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The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate Vol. 1
A new drama-filled yuri series about two total opposites rediscovering the meaning of love and happiness--from the creator of Days of Love at Seagull Villa, I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up, and Netsuzou Trap, also available from Seven Seas!Shigisawa Rei has accepted that her life is different from most--while her friends are settling down with families, she's devoted herself to her work as a gay woman in a world that doesn't always feel built for her dreams. But everything changes when she bumps into Goto Saya, a former coworker who once captured her heart. Petite, charming, and ever-popular, Saya seems like she's walked straight out of Rei's past fantasies--except this time, she's asking for Rei's help after a falling out with her husband.
Opening her home to Saya should have been simple, but with each passing moment, old feelings bubble to the surface, and Rei finds herself trapped between desire and restraint. Can she resist the pull of forbidden love, or will she risk everything for the woman who was always out of reach?
Love, longing, and emotional turbulence collide in this captivating girls' love series where rekindled flames burn brightest.
Opening her home to Saya should have been simple, but with each passing moment, old feelings bubble to the surface, and Rei finds herself trapped between desire and restraint. Can she resist the pull of forbidden love, or will she risk everything for the woman who was always out of reach?
Love, longing, and emotional turbulence collide in this captivating girls' love series where rekindled flames burn brightest.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 7, 2025
5 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 14, 2025
This defies expectations, but carries the burden of its author’s previous series. You’d like to judge everything on its own merits, but sometimes that just isn’t possible.
By which I mean this is by Naoko Kodama, whose previous disappointments include I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up and the high potential, poor execution that was Days of Love at Seagull Villa.
(I haven’t even been able to bring myself to read NTR, but consensus seems to be I’m not missing much there)
So even though this starts off with an interesting premise, where Rei opens up her home to a straight former co-worker in need and becomes very smitten, it’s hard not to worry about where this might go.
Which is a darn shame, because on its own this is pretty solid. I like Rei a lot and her situation is pretty unique - she’s a very successful salarywoman who constantly covers for her coworkers with kids and going on maternity leave.
While this hasn’t made her too resentful, it’s clearly stinging to her that she’ll never have the chance to get the same considerations. This story outright uses the term lesbian and this is always a huge plus for me.
Saya comes into Rei’s life and quickly begins to tempt Rei, even though the former is married. Of course, that marriage is in crisis for very vague reasons and I think the revelation there will definitely be the most likely make or break point for the series.
It’s interesting enough - Saya is clearly putting on a very brave face (is it homosexuality or infertility or…?) and Rei recognizes her as having been the office flirt, yet cannot seem to help herself.
There’s a definite sense that Rei gets a little addicted to Saya’s presence. She knows she should know better, her lesbian pal knows Rei should know better, but she can’t bring herself to do much about it.
Even when she does something to try and extricate herself from the problem, Rei is immediately wracked with guilt. It’s a problem. Especially when Saya is absolutely her type.
This really works for several reasons, not least of which because it frequently acknowledges what a bad idea all of this is. That sort of recognizance indicates a mangaka who knows what they’re doing.
Its approach to lesbianism and same-sex marriage is refreshingly direct too. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t and also has clear passion between its two leads. They’re an appealing couple.
Which is exactly what’s causing the problems between them. Saya’s already a couple, but she won’t leave and has nowhere to go. Rei can’t decide whether she wants to pursue Saya or get her out of her life.
Having Saya be almost as much of a mystery to the audience and keeping things mostly to Rei’s perspective makes a lot of sense and keeps things uncertain, which they should be.
Add in all that romantic tension and you have something that’s off to a really strong start. It has a lot to offer and two interesting leads, plus a welcome modern perspective. Now it just needs to pay it off.
3.5 stars - I really liked this, but there’s a big question of what’s going to happen, largely due to the mangaka involved, that makes it impossible to round up. Hopefully the next volume is as good as this one.
By which I mean this is by Naoko Kodama, whose previous disappointments include I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up and the high potential, poor execution that was Days of Love at Seagull Villa.
(I haven’t even been able to bring myself to read NTR, but consensus seems to be I’m not missing much there)
So even though this starts off with an interesting premise, where Rei opens up her home to a straight former co-worker in need and becomes very smitten, it’s hard not to worry about where this might go.
Which is a darn shame, because on its own this is pretty solid. I like Rei a lot and her situation is pretty unique - she’s a very successful salarywoman who constantly covers for her coworkers with kids and going on maternity leave.
While this hasn’t made her too resentful, it’s clearly stinging to her that she’ll never have the chance to get the same considerations. This story outright uses the term lesbian and this is always a huge plus for me.
Saya comes into Rei’s life and quickly begins to tempt Rei, even though the former is married. Of course, that marriage is in crisis for very vague reasons and I think the revelation there will definitely be the most likely make or break point for the series.
It’s interesting enough - Saya is clearly putting on a very brave face (is it homosexuality or infertility or…?) and Rei recognizes her as having been the office flirt, yet cannot seem to help herself.
There’s a definite sense that Rei gets a little addicted to Saya’s presence. She knows she should know better, her lesbian pal knows Rei should know better, but she can’t bring herself to do much about it.
Even when she does something to try and extricate herself from the problem, Rei is immediately wracked with guilt. It’s a problem. Especially when Saya is absolutely her type.
This really works for several reasons, not least of which because it frequently acknowledges what a bad idea all of this is. That sort of recognizance indicates a mangaka who knows what they’re doing.
Its approach to lesbianism and same-sex marriage is refreshingly direct too. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t and also has clear passion between its two leads. They’re an appealing couple.
Which is exactly what’s causing the problems between them. Saya’s already a couple, but she won’t leave and has nowhere to go. Rei can’t decide whether she wants to pursue Saya or get her out of her life.
Having Saya be almost as much of a mystery to the audience and keeping things mostly to Rei’s perspective makes a lot of sense and keeps things uncertain, which they should be.
Add in all that romantic tension and you have something that’s off to a really strong start. It has a lot to offer and two interesting leads, plus a welcome modern perspective. Now it just needs to pay it off.
3.5 stars - I really liked this, but there’s a big question of what’s going to happen, largely due to the mangaka involved, that makes it impossible to round up. Hopefully the next volume is as good as this one.
October 26, 2025
I was expecting a light hearted comedy to be honest when I picked this up but it ended up being so much more. Rei is our pov character and I absolutely love her. She has real problems that working women face everyday. As of right now Saya is just ok for me, which is why I gave it 4 stars. She’s pretty much a giant question mark but I anticipate learning more about her. This is advertised as a GL so I’m hoping these two end up together at some point. If anyone such as myself is looking for more GL to read I’d recommend this one for sure.
May 25, 2025
I think I never recovered emotionally from the train wreck that Netsuzou Trap NTR was, so whenever I see something by Kodama Naoko, I’m immediately apprehensive…
Without doubt, this was a lot better than Netsuzou Trap, but still very average… The ending felt a little rushed (perhaps it was axed?) and very deus ex machina. I would’ve loved to see this drawn out just a bit more since I feel like we were just starting to see the characters get more fleshed out, but a happy ending is a happy ending and that’s more than enough for me.
Without doubt, this was a lot better than Netsuzou Trap, but still very average… The ending felt a little rushed (perhaps it was axed?) and very deus ex machina. I would’ve loved to see this drawn out just a bit more since I feel like we were just starting to see the characters get more fleshed out, but a happy ending is a happy ending and that’s more than enough for me.
October 18, 2025
4.5
Shigisawa Rei runs into an old coworker who ends up needing a place to stay after a fight with her husband. Too bad she has a crush on her. This should be fine, right?
This was really interesting and I'm 100% invested in finding out whats going to happen. It was surprisingly more serious than I thought it would be, but I appreciate that about it. It feels like things are not what they seem with the bride. Can't wait for volume 2!
Shigisawa Rei runs into an old coworker who ends up needing a place to stay after a fight with her husband. Too bad she has a crush on her. This should be fine, right?
This was really interesting and I'm 100% invested in finding out whats going to happen. It was surprisingly more serious than I thought it would be, but I appreciate that about it. It feels like things are not what they seem with the bride. Can't wait for volume 2!
September 19, 2025
Hands-down the best of Naoko Kodama's series. I admit I have a weakness for "woman leaves husband and ends up with a wife" manga, but the way this one is also exploring infertility and the expectation that women must have children sets it apart.
October 11, 2025
I love how Naoko seems to only write two sorts of characters: Sweetheart heroines OR utterly trash human beings. In this we have both, tho the bride isn't THAT bad.
February 11, 2026
A unique yuri manga with a heavy emphasis on drama.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews