran out. Despite this, because of the person she became, she questioned whether or not something like love was right for her. That’s when Aki steeled herself and confessed her feelings… right before doom happened. Now, as a cupid, she’s in disbelief, but she accepts the role willingly. Koharu is quite the innocent character, but I wouldn’t call her depressed… more like complacent with the way her life was going. Still, her willingness to become a cupid and make others fall in love, especially with the reward of getting her life restored, was too good for her to pass up. Still, she’s mild-mannered, a bit shy and quiet, but still has a will to press forward. It’s a nice combination!
Kanna is nothing more than a mentor role for Koharu. She even notes that not all cupids are friendly, but she is willing to help her out and get her accustomed to her new, albeit temporary life. Outside of that, there is nothing much to Kanna. She’s just your typical guardian-type character.
Chiyo is the wild one. She loves to get into fights with other cupids simply for the thrill of it. It seems as if she goes after other targets for the sole purpose of fighting people. She’s witty, she’s sarcastic, and she’s the type who experiences fun in thrilling situations. Not much is known about her past yet, but I’m sure in time we will detail the other Cupids and their backgrounds. She seems to be the character that will always be a thorn in everyone’s side, but with the rich prize of a second chance at life on the line, can you truly blame her?
Final Thoughts
This was interesting. At first, I will be honest… I was put off by the fight that broke out between the cupids. It kind of gave off this zany, slapstick comedy vibe, and that’s not something I’m entirely into, but after the proverbial dust settled, and we got into Koharu’s backstory along with the Aki mission, things settled down and took themselves a bit more seriously, which was more my pace. I did like the modernization of what a cupid is, though… trading in the bow and arrow for more modern weapons like handguns and grenade launchers. It adds a fresh dynamic to it. Plus, the reward of being able to be brought back to life gives them a goal to all work towards.
I’m already predicting the ending to this series. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I can see the ending being Koharu coming back to life, and one of the cupids… perhaps Kanna… who hasn’t yet fulfilled her Karma quota, will finally grant her love, thus fulfilling her quota at the same time. It would be the poetic ending to wrap everything up, but I assume that we have a long way to go before we can confirm if that’s the ending we get. Still, the fact that I can see that ending happening after the debut volume says that there isn’t much mystery to the story, but that’s okay because it’s not that kind of story.
I see this more as Koharu’s journey to discovering what love is through being a cupid. To continue that role she had in real life, where she helped ship people… only now, she has some competition and purpose for doing so. While it wasn’t something that completely blew me away, the story premise itself was quite cute, and I think I’ll keep going with it because it’s something different, and it hooks you just enough to make you want to see how Koharu fares, and if she can fulfill her quota!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
