Mizuki has never played a musical instrument. She's never marched in time with a group (it's harder than it looks!). And she's never spent time on school activities when she could be studying. But after leaving behind her high-stress high school in Tokyo and moving to small-town Akita with her aunt, she's looking for a fresh start. And when she crosses paths with Akira, a cute-but-grumpy trumpet player who introduces her to their school marching band, this may be just the chance she needs to take a leap and find herself.

Crescent Moon Marching has a story by and art by Hamachi Yamada. English translation is done by Arthur Miura and lettering by Barri Shrager. Published by Scholastic (August 4, 2026). Rated T.

Erica Friedman
Rating:

I have never been more sincere in saying I really wanted to love this book. And I am absolutely sure that I would come to love this series, but Crescent Moon Marching's first volume was a rough read. For context, I was in marching band, and I was not the best musician. At my absolute peak, when I was practicing and playing in school and band every day, I was probably mediocre at best. And I'm a klutz, so you might think I would totally bond with Mizuki here. But when she tripped and fell face-first into something five times in less than 200 pages, it was exhausting rather than inspiring. I worried that she might have some neurological issues.

It is obvious that we start the marching band from a place of complete ignorance with Mizuki, and everything she experiences is meant to help her find herself. But—and this is a big “but”—if the people in marching band had been that nasty when I was in school, no one in the band would have survived. We were all nerds and outcasts. We bonded over our nerdiness. We made Star Wars t-shirts with our nicknames on them—even the kids who played well. Marching band was fun because most of us were all loners and weirdos. We all carried extra gloves and reeds in case someone lost or forgot theirs. We checked each other's uniforms and played the music we were so sick of like it was fun, every day. So while I am completely convinced this manga will get good, eventually, here in the first volume, it is not yet good. I can see Mizuki being set up for failure over and over on her way to growth, and I am disappointed by it.