Catch These Hands! is a Sweet, Romantic Treat

A crop of the cover of Catch These Hands Volume 1 in which Takebe and Soramori sit awkwardly on a bench eating popsicles and not talking.

If you were a Fruits Basket teen and felt that Arisa Uotani should’ve been queer, I’ve got good news for you! Catch These Hands! is here to grant your wish.

Catch These Hands! finds Ayako Takebe, a former delinquent, lost in her adulthood. As a teen Takebe was one of the best fighters around, but all her friends have moved on to grown-up things like getting married and becoming parents. Meanwhile, all Takebe’s managed to do is hop between part-time jobs and maintain her charming resting bitch face. Determined to fully put her past behind her, Takebe wanders into a clothing store to change her look and thus her life – only to run into her greatest rival, Kirara “Bloody Cardigan” Soramori. Soramori proposes one last fight with high stakes: if Soramori wins, Takebe has to date her!

Catch These Hands! Volumes One and Two

murata (mangaka)
Yen Press
March 2022 (Volume 1) and June 2022 (Volume 2)

On the cover for volume 1 of Catch These Hands! Takebe and Soramori sit on a park bench eating ice cream, with their knees pointing away from each other.

The silly premise of this manga sets a perfect romcom tone – and it is a romcom, which means deeper emotional connections and revelations lurk just around the corner. However, the first volume keeps things light, spinning even mentions of violence into jokes. When Soramori and Takebe have their final face-off – the preface to their dating life – even that is a joke; Soramori has retained her strength, while Takebe has grown rusty and out of shape.

Sweet and funny slice-of-life moments are paired with emotional ones in which the women let their guard down. Both Takebe and Soramori are finding their way as new adults, and while Soramori seems more confident with her situation, both are struggling to be their whole selves. Soramori has a job at a clothing store which sates her genuine interest in fashion, but former delinquents don’t typically end up in the fashion world. At work she maintains a gentle facade, hiding her violent past and her obsessive, competitive nature. However, with Takebe she drifts easily into her natural habits. On dates, the pair are unable to do anything without competing, whether it’s fishing, playing arcade games or getting a sad amount of likes on fake Instagram. She doesn’t hide her somewhat obsessive love for Takebe either, even creepily declaring that she’ll hoard all Takebe’s belongings from her childhood bedroom and build an archive, should Takebe try to throw anything away.

On the cover for volume 2 of Catch These Hands! Takebe and Soramori sit on a bench in front of a sweet shop, eating popsicles. They are facing each other and engaged in conversation. Soramori's lap is littered with candy wrappers that read "try again."

Takebe effortlessly creates space for Soramori to be herself, despite being an oblivious tsundere who of course fails to notice her own queerness and growing feelings for Soramori. She complains about their dates but leans into each activity to make it fun and, increasingly in volume two, pushes Soramori to also have fun and not simply cater to Takebe’s interests. The only model of adulthood Takebe has ever seen involves marrying a man and having children, so she tells herself that that is her goal. However, she never moves toward the target, and instead dedicates more and more time to Soramori.

Soramori also has something that feels extremely rare in queer manga – other queer friends! At the end of volume one we meet her friend Maria, a queer woman Soramori bonded with online when they were teens. Maria is in a more established relationship with another former delinquent, which allows her to serve as a guide and role model for Soramori. (Takebe rejects Maria’s friendship, because she thinks it’s sketchy to meet people online.)

I can only think of one other GL series where such queer camaraderie exists: Bloom Into You, in which Sayaka bonds with the queer owner of a cafe the girls frequent. That makes this situation feel precious. For Takebe, this could be huge. She’s a dense character so any revelations will take time, but seeing others in happy, queer relationships will help her realize that she doesn’t have to marry a man in order to be a proper adult. She can just be queer.

Takebe walks through a crowd of people while thinking to herself that she is going to leave her delinquent past behind, starting with her look.

This mix of fashion-forward side characters, former delinquents and queer women calls for one very important visual aspect: distinct styles for each character! murata takes care with each character’s clothing, even tying specific pieces like Takebe’s high school jacket to emotional beats. As an adult, Takebe’s style is not much different. She’s got a new bomber jacket (blue instead of red) that she swaps out for a leather biker jacket that Soramori picks for her. murata has a very clean, tight drawing style, so these clothing items contribute to Takebe’s overall persona of toughness and disarray – along with her incredible trademark scowl, which takes over the vibe of any soft outfit she tries on.

Three panels from Catch These Hands! vol 1 in which Soramori contemplates what clothing to recommend for Takebe.

In contrast, Soramori has a very studied, trendy look. She’s very aware of the image she projects into the world, and murata dresses her in soft sweaters, scarves, and accent pieces. On one of their dates, she wears a little beret! When Soramori stands with her coworkers their similar styles make them visually unified, but like Takebe, Soramori’s face betrays her true hidden personality. Her eyebrows are often turned down in intense concentration, and her reactions are rarely small – the tell that she is a girl with an obsessive personality.

I’m very excited to see where this story goes, and eagerly await Takebe’s inevitable realization that she has real feelings for Soramori. Catch These Hands! gives me hope for the future of queer manga, and a growing number of queer characters who aren’t isolated or aberrant. I also have faith that Takebe will forever maintain her resting bitch face, even if she finally changes up her style.

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Alenka Figa

Alenka Figa

Alenka is a queer librarian and intense cat parent. When not librarian-ing they spend their days reading zines and indie comics and listening to D&D podcasts. Find them on Bluesky @uprightgarfield.

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