The Spring 2025 Manga Guide

Tune In to the Midnight Heart

What's It About? 

At the end of a difficult day, the haughty but purehearted rich kid Arisu found his only solace in the voice of another girl his age, who hosted a livestream under the pseudonym "Apollo." Then, one day, the broadcasts stopped. Arisu has dedicated the years to finding Apollo's true identity, and he's narrowed it down to one particular high school. He transfers in as a student and figures it'll be a cinch--but then discovers it could be any of the girls in the broadcasting club! And the real Apollo isn't talking for reasons of her own! These four girls have no use for Arisu's personality, but they each harbor dreams of using their voices to build a career, and they sure could use his money... Can the blunt and blustering Arisu buy his way into the club's good graces and find the real girl attached to his dream voice?

Kodansha Comics (May 6, 2025). Rated 16+.

---

Is It Worth Reading?

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

There has been a recent trend with harem series that tried to incentivize viewers by creating an overarching mystery. Establishing a male protagonist alongside the group of girls he is inevitably going to be surrounded with for volumes on end. But now and then, we will get a glimpse into the future, showcasing that he does eventually marry, and settle down with one of them. I like this approach because it acts as a promise to the viewer that there will be an overall outcome and the story is about trying to slowly figure out who he will eventually end up with. It's a very little thing that I think does a lot for creating a stronger incentive to continue with a tired story trope.

That being said, this manga doesn't do a good job of incentivizing me to continue despite that intrigue. The idea of a young and eccentric boy trying to find a mysterious girl that left a strong impact on his life is a setting that I love. However, it feels like Midnight Heart is doing its best to go about that setup in the worst and most annoying ways possible. I barely like any of the characters in this volume because they come from a hyper annoying or hostile place. Nothing is interesting or compelling about our lead outside of the fact that he's incredibly stubborn because he has pride in a family name that genuinely doesn't have any weight within the story. I don't know anything about this guy outside of the fact that he's interested in this mysterious girl that he listened to on a radio show, and yet he tries to assert himself in every single . It just doesn't feel earned, and I don't see any reason to root for him.

His relationship with the other girls, who are all conveniently brought together and written in a way to make the mystery as engaging as possible also feels very shallow. The story will constantly beat us over the head with these little glimpses of “well, maybe it's this girl because of this reason”. Attempting to make all of the girls seem equally viable while also trying to make them all radically different in personality just doesn't work. The story feels like it's playing tug-of-war with itself by trying to fit the characters into rules that they're probably not suited for.

The overall art looks nice, especially when it tries to add these additional flourishes to supplement the overall lack of audio in the medium. Sound, singing, and voice acting are all portrayed with these nice effects and visual quirks. It's hands-down one of my favorite things about the manga, but just because it looks pretty doesn't mean it's good. I don't think I'll continue reading as much as it tries to tickle my intrigue. I don't care about the happiness of any of these characters.

---

Christopher Farris
Rating:

Harem romance is one of those genres that can feel a bit thin based just on the premise. A gaggle of girls orbiting one guy, pacing out their vying for affections, could seem like so much time killing. Still, in the successful examples, it's the characters, their personalities, and the resultant chemistry that sustain their runs. With this in mind, Tune In to the Midnight Heart anchors its main character position with one Arisu Yamabuki, and while I suspect he'll be a divisive figure, I can't bring myself to hate him. He's a loud, obnoxious dipshit who's constantly asserting his own superiority, but at least he is confident in himself and has competence to back it up. Having seen so many other series of this ilk dragged down by swirly-deserving sadsacks (lookin' at you, Rent-A-Girlfriend), I'm down for a dude who I could believe would be able to work up the courage to talk to some of these girls.

Aside from Arisu's energy levels, Midnight Heart isn't a super standout, being in its early days with the girls still coming into their personalities. The writing therein isn't doing them any other favors, largely detailing their personalities via Arisu talking at length about them from his point of view, listing off character traits in advance of them being demonstrated. It's a series centered around voices and performance, but ironically, the cast doesn't have a ton of character come through in the way they're written. Arisu does have a bit of chemistry from the start with first-appearing cover girl (and thus probable harem winner) Rikka, who succeeds by being able to handle Arisu's bullshit with the least effort. Otherwise, it's the girls tripping into gap-moe foibles or something like would-be voice actress Nene spending two chapters narrating what it's like to have Arisu act as her fake boyfriend.

Masakuni Igarashi's art in Midnight Heart seems ambitious. There are aggressively photoreferenced backgrounds, explosive reaction s, and whip-around angles. The designs of the girls seem made for base appeal on their own, as they breast-boobily around broadcasting equipment in school uniforms bizarrely designed with bare midriffs. But there's just enough inconsistency in how their designs are rendered from to that it clashes with the hyper-polished art style to create an uncanny valley effect. It pulls off one neat narrative layout trick at the end of the volume, which indicates a point where the story may shift to being told more interestingly. That might be enough of a hook for any readers who have already picked out a best girl from this series and don't mind Arisu. But otherwise Midnight Heart feels like a tough sell among the harem hoard.