Amour Placebo #1

The opening volume of Akane Torikai's *Amour Placebo*, published by Éditions Akata in 2023, announces itself with quiet confidence: a close-up portrait of a young woman gazing upward, her long ash-brown hair framing a face that reads as simultaneously guarded and searching. The soft blue background and the delicate, almost sketch-like linework give the cover an intimate, emotionally charged quality that feels perfectly suited to a story whose title pairs love with illusion. Torikai's art here is restrained and deeply personal — a compelling invitation into whatever complicated feelings lie within.