It's All Your Fault Volume 1 Review
Shiho Kumai is a broke college student, with a very expensive hobby: cosplaying. She’s a hardcore otaku that loves to cosplay as her favourite characters, but feels isolated due to all her friends not being into geek culture too. That is, until she meets Yotogi, a fellow cosplayer with 200,000 followers, who makes amazing costumes, and they agree to do a joint cosplay with a free costume that fits Shiho perfectly. The problem? Yotogi loves to dress and pose in sexy ways, often breaking character, which Shiho HATES. Can the pair work it out together and create the ultimate cosplay pair?
It’s All Your Fault is an interesting read from start to finish. The synopsis, cover and large chunks of the manga sell the title as a ‘fan service’ type series, with girls dressing up in skimpy clothes, offering the perfect excuse to pose in sexy ways, and being a Yuri series on top of that as well. However, as the first volume progresses, the layers of depth and the conversations this series is trying to have become apparent and really interesting to read.
Both Shiho and Yotogi love cosplay but have very different ways to go about it. Shiho likes to look as authentic to the character as possible, from the outfit to the attitude she adopts when posing for photos. Yotogi, on the other hand, is more about looking sexy through her favourite characters; from the poses to the outfit styles, she’s all about sex appeal. The two clash throughout the book, and I like that neither character is seen as ‘correct’ and that there is not only one way to cosplay. Cosplaying is a creative endeavour and there are millions across the world who participate in it, whether it’s a full-time hobby or just now and then. There are people who make their own costumes from scratch and others who purchase them online. This also applies to how people cosplay. There are those like Shiho who love to keep as accurate to the source material as possible; others don’t, and don’t just portray a ‘sexy’ version like Yotogi but sometimes ‘alternative reality’ versions like a steampunk Sailor Moon or a Disney Princess in battle armour. This manga is about both parties who start out at completely opposite ends, then find a middle ground and discover new ways to love what they do as a result. For example: Yotogi is very much an advocate for self expression, regardless of what others think of her. Due to her love for bishojo growing up, she was branded as a ‘flirt’, and so she decided to cosplay how she wanted, and trample others’ expectations with the passion of the manga/anime she loves. It’s a really good exploration of ‘dressing up sexy’ vs actual ‘sexual attraction’ (which gets conflated a lot) and that ‘dressing up sexy’ isn’t about who is observing, but an expression of the person who’s performing. There’s also Shiho’s perspective, where she hates it when cosplayers act out of character, which is fair enough. We all have our own ‘head canons’ of what a character should and shouldn’t do, and there’s some media that we don’t mind seeing explored in a sexual way, and others not so much. It’s all up to the person and what they love/want to see in a particular medium. Through Yotogi, Shiho learns that ‘being sexy’ in a photo is not just about getting likes, attention and/or a cheap way to cosplay; the person behind the cosplay has put a lot of work into it and the ‘sexiness’ is within the cosplayer’s control.
The manga itself does seem to muddy the waters, however, when it comes to consent. The first time the pair cosplay in public, Yotogi forces Shiho into a sexy pose, with no warning or asking if Shiho would be ok with that, and therefore Shiho feels compelled to go along with it because she feels trapped in the moment. This isn’t a bug in the series; it becomes a purposeful feature when a similar situation happens again but Shiho calls out on Yotogi sexual harassment, and Yotogi reflects on it, admitting that she did force it upon her. And that’s what makes this manga a really fulfilling read: it’s a fan service story that has flawed characters, but also a clear love for cosplaying overall. It’s not talking down to cosplayers or telling off those who might find the fan service appealing.
Speaking of fan service, you may have noticed the Mature and ‘parental advisory’ warning on the cover, and yes, this is a saucy manga with the T and A shots but so far, no sex. Funnily enough, the closest we get to a sex scene is within the fictional manga that the characters are reading, so it’s a funny tease that serves the plot.
The mangaka is merrihachi and the art is really good so far; the characters are expressive and the fan service shots are very detailed and framed perfectly as well. My only criticism is that there are a few instances where scenes didn’t flow very well because the backgrounds are mostly plain and I didn’t know where they were going next. Such as the club room, where the cosplayers meet, is so minimal and boring that it’s hard to keep track of where each character is and when they’re popping in and out of the room.
Kashi Kamitoma is the translator for this book for Yen Press and it’s a fun read, with lots of helpful translation notes at the end too. Volume 2 is due out in August.
It’s All Your Fault is a promising new Yuri series, with a clear love for cosplaying and anime, with a good portion of interesting character dynamics and exploration on what other enjoys about cosplaying. If you like your Yuri fan service, but also want good character arcs to chew on, look no further. The manga recently concluded in Japan, so if you wish to dive into a new series, at least you know it’s wrapped up.
Our review copy was supplied by Yen Press.
