Handsome, sharp, and admired by everyone, student council president Takanashi looks like he has it all. What no one knows is that he's barely holding himself together.

After school, he slips away to a quiet milk tea stand marked with a frog logo. One drink earns one hug from the shop's oversized frog mascot—and those simple embraces melt the pressure he carries every day.

The hugs become routine. The routine becomes something he can't go without. And soon, Takanashi can't help but wonder: Who is his classmate hidden inside the costume?

Give Me a Hug, Mr. Frog! has story by and art by Enhi. English translation is done by Margaret Ngo. Lettering by Mercedes McGarry. Published by Seven Seas Entertainment (September 22, 2026). Rated OT.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

You don't always need a deep, intense story to get an enjoyable one. Give Me a Hug, Mr. Frog! is a perfect example of why. Complete in just over 150 pages, this adorable book isn't big on things like “plot” or “angst” or even “character development.” But it is an utterly charming tale about two boys finding each other and becoming happy, and in this world, we need that.

The inciting incident is when Takanashi sees a frog mascot giving out hugs outside a café. He's envious of the little kids who can just go up and ask for a hug from the plush-suited person, and when he catches Mr. Frog unzipping his costume for a sec to get some air, that envy turns right into burning desire, because Mr. Frog is ripped. Takanashi is already fully aware that he's gay, and now he just wants to hug Mr. Frog even more – and when he realizes that the boy in the mascot is his classmate Hiruma, well, that seals the deal. Takanashi musters up the courage to ask for a hug, nearly ruins it by groping Hiruma's ass, and eventually things all work out in heartwarming fashion.

The downside is that we don't get a great sense of things that we're told happen. Hiruma mentions to Takanashi that he knows Takanashi doesn't like attention, but there's basically nothing in the book that shows us that. In fact, I'd have guessed the opposite, because Takanashi is constantly the center of attention as the head of the student council and as the high school boy getting hugs from a giant frog on the street, both things he pursues. Hiruma, on the other hand, is so stoic as to feel like he doesn't have any personality at all, and for much of the volume, it looks like the only reason Takanashi is into him is for his body. This story is adorable, but it's not particularly well-written.

I'm willing to give it a pass, though, because the art is very good, especially with Takanashi's facial expressions and the solidity of the hugs, and even without really knowing the characters all that well, the love story is heartwarming. Enhi is a creator I'll happily keep an eye on, because if their first book is this good with so sparse a plot, I can't wait to see what kind of creator they'll grow into.