A Howl of the Heart 01

A Howl of the Heart #1

by Ayato Miyoshi

In a war-torn era, a man devastated by the loss of his lover and fellow soldier discovers that his beloved may still be among the living!

Uru and Tenyo are two elite soldiers with a bond that runs deeper than blood. Living together and fighting side by side has only heightened their affection for one another...but in a world ravaged by war, connections can be severed in an instant. When Uru loses his life, he leaves Tenyo behind with nothing but a final kiss goodbye.

After two years of mourning, Tenyo sneaks into the enemy general Kakezuki’s territory with the intent of finishing him off, as promised to Uru. But when he gets there, he finds that the enemy looks exactly like his dearly departed brother-in-arms! There’s no way Uru is still among the living...or is there?

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Queer, LGBT, Graphic Novels, Historical

240 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2026

Reviews

[DianaRose]

a good first volume but i’m still a little confused at the initial plot and world-building, but i’m sat for volume two after the first volume’s cliffhanger

[Vie]

holy potential🙏🙏🙏 i was like😶‍🌫️ and then👀👀 and then👁👁👁👁

[hare]

I don't read manga often, but this one instantly caught my eye due to insanely pretty art. Surprisingly, the story got me hooked as well.

[пташатко]

матір божа, ЦЕ ПРОСТО ШЕДЕВР

ще з перших сторінок я була абсолютно зачарована неймовірно гарною та майстерною мальовкою, незабаром мене вже повністю скорила атмосфера та органічність оповіді, а коли почав розгортатися сам сюжет, мені взагалі аж дух перехопило. на якомусь моменті я навіть заплакала, бо мене настільки пройняло почуттями! я просто в захваті!! це неперевершена й абсолютно дивовижна історія! усі теми, які вона зачепила, усі образи, найменші деталі та їхнє втілення мені на сто відсотків прийшлись до душі! ця манґа однозначно залітає у топ моїх наулюбленіших робіт евер...

p.s. до слова, для мене вона була жахливо reminiscent поєднанням хікару та yuwu ✋😔

p.p.s. я зовсім не читала анотацію, тому досвід вийшов that much more impactful

[Milo]

4.25 stars

[Rachael]

I liked this one.

I wasn’t sure how they were going to handle Uru/Kakezuki since you know up front what happened. But I like how his resurrection is being handled and how it leaves at lot more room for the story to develop along with what’s going on with the Azure North in the civil war.

I like how emotional Tenyo is even though he’s a battle tested soldier and assassin. He’s really in his feelings and it’s like he’s trying to feel for UruZuki as well.

There was a lot of story and it went by pretty fast. I enjoyed the author’s note and the explanation of the character names.

I’m looking forward to the next volumes. I want my boys to have a happy ending!

[Snow]

3.75 stars

All in all, it was a solid first volume.

I think that the way that the world is being built up and the politics within it is understandable to readers, especially in this first volume. It’s not too overcomplicated, but it’s giving itself space to expand in the future, and I like that. I am interested in learning more about the politics and about the existence of a lot of different things. At least I’m hoping it does.

I do like the characters in this volume, I do think that the pacing and introduction to the dynamics feel solid. I do not have as much experience reading stories that exist within the setting so I can’t give much of an opinion regarding how tropey it feels and/or if it does feel that way, is it being executed in a way that is still interesting to read. I do know the story does take inspiration. But, I was liking it regardless. This volume has a lot of scenes regarding grief and death and love. It seems like we are gonna dive into topics of sacrifice and exploitation regarding the whole situation itself in the future, and those topics being individual and on a larger scale through government.

The main relationship dynamic I was enjoying, for the most part. There are obviously scenes that are emotional, and that are full of confusion and grief and navigating that because of the situation that characters are thrown into. And we see both characters navigating their feelings of themselves and regarding the other person in the ways that it exists for them currently. There are also more comedic, lighter panels on occasion, and I did feel like they were delivered in a way that didn’t feel too disconnected from the story. Now, I won’t lie, some moments I was like…okay. Some of the physical affection and touching, I was like I don’t know how to feel about this right now. Since multiple aspects of it was impulsive and said character being confused on why they have the feeling in the first place. But there was some communication regarding it so it wasn’t completely disregarded. Despite that though, sometimes I was like…. What I hope DOESNT happen in the future of the series, please don’t let there end up being straight up nonconsensual scenes😭. Like actually, don’t do it. I do feel like some of the set up of scenes interaction wise were familiar to me sometimes, maybe tropey ish but I didn’t completely mind, you know. Sometimes it felt like we were working towards certain interactions with characters, and the way that it built up to that was just to reach it, especially the more affectionate scenes. I suppose it could feel a little choppy, but I am hoping the author will elaborate on certain things in the future, and that it doesn’t completely get forgotten and becomes disjointed.

I did like the art style for the most part. I think that the character design shines the most through. The art style isn’t my absolute favorite in the world, but I’m not disliking it or anything.

I would continue and read the next volume. I borrowed this at random just for fun to read a first volume of a new series to see how I felt and I did feel like it was solid. Not bad at all.

[Kelli]

I read this online a while ago and I wasn’t super impressed. Upon a second reading, I’m still not really into this story.

It has some interesting elements: childhood friends, coming back from the dead, palace intrigue, second chance romance with a twist, very stylized visuals, etc. All very cool things in a vacuum.

But, they don’t really come together in a totally cogent way?

Honestly, I find that the setting and content exist just to explain away why this relationship isn’t toxic—which, as a reader, I find really not compelling. I don’t appreciate stories that seem to actively be manufacturing excuses for abusive behavior.

So, I have complicated feelings about this one—that are not resolved by an official translation coming out.

But, the mangaka is clearly more of a queer romance writer than an epic, history-fiction/fantasy writer. That may explain some of the clumsy storytelling and world-building in comparison to the romance bits.

Anyway.

I’m giving it 3/5 stars because it’s not as bad as it could be? (Especially given the genre.) But, this is not a promotion either~

[Leanne]

This has potential, but the fast pace really hinders both the action and the romance plotlines. It's very clear the mangaka has been influenced by other BL wuxia stories, particularly those with themes on dramatic memory loss, mistaken identity, undead puppets... This follows in those footsteps. However, the pacing does not offer enough detail in the plot to justify the character's decisions. Instead of sacrifices made from heavy emotion and desperate yearning, Tenya's decision first to pretend to be an undead puppet and then to take it a step further and get the seal tattooed permanently on his back seem like the rash actions of a naive man. The story clearly wants these moments to be heavy with emotion. It misses the mark severely.

The art style is gorgeous, the detail of the clothing is well designed. I'd like at least 5 volumes instead of 2, though, to really chew through the yearning that the author clearly wanted to give us.

[luz]

Interesting premise & ideas but the story moved way too fast.

I liked the parallels between Tenyo & the sorcerer. Both having lost someone they loved & wanting them back. A question is asked: to what extent is one willing to sacrifice others (and perhaps oneself, even) to regain a love lost? There is also a seed planted regarding objectification & autonomy, but we'll have to see if that actually gets tackled in-depth.

My main complaint is how fast Tenyo & Kakezuki's relationship progressed. I wanted a slowburn with more confusion & questioning! They were pretty cute, which is nice, but not what I wanted from volume 1. Oh well.

[Kit]

This is so weirdly paced - concepts are brought up and then the scene moves on, thoughts are left unfinished *a lot*, and I think that we as the readers are supposed to accept the fast evolving relationship between Tenyo and Kakezuki because of past feelings - and Uru still being buried deep within there or something, but we didn't even get that much of a backstory of Tenyo and Uru together.

I don't like being made to have to assume and carry the weight of the relationship as a reader, the story itself should do that.

[Alexander]

A new favorite manga to be completely normal about, and published by SE no less!
I'm definitely loving where this is going, and recommend if you like a little bit of drama and yearning, with a dash of slow burn, angst, and [probably] second chance romances. I think fans of Trickster's Tale, LKYT, and even other historical-themed fictions might like this one.

[Becky]

What an interesting manga, I have to say out of all the paranormal stories I've read this is a new one for me. The closest I can think of is Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, but even then this is a bit of a twist compared to that story.

I want volume two so bad because I want to know what happens next so bad and how this story between them can possibly be resolved.

[whatcaityreads]

I am not a fan of the art style, the idea of the plot was interesting but it was slow and boring with not much substance. The pacing is jarring and feels like there are missing pages and it jumps and stops halfway in scenes. So confusing.

[c]

(3.5)

[Ashley]

3.5 stars

[Swathi]

Interesting premise. The idea of loving someone who doesn't remember their lives but they still love you. it's kind of beautiful but sad. The artwork is also fantastic.

[Jenny]

love is the most twisted curse of all

[-moonprismpower-]

Oh wow the art is so beautiful! And the story is very intriguing. I will be reading more!!!!!

[Lyora]

I am so invested 🥺

[Nicole]

Great art, great characters & premise so far. Definitely looking forward to continuing, and hoping it'll lean even more into the political intrigue.

[Nicole Taylor]

Surprisingly good! Looking for more volumes as we speak!

[Mee Too]

Decent art, cool storyline and i absolutely did not enjoy the writing or the dialogue. It was just kinda silly and repetitive.

Super sad execution (imo) on a promising idea.

2.9

[taytay]

i need the next volume yesterday.

[Jimena]

Nada como un buen BL de fantasía con el suficiente drama para alegrarme el día.

[The_BookAce]

4.5/5 stars

Oh yeah, gimme more please

[Kiwi Donahue]

Amazing book! Took me on a rollercoaster of emotions! One of my favorite BL mangas ever 🥹

[Ivy]

V HYPED

[Emma (littledollreads)]

I had to sit on this one for a day but I don't think I liked this one all that much. It was kind of confusing and poorly explained, I don't have a sense of the characters connection and thus wasn't super invested in the plot. I don't think I'll pick up the next volume of this particular series.

[Em]

4.5*