-
MANGA: Nekoze ga Nobitara
Nekoze ga Nobitara – Oshima Kamome
After being asked to by his boss, office worker Arai heads to Nichome without knowing it’s gay town! There he meets personal trainer Yuu, who takes him to a bathroom?!
If The Hunchback Stretches is an opposites attract, slow-burn romance between salaryman Arai and his personal trainer Yuu.
Yuu is openly gay, though he keeps it discreet in his gym. He once flirted with Arai, who mistakenly entered a gay bar. After learning the man is straight, Yuu bemoans the fact and being straightforward, told Arai he liked him.
They met again in Yuu’s gym, and the two men began noticing each other’s cute personality quirks as they interacted with one another and other people. A drunken night together led to an attempt at dating. The rest of the story follows Arai and Yuu as they learn more about each other and navigate through the uncertainties in their relationship.
The story is mostly in Arai’s POV. The hunchback in the title referred to his slouched posture that Yuu is determined to correct. Arai is tall, has French and Japanese blood, attractive and well-liked. By all means, he should be a confident man. But Arai struggles to be himself around people.
As their relationship develops, Arai also grows as a character, confronting his past and begining to feel more like himself. Yuu takes things at Arai’s pace, taking things slow, knowing his boyfriend is new to most of it. I loved how his confidence balanced Arai’s personality.
The vibe is more mature and realistic. There are no grand gestures and the feels are low-key yet they made me smile.
But the gags, they made me LOL!
The best character is Xavier, the chubby middle-aged bar owner squee-ing at Yuu and Arai. He witness it all, from the meet disaster, to the blossoming romance, to the heartbreak and the reunion.
Xavier is hilarious! The man bodily threw himself between Arai and another man about to hit on the clueless Arai, because Xavier knew the salaryman was meant for Yuu. Sometimes, he’d get a derpy jealous face when his favorite couple were too lovey-dovey. But he’s always in their corner and their biggest cheerleader.
Overall, common plot but great execution!
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
-
MANGA: Koi Tokidoki, Yakisaba Teishoku
Koi Tokidoki, Yakisaba Teishoku – Oshima Kamome
Contains three short stories: Love Is Sometimes a Grilled Fish Set Meal, Memorable Memory Reunion and The Reason Kuro Became Human.
Love Is Sometimes a Grilled Fish Set Meal is a tale of the cocky investment manager setting out to woo the aloof restaurant owner, who wouldn’t give him the time of day no matter how shamelessly he flirted.
Nagase is openly gay and openly pursuing Ishizuka right in front of Ishizuka’s father and customers. The nosy old geezers took a vested interest in their relationship and cheered them on, blatantly asking for the sordid details. Nagase, the narcissist, was eager to regale them.
This is a play on the indoor/outdoor faces people have. Nagase wants to project coolness with every move but gets flustered by Ishizuka’s reactions. Only when he realizes Ishizuka is only interested in his real self that the dork devolves into the dork that he is.
I love the subtle reactions that explode into heartfelt declarations. I’m a huge fan of food-centric BL manga, and out of the three stories, this takes the cake!
Memorable Memory Reunion is a gap-moe romance between two recently reunited childhood friends. This is also a take on that trope where the bullied kid grew taller than his protector.
Rihito and Masami used to play near the graveyard as kids. Rihito protects the then-smaller Masami from bullies. One day, they found a porn mag and started wondering about kissing. Then, they did kiss and found they enjoyed it. The next day, it was as if nothing happened.
Fast forward to the present, Rihito returns to his hometown for a funeral and finds that his old friend Masami is now a monk. A smoking, drinking monk who slyly stole another kiss from him.
This one is okay. It’s enjoyable but not my favorite. There’s the illicit thrill of debauchery with a monk, but overall, it’s a standard childhood friends-to-lovers story.
The Reason Kuro Became Human is why we don’t deserve dogs.
One day, Tohru opened his bedroom door to find a naked man putting on his clothes. A man with dog ears and tail claiming he is Kuro, Tohru’s dog.
Kuro said he wanted to help Tohru with his fish shop because sales have been low a.k.a. Tohru is grumpy and scares off customers. Seeing Kuro’s boundless good cheer that’s winning his customers’ hearts, he lets him assist in the shop.
Until one day, Kuro revealed the real reason why he turned human
A bit iffy in a way. I mean, it’s his dog. Tohru had to process, but eventually, our boy realized he got good things going. Kuro won my heart from the get-go, because how could you hate this ray of sunshine?! He’s just too adorable.!!
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
-
MANGA: Contradict
Contradict – Oshima Kamome
A cocky and confident Yajima harbors dislike for Torikai, a cool and talented fellow trainee in the Rescue Team. The two constantly quarrel, but one day they cross the line while squabbling and end up sleeping together. Yajima regrets it, but at the same time he cannot get Torikai’s pleading expression out of his head. However, because they have been rivals until now, he just can’t bring himself to be honest with Torikai.
Ooh, finally got a good one!
Contradict is a bitter rivalry between two overachieving firefighters training to be in the elite squad. It reminded me a lot like the Top Gun homage MM romance, The Elite.
Yajima is cocky and loud, has little tact and is super annoyed at how his rival gets under his skin all the time. Torikai plays his cards close to his chest but could be surprisingly careless about personal details. Both men are well-liked among their peers even though their uber competitiveness tends to land them and the rest of their team penalties whenever things get out of hand.
However, one drunken night shook Yajima’s world, and now the rivalry might just end his dream.
Things were set in motion through coincidences where the MCs often found themselves in the same training class or liking the same things. It happened so frequently as to be ridiculous, and every time it happened, Yajima gets a jolt and even pondered, “what has fate in store for us?” It was so funny!
All in all, the plot is well-executed, the humor actually amusing, and the chemistry between characters has that extra zing that great enemies to lovers stories always have. Also, both MCs are likable, handsy but with consent. Because it turns out, someone has been secretly pining. The romance wasn’t the grand gesture type but the more swoony little things, big squees moments, which I always find more precious.
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
