REVIEW: ‘Firefly Wedding, Vol. 1’ Brings Back Toxic Shojo in 2025

Words and Art: Oreco Tachibana  Publisher: Viz (Imprint: Shojo Beat) Translation: Andria McKnight Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Finn Havens Design: Paul Padurriuan  Editor: Karla Clark Age Rating:  Teen Plus When Shojo Beat’s license announcement of Firefly Wedding hit Twitter (X), the Shojo fandom rejoiced! The toxic Shojo/Shojosei girlies did a praise dance because we were all receiving a new love story with all the toxicity and twists but in a historical setting.  The mangaka, Oreco Tachibana, got her start as an artist back in  2016 when she began posting her acrylic paintings of landscapes on Twitter. While taking care of her children, she developed a following by self-publishing manga projects and illustrations online via Pixiv. Before long, she caught the attention of several professionals in the manga world and published her debut one-shot Shunin-sama to Shinjin-kun (Supervisor and Newcomer) in 2017. The following year, she launched Promise Cinderella, her first serialization. Her follow-up project, Firefly Wedding, began serialization in 2023. Shojo fans continue to talk about the Shojo (and Josei) drought when it comes to manga and anime adaptations. Shojo Beat snapping up Firefly Wedding so soon for a North American (English) release continues to make me feel like the imprint is doing the most–in a good way, of course.

In this first volume of Firefly Wedding, we are first introduced to Satoko: a young woman who has it all. She’s a beautifu…