You Talk Too Much So Just Shut It Already

Born deaf, Tsukino Hiiragi struggles with her confidence when starting a new school. Able to lip-read but having difficulty fitting in, she's taken aback when fellow student Taiyo Enomoto starts talking to her. Endlessly.

Tsukino's journey is a charming one - she's cute and earnest, trying to find ways to blend in and putting in a lot of effort. Taiyo starts off as a bit of an obnoxious try-hard (he pretends to know sign language which ultimately causes 99% of the confusion), but once the book settles into its groove, his giving nature is explored to round out his character and make him more likeable. The third puzzle piece is Sakura, who smooths over the relationships and works on actually learning sign language to make Tsukino feel more involved. 

The humorous endings are quaint if not laugh-out-loud funny, it's certainly a book that likes to end chapters on a subtle note and not all of the jokes really land, but it gets by on charm. I liked the introduction of Tsukino's sister Seina toward the end of the book as it allowed for more natural and flowing interactions, giving Tsukino a lot more agency as she's able to communicate properly and express her own will. As she's more or less blown around by events at the school, it's important she isn't a total doormat in order to actually root for her. When in a comfortable situation she can even be quite bratty (I love the shocked, flustered or angry Tsukino illustrations), which I liked a lot given her mousy demeanour around her fellow students. Her internal monologue is also quite aggressive, and that gives her a nice bit of fire - in particular, lines such as "What the hell are you on about?" is just so direct (though private) that she was funnier to me in her head than the situations around her. 

The art is pretty simple, but very expressive and perfect for a light comedy manga. The attention paid to clothing patterns and fashion, particularly out of school, is beautifully rendered and I found the chapters set in casual surroundings by far the most visually interesting.

Tsukino shows her displeasure to her sister Seina - I love the interactions between the two

For a light, breezy read this is perfect, lots of fun interactions without world-ending consequences and misunderstandings actually leading somewhere instead used purely for comedic relief. The entire cast are likeable (though it takes time with Taiyo as mentioned earlier) so I'm more than happy to pick up volume 2 to see where it goes next. Sometimes you just need a fun read, and You Talk Too Much is a perfect pick me up.