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MANGA: Wonderlove wa Mayonaka ni
Wonderlove wa Mayonaka ni – Panda
Yashiro Haruka is suffering from insomnia after changing jobs. There’s only one reason for this- he’s been reunited with Isshiki, the source of his dark past.
Yashiro has been having one-night stands with men as a sort of “sleeping pill”, but one day, when he gets into an argument, Isshiki saves him, and for some reason, they end up sleeping together.
That night, in his dream, the Demon Lord Thomas, who looks just like Isshiki, appears, and he showers him with his extremely sweet affection!?
Even though Isshiki treats him coldly in reality, Yashiro is tossed about by the gap between his dreams and reality...
Wonderlove at Midnight is a workplace romance with a healthy dose of magic realism and concupiscent dreams.
Haruka’s cure for his chronic insomnia is to sleep with a man. He keeps it to one-night stands, never repeating his encounters with anyone.
When his boss Isshiki learns of Haruka’s predicament, he volunteers to platonically sleep with Haruka and cooks him delicious, healthy meals to help him sleep. The thing is, Haruka has been crushing hard on his straight boss. To make things even more complicated, Isshiki looks exactly like Haruka’s favorite BL game character, Lord Thomas.
Haruka’s friend Akira is an amateur tarot card reader who advised him on how to have better luck. Following his friend’s advice, Haruka started having smutty dreams of Lord Thomas and him going at it like rabbits. Meanwhile, he fell into a nice domestic, and still platonic, routine with Isshiki.
Awkward doesn’t begin to cover it, come morning, when Haruka eats breakfast with Isshiki. It’s hilarious how the lines of reality and dreams blur, frequently disorienting Haruka or making him horny at inconvenient times, or making it hard to meet Isshiki in the eyes in real life when he just boinked his boss in dreams last night.
Isshiki is aloof, gorgeous, and surprisingly good at taking care of Haruka. Lord Thomas is affectionate, doting, and smiles a lot. Haruka couldn’t help but compare the two, but is drawn to both. He’s pretty much resigned that platonic is all he’s getting from Isshiki. Oh, the pining!
It’s always a thrill when we get the love interest’s POV. Slowly, we get glimpses of Isshiki’s perspective and my favorite childhood connection trope, which was tragic on Haruka’s side, was actually hell of a lot swoonier from Isshiki’s view. There is sekuhara involved and Isshiki is the dashing prince to the rescue. Plenty of pining here too!
My favorite part was the little panel at the end, after present-day Haruka smiled brightly at Isshiki. Flustered, Isshiki thought, “If he smiled at me like that in middle school, I would have been so screwed!”
The real-life romance slowburned while the dream romance blazed like a wildfire, and the eventual reconciliation of the two was seamless and spectacularly executed!
While the themes and tropes are very familiar, the use of tarot and magic realism made this story fresh and unique. The artwork is colorful and fantastically detailed with beautifully drawn characters.
Overall, a wonderful, emotional story of wanting love and living the dream.
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MANGA: Sakurada Coffee Ten
Sakurada Coffee Ten – Kei Kuzuhara
“Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel…” Is that love or coffee?
Kusama Kou isn’t sure, especially after he rediscovers that his first childhood crush is now a widowed coffee shop owner by the name of Sakurada.
Sakurada-san’s kind, soothing, with an amazing voice, and much older than Kou – i.e. exactly Kou’s type. So he wastes no time in getting himself hired part-time at Sakurada Coffee Shop, but is there really any hope for his love to be returned…?
Sakurada Coffee Shop is an age gap romance between a college student and a much older man whom he considers his first love, having been drawn to the older man since he was a kid eating at his cafe.
Kou is persistent in his pursuit of his one true love, Sakurada, who was flattered but chalked it up to the passion of youth. No matter how many times he turned the young man down, he would not be deterred. The two spent time in close proximity since Kou worked part-time in Sakurada’s cafe, and slowly but surely Kou wormed his way under Sakurada’s walls.
My niggle is that the mangaka really laid the age gap pretty thick. Sakurada is drawn gaunt with grey hair and wrinkles, which led me to believe he was in his 60s. It made me sad because he and Kou only have a short time together.
It wasn’t until I saw the characters’ bios that I learned Kou is 19 and Sakurada is only 47 years young! Phew, I thought the old man was on death’s door; he got at least 30 years more on him.
Some readers might be put off with Sakurada looking so old, but don’t let it discourage you.
This manga lifts the spirits and brings comfort, blending Kou’s youthful ardor with Sakurada’s zen of maturity. But then sometimes the tables are turned, and it is Sakurada who needs assurances, and Kou offering himself as the rock the older man can stand on.
The romance was beautifully executed, and the dynamics are a wonderful play of contrasts that highlight why Kou and Sakurada fit so well despite their obvious differences.
Overall, as heartwarming and uplifting as a cup of perfectly brewed coffee!
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MANGA: White Liar
White Liar – Tomo Serizawa
Shiraishi Kei is a talented freelance beautician who’s experienced more downs than ups when it comes to past relationships, and so has decided to swear off love. However, when the mysterious up-and-coming actor Taiga Jinnouchi enters his life, their casual one-night stand turns into much more. Unbeknownst to Kei, Taiga has been harboring a secret for years โ something that changes the meaning behind “fooling around” as the line between lies and sincerity are blurred in this whirlwind showbiz love story!
White Liar follows that plot where one MC seemed to be mysteriously drawn to the other and a deeper, past connection is hinted.
Kei was assigned to cut the young actor Taiga’s hair, and after the session, he and Taiga hooked up. The actor frequently showed up for more encounters, then later expressed his feelings for Kei. Kei, who had his fair share of bad relationships, was wary, unsure if Taiga was acting, having noticed how the actor seemed to absorb Kei’s emotions and reflect them back to him.
I find this an interesting take on actors, almost a shade even. Taiga is known as a chameleon actor, sinking so deep inside a character that he sometimes gets lost. He’s often described as transparent and able to absorb any color; hence, he’s incredible at acting. Kei wonders if he ever shows his true character.
Even with the familiar story, the execution made all the difference, and setting it in the context of the movie industry made it fresh. The past connection is wonderfully pure and full of youthful hopes and dreams. The present is angsty and dramatic with gorgeously drawn characters pining hard for each other.
How Taiga and Kei came to terms with their insecurities and feelings for each other was poignant and I loved the slight sense of melancholy and nostalgia for more innocent times that hung in the air. The summer vibe is captured perfectly, especially in the last chapter set in the backdrop of Taiga’s island hometown. It made for a breathtaking climactic scene!
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MANGA: Happy Birthday Chitose-Kun
Happy Birthday Chitose-Kun – Ueno Poteto
College student Chitose Tada spends his birthday alone and remembers his classmate from high school โ-. Koutaka, who transferred in his second year, was tall, handsome, and talented at sports. At first Chitose thought he was rude, but sees his true nature and is pulled in by him. A memorial love story between Koutaka and Chitose!
Happy Birthday, Chitose-Kun is about the lonely birthday boy Chitose reminiscing about his lost love, Koutaka, his high school boyfriend who drifted away after graduation. Chitose and Koutaka were both on their HS baseball team, Koutaka having transferred in their second year.
After starting off on the wrong foot, the two boys became friends and gradually, albeit awkwardly, developed a romantic relationship. Both of them found birthdays to be complicated due to family drama. However, as a couple, they discovered ways to celebrate their birthdays in enjoyable ways. The last thing Chitose remembered was Koutaka promising to celebrate his birthday in a big way.
Oh boy, this one tugged extra hard at the heartstrings! We see Chitose miserably wandering around Tokyo, very clearly heartbroken, and the overwhelming loneliness and pining made my chest hurt.
These scenes alternate with flashbacks to happier high school days of baseball and boyfriends. Koutaka adores Chitose and is always doing little things to make him happy, so it was a mystery why he suddenly distanced himself when they were about to graduate.
When it comes to the happy ending, this one went all out! It was one of the most satisfying reunions and grand gestures. It made me incredibly happy that my heart soared and my soul was cleansed!
Overall, a truly poignant and heartfelt story of sad birthdays and second chances!
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MANGA: Trigger Happy Session
Trigger Happy Session – Mirai Mitsuki
Chihiro is a high school student whose dream was becoming a basketball player, but it was cut short due to an injury. One night, he gets caught by Ryuuji, creator of the wall art which Chihiro and his friends were messing up in the park. At first, Chihiro was scared, but he grew attracted to Ryuuji’s good looks and then somehow became his assistant.
First, CW about a college-age man dub-conning a high schooler.
Trigger Happy Session is about a very persistent high schooler, Chihiro, trying to persuade the artist Ryuuji to accept him as an assistant. Chihiro was so moved by the older man’s art that he wanted to see more of it.
The plot chronicles the young man’s evolving feelings, as well as Ryuuji’s changing perception of the hyperenergetic boy, who had been making a nuisance of himself but somehow became indispensable to the artist.
There is the cheerful/dour, age gap dynamics with conflict coming in the form of rejection, and another boy.
I’m not a fan of Ryuuji because, apart from the dub-con, he left me unconvinced of his feelings for Chihiro. If not for Chihiro’s schoolmate stirring jealousy, it’s doubtful Ryuuji would claim the boy.
Chihiro is a friendly and likable high schooler who is always so full of life. He deserves a better love interest.
Overall, right boy, wrong man.
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MANGA: Drama Mitai na Koi Janakute mo
Drama Mitai na Koi Janakute mo – Suzuki Hako
Despite his popularity with guys, Sudou Ginji, a gay writer never had a serious partner and only has had ONSs and FWBs.Now that he is almost 30, he’s determined to retire from his playboy lifestyle and find someone to have a serious relationship. However, one night, his roommate Minamoto Chihiro, whom he thought to be straight asked advice on how to be skilled in gay s**?! Things should’ve gone well if he just gave what the other person expected from him, but somehow it didn’t go that smoothly.
A writer who wants to stop being a playboy x the older roommate who would like to give away his virginity. An awkward love story of a guy in his 30s with no skills when it comes to romance!
You know how sometimes an MM romance novel borrows from BL manga? Well, this BL manga felt a lot like a contemporary MM romance book.
Even If Itโs Not a Dramatic Love is a younger seme, older uke, first-time gay romance between roommates Ginji, a writer, and the older Chihiro, currently on unpaid leave. After learning that Ginji is gay, Chihiro asked the more experienced younger man to teach him gay sex.
As these things usually go, the more they practice, the more their feelings start to become apparent. And so their relationship went from purely physical to complicated to desperate.
In keeping with the title, this manga is deeply rooted in everyday life. The vibe is serious, peppered with humor and derpy expressions. We see the usual BL tropes and stereotypical characters, but the execution felt somewhat realistic.
For one, Ginji is openly gay, and the opening scene is him in bed with one of his FWB. Then we see him pensively going about his life, tired of hookups and wanting a lasting relationship. He’s described by the mangaka as serious but flirty.
Chihiro is excitable and earnest, an older man who wants to explore his sexuality, but his initial forays were disasters. As a result, sex was a sensitive topic for him, so it was a relief to find an experienced partner patient enough to teach him.
The MCs talked about what sex and intimacy mean to them until miscommunication throws a wedge between them. We’re not without drama because we get a fabulous confession scene at the bar!
This is a story of two people figuring out what they want. It’s simple and low-key; its charm lies in the MCs’ dynamics, and the endearing way their connection evolved from practice to absolutely feeling it!
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MANGA: Susumu x Minoru
Susumu x Minoru – Mochino Kome
Unsuccessful in getting his work serialized in a shounen magazine, struggling manga artist Susumu is advised by his editor to try drawing BL instead. He feels disheartened, thinking he is finally being โdesignated for assignment,โ when his junior Minoru comes forward with a suggestion to start dating for the sake of research. What starts as purely research becomes something more, as Susumu finds himself captivated by Minoru’s sincerity…
Susumu x Minoru is a BL manga about a mangaka creating BL while slowly falling into a BL relationship himself. How meta can you get?
Susumu is the mangaka about to venture into BL. He was going to give up when his friend Minoru encouraged him to give it a try by making him read BL. Since most BL mangaka are female, Minoru also boldly proposed that Susumu do what only he can do, being a male BL mangaka, gain a first-hand experience of his stories, a.k.a. date him.
The first time I read this, I couldn’t finish. Second time’s the charm because this time, the pairing clicked!
Before, I was bored with Susumu’s denseness, but now I find his cluelessness and internal dialogues amusing. Some people needed a push in the right direction, and bless Minoru’s soul, the boy knows his friend occasionally needed an extra shove or two.
Minoru loves cooking for his food-loving, kitchen-useless friend. While he enjoys doing things for Susumu and is clearly in love with him, I’m glad that he’s not a doormat, and it’s a relationship of equals. He gets justifiably angry when Susumu is being an idiot, and the dork had to grovel a bit, especially when he realized he’s in love with Minoru.
It wouldn’t be a manga about BL without the fujoshi. One was a coworker, the other was the editor in charge of Susumu, who would both have derpy expressions when discussing their favorite topic. His description of the “mad dog” look was hilarious! We fujin can all relate to the urge to rave about our ships, but we had to keep our mouths shut when in the presence of the uninitiated.
Overall, the romance is cute, and the transition from friends to lovers is fun and well-executed. It’s not anything groundbreaking, but it’s a cheeky take on life imitating art imitating life.
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MANGA: Flip Flip Slowly
Flip Flip Slowly – Ohtako Mame
In this new BL one-shot manga, an older city man looking to find solace in a small country library and a curious young librarian who can’t help falling for him. A simple, moving story about two men finding common ground despite their overt differences, and the way love can sneak up on you when you least expect it…
In a rural country town where nothing exciting ever happens, a new face suddenly appears at the library: a former city man who starts to show up every week without fail. With each visit, the librarian, Hagiwara, can’t help but notice little things about this new regular, Yabumi–his punctuality, his demeanor, his strangely methodical approach to reading every single book by a single author… Slowly, without realizing it, that simple observation blooms into a deeper interest that draws Hagiwara in, until he can’t help it! He wants to get to know Yabumi better. But how will he bridge the distance, when there’s no talking in the libraryFlip Flip Slowly is a library meet-cute, but really, a hurt-comfort for a traumatized older man by a determined younger man who likes to spoil him to bits.
Yabumi, a 34-year-old anthropology professor from Tokyo, returns to his hometown after his estranged father passed. He has unpleasant memories of his town after a bitter experience in high school. The man needed some TLCs as Hagiwara soon discovered.
Hagiwara is the 23-year-old librarian who was attracted to Yabumi and longs to close the distance between them. He invites the older man for a drive to the sea, where they spend the day reading in his car. It became their routine until feelings were made known but rejected. To Hagiwara’s relief, they remained friends and continued their long drives.
Hagiwara and Yabumi are two people who genuinely enjoyed each other’s company so much that multiple rejections and blunt words didn’t even make a dent in their connection. It only drew them closer and helped Yabumi find closure.
Love ourselves some library romance, and this one is an angsty slow burn on tippy toes, catching you right in the kokoro just when you thought it would be nothing but long drives and the sea. This isn’t a romance of seduction and sweet nothings, but one built on friendship, companionable silence, and hard truths.
Not to say this isn’t without passion and burning desire, because lord, it’s pretty obvious our poor boy Hagiwara is holding himself back! So that breathtaking seaside scene drawn in a full-page single panel dropped my jaw to the floor!
This is a beautiful manga that celebrates the solace of a library, the pleasure of long drives, and the thrill of closing the distance.
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MANGA: Vampire Itadakimasu
Vampire Itadakimasu – Abuku
Momoichi Kuroda just wants to become stronger. He may have won all the fistfights he’s ever fought, but he just can’t help but think there’s a way to be even stronger than this. When he sees his classmate Shirato in a compromising position, he gets to witness his deepest, darkest secret – and the rare kind of “strength” Kuroda could only dream of having. So the question now is, will Shirato turn him into a vampire already!?
Let’s Eat Vampire is a story of a delinquent who desperately wanted to be a vampire that he bit one.
Momoichi is your typical shounen anime hero who wants to be the strongest and discovers his vampire classmate Rui is stronger, hence the above. Momo values strength above all. Even when he gets his ass handed to him, he speaks with glowing admiration of his opponent’s strength.
Momo pursues Rui with the dogged determination and boundless energy of a labrador retriever, never, ever taking no, and shamelessly throwing himself on the very reluctant and very grumpy vampire seme after Momo’s bite suddenly caused the delinquent to feel very hot and bothered. Rinse and repeat in empty classrooms all over school.
I didn’t expect to like this, but I ended up loving this manga because it was pure chaos and mayhem! The dialogues are manic, with Momo’s hyperactive speeches always delivered at the top of his voice.
Momo is such a fun character! I want more stories about him and Rui. I love how he’s so comfortable in his own skin and speaks with direct honesty. He goes after what he wants, and no vampire harem is going to stop him!
Rui was swept away by this unstoppable force. Despite his best efforts to stay away, found he couldn’t let go of the loud, annoying boy, especially not when his pot-stirring older brother Rio just got handsy with the punk, and therefore earned a kick in the nuts.
The scene that followed is where Rui simply stopped resisting, and it was pure BL magic! I died squeeing!
With their cat/dog dynamics, Rui and Momo eternally squabble, getting horny while doing so. It’s ridiculously silly, and cute, and adorbs, and swoony and I can’t get enough of these two idiots!!
Japanese men are the best at styling their hair, and I have a moe for this. The bonus scene of Rui and Momo styling their hair is the cherry on top!
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MANGA: Mukou no Hito
Mukou no Hito – Ueno Potato
Sano, who can’t seem to connect with anyone at all – not his family, not his coworkers – turns to SNS instead. One day, he decides to finally meet up with one of his mutual followers, “S.” His Internet friend turns out to be Narumi, a handsome young actor whose popularity recently shot through the roof! Although Narumi’s behavior seems to hint at something bubbling beneath the surface, Sano can’t shake off the feeling that he’s probably being toyed around with… An emotional, heart-piercing BL between a handsome actor and a salaryman who doesn’t do communication.
The Man on the Other Side is a story of two awkward loners awkwardly dancing around each other.
When Sano’s online friend turned out to be the famous actor Narumi, he didn’t know what to do with him, but he was also desperate to be his friend. Narumi, sensing a kindred soul in the very average salaryman, befriended him and soon found himself strongly attracted to Sano.
However, Sano is confused with Narumi’s hot/cold approach so how to convince him?
This is a dialogue-heavy manga, with big talky balloons alternating with thoughts of insecurity, confusion, and tentative hopes. The two have more realistic personalities that don’t fall neatly into the usual trope-y categories.
Sano is introverted but also blunt, occasionally hot-tempered and tongue-tied, then blurts out long dialogues. Narumi is cool and direct, sometimes flirty and then aloof but also needy.
He initiates a kiss and then drives a wedge between him and Sano. The two dorks wait for each other to call first until months pass with no communication, just stalking each other’s social media accounts.
The best part is Narumi’s interview on TV that lit a fire under Sano’s ass to finally do something because it’s about damn time!
The blurb called this “An emotional, heart-piercing BL.” I could see the emotions, but they didn’t pierce my heart. I didn’t squee, maybe because the execution is clumsy. Still, I’m rooting for the two dorks because they went about their romance so earnestly it was hella endearing!
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