Happy New Year, AniList.

I say that, but I haven't actually written a review since I'm Quitting Heroing ended back in Spring of 2022 - a 2.5 year gap, which isn't exactly ideal. That said, congratulations to everyone who is here in 2025, you made it, and you should be proud of that.

With the realization that I haven't exactly written anything I feel proud of in so long, I've decided that I want to write more this year, and where better to start than here? Every year, a few friends and I give each other a bunch of manga and anime to read before year's end, and I figure that no matter what might happen otherwise, I want to review all of these at the very least. So, while I don't know whether or not I will achieve this goal, I shouldn't waste any more time trying to predict the future. Without further ado, let's talk Monster Girls.

Jingai no Yome to Icha Icha suru is an anthology comic, so rather than the usual approach, we're going to take this one step at a time. I want to take a look at a few chapters I particularly enjoyed or found interesting, but if you just want my final thoughts, my tl;dr if you would, that will be at the end. That said, let's jump into the demon's den.

"Heart-Wringing Yamanba-sensei" by Hattori Mitsuru
Before I could even start reading this chapter, I was stunlocked by the illustration which starts this anthology. I am not ashamed to say that I am weak to women of the killer variety, and this Yamanba is no exception. So, yes, my first words for this review is "she's hot" and I hope you all understand that.

The chapter itself is just a great start to the anthology in general, though, as Mitsuru's art is stunning and very quickly captivating. If I wasn't reading this as part of a challenge, I can safely say that this chapter would've kept me reading nonetheless, which is a must for comics in this format. The unnamed school nurse, so lovingly referred to as "hag", or, for the sake of this writing, Yamanba-sensei, and the, just as unnamed, student also make a strong pair to start us off. I also just find their relationship endearing, for as built up as it can be in these 15 pages. It's not everyday you get to see a maneating youkai get so flustered because she's seen as a mother figure, let alone succumbing to the want to pamper.

It's a very simple start, but it's cute all the same. I do find it slightly funny that I wound up reading this while the "we love older women" trend is still floating around though, but can you blame anyone? She's adorable.

"The Youth of Haruse, The Dullahan" by Rishin
Starting our first two-parter of this anthology, as we'll be visiting these characters again soon, Rishin's first chapter in this anthology brings us Haruse Yuuka, a, you guessed it, dullahan, and Satou, the resident demi-human otaku. It's no secret that dullahan are feared as cursed beings - symbols of bad luck and those who bring suffering and death - it's actually what this chapter starts out saying, even, so it's no surprise when the twist here is that there's a boy who isn't afraid of Yuuka and she doesn't know how to respond to it.

A lot of the charm in this chapter comes from Rishin's very simple, pencil shading, art style, and the comedy making use of what a dullahan is. We often see Yuuka's head and body working separately as it's hard for her to control her body when she's flustered (and she's always flustered), and it's quite entertaining seeing just how touchy feely her body gets as her head panics off to the side. Aside from the comedy though, this is just a really sweet story all in all. A girl who isn't used to being shown compassion, and a boy who is overly kind and comfortable around her isn't necessarily a groundbreaking plot, but it's one I enjoy.

Maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me that likes these cheesy and somewhat generic plotlines, but how could I not? Yuuka is just as much of a dork as Satou is, and it's just incredibly endearing watching her literally fight with herself while struggling with these newfound feelings. Sweet and lovingly dorky, it's a favorite of mine.
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"An Odd Pair for Life" by Amatou__
I have to imagine this is how wisps imagine a life with Mint Fantome.

"A Human, a Tiger, and a Wizard" by Takaho Tadachika
Another chapter I don't actually have much to say on, but it did stick with me for the rest of this anthology because I wasn't expecting any full frontal nudity in this. Like, I probably should've expected it, but I figured Yamanba-sensei was as ecchi as we got. Still, we love tiger girls.

Also, I really like The Wizard in question here, she's just a fun presence and she looks at me with a smug grin.

"A Life in the Shadow" by solopipB
To finish off the first volume of the anthology, we have solopipB's tale of a cyclops romance. I really like this one.

Cheney, the cyclops in question, works as a maid for whom she refers to as Durk-sama, and it's because of this Durk that we get to see Cheney in all her one-eyed glory, as she herself is embarrassed by her appearance, only given the courage to remove her veil by the one she serves (and I have to agree with Durk, she is cuter like that).

As it's the next scene, I want to say here that I really like her little.... creatures? The helper spider-like things she uses to clean, serve food, and the such. The author states that there's over 100 of them, and they seem like very good friends. I like them.

To get back on topic, this is one of the first (and only, really) chapters in this anthology where we get to see the monster girl actually portrayed as the standard image of a monster, when she saves Durk from a woman who intended to steal his inheritance. It was a very sudden and, actually quite frightening in the moment, jump to the more dark and unsettling side of a monster girl which this fluffy romance anthology doesn't look at quite too often.

I also appreciate the flashback showing why Cheney cares so much for Durk, and why she is willing to protect and serve him even through her lack of confidence in doing so. It's a touching one-shot, and definitely one of the strongest looks into the theme of the comic this anthology has to offer.

"Living with a Fox" by Amatou
Why can't I have a fluffy fox girl willing to pamper me with her tail? The world is so cruel.

My own shredded dreams aside, Living with a Fox is maybe the most well known of this anthology(?) - at the very least it's the one used as the banner on the anilist page - and I can see why. Kon herself is an adorable tease of a fox girl, and Shoutarou, her lover in this story, is an ideal lover to her. A good chunk of this chapter is Kon transforming into different forms to look older or to portray a woman that Shoutarou would find more appealing, only for all her notions to be shut down because he prefers Kon as she is - and, let's be honest, who wouldn't?

It's a very simple plot, and it's one without much happening outside of the romantic tale, but that already is more than enough to have me smiling and giggling like an idiot when Kon pouts or smiles. I want to protect that smug smile.

It does nail one thing particularly well though, and it's the portrayal of how simple men really are.

"Legend of the Ogres" by Hiyama Daisuke
This one-shot eventually led to the creation of "Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time" which is an unforgivable sin. That said, I have to give it some props.

While the one-shot more or less follows the opening plot of Peter Grill, the netorare plot is entirely removed, and instead we just focus on Peter, or as his name is here, Liam Niisan, getting seduced by Mimi and Lisa, the ogre sisters. Now I have no shame in saying that I enjoyed this one shot better because of that.

I think Mimi and Lisa are generally pretty fun characters, and it's still funny watching Liam break so damn fast, because, I mean, I would too. Instead of a story where I am constantly feeling bad about another party and therefore spiteful towards the protagonist, this one shot paints it as something far more comedic, and follows a plot that I wish the original manga just kept instead.

"The Yearning of the Forgotten Bones" by solopipB
The final chapter has solo returning with the longest chapter in the anthology - this time following an adventurer named Istria and a Homunculus girl named Aife - a name you might recognize from the start of this review. Thanks to it's length it's also the most fleshed out chapter in this comic, and the one that really got to me the most.

Aife is a dragon like homunculus who has lived alone for far longer than the lifespan of a human could account for, and she has been the target of thieves and attacks countless times in those years, leaving her scarred and cautious. Thus, when she meets Istria, who she is fooled into believing is an alchemist looking for material, she allows herself to trust him under the condition of living a married life together until he heals from his injuries.

It's a very cute and simple story about Aife wanting to experience love and a relationship, cooking for her lover, sleeping besides someone, etc. and as all of her knowledge comes from books, she's more like an overly curious child than a woman of her age. With that type of mental state though, it's no surprise that she breaks down and angers when she learns that Istria isn't who she thought he was, and mistakenly believes he too is here to steal the remnants of her mother.

It's a genuinely upsetting scene where Aife seems to be disappointed in herself for daring to trust anyone, and there's an exceptionally good panel where she's covered in shadows screaming at Istria about how she has nothing left because of her foolishness and inability. Still, we get a happy ending where Aife learns that her mom's dearest treasure was never the material objects, but Aife herself.

And one proposal later brings us to the start of this review.

Final Thoughts
There's many more chapters in this collection that I didn't mention here - some because I didn't have much to say, and others that I just couldn't coherently explain my thoughts about (I really liked the Vampire girl, but I didn't have many words about her chapters), but all in all I enjoyed this anthology. I enjoyed peeking through the curtain in to a world outside of our own, while almost feeling like a world just barely out of our reach.

Overall, I really adore these short and sweet tales of romance, as I am just the type to "aww" at anything remotely cute, but it is hard to pin my thoughts on something when it's a collection of different tales and authors like this. Still, I will be thinking about a lot of these for quite a while, and I do know one thing for certain.

I really want a cute fox girl in my life.