What begins as an innocuous double date where the timid Yukari and the more outgoing Sora meet up with college students Ryuu and Nobu, transforms into an enduring relationship between the four marked with cute dates and thrilling sexual exploits in equal measure.

Mischief Makers has a story and art by Esuke. Translation by Andrew Castle and lettering by Diogo Pereira. Published by FAKKU (November 2026). Rated M.

Jean-Karlo Lemus
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You always hope a book is good, but the real gift is when a book surprises you. And Mischief Makers surprised me. I didn't really know what to expect from Esuke at all, but Mischief Makers (the story in this tankoubon) surprised me. It's a pretty basic tale of a pair of girls experimenting with group sex with a pair of scoundrels. While this kind of story could easily lend itself to a much darker result, the stories are actually a lot cuter than that. Yukari is the star of the show, a shy girl who's just got a hard time finding a partner she feels truly compatible with. And while the sex she has with Ryuu and Nobu is pretty wild, she also finds herself settling in with Nobu. There's a cute coda to their story where Yukari wakes up at Nobu's place after staying the night, and after a round two they even have breakfast together. Who knows where their relationship will go? Credit has to be given to a story where characters can be at least friends-with-benefits and still be in a completely healthy dynamic with each other. (That, and they're very cute together—sex aside, it's cute to see Nobu treating Yukari well.)

The sex scenes are invariably stellar. While there's only so much variation between the bodies on display, scenes are heady and intimate. Sure, there's the old chestnut of the men easily bumping against the women's cervixes, but a few other panels manage to actually demonstrate proper anatomy. Esuke has amazing skill at demonstrating tenderness and supple flesh, in addition to amazing sexual chemistry between partners. Yukari's mental narration throughout her scenes are some of the best writing in the book, as are the internal narrations for other participants in later chapters. And as mentioned earlier, that consent is a factor through the entire book helps. In their afterward, Esuke claims that “scumbag men” were the theme of this book, but it really doesn't feel like that's the case.

I had to dig deep to find problems; "Silhouette," one of the later chapters, is apparently a continuation of a previous series that Esuke had written, without any of the previous chapters being included in this book. And while the main Mischief Makers story is told over four incredible chapters, it doesn't really feel like it has a conclusive ending. Regardless, this is one stellar release from Esuke and it gets an urgent recommendation from me. Definitely pick this one up.

Lucas DeRuyter
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One persistent stereotype that's especially frustrating to me is the idea that people who participate in kink are in that headspace perpetually and can only participate in intimacy through that framing. While there are certainly fetishists or specific people on the sexual spectrum who can only express arousal through a specific framework, the vast majority of people into hardcore and alternative sex are also open to, and often need to, express intimacy through tender, cute moments and actions. Esuke's Mischief Makers thoroughly displays that range of sexual expression and left me rooting for this adorable, super hot polycule to find nothing but happiness and success in whatever happens to them beyond the final chapter.

The plot of Mischief Makers, such as it is, centers on Yukari, Sora, Ryuu, and Nobu meeting up for a double date, immediately hitting it off, and then having a lot of hardcore sex in between other cute dates as the relationship between all four of them develops. That's kind of the gist of Mischief Makers and the only major fault I can find in this work is that there isn't really any kind of major conflict in the story, aside from Yukari having some initial hesitancy and anxiety over this relationship. However, the characters are well written enough and the intimacy is steamy enough that I enjoy my time with these chapters even as there's no tension driving the story.

Esuke not only shows off their amazing eye for character design and composition in Mischief Makers, but also the psychological element of what makes primal, wanton, joyous intimacy so enticing. Yukari and Sora frequently look so small and defenseless against their lover's larger bodies, but the men's appreciation and desire for them is made clear in every sexual act. This work really understands that sometimes physical intimacy is the best way to show love and affection for another person, and how relationships between multiple people can grow through shared physical intimacy.

While I don't think Mischief Makers is the end of my journey to find polyamorous representation in manga that encompassed the fullness of that identity, this is a great showcase of how fun and rewarding it can be to fool around with people you connect with. It's always great when a piece of smut can be as sexually explorative as it is gratifying, and Mischief Makers really is something special that I hope everyone looking to explore that part of their identity checks out.

Bolts
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There's no right or wrong way to get into a relationship with somebody. Sometimes our relationships can start pure and progressively get sexually intense as time goes on. Other times relationships can start from a very sexually aggressive place. Those sexual encounters can be fun and more frequent, until eventually you end up forming strong connections with the people that you were having fun with. That is an ongoing story arc that takes place throughout a majority of Mischief Makers, focusing on a young woman who slowly come into her sexual debauchery after being spurred on by friends. I was actually really surprised at the direction that the first story ended up going. While the main girl's appetite for sex definitely grew, the story didn't play with any radical extremes like most. Instead, the end result was a relationship that she had been searching for all along and there's something quite sweet about that.

Following that multichapter story arc are a few one off chapters that really lean into exploring those intense moments of depravity and they are very enjoyable. I love the talking that takes place during the scenes to fully communicate the ravenous sexual appetite that is being built up. Everyone present is just fucking each other silly in a very primal way that feels addictive. There are even a few fetishes that are teased and paid off later on like discreet public play. Not all of them get this treatment like some light touches of NTR but there's still a lot here to enjoy/ Honestly, these were the kinds of stories that I wish were explored with even more chapters because I was that invested in seeing what everyone was going to do next time they all met up. Any collection that has me hoping for more is a recommendation in my book.