This is going to contain spoilers, as I feel like there’s not really a point in giving a detailed response as to whether it’s worth reading a single-volume manga or not. It’s so little of your time, and I highly recommend reading Shino Can’t Say Her Name.

Being a fan of Oshimi, I find Shino Can’t Say Her Name outlier among his work. Oshimi has defined himself as an author who deals with sexual psychology, particularly that related to the trials of adolescence. Yet, the perverse is blatantly absent from this high school drama.

Which isn’t to say I found it too generic. On the other hand, I found Shino’s stuttering and the way it was handled to be quite well done, and I was instantly charmed by her awkwardness. It’s portrayed as a genuine disability rather than a temporary psychological hang-up, and the story appropriately addresses the difficulties in communication and mockery from your peers you would expect from this handicap.

Hip, alternative schoolmate Kayo provides a nice foil to Shino with her outspokenness and also lack of ability to connect with her peers, in this case from her odd interests. She also runs parallel to Shino with her own speaking problem, in that she’s a musician who’s vocally tone deaf.

If there’s an aspect of this I didn’t like so much, it’s the direction of the story after Kikuchi appears. I don’t necessarily think a character’s romantic interest in another needs a lot of time to build, as we’ve all experienced crushes, for instance. I do think it needs heavier justification when it’s used as a major plot device and source of tension between Shino and her friends.

Given Shino’s loneliness and social inexperience at her age, it’s not too hard to believe she’d develop an instinctual affection for Kikuchi despite his teasing of her earlier, but it is somewhat difficult to accept she’d end her relationship with Kayo over it in such a harsh manner to avoid being caught in a love triangle. It’s also debatable whether or not she cut ties off so sharply because she wanted to let Kayo have Kikuchi, though I personally don’t believe that was her motivation.

The climax of the story is touching and cathartic, if predictable. I would’ve liked to see more confirmation that Shino was still struggling with her disability as an adult rather than it coming across as it being nearly “cured,” but her improvement is still believable and satisfying. This story hooked me from the beginning with its likable characters. Because Shino was handicapped compared to her peers, it immediately established her character as an underdog, and have her an end goal to work towards. It’s cute, and its pace is brisk. I would’ve gladly read an entire multi-volume series of this had it kept up the same level of quality.