Hidari Yokoyama launches Ayaru’s Brush with Romance
Yokoyama’s calligraphy-club romance is running on Shonen Jump+, with MANGA Plus publishing it in English simultaneously.
Hidari Yokoyama has a new manga. Ayaru’s Brush with Romance launched on Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ service, and MANGA Plus is publishing it in English at the same time.
What's actually going on
The series, titled Ippitsu Ayaru in Japanese, debuted on Shonen Jump+ on Sunday. Because it is running on the same platform as the Japanese release, English readers can follow it through Shueisha’s MANGA Plus service without the usual months-long gap.
MANGA Plus sets out the premise: Ayaru Kagami is a second-year high school student whose first name is written with an obscure kanji that is difficult to read, so nobody has ever once used it. He then falls for Kyono Chinzei, a girl in the calligraphy club, and joins the club in the hope of getting closer to her. Ink, adolescence and romance follow.
Yokoyama is not a newcomer to the platform. Moebana launched on Shonen Jump+ in June 2022 and ran to March 2023, with Shueisha collecting it across four volumes. Tsuruko Returns the Favor (Tsuruko no Ongaeshi) followed in August 2023, and the series later went on hiatus because of the author’s health. Ayaru’s Brush with Romance is a third Shonen Jump+ launch.
No collected volume or print release has been announced yet, which is normal for a series that has only just started.
Why you should care
Simultaneous publication is the part worth understanding. When Shueisha runs a title on both Shonen Jump+ and MANGA Plus, English readers get each chapter alongside the Japanese release, usually free and on the same schedule, rather than waiting on a licensed volume months behind. For an unproven series, that is a much cheaper way to try it than committing to a book.
The other reason to pay attention is the author. Two Shonen Jump+ series in three years is a strong track record, and one of them was derailed by illness rather than by cancellation. Publishers do not hand a third launch to someone they have lost faith in, so the platform clearly rates Yokoyama’s instincts — and Tsuruko Returns the Favor earned a following for its warmth and offbeat timing.
The premise is also a good fit for Shonen Jump+ in particular. The service has become the place where the publisher tests romantic comedy that would struggle in a weekly magazine, and a calligraphy-club romance with a name-based hook is exactly the kind of quiet, character-led premise that tends to do better there than in print.
Our opinion
The kanji hook is clever in a way that should survive past the first chapter. A protagonist whose name nobody can say gives the series a built-in reason for him to be overlooked, and the calligraphy club gives that frustration somewhere to go. It is a tidier premise than most romance debuts manage, and it earns its central metaphor — ink, effort and leaving a mark — instead of asserting it.
The caution is familiar: new Shonen Jump+ romance has a high attrition rate, and a strong first chapter is not a guaranteed run. Read it while it is free and simultaneous. If Yokoyama’s previous series is any guide, the early chapters are the best moment to decide whether to stay.
Sources: MANGA Plus.