Never Hollowed By The Stare

Kowagaranai de, Soba ni Ite – Long Utsumi

I thought it would go well for you and me from here on after. “Let’s pretend it never happened. From the very beginning.”

Ono Shizuka is a baker who got into an argument with his partner Sakai and fell off the stairs. The accident caused him to forget about Sakai entirely. However, he now is very interested in the beautiful but lonely man.

Don’t Be Afraid, Stay By Your Side is a straightforward amnesia romance that nonetheless packs quite the emotional punch.

After an argument with his partner, Sakai, Shizuka accidentally fell off the stairs and developed amnesia. Following his accident and loss of memories of Sakai, Shizuka still found himself strongly drawn to the man who rescued him.

After being discharged from the hospital, Shizuka returned to work at his bakery. He saw Sakai again there and wanting to thank him for the rescue, Shizuka served Sakai his recommended cakes. Unaware of their history, he chose Sakai’s favorites—a gesture that pierced Sakai’s heart, knowing Shizuka no longer remembered their relationship.

The magic lies in Shizuka’s subtle yet earnest wooing of Sakai, doggedly determined to win over the beautiful, melancholy man despite knowing Sakai is in love with someone else. And so Shizuka competes with himself; each gesture is a shot to Sakai’s heart, closely mirroring pre-amnesia Shizuka’s behavior towards Sakai, who couldn’t bring himself to tell Shizuka of their connection.

It was painful, bittersweet, and so achingly poignant that it transformed a commonly used trope into a deeply moving second-chance romance that made my chest ache and made me smile. This is a manga that breaks a heart and puts it back together again.

Overall, love and memory can be rebuilt—layer by layer, just like the perfect strawberry shortcake.

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