Itou Hachi, or Hachishiro, is a doujin artist mostly known for their slice of life fantasy stories involving girls with features like animal ears of various kinds.
The name hasn’t been around for too long and probably formed about two years ago, rising quickly in popularity in a really short amount of time.
The most popular works for us non-Japanese readers are undoubtedly titles like Legally Married Yuri Couple Book, that features the above mentioned animal ear girls, or Another Yuritopia, a series featuring side stories to the popular yuri Visual Novel Kindred Spirits on the Roof.
The biggest selling point for these stories are probably the oh so cute display of the girls, with big round faces, and in some cases, the adorable animal ears that boost the cuteness of the girls by at least 99%, if only in my eyes~
It’s the mix between the heartwarming stories and the cute and gentle characters that just make the whole atmosphere of these stories work like magic for me. Rarely do I lose myself so much in any kind of yuri manga, though most of Itou Hachi’s works really have a very pleasant and strange effect on me. As already talked about in my post about the things I want to see more of in yuri works, there are quite a few works that almost completely fulfill my requirements for a perfect read, them being girls with animal ears, married, adult couples, age gap, and most importantly, love stories that are both cute and overly romantic at the same time.
Needless to say, there are quite a few of Itou Hachi’s works that easily rank within my Top 10 favorite yuri works, such as Mistress-Servant Yuri Book, a story so heartwarming and pleasant to read that I have probably read this one an unhealthy amount of times already, with the number still rising.
It also helps a great deal to see the characters being displayed in such a fitting way, meaning that the art style fits perfectly with the heartwarming stories. Just look at the cover of my favorite work and you already know that what is about to follow is going to be the cutest and most romantic story ever~
Though, this level of cuteness sometimes comes with a risk. That’s especially true when the stories involved come with themes like age gap. As already discussed, I love this genre, but only within certain bounds. Characters shouldn’t be below a certain age, especially if they are romantically involved with someone. You also shouldn’t display them in a way that makes them look younger than a certain age. That is especially true when going for adult stories, which so far haven’t been covered by this artist. Itou Hachi does have quite a few stories with characters that either look really young, or actually are really young, and in one way or another in some kind of relationship with an older character.
As much as I am sometimes morally bothered by themes like these, Itou Hachi’s works never go beyond what I see as the above mentioned bounds, so it’s all safe in my eyes. Though, reading works like these, I can’t completely enjoy them, since the fear of actually seeing something that goes beyond what I have deemed appropriate for myself is always present in the back of my head and lessens my enjoyment of said works.
Nevertheless, I feel like this artist’s popularity will keep rising, which will hopefully lead to even more cute and romantic stories with the irresistible fox girls and hopefully some more doujin works of things like yuri Visual Novels, or better yet, some Anime as well.
YuriReviews and More 
I like this author’s work. Legally Married Couple is just what yuri fans wanted, a cute yuri love story with an actual married couple! 😀 not to mention the author made the Kindred Spirits manga which is now licensed for the US! 😀 of course I will buy to support more yuri! cant wait to see what else we get from Itou Hachi!
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I think this artist will be around for a while.
Maybe we’ll get some more manga series. I kinda feel like this is one that might be able to create great anime material~
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a short, sweet yuri anime series of cute, beautiful girls married to each other with animal ears? MAKE IT SO JAPAN! 😀
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funny story (<-Shirobako, i hate you for this!) "Legally married couple" and "Isn't the moon beautiful" are the ones i like the less. While i love yuri marriage there's no way i can deal with ARRANGED marriage, yuri or not. Sorry, i could be a 41 year old brute but i keep the heart of a maiden 😀 . for me you should marry by love, not by contracts, arrangemnts or family decision.
Absolute turn off.
Anyway, those two aside, the others work of Itou sensei are amazing. I keep a sweet spot for "Master and me" although i share your concerns about the age of the young one.
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I totally agree, though there can always be love even in arranged marriages. I would definitely have a problem with it, if it wasn’t for the fact that the two characters actually fall in love with each other and work really well together~
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I can’t tell you how many times I have stumbled upon this artists work. Something would get posted and I’d say “Damn, that was great! Who wrote this?” Click on the artists name, and see the titles. “Oh yeah, I remember that one, and that one! These are all great!”. I think I’ve done that about 5 times.
There is something about their work that kind of cradles your heart, nuzzles up to it and whispers sweetness to it.
I think every title on DS for Itou is pretty much gold.
As for the ears and tails, well, they almost seem natural to me now. I mean they are on the level of noses and fingers. They are just supposed to be there.
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You can’t even imagine how much I can relate to that, like it’s not weird or anything, it’s just there and it even looks totally natural, especially when seeing this art style~
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I’ve been loving her work. Has she serialised anything yet?
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I think her most recent series runs in a popular Japanese magazine, though I don’t know the name.
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Sayuri’s Little Sister Is An Angel – 4 Volumes (completed, Comic Flapper)
Isn’t The Moon Beautiful? – 1 Volume (ongoing, Comic Yuri Hime)
Goshujinsama to kemono mimi no shōjo meru (based on “Master and Me” doujins) – (?) Volumes (ongoing, Witamin Web Comic)
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Isn’t The Moon Beautiful? is a good story but there’s a complicated situation when Senri is still trauma about her father’s accident that she scolds her wife. That’s the worst part. Her wife, Chiyo, can understand her situation until things are going well for them.
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