Pastel (ぱすてる) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Toshihiko Kobayashi. It was first serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from July 2002 to July 2003, then moved to Magazine Special in September 2003 and finished in January 2017. Its chapters were collected in 44 tankōbon volumes. It was published in North America by Del Rey Manga; only the first 14 volumes were released.

Plot

Sixteen-year-old Mugi Tadano tries to shake off his latest heartbreak by working at his friend's aunt's beach-side inn. One day he spies on a beautiful girl, Yuu Tsukisaki, changing clothes in an alley behind the inn. Instead of getting angry, Yuu charges him the price of a soda for watching her. The next day Mugi is set up on a blind date with Yuu, and they have a great time—until Mugi walks in in the middle of her bath. Yuu decides to leave on the next ferry out, leaving Mugi heartbroken again. However, when he returns home, he is surprised to find that Yuu and her younger sister Tsukasa are going to be his housemates, as their parents were mutual friends. The series follows Mugi's adventures with his new roommates. In the first few days, Tsukasa leaves the two of them alone. Mugi's classmate and childhood friend Manami shows interest in Mugi but later supports their relationship. Yuu attracts several boys and even visits her hometown over in Tokyo, making Mugi so jealous that he follows her, and ends up meeting his ex. Other girls visit their household, including Mugi's big sister-like childhood friend Sayuri who has become a model, and classmate Kiku Murakami, who tries unsuccessfully to smear Yuu's reputation. Mugi discovers he has a talent for cooking, and meets Tetsu Shiba, an owner of a small restaurant, and Aoi Sonobe, a young woman who likes Tetsu. Yuu and Tsukasa's mother visits and wants to take her back. Tsukasa senses that Mugi likes Yuu, so she tries to set him up as much as she can. Sayuri gets engaged. Kazumi tells Mugi that he likes Manami and wants to date her. A busty young woman, Mako Minamino, joins the household as Mugi's father's love interest. After numerous missed opportunities, Mugi finally confesses to Yuu that he likes her and they become a couple. Later stories involve more girls and relationships, including schoolmate Urara Haruno who has a reputation for dressing sexily, her sister Moe who enjoys reading romance novels, Tooko who is a Japanese idol in love with Mugi, and Tsukasa's friend Pepper from America who joins the household. While Mugi and Yuu still try to figure out how to advance their relationship they see their friends hooking up: Sayuri gets married, Tetsu and Aoi agree to sign a marriage certificate, and even Mako and Mugi's father sign one.

Characters

In the bonus comic "The Pastel Meeting", Kobayashi sketched a meeting with his editor where they ended up talking about the appeal of Japanese actresses/models Aoi Miyazaki, Yū Aoi, and Leah Dizon, who became the inspirations for the stories in Pastel.

Main characters

Supporting characters

Minor characters

Publication

Written and illustrated by Toshihiko Kobayashi, Pastel was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from July 24, 2002, to July 16, 2003. The series was then transferred to Magazine Special, where it ran from September 20, 2003, to January 20, 2017. Kodansha collected its chapters in 44 tankōbon volumes, released from November 13, 2002, to February 17, 2017. In North America, the manga was licensed by Del Rey Manga. 14 volumes were released from December 27, 2005, to September 29, 2009. before the company ceased its manga publishing business in 2010.

Volumes

Volumes 1–14

Volumes 15–42

Reception

In Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson gave the series 1 1/2 out of 4 stars. He wrote: "Pastel is less a story than a supplement to the swimsuit photos that often run in shonen manga magazines. The hero is passive and wimpy, and the girl is an inscrutable abstraction, occasionally sad or peeved, but mostly fawning over Mugi despite the fact that he's accidentally seen her naked umpteen times." He also writes that the "art is slick, with curvy bodies and detailed, photorealistic backgrounds."