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 library

Flip 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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