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MANGA: Shinigami wa Korosenai
Shinigami wa Korosenai – Mikka Mita
“You are still by my side, aren’t you?”
Eiji, who has an abnormally dangerous constitution, has faced the danger of death many times since ancient times. However, every time he encounters danger, he realizes the existence of a mysterious “shadow” that protects him. Eiji, who had come to have special feelings for the shadow, wanted to know the identity of the shadow, He tries to throw himself out the window, but what appears is a masked man with a terrifying appearance!?
Absolute undying escort love by elite grim reaper!
Death God Who Can’t Kill continues the glorious tradition of making the shinigami as drool-worthy as possible.
Caleb, the death god in question, is obsessed with protecting a human. Eiji was at death’s door when he was a child, but the half-glimpsed Caleb refused to take his soul. Now a grown man and frustrated with the half-glimpses, Eiji forced Caleb to show himself and keep him company. Unknown to the human, the shinigami is breaking rules, and such disobedience has serious consequences.
Caleb is an enigmatic presence that only Eiji can see. He’s a Chrollo look-alike, for which I drooled because Chrollo is an all-time anime crush. He says very little and looks scary but looks at Eiji with such softness in his eyes. Like all shinigami, he doesn’t need to eat or sleep, and doesn’t feel emotions or sexual desire. Doesn’t stop the big smexy scene from happening, though.
Eiji’s personality has contradicting sides in that inside/outside, private face/public face thing that people have. As chef of a cafe, Eiji intimidates rude customers with his scary face. With Caleb, though, he’s a different person, softer, more smiley, and needier. He wanted so much to repay Caleb, and so, he all but demanded the shinigami eat what he cooked.
The story is a floofy cutesy affair with a sense of impending doom hanging in the air. Anyone who likes tall, dark and mysterious seme with single-minded devotion to their uke would adore this. Eiji’s embarrassment at knowing Caleb was actually there all those times he jerked off to the “mysterious shadow” was hilarious. There was a tear-jerking part that end with a happy resolution. It was a bit rushed, but heck, if it gives me a reunion, I’m all for it!
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MANGA: Konna Koi ni Narunante
Konna Koi ni Narunante – Haruyama Moto
Office worker Kida loves his private time and prefers silence to socializing. But one day, the previously empty seat next to him is filled by salesman Takamura, turning his peaceful days upside-down!
Takamura drags him out to eat lunch every day and chats with him constantly. Plus, it turns out they live in the same company apartment block, and ever since then, Takamura won’t stop barging into Kida’s place…! Kida would never have taken this lying down before, but Takamura has him strangely charmed… But why…?
A puppy-like playboy meets a serious, socially awkward introvert in this tortured, bittersweet office romance! The Love You’d Least Expect: Continued: Chapter 3 After a bumpy beginning, the positive, puppy-like Takamura and the shy, negative Kida are finally lovers. Takamura, who can’t stop brimming with passion for Kida, is inflamed by his every move. He’s tiring poor Kida out with a life of non-stop romping. Feeling bad for the feeble, indoorsy Kida, Takamura decides things can’t go on like this, and starts doing his best to avoid interacting with Kida, who keeps obliviously turning him on…!
This is the sequel to the action-packed manga “The Love You’d Least Expect”!
Someday, we’ll get a manga where the extrovert learns to shut up, enjoy the silence, shun the world and just chill with his introverted boyfriend. This is not the day.
The Love You’d Least Expect is yet another grumpy anti-social introvert forced outside his comfort zone by a persistent sunshiny extrovert. It’s a tale told a million times already, but this manga delivered the charm and kawaii-ness that made this old trope a fan favorite.
Kida, the introvert who enjoys the peace and quiet of being left alone, is my spirit animal. Takamura, who practically bulldozed his way into Kido’s life, could have easily been annoying. Happily, he’s kind of adorable in his puppy-like adoration of Kido.
The plot followed the expected course, but the endearing characters, floofy scenes, and the overall engaging execution make this manga worth a read
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MANGA: Bakeneko Katatte Sourou
Bakeneko Katatte Sourou – Hayane Dento
Matoi Souta is a salaryman who’s tired in both body and spirit. One day, on his way home from a grueling bout of work, he stumbles upon a koudan performance and decides to see it on a whim. During the performance, he sees a changed cat, causing him to jump in surprise, but eventually attributes it to the fatigue and brushes it off—until he sees it again.
Orations of a Changed Cat is all about cat boys!
It’s a story of a man given a new lease on life after a life spent overworked, depressed, suicidal, and so very tired he keeled over and nearly died. It just so happened this new life involved being a mate to a bakeneko, a kind of cat shifter.
Kihachi is a bakeneko who performs the koudan because he loves stories and how they make people look forward to tomorrow. It was his performance that gave Souta a jolt of energy. Upon seeing his effect on Souta and that the other man was able to see his cat form, he sought him out again and proposed.
Kihachi took Souta to the bakeneko headquarters to announce their union and introduced him to their leaders. It’s where the more surreal scenes happened. Not only did cats make their appearance, but there were also unidentified supernatural creatures.
Souta is a precious cinnamon roll. I want to hug him. He has depression and often thinks about death. He has so little joy in life that he cried while eating the delicious meal Kihachi prepared. He kind of looks like Ichigo from Bleach. I loved how the mangaka drew his eyes. So expressive!
Kihachi is totally devoted to his mate but fears the pain he will experience with the loss since humans have shorter lifespans. Because of that, he doesn’t want to get too close to Souta. Which made the poor Souta think he was unwanted.
It may sound like this is heavy drama, but the author perfected a balance of fluff, comedy, cats, angst, and drama. It’s a tender slow-burn romance with a Spirited Away feels underscored by melancholy.
One hilarious side character was the super nosy ryokan cat who lives for gossip. He shamelessly eavesdrop on Kihachi and Souta’s private moments and loves to annoy Kihachi.
The illustrations gave off dreamlike otherworldliness that made me think of the Ghibli anime. Especially how the scenes jump back and forth to the supernatural and the real world.
This is one of my top manga of the year. I loved how it’s so moving and emotional and, at the same time, has a calm, low-key quality. The mangaka’s note at the end gave me a pang with its vague resolution of the lifespan dilemma. I’d like to think magic gave them all the time they could ever ask for.
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MANGA: In Your Room
In Your Room – Hino Youhe
Kadokura and Yamasawa are surprised when they both fall in love at first sight… but are their feelings aligned?
In Your Room is a cozy, domestic one-shot of two guys who fell in love at first sight and fell into a routine.
Kadokura frequently comes over to Yamasawa’s apartment. After having sex, he usually ends up cleaning Yamasawa’s messy room. At first, he didn’t mind, being smitten by the other man. Then doubts gradually seeped in, thinking Yamasawa was only having sex with him in exchange for doing chores.
What’s great about these two is that they really took the time to talk properly. The plot was pretty straightforward, a slice of life of mostly nothing but sex and doing chores. Far from being boring and explicit, it was able to convey the feels in a laid-back low-key manner.
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MANGA: Musunde, Hodoite, Kiss wo Shite
Musunde, Hodoite, Kiss wo Shite – Mitsuki Emi
Tsukasa, who owns a tailor shop in a downtown shopping arcade, is reunited with his middle school friend Ren under the worst possible circumstances. Ren has joined the mob, who plan to demolish and redevelop the entire shopping arcade! To protect the neighborhood where he was raised, Tsukasa tries to persuade Ren to change his mind… But Ren says his goal is to “make Tsukasa’s dream come true.”
Tie Me, Unravel Me, Kiss Me is about a tailor, for which I gave a happy dance because there’s bound to be beautiful clothes! SUITS MOE!!!!
Tsukasa is the current owner of a three-generation old tailor shop in a downtown district shopping arcade soon to be demolished. It was announced to him by a middle school friend, Shinagawa, who was in charge of the project. Matters became more complicated when the yakuza got involved, and they found their other middle school friend, Adachi, was working for them.
I spent a huge chunk of the manga wondering what’s going on. The plot was a convoluted drama of demolition prevention and yakuza machinations. Then there was a love triangle. Whatever feels the story was hoping to generate was slightly dampen by these. I also had no idea why the title is such. I hung on because there was a promise of a suit and I was really, really hoping Tsukasa chooses the right guy.
If the second lead syndrome frustrates you, this manga is a balm to it because Tsukasa did choose the best guy! Yay for that! And the suit was indeed lovely. So it might not be perfect, but this manga is worth a peek.
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MANGA: High Pressure
High Pressure – Totsuki Eko
You used to be my teammate. And together, we formed the strongest duo. Now, you’re my rival, and also my lover. Under your adoring gaze…I cower.
A seesaw game that hovers between the threshold of Lover and Rival.
High Pressure is a one-shot of two basketball rivals AND lovers, Ogata and Hasegawa.
Hasegawa has an injured knee and cannot play right now. So he watches from the sidelines and admires Ogata playing for a rival team. He worries about how his lover thinks about him. There is a possibility of a permanent injury. Ogata has said before he like Hasegawa as a basketball player the most.
The two have most likely been friends for a long time. They are an established couple very much in love, but you could also see the easy camaraderie born from a childhood connection.
They mutually admire each other as athletes. Their life revolved around basketball. Ogata’s words seemed callous in a way. I loved how it later paved way for Hasegawa’s change of perspective, taking what seemed a negative into a motivation.
The way this unfolded was the best part. It was super poignant. It’s why one-shots could be devastating or devastatingly good in their shortness.
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MANGA: Karasu Otoko ni Kiotsukete
Karasu Otoko ni Kiotsukete – Kawai Ame
Shiratori, a civil servant in charge of controlling the city’s crow population, was approached in the park by a handsome but suspicious-looking guy named Kuroo. As Kuroo had no address and was unemployed, Shiratori was wary of him, but somehow found himself unable to dislike him. One day, he finds out that Kuroo is actually a crow…?!
Be Careful Of Raven Man starts with civil servant Shiratori doing his park maintenance duties. Part of this is controlling the crow population. He spies a crow being bullied by two others. He kindly reminded the crows about their precarious situation. The man tended to talk aloud to the birds. He has a soft spot for them and doesn’t want them exterminated.
Then his watch was stolen by one of the birds. The bullied crow took after it to retrieve it. This is when Kuroo makes his appearance. He promptly latches on to Shiratori, who made it a habit to feed him because he thought Kuroo was homeless.
Kuroo has Grell’s (Kuroshitsuji) personality. Clingy, has no concept of personal space and has no shame whatsoever declaring in his love for Shiratori. He’s quite the drama queen, employing his Oscar-winning acting skills to persuade Shiratori to declare his affection.
He might sound like a bad person when I say it like this, but he’s actually very endearing. I never found him pushy. The poor crow is kind of a pariah in the bird community. So it’s no wonder he’s attached to the person who showed him kindness.
The plot is pretty simple and straightforward, so you can already guess how things play out. Given that, I still loved the whole thing. This is an example of a manga that spins a cliché into a highly entertaining story. While not employing any groundbreaking twists, this little paranormal one-shot is very cute and charming.
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MANGA: My Boyfriend The Rabbit
My Boyfriend The Rabbit – Shouoto Aya
After his pet rabbit dies, Hiro becomes friends with a classmate who resembles his former pet.
My Boyfriend The Rabbit is a silly little one-shot of two boys who each thought the other look like a rabbit. The shorter boy, Hiro, just lost his pet rabbit. The taller one, Ren, is a popular boy in school with a pretty face and a cold personality. They became friends when Hiro witnessed Ren breaking up with his girlfriend.
This is told from Hiro’s naive POV. He sees Ren being surrounded by girls and not happy with it so he jumps to the rescue. The two started hanging out together. Ren complains to Hiro about having to stay up all night writing rejection letters to all the girls who sent him love letters. Then he drops the bomb that there was somebody he likes.
I would have loved Ren’s POV because he was so generic. Getting inside his head would have revealed more of his personality.
The humor comes mostly from Hiro’s thoughts and reactions. He drove himself crazy thinking who is it that Ren likes and why does he care. This is an older manga, around 2000s, so there are no mentions of being gay. It’s mostly confused pining and slow realization of feelings. It’s cute but not that memorable.
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MANGA: Urahara Megane-sama no Ounou
Urahara Megane-sama no Ounou – Honjou Rie
Yutaka is a designer who does remote work and hates the sun. In fact, the only sunshine he needs in his life is his old childhood friend, Akira, a shop clerk at a glasses shop with an ultra positive spirit. If only Akira knew how much Yutaka yearned for him… But what would that do? Akira is straight… A love story between a straight sweetheart and a successful designer who doesn’t know how to open his heart!
The title roughly translates to The Trouble of Urahara Glasses-sama. The official English title is Reframing. It is a story about a change in the way you see something.
This is a childhood friends-to-lovers story between a grumpy designer, Yutaka, and an upbeat eyeglasses sales clerk, Akira, who was completely oblivious to Yutaka’s deeper feelings for him. That is until he started feeling more than friendly feels to towards his grumpy friend.
We first see Yutaka’s perspective, bravely enduring his friend coming over to his apartment to bring him food and sleeping over in the same futon. He had practically resigned himself to a life of singlehood because no one could compare to Akira. I feel for the guy. Especially with his best friend blithely invading his personal space.
Then, the perspective gradually to Akira’s. He saw another man coming out of Yutaka’s apartment and learned something new about his friend despite being together for most of their lives. This realization caused him to rethink how he felt back in their high school days.
If you’re into megane-moe, you’ll love the moe-ness of this manga. You get, not only one, but both MCs wearing eyeglasses, not to mention Akira also working for an eyeglasses shop.
There is a lifetime of pining happening here but it’s not heavy on the angst. The humor is low-key too, enough to amuse but nothing I would really call hilarious. This is an easy manga to read. There are no wordy dialogues but all the feels hit you where it matters most.
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MANGA: Tsuranaru Stella
Tsuranaru Stella – Takano Hitomi
Hitomi Takano, the artist behind My Boy, explores love through this collection of BL one-shots.
“MILK”: Tomohiro and Shigeru are friends… with extra benefits. When Shigeru realizes he might have feelings for Tomohiro, their friendship seems to be on the brink of ruin.
“The Farther You Run, the Closer You Get”: After ten years apart, Keiki runs into Mutsu, his best friend in middle school. Though their reunion seems happy on the surface, Keiki discovers Mutsu’s memory of a secret still haunts both of them…
Shining Stars In Line is a collection of one-shots. There are several stories, but I only read the first two. Both stories are steamy and dramatic. They both feature friends in complicated relationships.
MILK is a play on the theme of “no use crying over spilled milk.” It talks about savoring the moment while we still have it before it’s completely lost forever.
It reflects the relationship of two friends/fuck buddies, Shigeru and Tomohiro. In the middle of one of their trysts, Shigeru was hit by the realization he was gay. A friend later suggests he try going out with Tomohiro since Shigeru’s recently dumped girlfriend doesn’t do it for him anymore. When he broached the subject with Tomohiro, he was hit by another bombshell. Surprisingly, he was rejected.
These two dorks needed to sort themselves out. A great thing about them is that they talk, even if these are painfully awkward conversations about their relationship. This is not a fluffy romance. It had a gritty rawness to it that brings to mind sweaty, clumsy fumblings. The characters weren’t drawn as pretty as the cover. They look like ordinary young men which goes with the story’s vibe.
The Farther You Run, The Closer You Get is a story of the unexpected meeting of two former best friends.
Keiki was surprised to learn his middle school friend, Mutsu, was now working in the sex industry. Keiki dropped out of school and had watched Mutsu in his school uniform from a distance. Before that, the two had a sleepover, and Keiki had an unexpected reaction to his friend. Since then, he had kept away.
This was even more dramatic than the first story. There are some psychological aspects to it as well. You got to feel it for Mutsu. I did expect he will seduce his friend, and you’d think he was a scheming bastard. Then BAM! The twist at the end was heartbreaking! Fortunately, it hinted at a more optimistic future. I really, really hoped it ended happily.
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