Love and Lies Manga Volumes: All 12 Books Guide

Love and Lies Manga Volumes — Your Complete 12-Book Collection at a Glance

Love and Lies is a completed romance manga — a Japanese comic series read right-to-left — by Musawo (ムサヲ), who both wrote and illustrated the series. It was originally published chapter-by-chapter (serialized) through Manga Box, a digital manga app, and collected into book form by Kodansha, one of Japan’s largest manga publishers. The series ran from January 2015 to January 2022 and wraps up at 12 volumes in both the Japanese and English editions.

The premise is a hook that grabs you fast: in a near-future Japan where the government controls personal life in unsettling ways, every citizen is assigned a marriage partner at age 16 through a compatibility system called the “Yukari Notice.” The story follows Yukari Nejima, a boy who confesses his love to his longtime crush Misaki Takasaki the night before his government notice arrives — only to discover that his assigned partner is someone else entirely, a girl named Lilina Sanada. What follows is a deeply felt, sometimes agonizing love triangle — a story where one character is torn between two people — set against a world where love is literally regulated by law.

Here’s what makes this series stand out from a collector’s perspective: Volume 12 has alternate endings. The confirmed English edition is titled Love and Lies 12: The Misaki Ending, which follows one romantic path to its conclusion. The alternate version is titled Love and Lies 12: The Lilina Ending, which resolves the story along the other romantic path. More on that in a dedicated section below — it’s the single most important thing to know before you buy.

The bottom line? This is a finished, compact series. Twelve volumes, no cliffhanger, no indefinite hiatus. You can buy the whole thing, read it start to finish, and get a complete story. For context, many manga series run 20, 30, or even 70+ volumes over decades — so a tightly contained 12-volume story you can finish in a couple of weekends is a genuine luxury.

The Easiest Way to Collect All 12 Love and Lies Manga Volumes

Collecting Love and Lies is refreshingly straightforward. Here’s what you’re working with:

Physical Paperbacks

The English editions are standard manga-sized paperbacks — roughly 5 by 7.5 inches, thinner than a typical novel, around 180 pages each. Each volume takes about 30 to 60 minutes to read, so you can finish the whole series in a weekend or two of dedicated reading. Twelve volumes fit comfortably on a single shelf.

For the smoothest buying experience:

• Pick one retailer and stick with it. Buying all volumes from the same place — whether that’s Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or a manga specialty shop — can simplify shipping and returns if anything arrives damaged.
• Check availability before committing to a set. Most volumes should be readily available since the series is complete and relatively recent, but individual volumes occasionally go out of stock. If a volume is temporarily unavailable, it’s usually worth waiting rather than overpaying through a third-party seller.
• Don’t forget the alternate Vol 12. This is the one curveball in an otherwise simple collection. Make sure you know which ending you want (or grab both if you want the full experience). Love and Lies 12: The Misaki Ending is the confirmed English edition that’s widely available. Love and Lies 12: The Lilina Ending is the alternate — search for it by its full title to make sure you find the right one.

Digital Editions

If shelf space is a concern or you just want to start reading immediately, digital editions are a great option. They’re typically priced lower than physical copies and available instantly. You can find the series on platforms like Kindle, Kobo, BookWalker, and ComiXology.

The Only Real Complication

The dual-ending Volume 12 is the single wrinkle in collecting this series. Everything else is linear: buy Volumes 1 through 11 in order, then decide which Vol 12 you want. Simple.

Volume Breakdown — Key Installments to Know

One of the nice things about Love and Lies is that every volume matters. There are no throwaway stretches or side-story detours that you could skip without losing the thread. All 12 volumes form a continuous narrative. That said, here’s a sense of what to expect at each stage:

Volume 1: The Setup

This is where the world hooks you. Volume 1 introduces the government matchmaking system, Yukari’s confession to Misaki, and the bombshell arrival of his assigned partner Lilina. The love triangle is established immediately, and the government-controlled setting gives it an urgency that a typical school romance wouldn’t have. If this premise sounds even slightly interesting to you, Volume 1 will probably sell you on the rest.

Volumes 2–3: Deepening the Stakes

The emotional complexity ramps up here. You get to know all three characters — Yukari, Misaki, and Lilina — as real people rather than archetypes. The series does something smart: it makes both romantic options genuinely compelling, so you’re not just rooting for one couple from page one. The government’s role in their lives adds constant background tension.

Volumes 4–6: Mid-Series Turning Points

This is where secrets start surfacing and loyalties get tested. Without spoiling specifics, the story peels back layers of the matchmaking system and forces characters to question what they’ve accepted as normal. If you’ve been on the fence about who Yukari should choose, these volumes will probably push you firmly into one camp — and then make you doubt yourself.

Volumes 7–9: The Triangle Intensifies

The back half of the series is where Love and Lies earns its emotional weight. Characters confront what they truly want versus what society expects of them. The pacing tightens. The romantic tension reaches a fever pitch. These volumes are the ones that tend to turn casual readers into people who need to know how it ends.

Volumes 10–11: Everything Converges

All the threads start pulling together. These two volumes build toward the climax with a sense of inevitability — you can feel the story narrowing toward its conclusion. They’re also the last volumes where both romantic paths are still open, which gives them a particular kind of tension.

Volume 12: The Ending(s)

Volume 12 is where Love and Lies does something unusual. Love and Lies 12: The Misaki Ending resolves the story along one romantic path. Love and Lies 12: The Lilina Ending follows the other. The story is identical through Volume 11 — the divergence happens only at the conclusion.

This structure is polarizing. Some readers love having both options; others wish the story had committed to a single ending. Either way, it’s a distinctive choice that makes the series memorable.

Watch Out for the Dual-Ending Volumes

This deserves its own section because it’s the single biggest source of confusion for Love and Lies collectors. Let’s break it down clearly.

How the Split Works

Love and Lies tells one unified story from Volume 1 through Volume 11. At the very end, the narrative branches into two separate conclusions:

• Love and Lies 12: The Misaki Ending — This resolves Yukari’s story along the path with Misaki. It’s the confirmed English edition that’s widely available through major retailers.
• Love and Lies 12: The Lilina Ending — This resolves the story along the path with Lilina. Search for it by its full title to find the correct edition.

Why This Matters for Buying

If you’re just browsing online and you add “Love and Lies Volume 12” to your cart without checking the full title, you might end up with whichever edition happens to come up first. That’s fine if you don’t have a preference — but if you do, pay attention to the full title before you hit the buy button.

For readers who want the complete experience: both endings are part of the full Love and Lies story. The series was designed to offer two valid conclusions, and reading only one means you’re getting half of the author’s intended finale. If you want both, make sure you’re ordering two different editions — not two copies of the same one.

A Quick Checklist Before Checkout

• Look at the full title of the Volume 12 you’re buying — does it say “The Misaki Ending” or “The Lilina Ending”?
• If you want both endings, confirm you have two different editions in your cart.
• Volumes 1–11 are identical regardless of which ending you choose. You only need one copy of each.

Is Your Collection Future-Proof?

One of the best things about collecting a completed series is knowing your shelf won’t have an awkward gap waiting to be filled three years from now. Here’s the status of the Love and Lies manga volumes:

• The manga is fully completed. Serialization ended in January 2022. All 12 volumes are published in both Japanese and English.
• No sequel or continuation has been announced. The story is done. Musawo wrapped it up with the dual endings, and there’s no indication of additional volumes, spin-offs (stories set in the same world with different characters), or side stories.
• 12 volumes is the definitive set. If you want the complete experience, that’s 11 standard volumes plus whichever Volume 12 ending(s) you choose. That’s it.
• A TV anime adaptation exists — anime being the animated version of the story — but it covers only the early material from the manga. If you’re wondering whether to watch the anime or read the manga, the manga is the complete experience; the anime adapts only a portion of the story and doesn’t reach either ending. Your manga collection stands on its own regardless of the anime.
• Your shelf stays complete. No waiting, no uncertainty. Buy the volumes, read them, and you’ve got the whole story.

This is genuinely one of the more satisfying aspects of Love and Lies as a collectible series. Twelve volumes is a manageable size, the series is recent enough that volumes shouldn’t be difficult to find, and there’s no ambiguity about whether more content is coming.

Who Should Collect Love and Lies?

Not every manga is for every reader, and Love and Lies has some specific qualities that will either draw you in or give you pause. Here’s an honest breakdown:

You’ll Probably Love It If…

• You enjoy romance with a speculative twist. The government-assigned marriage system isn’t just window dressing — it fundamentally shapes every relationship in the story. If you’re drawn to stories where society controls personal choices, this scratches a similar itch.
• You’re drawn to love triangles done well. This is a series where both romantic options are developed with care. Musawo doesn’t make it easy for the reader, and that’s the point. If you enjoy genuinely agonizing over which couple you prefer, Love and Lies delivers.
• You want a complete, shelf-friendly series. Twelve volumes is compact. It won’t dominate your bookshelf or your budget, and you can read the entire thing in a weekend or two.
• You like the idea of alternate endings. The dual-ending structure is unusual in manga, and if you’ve ever finished a romance series wishing the main character had chosen differently, Love and Lies literally gives you that option.

It May Not Be Your Style If…

• You strongly prefer romance where the couple is clear from the start. The love triangle is the engine of this entire series. If ambiguity in romance frustrates rather than excites you, be aware that Love and Lies lives in that ambiguity for eleven volumes before splitting into separate conclusions. That said, the dual endings mean you do get a definitive resolution — you just have to be patient getting there.
• You want a purely lighthearted rom-com. There are sweet and funny moments, but the government-controlled setting gives the whole series an undercurrent of tension. This is a romance that takes itself seriously.

As a Collection Piece

For anyone building a curated romance manga collection, the full set of Love and Lies manga volumes earns its spot. It’s a distinctive series — the premise sets it apart from standard school romances, the dual-ending format makes it a conversation starter, and at 12 volumes, it’s an easy recommendation for readers who are just starting to explore manga. It’s complete, it’s compact, and it tells a story you won’t easily forget.

If the premise grabbed your attention at all, grab Volume 1 and see for yourself. Twelve volumes from now, you’ll know exactly how you feel about government-assigned love — and which ending you were rooting for all along.