Kosodate Host wa Koi wo Tonaeru – Riita Yui

No. 1 host Chiharu is raising his dead sister’s child. He’s got no idea what he’s doing, and everyday is a struggle. When one day, bad luck strikes him hard. he breaks his arm and because of a roof leak, his home is a mess. He’s at a complete loss, when the Head Priest of the nearby temple comes to his aid, offering to let him live at the temple for the time being. However, he’s astonished when he’s introduced to the Head Priest’s son. Standing in front of him was the only man who’d ever stolen the No.1 position from Chiharu – a former junior host: Fujinami! Even though he’s younger, Fujinami is very composed and should be the kind of guy that Chiharu hates. But the big hands that touch Chiharu so gently, as if to spoil him, are so pleasant. And Chiharu’s tense mind and body unravel….?

Host clubs are fascinating because of beautiful men whose sole purpose is to entertain customers, a.k.a. ply them with as much alcohol as they can, a.k.a generate sales which can go up to millions of yen. Very cutthroat! This I learned after watching ROLAND’s channel. He was Japan’s No. 1 host and now owns several businesses, two of which are host clubs.

So this manga immediately grabbed my attention, especially with that lovely cover. The Single-Parent Host Prays For Love wasn’t a glimpse of the inner workings of a host club. Instead it was the story of a single parent host playing house with a former rival.

Chiharu broke his arm protecting a customer, and to add insult to injury, his roof leaked. Unable to work and with late sister’s son to take care of, he was forced to rely on the kindness of the temple priest’s family. And it turned out their son, Ryou, was the former uber popular host who stole his No. 1 spot in the club!

The romance was cute and has a very cozy, domestic vibe. Chiharu does his best to take care of a toddler on his own. Fiercely independent, he’s learning that it’s okay to depend on others. Ryou is a sweet, caring guy who generously takes over babysitting duties whenever Chiharu is swamped with other responsibilities.

Then, like a flick of a switch, Ryou becomes this inconsiderate horndog who apparently has no qualms dub-conning a man with a broken arm. Dude could have waited until the cast was off, but no. There was even one scene where the sling came off, possibly exacerbating the injury, because the idiot was too pushy.

Sadly, the host club angle wasn’t strongly played. It would have been interesting to see the two top hosts competing. I don’t know if this was a debut, but the story has a lot of potential, though it feels unpolished and ended abruptly.

Someday, we’ll have a proper host club BL manga, and hopefully, a better seme too.

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