Love and Lies Manga Reading Order (Dual Endings)

Love and Lies Reading Order: Start With Volume 1, Decide at Volume 12

Let’s lay it out clearly. The reading order for Love and Lies is simple:

Read Volumes 1 through 11 in order. Then read both versions of Volume 12.

That’s the whole thing. There are no English-released side stories or companion volumes to track down, no alternate routes that branch midway through. (An official fanbook was released in Japan in 2017 but has not been licensed in English.) The series is one continuous story for eleven volumes, and then the final volume exists in two versions — one called The Misaki Ending and one called The Lilina Ending.

The series is published in English by Kodansha Comics and is fully complete at 12 volumes, all available in English right now. There’s nothing else coming. You can buy or borrow the entire run and read it at your own pace without worrying about waiting for future releases.

The only real decision you’ll make is which Volume 12 to pick up first — more on that in the reading order section below.

Understanding the Dual-Ending Structure

Love and Lies was written by Musawo (the author’s name in Japanese is ムサヲ) and was published chapter by chapter in DeNA’s Manga Box app starting in August 2014. The series ran until January 2022, wrapping up with those two alternate final volumes.

Here’s how the structure works:

• Volumes 1–11 tell one continuous, linear story. There’s no branching, no choose-your-own-adventure split partway through. Every reader experiences the same narrative for the vast majority of the series.
• Volume 12 is where things get unusual. Instead of picking one resolution to the central love triangle, Musawo wrote two complete endings. One follows the Yukari–Misaki relationship to its conclusion. The other follows Yukari–Lilina.

Both endings are official and intentional — part of the story as the author designed it. This wasn’t a fan poll or a bonus chapter. Musawo deliberately crafted two full-length final volumes, each offering a different but complete resolution to the story.

This dual-ending approach is rare in manga, and it’s a big part of what makes Love and Lies memorable. Rather than leaving one side of the love triangle feeling shortchanged (a common complaint with romance manga), Musawo gave each pairing a proper, full conclusion.

If you’re the type of reader who always feels like the “wrong” person won at the end of a love triangle story, Love and Lies has you covered. No matter who you’re rooting for, there’s an ending for you.

Print vs. Digital — Which Edition to Collect

The English release of Love and Lies is published as individual volumes — standard manga-sized paperbacks. There are no collected editions, special hardcovers, or box sets known for this series. What you see is what you get: twelve numbered volumes (plus the alternate Volume 12).

Digital editions mirror the print volumes exactly. Each digital volume corresponds one-to-one with its print counterpart, so there’s no difference in content between formats.

The one thing to watch for: when purchasing Volume 12, pay attention to the subtitle on the cover. The two versions are distinguished by their subtitles:

• Volume 12: The Misaki Ending
• Volume 12: The Lilina Ending

On digital storefronts, both variants are typically listed as separate entries. On physical shelves, the cover art and subtitle text will differ between the two. Just double-check before you buy so you don’t accidentally end up with two copies of the same ending.

If you’re collecting print volumes, you’ll end up with 13 physical books on your shelf — Volumes 1 through 11, plus both versions of Volume 12. It’s a compact series that won’t take up much space.

For digital readers, the advantage is instant access and no shelf space concerns. For print collectors, the physical volumes are standard Kodansha USA quality. Either way, you’re getting the same story.

A Note on Content Maturity

Love and Lies is rated 16+ by Kodansha. The series deals with themes of government-controlled marriage, teen romance, and societal pressure around personal choice. There’s no graphic content, but the subject matter — particularly around having your life partner chosen for you — touches on heavier emotional themes that younger readers may find intense. If you’re buying for someone else or are sensitive to those themes, it’s worth being aware of going in.

The Complete Volume-by-Volume Reading Order

Here’s the full reading order laid out clearly:

Order	Volume	Notes
1	Volume 1	Series begins — introduces the government marriage assignment system
2	Volume 2	Yukari navigates his assigned match and hidden feelings
3	Volume 3	The love triangle deepens
4	Volume 4	Relationship tensions build
5	Volume 5	Characters confront the weight of the government system
6	Volume 6	Emotional stakes escalate
7	Volume 7	New complications emerge
8	Volume 8	Loyalties are tested
9	Volume 9	The central conflict reaches a turning point
10	Volume 10	Resolutions begin to take shape
11	Volume 11	Final shared volume before the story branches
12A	Volume 12: The Misaki Ending	Alternate ending — resolves in favor of Misaki
12B	Volume 12: The Lilina Ending	Alternate ending — resolves in favor of Lilina

No skips. Every volume from 1 to 11 builds on the last. The character development and emotional stakes in the later volumes depend heavily on everything that came before, so jumping ahead will undercut the payoff of both endings.

Which Volume 12 Should You Read First?

This is entirely personal preference, and there’s no wrong answer. That said, here’s a common reader approach: read your less-favored pairing’s ending first, and save your preferred pairing for last. That way, the final thing you experience is the ending that resonates most with you.

If you genuinely have no preference going in (which is totally possible — the series does a strong job making both relationships compelling), just pick either one. The order between the two doesn’t affect your understanding of the story. They’re parallel conclusions, not sequential ones.

And truly — read both. Each ending casts the shared story in a slightly different light, and experiencing both gives you the full picture of what Musawo was building across those eleven shared volumes.

Anime vs. Manga — Where the Adaptation Fits

A TV anime adaptation of Love and Lies aired in 2017, covering the early portion of the manga. If you watched the anime and are wondering where it fits into the reading order, here’s what you need to know:

The anime does not reach the ending. It doesn’t come close to the branching point or either of the dual conclusions. The anime covers only a portion of the manga’s story, which means the entire resolution — including both Volume 12 endings — is manga-exclusive content.

If you watched the anime and enjoyed it, you have two options:

• Start the manga from Volume 1 for the full experience. The manga has more detail, more character development, and a more complete version of scenes the anime condensed or rearranged. This is the recommended approach.
• Pick up from the early volumes. The anime covers roughly the first few volumes of the manga, though there’s no exact one-to-one chapter correspondence, so pinpointing an exact resume point is tricky. Starting from Volume 1 is the safest and most rewarding bet.

Either way, the important thing is that the anime is a supplement — not a substitute. The dual endings are the defining feature of Love and Lies as a story, and they exist only in the manga. Watching the anime alone means you’ve experienced maybe a third of the narrative at most, with none of the resolution.

The anime works well as an introduction to the characters and premise, but if you want the full emotional payoff, the manga is where you need to go.

What to Know Before You Start

The Premise Is Immediately Clear

Volume 1 drops you straight into the world of Love and Lies — a near-future Japan where the government assigns marriage partners to citizens at age 16 through a government marriage-assignment system. You don’t need any background reading or supplementary material. Everything you need to understand the setting is established in the first chapter.

Pay Attention to Both Relationships

This might be the single most important piece of reading advice for this series. The love triangle — the romantic tension between three characters, Yukari, Misaki, and Lilina — is the emotional core of Love and Lies, and the dual-ending structure means both relationships receive equal narrative weight.

It’s natural to start rooting for one pairing early on, but try to stay open to both. The series is designed so that each relationship has genuine depth and emotional honesty. Readers who dismiss one side of the triangle early often find themselves surprised by how much the “other” ending moves them.

The Middle Volumes Build Slowly — That’s Intentional

The pacing through the middle stretch of the series (roughly Volumes 4–9) is deliberate and gradual. These volumes deepen the themes of choice, love, societal pressure, and what it means to have your future decided for you. The slow build makes the emotional stakes of both endings hit harder.

If you feel like the plot is taking its time in the middle, stick with it. The payoff is worth the patience.

Avoid Spoilers About the Endings

This sounds obvious, but it’s worth emphasizing because the dual-ending structure makes spoilers especially damaging for this series. Knowing which ending resolves which way — and specifically how — removes a huge amount of the tension and emotional impact.

Both endings were designed to be satisfying conclusions. Going in fresh lets each one land the way Musawo intended.

Start Here — The Recommended Path

Here’s the simplest possible summary of how to read Love and Lies:

1. Get Volumes 1–11. Buy them, borrow them from a library, read them digitally — whatever works for you. Read them in order.
2. Get both versions of Volume 12. The Misaki Ending and The Lilina Ending. Read them back to back in whichever order you prefer.
3. That’s it. You’re done.

Total commitment: 12 volumes of content plus the alternate ending volume — so 13 books if you’re collecting print. The entire series is complete and available now. The story is finished, and both conclusions are in your hands whenever you’re ready.

For readers who want to start collecting, Volume 12: The Misaki Ending is available now:

And don’t forget Volume 12: The Lilina Ending — you’ll want both to complete the series. Search for it by name on your preferred retailer.

Love and Lies is a compact, complete romance manga with a premise that hooks you immediately and a dual-ending structure that rewards you for investing in both sides of its love triangle. Grab Volume 1, settle in, and enjoy the ride. You’ll have two endings waiting for you at the finish line — and both of them are worth reading.