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MANGA: Escape
Escape – Miyamoto Kano
Jun hates his boring, lonely high-school life. Kouji hates being a penniless thug. Even though they have absolutely nothing in common, Kouji ends up getting roped into taking Jun on a roadtrip, and they realize maybe their lives aren’t as bad as they think.
Escape is about a small-time thug, Kouji who was latched on to by a lonely high schooler, Jun. Try as he might, Kouji couldn’t get rid of Jun but it doesn’t stop him from treating the young boy with kindness. Kouji’s gruff but gentle treatment was the heart of the story as it gave Jun a measure of happiness.
This is a sweet story about two people who found a deep connection. This was made more precious because they knew time was fleeting and they had to eventually go their separate ways.
The manga was short but the story was presented well. This melancholy one-shot packed a punch with an ending that breaks your heart into tiny pieces.
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MANGA: Keppeki Buchou no Mousou
Keppeki Buchou no Mousou – Setsuna Kai
At the corner of the company cafeteria full of employees who are enjoying their meals together, Endou Kurenai always eats his own lunch alone due to his sour face kept being misunderstood. Then, a newcomer cook in the cafeteria, Ayabashi Hisame, notices the situation and offers his cooking. But, the mysophobic Endou who couldn’t even stand the cafeteria’s plate, only leaves with a word, “Sorry…”, without lifting his chopsticks at all. Ayabashi, who doesn’t know about it, keeps struggling and refuses to give up. And this straightforward novice cook somehow evoking Endou’s delusion…!
“Mysophobic Chief’s Delusional Tasting” is a tale of scowly chief, Endou, whose scary expression belies a lively imagination. He eats alone, having scared off his co-workers, so he entertains himself by daydreaming.
Enter cute new cafetaria cook, Ayabashi, who took it upon himself to befriend the chief by tempting him with various dishes. At first, the germaphobe chief refused until he noticed Ayabashi’s hard work. Soon he found himself tasting the dishes and then his imagination devolved into more salacious territory as he imagined what Ayabashi’s fingers taste like.
Wild imaginings aside, this is an adorable story that reminded me of my all-time favorite ace romance story, His Quiet Agent by Ada Marie Soto. They are both stories about winning the hearts of picky eaters by lovingly force feeding them delectable dishes.
This one-shot also featured a similarly ostracized and misunderstood protagonist with a brilliant mind and a popular love interest determined to break through their walls. It’s a winning combination that works well with fluffy, humorous stories.
I wished this was a full-length manga. There was no actual romance here. This was more of a prequel than anything else. The manga was a fun look at what promised to be quite an interesting couple. If only Endou would have the guts to make a move and make his dreams come true.
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MANGA: Boy Meets Maria
Boy Meets Maria – Peyo
Taiga’s always worshiped the heroes he’s seen on TV. And now that he’s started high school, his fateful encounter with a certain girl compels him to make her his heroine. And she was known as the Madonna of the drama club, Maria. After seeing her perform on stage, Taiga falls head over heels and confesses his feelings to her and is tragically shot down. And to his surprise, the beautiful lady is actually a beautiful boy…
A mix of humor and drama, this is a manga that tackled heavy topics like broken families, child abuse and gender identity.
Aspiring actor Taiga dreamed of playing the hero part on stage. He fell in love at first sight with Maria when he saw what he thought was a beautiful girl dancing on stage. He confessed to her but was turned down. Even after he discovered the true identity of his idol, he refused to give up his pursuit.
The humor is not the laugh out loud kind. It’s more of the amusing kind courtesy of the energetic Taiga and his dorky friends.
There is a dark, psychological aspect in relation to Maria a.k.a. Arima. He was forced by his mother to dress up as a girl at a very early age, causing him to question whether he is a girl or a boy. He was later on molested by his teacher (TW here for graphic depiction). He was rescued by a stranger who for some reason reminded him of Taiga.
The gender identity issue was handled and resolved well. I liked how Arima’s confusion turned into empowerment when he realized what he is capable of. There were no slurs directed towards Arima. The little bit of name calling present was directed towards Taiga and used humorously.
Taiga’s determination to win over Arima was earnest but Arima was not convinced Taiga was sincere. Taiga never once gave up even after being rejected several times. He learned to speak from the heart and showed everyone, most especially Arima, that he was a true hero.
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MANGA: Restart wa Onaka wo Sukasete
Restart wa Onaka wo Sukesete – Cocomi
Coming back home to restart his life after a disastrous time in Tokyo, 25-year-old Kozuka Mitsuomi is unemployed. He was born and raised in the countryside but returned. He meets Kumai Yamato and his life begins to subtly change.
“Restart Can Be Hungry” is the sequel to Restart wa Tadaima no Ato de. It’s sweet story about building a family with the person you are happiest with. It picks up on Mitsuomi and Yamato as an established couple tentatively trying to move their relationship to the next level.
Mitsuomi is a lovable dork. I think he had winter personality.
Yamato’s cheerful personality made my day. I loved his character design and how the mangaka drew his various expression. He had a great smile. It’s a smile made of sunshine and summer.
Their opposite personalities played off each other well.
The manga is paced even slower than before that it was borderline boring at first. It gradually won me over with its gentle vibe. It had the same heartwarming moments that made the prequel a joy to read.
Restart no Tadaima no Ato de has a live-action movie. Check out trailer below. Sorry, I couldn’t find any English subtitles.
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MANGA: You Are My Darling!!!
You Are My Darling!!! – Sakurai Taiki
When a new person moves in next door, the appearance of a cockroach forces him to ask his neighbour for help. This strange situation is how two people with opposite personalities, one calm and composed the other prone to exaggeration, form an unlikely friendship.
A neighbors to friends to lovers story with a good premise but fell short of the mark.
The manga started off well with a cockroach scare that had Yorito running pantless smack into his neighbor Akitori. From then on, the two started a friendship. They discovered new things about each other and learned about their youthful dreams.
I think the main downside here was the execution. It was aiming for cute and fluffy, which it is. Kind of. But mostly, it’s boring. The supposed humor was flat. There is chemistry between the characters but their scenes were tepid at best. Even the first kiss scene lack spark. The delivery was just not making me feel the emotions it’s supposed to convey.
Sad.
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MANGA: Haru no E
Haru no E – Nakamura Asumiko
Andou gets an envelope passed to him in class that contains an erotic picture belonging to Kagaya Jin, the mysterious half French transfer student. A short, bittersweet tale from the Meiji era.
“Spring Painting” is a one shot about an innocent student being initiated to sexual pleasure by his mysterious classmate by helping him get off on an erotic picture.
Jin’s half-French origin gave him an air of the mysterious and exotic, further heightening the sense of the illicit and forbidden between the two boys. Not really keen on the dub-con aspect, tho. Sadly, this is quite prevalent in BL manga, especially between naive virgin uke + wicked experienced seme combination.
This is an sensual, poetic story that pulls your emotions in different directions, something Nakamura Asumiko always excels at. The artwork has highly stylized character designs that’s stunning to look at. I liked that this is set in the Meiji era. I loved that East-West mix, especially when it comes to the fashion and art.
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MANGA: Bokura no Tsuzuki
Bokura no Tsuzuki – Amamiya
Highschoolers Yousuke and Shuu have become somewhat estranged due to an accident early in their childhood. However, their relationship is restored when Shuu moves to the shopping district Yousuke resides in, to stay at his grandmother’s place. Yousuke, although akward at first, starts feeling stirred by the expressions and mannerisms that the usually aloof Shuu only shows to him!
“Our Continuation” is a story of reunited childhood friends.
Cheerful Yousuke meets tsundere Shuu again at his grandma’s side dish shop when Yousuke was delivering veggies from their green grocer. Shuu snubs him, and then again at school. Yousuke continues trying to talk him until one day, they were having a somewhat normal conversation.
Majority of the story is from Yousuke’s POV and we see how the grumpy Shuu was slowly opening up to him. The pace was nice and slow. The manga gives off warm, soft vibes, that only makes the FEELS that much stronger.
The artwork is gorgeous! It perfectly captures the personality of both characters. I especially liked how Amamiya drew the eyes. Best part for me, apart from the eyes and the blushes, are the scenes where they subtly touch each other’s hands.
The whole thing was just so wholesome and adorable, I turned to mush.
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MANGA: Yuujou Wo Oeru To Iu Koto
Yuujou Wo Oeru To Iu Koto – Rocky
Ryou befriends the nerdy Kousuke. Later on, Ryou confessed to him. Kousuke agrees under one condition…
The title roughly translates to “To end the friendship”
I was expecting fluff and cute. What I got was a somewhat psychological drama about boyfriends who promised not to let lies ruin their relationship. They were tested when another boy confessed to Ryou while mimicking Kousuke’s appearance. Ryou turned the boy down. After this, Kousuke roughly shoved Ryou to the wall reminding him of their agreement.
I was surprised by this turn of events especially coming from Kousuke. All the while he seemed mild-mannered. I wouldn’t mind if the manga headed down a darker route. It didn’t quite get there. This is okay too if it was going for just hints of dark. Thing is, it felt like it was going for something but missing the mark entirely.
The only aspect I liked here was the art, especially that beautifully drawn picture of Kousuke on the cover.
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MANGA: Ki ga Au Iu Koto wa
Ki ga Au to Iu Koto wa – Asou Kai
1. Ki ga Au to Iu Koto wa – Shiraishi has been seduced by his so called “Best Friend” for 6 years since they were both in high school. The train they take to work, their favorite music, their sandwich choice for lunch… always happen to be identical. That strange relationship would never ever change, supposedly. But now that Shiraishi is divorced, it could be just a matter of time before he gets himself scored.
2. 1 + 1 + 1 – Between a man who bears a past and a revived lover, the existence of a certain “man” becomes the trigger. Both prickly pain and sweetness are all in one long story…
The Meaning Of Being Like-Minded is a two-story volume featuring the guys from the oneshot, Ki ga Au to Iu Koto de and a paranormal love triangle between a convenient store clerk, a salaryman and his dead boyfriend.
Ki ga Au to Iu Koto wa: This is how Shiraishi and Iizuka started, flashing back to their high school days when Iizuka revealed he was gay and Shiraishi said some words of support. From then on, Iizuka was forever declaring his love for Shiraishi while the latter was not really reciprocating but not actually rejecting him either.
Iizuka has a genki puppy dog personality. Shiraishi has a poker face and comes off as cold.
The story shows Iizuka pursuing him persistently. The thing with this trope is that the character tends to come across as too pushy and annoying. What I like about Iizuka is that he doesn’t overdo it.
While the one-shot sequel was more fluffy, this was on the angstier side. Most of the POV was from Shiraishi who had to slowly come to terms with his feelings. He sleeps with Iizuka but I suspect he could be aromantic or on the greyish scale with the way he sometimes wonders what it’s like to fall in love. It’s like he’s not really feeling things but with Iizuka, he’s feels a deep connection to the guy so it’s the closest thing to him falling in love.
1 + 1 + 1: This is about a convenient store clerk crushing on the salaryman who come in regularly and only to buy yakiniku. Later, he learns that there was a ghost hanging around him that only the clerk can see. When he asks about it, he learns it was the salaryman’s boyfriend who died in a car accident.
I liked this less because there’s a love triangle and it’s with a bratty ghost. The ghost is forever stuck at the age of 18 so it’s understandable that he could be selfish but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable read. Luckily, the story makes up for it with a happier ending.
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MANGA: Ki ga Au to Iu Koto de
Ki ga Au to Iu Koto de – Asou Kai
Shiraishi is slowly easing into his new relationship with Iizuka, but he is still puzzled by the phenomenon called “love.” Even though their physical affection has increased, Shiraishi doesn’t know how to overcome the emotional boundaries of their long-term friendship. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, will he find a way to express his feelings properly?
The title roughly translates to “I feel like it”. This is an adorable story of an newly-established couple getting used to their relationship.
Shiraishi and Iizuka used to be bestfriends. Shiraishi is the serious, overthinking uke reflecting on his man and the consequences of coming out to his parents. Iizuka is the cheerful seme who’s happy with everything Shiraishi.
The one-shot has the fluffy pureness of high school love between two adult characters. It’s sweet how they got identical gifts for each other.
The two started out in the manga Ki ga Au to Iu Koto wa. I love these two precious dorks so I must investigate that.
