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MANGA: Vanilla Chocolate Cigarette
Vanilla Chocolate Cigarette – Panda/Kumaneko
When did love start? Kisses tasting of cigarettes. The view from the veranda. In this small corner of town, they gradually fall in love. Tsubaki, who recently moved into town due to a job transfer. A gay couple living next door, Toyohashi and Takatsuki. And Tsubaki’s elusive senior, Azuma. While bewildered in an unfamiliar surrounding, Tsubaki’s naturally rigid heart slowly unfastens for the “first time”, and he starts knowing what love is.
Vanilla Chocolate Cigarette is the sequel to Bitter Cigar.
It’s a look at the lives of Toyahashi and Takatsuki through the eyes of their new neighbor Tsubaki. Surprised to discover his new neighbors are a gay couple, Tsubaki was also envious of their happiness. It made him curious and lonely, drawing him to their orbit. Voicing these to his co-worker Azuma who is unexpectedly sympathetic, he finds himself caught between friendship and something deeper
Meanwhile, Azuma casually offers to hold Tsubaki’s hand one particularly lonely night. Days later, Azuma kisses him and Tsubaki flees. Azuma apologizes and explains he thought Tsubaki was testing the waters and assumes Tsubaki’s reaction means he’s straight. But then Tsubaki realizes he likes the kiss and may be ready to explore dating a man.
I love that we get another peek at Toyahashi and Takatsuki’s cozy boyfriends dynamic. They’re still ridiculously cute, welcoming Tsubaki into their meals and shopping expeditions. Takatsuki in particular made a strong impression on Tsubaki with his androgynous looks, sunny personality, and creative flair.
By contrast, Azuma and Tsubaki were more of a slow-burn. Azuma never announces his sexuality outright. His low-key approach goes straight to Tsubaki’s kokoro who didn’t know what to do with it. Patient and considerate, he lets Tsubaki set the pace. Tsubaki’s first boyfriend is green flags all the way.
The story closes on a hopeful happy-for-now, with Azuma and Tsubaki just beginning to date. Overall, it’s a tender celebration of love, domestic bliss, and the promise of new relationships. I hope there’s a follow-up to this.
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MANGA: Bitter Cigar
Bitter Cigar – Panda/Kumaneko
Go to work, go home. Go to work, go home. That’s the daily routine of 26-year-old Wataru Toyohashi. One night, he heard a terrible groan coming from next door, so he rushed over, only to find his neighbor, Takatsuki, on the verge of tears and slumped on the floor. The reason? Hunger. Takatsuki said he forgets to eat when he gets caught up in his work, which he does from home. Toyohashi, unable to ignore the situation, decided to treat Takatsuki to dinner since he was in the middle of cooking anyway. Overjoyed by the simple home-cooked meal, Takatsuki exclaimed, “I want to eat this every day!” And that’s how their weekly weekend dinner parties started. At the small dining table with Takatsuki and his own two cats, Toyohashi’s days change bit by bit…
Bitter Cigar is a gentle tale of home‑cooked meals and good company.
Toyohashi, a game developer, discovers his neighbor Takatsuki weak with hunger and begins feeding him. When Takatsuki delights in his cooking, they establish a weekly dinner routine. Toyohashi finds Takatsuki irresistibly cute, and his neighbor is thrilled to hear it.
One day, however, Toyohashi bumps into Takatsuki in the hallway and is surprised when Takatsuki avoids him. Embarrassed by his disheveled appearance, Takatsuki grows increasingly awkward about meeting again. Yet Toyohashi, invested in their blossoming friendship, does his damnedest to reconnect.
The story shines with beautiful non‑binary representation. Takatsuki, with long hair and soft, loose clothing, enjoys being cute without wanting to be a girl, simply loving what he loves. His novel Bitter Cigar reflects the forbidden things he longed for growing up.
Told mostly from Toyohashi’s perspective, the narrative captures how he slowly falls for Takatsuki, wooing him with delicious food and heartfelt praise. It’s ridiculously sweet, swoony, and pure squee! The subtle reveal of Toyohashi’s sexuality ties everything together like the perfect cherry on top.
Overall, a pure, uplifting comfort-food connection!
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MY TOP BL MANGA OF 2025
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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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