REVIEW: ‘Snow Angel, Vol. 1’ Gives Us Brilliant Coming of Age of the Shojo Variety

Words and Art: Haruka Chizu Publisher: Viz (Imprint: Shojo Beat) Translation: Andria McKnight Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Rebecca Sze Design: Jimmy Presler Editor: Karla Clark Age Rating:  Teen This manga release sure did sneak up on me, I must say. Unlike Firefly Wedding which I was well familiar with, Snow Angel appeared as a new and shiny Shojo release that I knew next to nothing about.  A quick search engine search (sorry cousin Google, you ain’t it anymore) revealed that mangaka known as Haruka Chizu is newer to the game. In 2020 under the pen name “Chizunaru” she debuted with a one shot, then created a single volume of work before Snow Angel’s release–the creator’s first multi-volume work. Her twitter page mentions that her work focuses on Girls’ manga/BL manga/mixed genres and that she is a fan of happy endings in stories. Along with being a rescue dog caretaker, the mangaka devotes time to posting her artwork online via her Instagram and Pixiv pages. The other day I pulled up the Merry Manga website and saw the absolutely gorgeous front cover of Snow Angel on the homepage. Clicking on the site’s listing for it made me curious so it led to going to the publisher’s webpage for the new series where I read the mini preview– OH! I knew that I wanted to read it so here we are. Shojo Beat gives us a simple but mighty synopsis for the English language debut for Haruka Chizu’s first series: “A reunion with her childhood friend gives a depressed young caregiver the…