Crossroad (manga)

Crossroad
Cover of Crossroad volume 7 as published by Go! Comi, showing Kajitsu (above) and Natsu
クロスロード (Kurosurōdo)
Genre	Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by	Shioko Mizuki
Published by	Akita Shoten
English publisher	NA Go! Comi
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Princess
Original run	2003 – 2005
Volumes	7 (List of volumes)

Crossroad (Japanese: クロスロード, Hepburn: Kurosurōdo) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shioko Mizuki. It was serialized by Akita Shoten in the shōjo manga magazine Princess from 2003 to 2005 and collected in five bound volumes. It is licensed in North America by Go! Comi and in France by Taifu Comics. It is about a teenage girl, Kajitsu, who after her grandmother dies ends up living with her two stepbrothers and younger stepsister, all unrelated to each other.

Kajitsu has never known a proper family. Her dad's a deadbeat who walked out when she was five, and her mom runs off with would-be husbands repeatedly.

Kajitsu lives with grandmother in a rental house. When the story begins grandmother has just died, and Kajitsu is feeling the loss very badly. Soon her two step-brothers, whom she hasn't seen in seven years, arrive for the funeral, followed by her unreliable mother. Kajitsu once had fond feelings for Natsu, back when they lived together, but something came between them. Now Natsu too is adrift and homeless. Two days later mom has left again, gone with a man in pursuit of her dream of a stable and comfortable married life. She has done this many times in the past. This time she leaves behind six-year-old Satsuki, a sister in some way to the other three kids. The three are thrown together, and onto their own resources. They will try to make a household and a family for themselves.

The manga artist wrote that she was inspired to write this story when she saw a small boy offer, nay insist, on carrying a bag for his granny. As she wrote the story she thought of orphans around the world who have to take care of themselves.

Crossroad is a manga written and illustrated by Akita Shoten. It was serialized by Akita Shoten in the shōjo manga magazine Princess from 2003 to 2005. The individual chapters were collected in seven bound volumes, which were released by Akita Shoten between June 12, 2003 and December 16, 2005. The manga is licensed in North America by Go! Comi, which released the seven volumes between November 1, 2005 and June 30, 2007. The manga is also licensed in France by Taifu Comics and in Korea by SamyangM.