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ライオンハーツ
これは2匹のライオンの物語。
「好き」って気持ちからは
どうしても逃げられなかった――。
小さい頃に結婚の約束をした
幼馴染みの礼央と獅子丸。
しかし、男の子同士は"いけないこと"と教わり、
その気持ちに蓋をしたまま時は流れて、
あれから10年――。
高校生になった2人は別々の学校に通っているけど、
帰り道はいつも待ち合わせ。
ともに過ごすその時間が1日の中で一番の幸せだった。
でもそんなある日、
女子と歩く礼央を偶然見かけてしまった獅子丸。
ずっと見ないように蓋をしてきた気持ちがざわめきだして……。
「好き」って気持ちからは
どうしても逃げられなかった――。
小さい頃に結婚の約束をした
幼馴染みの礼央と獅子丸。
しかし、男の子同士は"いけないこと"と教わり、
その気持ちに蓋をしたまま時は流れて、
あれから10年――。
高校生になった2人は別々の学校に通っているけど、
帰り道はいつも待ち合わせ。
ともに過ごすその時間が1日の中で一番の幸せだった。
でもそんなある日、
女子と歩く礼央を偶然見かけてしまった獅子丸。
ずっと見ないように蓋をしてきた気持ちがざわめきだして……。
336 pages, Paperback
Published April 28, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
July 28, 2025
4.5 stars. With breathtaking art and the kind of story that is tailor-made for me, Lion Hearts reminded me of just how much I love gay childhood best friends to lovers romance in any and every form: especially manga.
March 9, 2025
Touching, realistic, and evocative—the power of words, symbols, and beautiful art style weaved into a bl masterpiece. Mita Ori did it again! (her Our Dining Table is one of my holy scriptures of boy’s love stories.)
Lion Hearts is a profound story of a decade-old love treasured and lost due to societal expectations and how enduring together can beat through the odds, internal conflicts, and discriminations.
Lion Hearts is a profound story of a decade-old love treasured and lost due to societal expectations and how enduring together can beat through the odds, internal conflicts, and discriminations.
October 19, 2025
SO ADORABLE 😭 These two were so sweet and I loved every second! Not only was this touching but it was so realistic. It touched on important subjects and was executed perfectly. This mangaka never lets me down!
September 22, 2025
The ultimate example of that tweet that’s like “gay rep be like ‘kyaaaaaah!!! i like a boy but… im a boy >////<?!?!’.” But still very sweet and a nice and pleasant plane read.
March 2, 2026
all the time i was reading this i was screaming and crying i loved it soooooo so much!!!!! last time i felt like this was when i was reading heartstopper
January 2, 2025
Mega urocza manga! Pokazuje jak być lwem i nie oddawać swojej miłości mimo przeciwności 💜
April 25, 2026
Leo and Shishi have been close friends since childhood. They even talked about getting married upon growing up, but parents told them they can't, two boys just don't do that. And so, they grew up still the closest of friends but still bottling up what lies underneath.
Childhood friends to lovers isn't a favourite trope of mine but this was one of the sweetest standalone manga I've read. Granted, it's page count comes closer to 2-3 volumes so it doesn't have the content constraints many single volumes have. I really enjoyed the symbolism in this one around the dandelions and the main character's name both meaning lion. Shishi seemed to have a lot more underlying fear than Leo but it would seem a lot of it had to do with who they grew up with. Which is not to say that Shishi's family is unkind, they were actually more prominent than Leo's and are definitely not bad people.
I thought it was nicely done how both Leo and Shishi, once the initial hurdle was over come, were very open and caring with each other. They do still face difficulties and I suspect this volume would have been less engaging had that not been the case. It was a nice balance between a wholesome read, character development and heavier topics. The art was also very cute and I enjoyed how the narrative sometimes jumped back to their childhood days.
January 19, 2026
Chinese title: 獅子之心
This has 神率 of 75.7% on Chil-Chil.
4.5 ⭐️
A pure, tender, heartwarming story about two boys growing up, quite realistic and relatable actually. Blonde curly hair 礼央 and black straight hair 獅子丸, they became each other’s lion since they were lil kids. Both broke down and cried a few times in the story and obtained strength when they are together.
The boys only progressed to hugging, kissing and holding hands so I don’t know who’s the seme/uke. In the bonus booklet (2 pages) they’ve progressed to university and decided to swap their high school uniforms and posed for photo.
They both had crush on the other person for years and would still meet up after school everyday although they went on to different high schools… 獅子丸 chose to suppress it because his mom once said boy can only marry girl, he is also afraid of the society’s perception about homosexuality so he ran away when his female classmates found out… Whereas 礼央 chose to confront it because he doesn’t want to continue growing up just as friends, he was able to enjoy dating and happiness until he got hurt, then had to disappear and move away to the countryside, attended school via distant learning…
There’s also a female classmate who is lesbian and is supportive of the boys relationship, also an ex-art teacher who is gay with a boyfriend severely sick in the hospital. I hope the world can become more LGBTQ friendly~
This has 神率 of 75.7% on Chil-Chil.
4.5 ⭐️
A pure, tender, heartwarming story about two boys growing up, quite realistic and relatable actually. Blonde curly hair 礼央 and black straight hair 獅子丸, they became each other’s lion since they were lil kids. Both broke down and cried a few times in the story and obtained strength when they are together.
The boys only progressed to hugging, kissing and holding hands so I don’t know who’s the seme/uke. In the bonus booklet (2 pages) they’ve progressed to university and decided to swap their high school uniforms and posed for photo.
They both had crush on the other person for years and would still meet up after school everyday although they went on to different high schools… 獅子丸 chose to suppress it because his mom once said boy can only marry girl, he is also afraid of the society’s perception about homosexuality so he ran away when his female classmates found out… Whereas 礼央 chose to confront it because he doesn’t want to continue growing up just as friends, he was able to enjoy dating and happiness until he got hurt, then had to disappear and move away to the countryside, attended school via distant learning…
There’s also a female classmate who is lesbian and is supportive of the boys relationship, also an ex-art teacher who is gay with a boyfriend severely sick in the hospital. I hope the world can become more LGBTQ friendly~
April 14, 2026
Not as good as Our Dining Table but still sweet! Her art hits the same. No one draws cute kids like Mita Ori!
September 4, 2025
More of a 3.5 star rating;
I really like how sweet and wholesome this story was despite the tense moments. You could tell that both characters really loved each other despite some communication issues. I also found the side/minor characters to be likable so that was pleasantly surprising.
I really like how sweet and wholesome this story was despite the tense moments. You could tell that both characters really loved each other despite some communication issues. I also found the side/minor characters to be likable so that was pleasantly surprising.
May 19, 2026
This is so beautifully written and realistic. This tugged at my heartstrings so many times and I even cried. It tackles internalized homophobia and it shows the characters dealing with their own doubts and emotions. I found it very realistic in the way that the world around us is so judgmental and we often let the opinions of complete strangers dictate our decisions and emotions.
I loved this so so much. It’s truly one of the best manga I’ve read in a while. I found my heart dropping and I felt myself reading faster and faster because I needed the conflict to be over and for them to be happy. I was even worried they may not get that happy ending. The relief I felt at the end took a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t realize had been there since the conflict. And there are allies in here that I think fit the story perfectly. The couple at the end was so sweet and I think they were a great addition to the conclusion.
I absolutely recommend this and I’ll be back to read it again at a later time.
I loved this so so much. It’s truly one of the best manga I’ve read in a while. I found my heart dropping and I felt myself reading faster and faster because I needed the conflict to be over and for them to be happy. I was even worried they may not get that happy ending. The relief I felt at the end took a weight off my shoulders that I didn’t realize had been there since the conflict. And there are allies in here that I think fit the story perfectly. The couple at the end was so sweet and I think they were a great addition to the conclusion.
I absolutely recommend this and I’ll be back to read it again at a later time.
July 27, 2025
I remember reading a partially translated version of this manga years ago and absolutely loving it. I was so happy when I saw that Seven Seas did an official translation so I could finally finish this story. I thought this was a very cute story and I liked the artwork. A large part of the story focuses on Shi-chan's internalized homophobia. I thought this was overall done well, but I wish the story would have gone a little deeper with it and had him confront more of these issues. However, the story was more about Shi-chan learning to trust and rely on Leo rather than him actually overcoming his fears.
May 4, 2026
„Lion Heart” Ori Mity to bardzo delikatna i klimatyczna historia. Lekka, wzruszająca, z pięknymi ilustracjami i przyjemnym posmakiem po lekturze. Czyta się szybko, ale zostawia ciepłe emocje. Zabrakło mi trochę większej głębi i rozbudowania fabuły, dlatego nie 5, ale ogólnie to bardzo dobra książka
August 25, 2025
Mita Ori writes such beautiful stories…
September 23, 2025
Mita Ori never disappoints! So sweet! So cute!
October 24, 2025
ôi truyện chua chua ngọt ngọt như mối tình đầu đúng nghĩa luôn, cảm giác như được đọc lại Rift phiên bản trong sáng ấy🥹
November 3, 2025
Very sweet.
November 8, 2025
Adorável. E as notas da autora apenas contribui para deixar tudo mais doce.
December 31, 2025
This was just so wholesome!
Read
October 4, 2025A sharp turn from what I've been reading—needed something cute and nice, which this one-shot certainly provides. But, no surprise, this queer romance is overflowing with trope after unending trope, with a corny-as-hell conceit. Very lame. But cute boys. Still almost cried. (almost)
December 31, 2025
*Original Review 11/5/2020*
This author knows how to write the freaking cutest BL. I can't seem to find a chapter 6 anywhere so I'm marking it as complete for now, but I hope I can finish it soon. It was just about to get into the drama!
*Reread and actually finished 7/24/25*
Honestly crazy I marked this as read after chapter 5 because that was barely the halfway point. I'm sure past me thought that chapter 6 was going to be the last one. Current me would never mark a book I didn't fully finish as complete though.
God this was so sweet and painful and I loved it so much. I was a little frustrated with how they both ran away, but running away was a huge part of the messaging of the story. So many moments almost made me cry. I wish there was more of a talk with the mom about what she said and how it deeply affected Shi-chan. I thought the moment they did have was sweet, but it would've been nice to have more. This was a comforting read and I really enjoyed it.
This author knows how to write the freaking cutest BL. I can't seem to find a chapter 6 anywhere so I'm marking it as complete for now, but I hope I can finish it soon. It was just about to get into the drama!
*Reread and actually finished 7/24/25*
Honestly crazy I marked this as read after chapter 5 because that was barely the halfway point. I'm sure past me thought that chapter 6 was going to be the last one. Current me would never mark a book I didn't fully finish as complete though.
God this was so sweet and painful and I loved it so much. I was a little frustrated with how they both ran away, but running away was a huge part of the messaging of the story. So many moments almost made me cry. I wish there was more of a talk with the mom about what she said and how it deeply affected Shi-chan. I thought the moment they did have was sweet, but it would've been nice to have more. This was a comforting read and I really enjoyed it.
October 25, 2025
This was a cute story, but unfortunately I think my expectations were a bit high - I loved their previous work, Our Dining Table, so very much that I think it would be inevitable that I would expect too much from their follow up work.
I enjoyed the art, the flow of the relationship, and a flawed main character, and
I did enjoy this story, but I was waiting for something a bit more (completely on me for that) and it ruined the read a little for me.
I enjoyed the art, the flow of the relationship, and a flawed main character, and
I did enjoy this story, but I was waiting for something a bit more (completely on me for that) and it ruined the read a little for me.
Read
March 10, 2025That's definitely not my type of books, so I was reading manga for my first and probably last time. I dont wanna rate it, cause I dont know even how. Is such a different than my books with words only. I really like the drawings, but the plot is too fast, I didnt even start to getting attached to a characters.
January 22, 2026
Ok, but meh
The vibe is slow, sweet, and innocent. The artwork was good and I didn’t spot any places where I couldn’t tell who was talking or translation errors. However, I felt like the story was kind of “Meh”.
If there was another volume, I wouldn’t buy it. And I doubt I’ll re-read this.
The vibe is slow, sweet, and innocent. The artwork was good and I didn’t spot any places where I couldn’t tell who was talking or translation errors. However, I felt like the story was kind of “Meh”.
If there was another volume, I wouldn’t buy it. And I doubt I’ll re-read this.
September 6, 2021
¿Es en serio? ¿Me van a dejar con tanta intriga?. No puedo. Simplemente no puedo. Estaba tan linda la historia y ni que decir de los personajes. No creo que duerma tranquila después de ese final.
August 16, 2025
Internalized homophobia trope… yay…
August 1, 2025
My frustration over incorrect manga summaries continues. This one's a 4.5 star book, knocked down half a star partially just because my expectations from the summary made me pick a few more holes in the ending.
"But as the years went by, they grew up and parted ways - until ten years later, when the two reunite. Have their feelings remained or have they been apart for too long?"
That simply didn't happen. At all.
Shishimaru and Leo were childhood friends who met when Leo was a shy, lonely new boy in class. He had a big hood always pulled up over his head, shielding him from the others in his class, and spent his time drawing from his imagination instead of speaking to anyone. Shishimaru approached and befriended him, and essentially fell in love with him at first sight, when Leo finally dropped the hood and smiled.
Shishimaru told Leo he wanted to marry him, but when Shishimaru asked his mother about it, she explained that boys can't fall in love with each other or get married, so they'd simply have to stay very good friends. So they did, with Shishimaru burying and doing his best to not think about any feelings that went beyond regular friendship.
Then, for the next ten years, which I assume is the time jump the summary is talking about, they remained close, continuing to walk home together after school even when they went to separate high schools. It's at this point when their feelings start to boil over, with Leo finally confessing, and Shishimaru admitting that he'd felt the same all along.
The issue is that while Leo has a network of people (a classmate, a teacher, his mother) who know about his sexuality and are able to support him through their own experiences, Shishimaru is very much still closeted and struggling with some internalized homophobia. So while he's trying his absolute best to be brave, to be the lion Leo had relied upon since they were kids, he still gets really scared when his classmates or people around them judge him for being creepy and gross and not normal. All the things he still kind of feels are true about same-sex couples.
On the night that they're going to have their first post-confession sleepover, Shishimaru basically runs out on Leo in the middle of a video store where they'd been picking out their movies together - because Shishimaru had overheard a couple of his classmates gossiping about them, and it made him panic.
And Leo...disappears. Runs off to stay with his art teacher in the countryside and tells his mother and classmate that he doesn't want to see Shishimaru anymore.
I'm not sure how much time passes here, but it's under a year, because it's just enough time for Shishimaru to grow out his hair and start ruining his grades, but not irrevocably. Eventually, he runs into Leo's classmate (and her girlfriend), and after shouting at him for a bit, she gives him Leo's new phone number and essentially the address where he's staying. So Shishimaru borrows money from his older brother and runs off to apologize and get him back.
I kept waiting for the actual ten year time gap here, fully expecting this to be a story about youthful regrets and reuniting as adults, but it all happens in high school still. I think...it might've been more effective with more time and more real life hurdles, but that could just be a bias from the inaccurate summary shaping my expectations.
This is really more a story about beginnings, and that part is handled well. Leo and Shishimaru get to learn a little bit about what that adult future can look like, by spending time with Leo's teacher and his longterm male partner, who's ill and in the hospital. Life wasn't easy for them, but they were happy, and they would've never chosen a different path. And while it's hard to say "things will all work out," they're encouraging the next generation to be brave and to keep going, because it does get a little easier, generation by generation, as more of the world reshapes its expectations of what is "normal."
There was a lot about this story that was really lovely, and the last few chapters definitely made me emotional. That phone call between Shishimaru and his mother was really important, too, because a lot of his fear had been tied to that childhood conversation, where she'd saddled him with prejudices that she likely didn't even remember or expect him to take that seriously.
She's hard on him and expects a lot from him, but the main thing, she tells him, is that she'd always wanted him to be healthy and whole, no matter what shape that takes. I don't think she knows about Leo at this point (?), but perhaps between his grades slipping and the sudden trip to meet up with the person he loves, she might've guessed.
I think there could've been a bit more substance at the end, showing how things really worked out for them over time, but this is more just a story of how they got started, with promises to always be there for each other, no matter what the world put them through.
"But as the years went by, they grew up and parted ways - until ten years later, when the two reunite. Have their feelings remained or have they been apart for too long?"
That simply didn't happen. At all.
Shishimaru and Leo were childhood friends who met when Leo was a shy, lonely new boy in class. He had a big hood always pulled up over his head, shielding him from the others in his class, and spent his time drawing from his imagination instead of speaking to anyone. Shishimaru approached and befriended him, and essentially fell in love with him at first sight, when Leo finally dropped the hood and smiled.
Shishimaru told Leo he wanted to marry him, but when Shishimaru asked his mother about it, she explained that boys can't fall in love with each other or get married, so they'd simply have to stay very good friends. So they did, with Shishimaru burying and doing his best to not think about any feelings that went beyond regular friendship.
Then, for the next ten years, which I assume is the time jump the summary is talking about, they remained close, continuing to walk home together after school even when they went to separate high schools. It's at this point when their feelings start to boil over, with Leo finally confessing, and Shishimaru admitting that he'd felt the same all along.
The issue is that while Leo has a network of people (a classmate, a teacher, his mother) who know about his sexuality and are able to support him through their own experiences, Shishimaru is very much still closeted and struggling with some internalized homophobia. So while he's trying his absolute best to be brave, to be the lion Leo had relied upon since they were kids, he still gets really scared when his classmates or people around them judge him for being creepy and gross and not normal. All the things he still kind of feels are true about same-sex couples.
On the night that they're going to have their first post-confession sleepover, Shishimaru basically runs out on Leo in the middle of a video store where they'd been picking out their movies together - because Shishimaru had overheard a couple of his classmates gossiping about them, and it made him panic.
And Leo...disappears. Runs off to stay with his art teacher in the countryside and tells his mother and classmate that he doesn't want to see Shishimaru anymore.
I'm not sure how much time passes here, but it's under a year, because it's just enough time for Shishimaru to grow out his hair and start ruining his grades, but not irrevocably. Eventually, he runs into Leo's classmate (and her girlfriend), and after shouting at him for a bit, she gives him Leo's new phone number and essentially the address where he's staying. So Shishimaru borrows money from his older brother and runs off to apologize and get him back.
I kept waiting for the actual ten year time gap here, fully expecting this to be a story about youthful regrets and reuniting as adults, but it all happens in high school still. I think...it might've been more effective with more time and more real life hurdles, but that could just be a bias from the inaccurate summary shaping my expectations.
This is really more a story about beginnings, and that part is handled well. Leo and Shishimaru get to learn a little bit about what that adult future can look like, by spending time with Leo's teacher and his longterm male partner, who's ill and in the hospital. Life wasn't easy for them, but they were happy, and they would've never chosen a different path. And while it's hard to say "things will all work out," they're encouraging the next generation to be brave and to keep going, because it does get a little easier, generation by generation, as more of the world reshapes its expectations of what is "normal."
There was a lot about this story that was really lovely, and the last few chapters definitely made me emotional. That phone call between Shishimaru and his mother was really important, too, because a lot of his fear had been tied to that childhood conversation, where she'd saddled him with prejudices that she likely didn't even remember or expect him to take that seriously.
She's hard on him and expects a lot from him, but the main thing, she tells him, is that she'd always wanted him to be healthy and whole, no matter what shape that takes. I don't think she knows about Leo at this point (?), but perhaps between his grades slipping and the sudden trip to meet up with the person he loves, she might've guessed.
I think there could've been a bit more substance at the end, showing how things really worked out for them over time, but this is more just a story of how they got started, with promises to always be there for each other, no matter what the world put them through.
October 2, 2025
This was a very cute, lovely story about two boys who've known they love each other since they were very young, and only started to realize some people consider it "wrong" as they got older. I think this is a very different track for the BL genre that felt refreshing compared to the "sudden realization I like a boy" ones.
The art is really beautiful, and the dialogue is sparing but impactful. Mita Ori didn't try to shove in too many side plots, just gave our characters a good support network around them. Ori also planted a LOT of casual queerness throughout the story, which I think is also unfortunately missing from a lot of BL manga.
I do think the story overall is very simplistic, so even though it does have a soft twist on the usual formula it's not groundbreaking by any means. I'd love to find a BL manga that acknowledges bisexuality in any way, for one. But that's not what the purpose of this one was, so I can't knock it for that. Nevertheless, this is still very light and fluffy and I doubt I'll think much on it after a couple of months.
That doesn't mean I don't recommend it, though! I don't regret reading it by any means. Especially with the world we live in, it felt very nice and wholesome to read a queer normative story about two boys deciding to keep their childhood bravery alive instead of letting the world destroy it. It warmed my heart to read, and for that I am grateful.
The art is really beautiful, and the dialogue is sparing but impactful. Mita Ori didn't try to shove in too many side plots, just gave our characters a good support network around them. Ori also planted a LOT of casual queerness throughout the story, which I think is also unfortunately missing from a lot of BL manga.
I do think the story overall is very simplistic, so even though it does have a soft twist on the usual formula it's not groundbreaking by any means. I'd love to find a BL manga that acknowledges bisexuality in any way, for one. But that's not what the purpose of this one was, so I can't knock it for that. Nevertheless, this is still very light and fluffy and I doubt I'll think much on it after a couple of months.
That doesn't mean I don't recommend it, though! I don't regret reading it by any means. Especially with the world we live in, it felt very nice and wholesome to read a queer normative story about two boys deciding to keep their childhood bravery alive instead of letting the world destroy it. It warmed my heart to read, and for that I am grateful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews