One day, a fox was ready to pounce on a rabbit, only to receive a confession from its would-be prey. Ignoring the fox's confusion, the rabbit continues to profess, “I love you.” As this bold approach takes effect, the fox's hard heart begins, little by little, to soften. Will predator and prey ever be able to coexist…?

Beneath the Fur has a story and art by Umi Ruike. English translation is done by Amanda Haley, and lettering by Madeleine Jose. Published by Yen Press (July 28, 2026). Rated T.

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

No, this is not about furries. I couldn't blame you if you thought it was, though – that's rather more common than this Thornton W. Burgess-style animal story. If you're not familiar with the type, it's a distinctly old-fashioned type of children's literature starring talking animals who still largely act like animals – think George Seldon's Chester Cricket series rather than Brian Jacques' Redwall books. (Or, for a more recent example, the Longburrow series.) This one stars a fox and a rabbit, with the latter claiming to be in love with the former because of their kindness. It's cute, but a bit forgettable.

Partially, that's down to the four-panel format. Although not all four-panel manga is told in snippets, this one very much is, which keeps it from feeling quite as immersive as it might otherwise. I'm not convinced that this isn't on purpose, though; it feels like a bedtime story sort of book, where you're meant to just read a few pages at a time. Although the book is divided into chapters consisting of a bunch of related four-panel strips, it's not the world's most cohesive plot in a way that seems deliberate.

The basic premise is that a rabbit, trapped outside in winter, is found by a fox. The rabbit offers itself up to the fox as food, since they know they're about to die anyway. But instead of taking the rabbit up on the offer, the fox saves them, even leaving the rabbit something to eat. Touched, the rabbit vows to find the fox again and to profess their love for them, something the fox finds more than a bit uncomfortable. As we learn more about the fox, that seems to be because they have a history of kindness to prey animals – as a kit, they were friends with a mouse until both were told that that wasn't okay. So while the fox wants to at least be friends with the rabbit, they're also afraid to because it requires them not to conform to social expectations.

There's definitely a deeper story lurking here, underneath the cute premise. Creator Umi Ruike makes a point about people telling others who they can and can't interact with, and that theme is well presented, especially when the fox goes home for a visit with their family, who want to set them up with another fox. The art for the foxes is adorable and uses the age-old writing trick of animals to tell readers something about humans, but I don't love that the rabbit looks more like a toy than an actual bunny; it's distracting and an odd choice. This isn't perfect by any means, but it is engaging, and I think it deserves a second volume to see where Ruike takes their themes.

Bolts
Rating:

God, this was so cute. Sometimes you read a premise that sounds like it belongs in a silly children's book, and in many ways, I could recommend this manga volume to children, given its presentation. But what I like about this story is that it really commits to that silly idea in a way that pulls at the heartstrings with genuinely impactful moments. The idea is simple: a cute little bunny that looks like a Pokémon falls in love with a fox…and that's pretty much it. The fox doesn't want to eat the rabbit, and the rabbit keeps following the fox around, singing his praises and how much she loves them.

It's really cute, especially considering the format of each page, which uses a four-column style, with some chapters only lasting a few pages. While some chapters are just there for comedy, some chapters actually get to some slightly deeper emotional issues. Obviously, some plot beats are predictable, like the whole idea of prey being infatuated with the predator that's supposed to kill it. But there is, surprisingly, a lot of family and coming-of-age drama peppered in here, too. The fact that all of this is coming from realistic-looking animals with some fun exaggerated facial features, I think, really hammers home the idea that you could project a lot of these relatable story beats onto anything. Reading this took me back to when I was young, when I would just pull a random book off the shelf because it had cute animals on the cover, only to walk away feeling a little more emotionally mature than I originally thought. It's a weirdly nostalgic story that I think can hit people of all ages in slightly different ways. I would say give this one a read as something you can check out in a casual afternoon because you'll never know what you'll find Beneath the Fur.