She's a big sister with an attitude, and every time she opens her mouth, it's nothing but insults and negativity! But her little brother has had enough, and he's got a plan to turn her into the cute, honest sister he knows she can be! But to make it work, he'll first have to take her down a peg or two...

How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis has a story and art by Numa Egaki. Translated by Ben Trethewey and lettered by Kai Kyou. Published by Yen Press (September 22, 2026). Rated M.

Lucas DeRuyter
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Have you ever wanted to gaslight, manipulate, and otherwise lie to your (adopted?) older sister to trick her into no longer being an at-risk teen? Well, look no further, because Numa Egaki's How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis finally answers that question! With thrilling exploits like the main character saving his big sis from being sexually assaulted and *checks notes* the main character saving his big sis from being sexually assaulted a second time, there's so much excitement and variety in this dark look at the perils of young adulthood.

Oh, wait. You're not a sociopath and have spent any amount of time around young women in real life? In that case, How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis probably isn't for you, and you should stay the hell away from this manga.

Sardonic introduction aside, How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis is tonally confused. Following Shinji Tanuki, an overachiever attending a venerated prep school, as he tries to “save” his big sister Komaru Konno from delinquency, the work does not do a great job of establishing these characters' relationships or why we should care about them, nor does it understand how social malfeasance actually manifests. Instead, it insists that Shinji saves Komaru from sexual assault repeatedly and from seemingly every other man and her life while also doing bare-minimum “nice guy” stuff to make her feel like she has a social safety net in him. Furthermore, the lack of there being any dynamic between these characters other than Shinji trying to be a savior to Komaru makes her feel like less of a person and more like a sex object whose affection meter he's trying to max out, which feels incredibly gross as it's heavily implied that Komaru's demeanor is a trauma response to an as-yet-undisclosed instance of abuse or tragedy.

It's also really gross that this work is sexualizing Komaru as much as the rapists that she is apparently surrounded by. How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis cannot stop leering at Komaru's body, even going so far as to have her breasts take up an entire panel even as she's in the process of being molested while intoxicated. Literally the only compliment I can give this work is that I appreciate that Komaru's “gyaru” aesthetic is rooted in more modern fashion sensibilities rather than 90s and early 2000s tropes that have not been in vogue for a long time.

As someone who has experienced a lot of problematic, if not outright offensive, media throughout my career, I struggle to think of something that has offended my (incredibly liberal and open-minded) sensibilities as much as How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis.

Bolts
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A handler in the BDSM scene is a person who is permitted to exercise control over the daily life of their submissive. What's interesting about How to Handle My Sassy Big Sis is that it seems to be taking the overall appeal of that handler title and corrupting it by simultaneously blending it with an overprotective younger brother who recognizes that his sister is losing all control over her life. On paper, I could almost read this story as wholesome, but the more it goes on, the more I feel that uncomfortable, distorted, and corrupted atmosphere in its execution. Everything from the style, to the way the characters are drawn, to even the way that their speech bubbles are executed makes this feel like a much darker story than it is, and that's one of the most fascinating things about this. I can't tell if the main lead, Tanuki, is doing all of this out of the goodness of his heart, or if there is some deep-rooted underlying maliciousness to his actions.

Even though there are technically no sex scenes throughout the book, there is a prevailing sexual tension. It can be felt in the sister who is slowly growing more affectionate towards her younger brother or even just in the way that the younger brother looks at or takes care of his sister. Sometimes it's something very innocent, like handing her water, while other times it's like he is seeing right through every insecurity that she has. The art direction goes a long way to establish this and contribute to that unsettling atmosphere. It also helps that a lot of the side characters and environment that the two leads occupy are much darker by contrast, with a lot of people being openly terrible towards the Tanuki or his big sis, and in some cases, they are even threatened with horrible acts of sexual violence. I want her to be saved by her younger brother, even if I don't know what exactly that will eventually lead to. I like the story because I genuinely don't know what direction it's going, and the underlying creepiness of it all has a firm grip on me. I would definitely recommend checking it out as well to see if that grip will also find its way towards you.