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MANGA: Kitsune no Natsu
Kitsune no Natsu – Nacolat
Norihiro returns to his hometown during summer vacation with a lingering feeling that something is calling to him. On the way back home, Norihiro encounters a mysterious fox man in a wedding dress waiting for him. Who is this fox and why does he want to “consummate” their marriage!?
The Summer of the Fox is a cute paranormal tale between a young man, Norihiro and his childhood friend, the fox spirit, Tsunetsuki.
Tsune patiently waited years for Norihiro to come back to him and fulfill his promise. This one-shot is filled with melancholy, longing and yearning but also nostalgic joy as the Norihiro remembers playing with the fox during summers past.
It is an explicit manga. We get the graphic details of them consummating their marriage.
I like the artwork. Tsune is pretty. Even with only one chapter, the manga was able to tell a complete story. But it also left me wishing this is a full length volume.
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MANGA: Doukyuusei Seikatsu
Doukyuusei Seikatsu – Kinoshita Keiko
Mizuno and Mitazon were middle school classmates with polar opposite personalities. One day, years later, Mitazon calls Mizuno up to help take care of some stray kittens. Mizuno agrees to stay in his house to look after the kittens for a short while. This is living together with a classmate!
Kinoshita Keiko has been mostly hit or miss with me. Classmate Living is definitely a hit. It’s a childhood friends to lovers story, a slow burn romance between two middle school classmates who somehow maintained a connection up to adulthood despite separate schools.
Mitazon is a poker-faced tsundere who is adorbs when flustered. Mizuno is the more outgoing of the two. I am so happy this was written in his POV. Typically, we get the story from the POV of the one pining for the other person. Seeing the romance unfold through the eyes of the one pined for is a refreshing take on the trope.
The atmosphere is gentle and the artwork matched that vibe. The pacing was great, never too slow or fast with each scene executed just right. For me, this is the mangaka’s best work to date.
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MANGA: Keppeki Danshi Kouryakuhou
Keppeki Danshi Kouryakuhou – Pipipi
Takumi is a neat freak who shies away from touching others, while Sakura is a goofball who tends to overstep personal boundaries. Even though it pains him to do so, smart and successful Takumi finds himself tutoring Sakura on a regular basis. Over the course of their study sessions, they finally start to break the ice. But then, Takumi discovers that Sakura is actually a…
The love story of a guy with no sense of personal space and a stoic student council member trying to overcome germaphobia.
How To Cure A Germophobe might be inspired by that other super famous manga about a doctor and a germophobe. This manga though is a more light-hearted take featuring two high schoolers who couldn’t be more opposite in personalities.
Takumi is a serious, no nonsense, straight A student and the Student Council president to boot. Sakura is a goofy, clingy student who copies other people’s homework. Sakura is forever trying to copy from Takumi who decided to tutor him. This is where the fun starts.
At first, I was put off by how loud Takumi and Sakura were. There were scream balloons everywhere and I thought the manga was trying too hard to be funny. Then came the twists…
It was a nice departure from the usual archetypes. The story is about how a person’s image could be vastly different from reality. It did a good job portraying that theme.
The romance happened under the guise of curing one of the characters from his germophobia. So how it played out was they kissed and went on dates so that the germophobe would get used to being touched. I was unsure whether the character who instigated this had feelings for the other boy before hand or if his intentions were purely to help the other get over his fears. I wasn’t a fan of the execution. It felt like there was something missing.
The art is really pretty though. The character designs were cute. And holy heck, casual Takumi is hot Takumi!
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MANGA: Kimi To Wa Gokai Kara Hajimarimashita Ga
Kimi To Wa Gokai Kara Hajimarimashita Ga – Mishima Kazuhiko
Miike writes a love letter intended for the girl he sees everyday on his way to school. The girl misunderstands and winds up giving the letter to her brother and now Miike and him are dating! How will Miike fix this misunderstanding…?!
It Started From A Misunderstanding is a super cute twist on the gay for you trope.
Gloomy, introverted high-schooler Miike hands a love letter to his crush who thought it was for her big brother. The misunderstanding was due to a confusion with how the kanji or characters were pronounced. Miike thought it was Hifumi but it was actually read as Utakane.
He ended up dating Utakane who asked Miike to call him Hifumi. He tried his best to correct the misunderstanding only to be interrupted again and again by Hifumi just when he was about to blurt out the truth. Little did he know, Hifumi has some secrets of his own…
Both MCs are opposites in the best way possible. Miike is blushy and shy while Hifumi was forward and open about his feelings. He doesn’t hesitate to shower Miike with affection, slowing winning him over and helping the shy boy gain confidence about himself.
When Miike realized he was falling in love with Hifumi, at first, he was so confused and ran away. With help from his only friend at school, he learned to accept his true feelings.
Not only was the story beautiful, the art perfectly reflects the mood. Even if the romance is slow-burn, the plot moved quickly and there was never a dull moment. Each panel was executed just right.
I liked it a lot that the MCs were the same height. All too often, a character of Miike’s type is the smaller one, being the uke. Hifumi is a very toppy seme which fits his personality to a T. I loved how he clearly adores Miike.
The manga had some nice twists that really worked well in tying everything together. The scene where Hifumi first fell in love with Miike goes right to the kokoro!
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MANGA: The Light Of Summer
The Light Of Summer – Clove
Sungha is loved by men and women of all ages for his mature and kind character. But he has scars that can’t be shown to just anyone… Woojoo is the only friend he can open up to. The day after the final exam, Sungha gathers the courage to overcome his wounds and try to change. This is the story of Sungha and Woojoo healing each other.
Sungha is a high schooler trying to deal with his biggest fear while trying to keep up appearance as perfect. This fear was rooted in a childhood trauma. His best friend is Woojoo, a neighbor who lives in the same apartment complex. One rainy day, they were trapped in an elevator and Sungha fell apart. What would his best friend think of him now?
The Light of Summer is a short webcomic with only 3 chapters. Even if it’s short, it felt complete even though it ended with the two boys on the verge of becoming something more.
This manga is a tagged psychological. We see things from Sungha’s perspective and we witness the cruel things people around him thoughtless say. He was not bullied. People liked him. Liked him because they know he can’t say no to anything.
It was only his best friend Woojoo who really see how things truly were. His genuine acts of kindness were touching. I think that elevator scene was beautiful. It lit a spark in Sungha.
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MANGA: Ameiro Curriculum
Ameiro Curriculum – Sakazaki Haru
Hikaru dreams of becoming a chef. However, nothing’s going right in his life – he’s just been dumped, and has few job prospects. This all changes the day he goes to pick up his nephew from kindergarten when he instantly falls in love with a new teacher there. But, before Hikaru can declare his feelings, his nephew says, “Sensei’s going to be my wife in the future!” Is Hikaru’s rival in love really his five-year old nephew?
Ameiro Curriculum is a slow-burn, gay-for-you manga about aspiring chef and unlucky at love Hikaru falling head over heels over kindergarten teacher, Aoi. Unfortunately, his precocious nephew also seemed to have a crush on his young teacher.
I don’t really go for stories where there’s some sort of love triangle and the rival is a son or some other young relative. Thankfully, this rivalry wasn’t as strongly played as in the other manga. The nephew even low-key encouraged the two adults.
I read this manga because the artwork looks really nice. Aoi is pretty without looking too feminine. Hikaru thought he was a girl at first. I would have preferred him knowing Aoi is a man right away because how dense is this dork? Even his nephew knew his teacher was a man and had no problems with it. I think the plot was going for a bit of “but he’s a man” drama but it came out weak.
The story was going for cute and fluffy but I was bored. I skimmed most of it. The two main characters weren’t that outstanding and I think they were overshadowed by the nephew. I hope the mangaka gives him his own story.
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MANGA: Don’t Stay Gold
Don’t Stay Gold – Yoneda Kou
A Yakuza boss really wants this “Mad Dog” fighter he found to work for him, but the “Mad Dog” isn’t too keen on the idea, even though he owes a debt. After being injured and refusing to go with the boss, the “Mad Dog” winds up staying with the doctor.
Already included in vol 1 of “Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai”
Readers of Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai are familiar with Yashiro’s childhood friend and hopeless crush, the doctor Kageyama. This is his little gay awakening with a young punk, Kuga a.k.a. Mad Dog.
This is a cute little age-gap side story. It’s not as angsty and explicit as the main manga. The feels are subtler. I was actually rooting for Yashiro and Kageyama before. I still do now but Kuga is giving the jaded Kageyama life so I can’t complain.
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MANGA: Falling In Love With The God Hotei Before I Die
Falling In Love With The God Hotei Before I Die – Hinagi
You’re gonna die anyway, so I’ll let you see the pure land of pleasures.” I’ve always been unlucky, and I get to have my first sexual experience… with a scary looking God Hotei!?
Takumi has been unlucky his whole life, and he has to have at least one accident every single day.One day, while getting groped on the train, he gets saved by a man with intimidating features. he goes home and greets his statue, god Hotei of fortune. Takumi believes that this statue is his one true ally. The next day, he spots the man on the train and finds out that he’s actually.. Hoteisson.
Not as smutty as advertised by that cover.
This is actually a cute story about perpetually unlucky Takumi who’s a devotee of the God of Fortune, Hotei. In his many unlucky days, he occasionally encounters a mysterious man who saves him from mishaps. He turned out to be none other than Hotei himself.
Takumi is a bit naive and clumsy. He gets treated like a doormat in his office. Hotei has the same intimidating air as Hoozuki from Reitetsu no Hoozuki. Looks like him too so I definitely like the artwork.
Their very slow burn romance developed over nine fast-paced chapters. I liked that the manga didn’t focus on the sex. The feels are very low-key with subtle expressions highlighted here and there. It’s like these two didn’t even realized that that they were falling in love. It ended just when Hotei’s heart skipped a beat which is argh!
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MANGA: Perfect Appearance
Perfect Appearance – 阿闷aman
A prince found a mysterious potion that is thought to make one more beautiful, so he gave it to his knight. However…
This is adorbs! Tragic but adorbs.
Perfect Appearance is a webtoon about a prince and his loyal knight. The story is set in a kingdom where everybody looks the same. One day, the prince found a potion said to improved one’s appearance. He poured it over his knight who transformed into one heck of an ikemen. This change of appearance started evil rumors about the knight and the emperor decided to sentence him to death.
This is a short manga of 5 chapters, each one brief and to the point. The story is told like a fairy tale with characters drawn as cutesy, round humanoids. It downplays the tragedy with its cute and childlike delivery. I really enjoyed this style because even though there’s a noose waiting, I’m still happy the prince had his knight.
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MANGA: Kimi wa Samishigari ya no Hana
Kimi wa Samishigari ya no Hana – Nomori Mina
One evening, Hisanaga approaches Morio at a bar with just one thing in mind. However, Morio is looking for a deeper relationship. Can Morio break through the wall around Hisanaga’s heart to get something more than empty sex?
You Are The Loneliest Flower is a story of university student, Morio, who developed feelings for his on-again off-again hookup, an aloof salaryman, Hisanaga.
This has a not so common set-up of characters openly admitting they’re gay and regularly hooking up at gay bars. Most of the time, BL manga characters just fall into relationships without even realizing or acknowledging their sexuality.
Morio knew Hisanaga is a self-centered, lonely man who pushes people away but it didn’t stop him being drawn to him. Morio is a natural do-gooder who can’t help but dote on the difficult and blunt Hisanaga. I liked his dedication and that he didn’t cross the line to pushy. Although I did wonder what was so attractive about the older man other than his looks. I didn’t connect with Hisanaga. I think his character could have been developed more.
The manga had a mature vibe. The premise is good but the way it was delivered wasn’t that convincing. The pacing and the scenes felt awkward. It closed in an open-ended but hopeful note where Morio hopes Hisanaga would eventually open up to him.
