Cinderella Closet Vol. 4

Cinderella Closet #4

by Wakana Yanai

The romantic story of a plain country girl who’s crushing on her handsome coworker…and her transformation by an unconventional and stylish “fairy godmother.”

Haruka is a “plain jane” who left the countryside to start her college life at Tokyo. She’s secretly in love with Kurotaki, a coworker at her part-time job, but she lacks the self-confidence to confess her feelings to him. Then she meets Hikaru, a glamorous but sharp-tongued fashionista who begrudingly agrees to play “fairy godmother” for Haruka. However, there’s more to Hikaru than meets the eye!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Shojo, Comics, Slice Of Life, LGBT, Contemporary

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2020

About the author

Associated Names:
柳井若菜

Name (in native language): 柳井わかな

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Hikaru is the best, but this is also the first volume where I feel invested in a Hikaru and Haruka romance, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurotaki is dating Haruka, but it definitely seems that only one of those hearts is actually beating. After an awkward encounter with Mio, things stand on a precipice, but the person who ends up jumping off it might not be who you think…

There’s something to be said for a story that knows enough to shake things up and not drag its heels forever. Sure, by the time we really get into things here, Kurotaki and Haruka have been dating for a month, but it’s enough time for some realizations.

Kurotaki talks a good game. In fact, he clearly believes it when he says he would never hurt Haruka. And, in the most important ways, that is true. Except the one way that counts - actually being in love with her.

The stalker incident with Mio winds up revealing the side of Kurotaki that even he can’t recognize, but Haruka, for all her innocence, definitely does. His interactions with the two women couldn’t be more different and it’s in that detail that his devil lies.

Rather than doing the typical beat of having Kurotaki be an eventual jerk so Hikaru can swoop to the rescue, things are all sorts of different pretty quickly and that leaves Haruka dealing with the emotional fallout and Hikaru trying to lend a hand while also ignoring the part of them noting that this is their chance.

What makes this story hum along for me is how all three characters have their own very different stories with dating and since that’s the name of the game here it causes them to interact in all sorts of different ways.

I especially appreciate that this has a much more mature look at dating when it isn’t focused on Haruka. Hikaru has said before that they’ve had experience with women and guys and we sure might be meeting the latter this volume.

Honestly, everything about our visit to Hikaru’s school is a hoot, even the precipitating incident where Haruka mangles herself in the time-honoured fashion of a break-up.

It’s a whole new side of Hikaru, but also a whole new side displayed to their classmates, as they are not wearing women’s clothing to school and it turns out to be a break from their norm, which would almost read as them trying to seem more masculine to Haruka…

There’s a lot to this volume and I love how much Haruka grows. She has some very important encounters with both Mio and Kurotaki post-break that show that she is still fundamentally nice, but she’s also learning the ways of the world. It’s subtle, but solid, development.

Despite how sheltered Haruka has felt, the other two leads (and Mio) more than make up for it and growing up can happen a lot faster than you think, as evidenced here. I love that this isn’t a college story that turns into ‘grown-up high school’.

Beyond the obvious, we are quite possibly approaching a situation where a female character is dating a bisexual character while dealing with the latter’s male ex. That it’s emerging in a fairly natural fashion is almost as great as how it’s something we rarely see in this genre.

Mind you, the male in question doesn’t seem like much of anything interesting thus far, but I feel that this has earned the benefit of the doubt by this point. This is a real tricky balancing act with Hikaru, and I am hopeful it pulls everything off with aplomb.

4 stars - still solid, although doomed to forever live in the shadow of a first volume that may have almost been too good. I’m still enjoying it, obviously, and it really does have some interesting things to say.

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg, this whole volume...stfu and look at the puppy dog eyes Haruka gives Hikaru near the end!!
(ﾟοﾟ人))
(ﾉ*0*)ﾉ
＼(◎o◎)／
To steal a line from the book, it's "totes adorbs"! I can't even. I stared at that panel for so long I swear it came to life. That's a moment. That's the moment that will change everything.

Okay, backing up, a lot happens in this volume and everyone involved handles everything like responsible and reasonable adults. That is so refreshing. It gets so tiring being stuck in Highschool Shojo with immature antics and inexperience leading to dumb hijinks. Sometimes these kids look younger than they are, but more often than not, it's very easy to see them as college students.

I could go on, but others have summed it up nicely. I want to add on something I noticed about the characters and the scenes that the mangaka is deliberately doing - blurring gender lines, and making it look as effortless as Hikaru does makeup. Just to be safe and not ruin anything...
It was heart wrenching to watch Hikaru trying to decide to wear a skirt or pants. ಥ╭╮ಥ And then all the "no, no, no, no,..." scenes. I can't say Hikaru is *trying* to be a good friend. They *are* a good friend. The best kind!

Ok, so then H&H go out shopping, both dressed as women, and other shoppers wonder if they're gay because of how lovey dovey they seem. So we get to to see them as a female couple. Later, with Haruka's haircut, we see a more gender neutral version of her. She's not quite androgynous, but it's close enough to get a glimpse of them as a male couple, and I think this is where the deliberate blurring of lines is happening.

The more "normal" content like this becomes, the more the stigma fades in society. It's not pointed out. No one makes a big deal. No one says Haruka looks like a boy. We don't see her agonizing over pants or a skirt, etc. As a straight person (tomboy), I can identify with Haruka, and as an lbtgq+ ally, I appreciate the author showing the added layers to Hikaru's decisions. Dressing for a date with someone you really like is already hard - try adding the need to pick a gender first because you have two identities even though you're one person. That sounds very black or white and I don't mean it like that, but that is how it's presented. The nuances are there enough to be filled in by the reader. Thankfully, Hikaru doesn't ask or think aloud something like, "who does Haruka want on this date?" I love that they chose based on what they wanted. I really like what the author is doing here. That's obviously coming from my perspective. I hope Hikaru's perspective rings true for others in their shoes.

[lesbianreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nvm, Haruka looks amazing with short hair so now I really do like this volume 🤗 I am way too gay for this omg

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

gosh I love this series!!! I would definitely recommend this one for best new shojo 🫶🏻

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've realized these volumes don't feel super eventful. Haruka finally puts her finger on what felt off about her relationship with Kurotaki. I'm glad this book didn't take the low hanging fruit of making Mio and Haruka feud over a guy. Instead, they're friends. Unfortunately, that's still progressive for stories.

I'm glad this volume addressed how uneven Haruka and Hikaru's friendship is. It's 99% Hikaru helping Haruka with her problems and she seems to have little knowledge of what's going on in Hikaru's life. I hope that gets remedied in the next volume.

[Dahabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

SHE CUT HER HAIR AND FELT BUTTERFLIES!! THE SHIP WILL SAIL SOON 😭 ugh how do i wait till april

[Loveleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thaaaaaank goodness the inevitable happened!

[Henry]

Hikaru and Haruka's friendship is great as always. I really love the way the makeover aspect is treated in a way that isn't superficial, and is more about becoming more confident. Haruka has grown quite a bit as a person. (you'll see what I mean later!)
Hikaru's gender-queerness makes me really happy. Especially since people are mostly very accepting. Miorin is a neat side character, I don't have a lot to say about her without spoiling anything. Speaking of side characters, we get to meet some of Hikaru's stylish friends!

As always, beautiful art and story from Wakana Yanai!

[TP · Rating 5 out of 5]

OKAY. I am absolutely loving the genderfluid folx in here. Sure they're slightly stereotypical fashionistas but the VISIBILITY is there.
"Not quite a male friend, not quite a female friend either... Uhhh Gender: Hikaru?"
Hikaru is confident until they aren't. The relatability of their realization of feelings and reaching for a bottle... also the consideration for Haruka's feelings and breakup recovery is just wonderful. And I think that even though they chose to wear a skirt, Haruka's going to fall for them anyway. Because LOVE KNOWS NO GENDER.

[Miss Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know how sometimes you hit a top tier !!! moment and you have to temporarily close your book to think about swan diving directly into a swimming pool?

(hikaru likes haruka so muuuuuuuch 😭)

4 stars

[nza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Could the mc and hikaru just get together already!!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Hikaru, the man you are. Don’t know if I could handle what he does emotionally. They are so cute together and the ending?? the ending!!

[Rachel]

Ok this ended my desire for a threesome in a very satisfactory way, excited for our main two to get together now.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like my desire to like this series is so much stronger than my actual like for this series.

[Chaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hikaru is definitely one of my favorite male love interests in a manga. He's so cute

[siren ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like where this is going!!!! haruka i am so proud of you for knowing your worth!!!!! and getting butterflies hehe :’)

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, finally done self awareness and more honesty about each characters' feelings.

[Shauna Low · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

Oh ho, this is what I'm looking for!! The Drama, though it is a bit anticlimactic to be fair.... Exciting to see Haruka start to develop feelings for Hikaru

[♡ zuly ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love when things go the way I want them to.......

[Cynfael · Rating 4 out of 5]

so well written

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

El slowburn está slowburneando, como debe ser

[elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much miorin and keisuke for my liking BOOOOO 🍅🍅🍅🍅

[ji · Rating 4 out of 5]

“gender: hikaru?” yea exactly

[angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

haruka es tan densa like GIRL BE FR

[Maz Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me he llevado algún susto, pero parece que sigue bastante bien 🙈

[T.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I think this series is getting predictable, there's a new twist. And then another twist. And then a third twist!

I like both Hiroki and Hikaru (but not her new haircut!). I don't know that I see them as a couple though. Guess we'll see if there's another new twist to all this!

[Hisgirl85 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars