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MANGA: 3 Ban Sen No Campanella
3 Ban Sen No Campanella – Kyouyama Atsuki & Kikoenai Koe
Kanou was driven to apathy after suddenly being rejected by a boyfriend who he never doubted their mutual feelings for. Living by himself is impossible. But momentarily falling in love is more frightening. Even then, his heart fluttered when a high-schooler saved him at a station, and a course of events made him waver towards his boss at work. Just to be together with someone you love forever. Even with something so simple, why is it this hard?
A heart swayed by a train with an unknown destination.
During a local train trip, love wanders between “living” and “loving”.Beautiful and melancholy like a Wong Kar Wai film that ends happily.
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MANGA: Sora Kara Furumono
Sora Kara Furumono – Aki Senoo
Sweet but troubled Takagi escapes the ups and downs of his life by hiding his true feelings. But what will he do when shy, awkward Kumoi suddenly appears and seems to read his every thought? When a mysterious drawing surfaces and raises even more questions about the past, the two boys are faced with a crucial decision: do they stick together, or retreat to the safety of their secret fantasies?
When the Heavens Smile serves up seven stories full of sweet, fumbling romance and the day-to-day surprises of true friendship! Whether it’s in a noisy, nerve-wracking classroom or the book-lined rows of the library, each of these boys must come to terms with budding feelings and brand-new crushes. Which of these pairs destined to put aside their fears and stay together after the final school bell rings?
Fragment: A really bad case of last song syndrome where kohai whistles a tune and sempai made him listen to the entire song so he could do it properly. Ended up doing something unforgettable. Would kohai even remember? I wished the author gave this an epilogue.
I Love Strawberries The Most, Followed By My Dad: Ooh, shoujo-kun is the seme. A high schooler with girly interests compares his loved ones to fruits.
Absolute Condition: Mole fetish? NO, just NO. (speaking as a person with bajillion moles all over, hate these ugly dots)
Sirens: Talky age-gap romance involving lots of sex and talks of double suicide. Weird proposal at the end but it kind of worked.
I Can’t Remember Now: Alcohol-loving Kacchan tended to get sappy and kissy with Midori when drunk but couldn’t remember afterwards. Everybody thought they were boyfriends, Kacchan insists they’re just friends. But was Midori jealous when Kacchan was seen with a girl? And why does Kacchan care? Really loved this one!
That Which Falls From Heaven: Kumoi can see Takagi’s dead brother. Kumoi seriously liked Takagi. I don’t care.
Fever Mark: Don’t care about this too. Why is it in manga, when someone has fever, they tend to get frisky?
That Which Is Still Here: Student has a crush on the librarian and is willing to be his slave. Librarian used to have a crush on Takagi’s dead brother. Kumoi’s drawing gave them closure. Still don’t care.
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MANGA: Hoppe Ni Himawari
Hoppe Ni Himawari – Mita Ori
A story about a cute chubby guy in the gardening club who admires his classmate, the baseball team captain.
A rare beast in BL where the MC is chubby and loved by the seme whatever shape he’s in.
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MANGA: Zodiac Boys
Zodiac Boys – Honma Akira
A collection of oneshots related to the Chinese Zodiac.
Eeeh?!
Confusing stories of mostly rabbit and dragon pairing. Where’s the rest of the zodiac?
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MANGA: Ore No Mono Ni Nareba Ii
Ore No Mono Ni Nareba Ii – Chidori Peko
Ore no Mono ni Nareba Ii
The sweet love between a genius chocolatier and a trouble-making kouhai.Complex Love
Tomoki enters the school’s Boy’s Beauty Pageant to find out his rival is the “Perfect Prince” Shiratori who says to him, “If I win the pageant, please go out with me!”Makezu Kirai mo Suki no Uchi
Ginji and Miki have been rivals, competing in everything since they were kids, and this continues in the clothing shop they both end up working in. They make a bet where “the loser has to do whatever the winner says.” Miki wins, and of course his request is rather gay.Kyou Koso Kimi to!
Kotoha and Aizawa started dating a month ago, and Aizawa wants to smash. Kotaha isn’t one to rush things, but he decides to agree if Aizawa helps with costumes for the theatrical company he works for.Otona no Koi no Kudokikata
Jin is a 25-year-old living the average unfulfilling lifestyle. That’s when he hears his young neighbor next door, Kurosu, in trouble. He rushes over to try and help, but it turns out he was just reciting rapey lines from a script. The aspiring voice actor falls for Jin, and hijinks ensue.Kinda cute, kinda cliche stories…
Ore no Mono ni Nareba Ii: Of course the genius sempai is the uke!
Complex Love: A clutzy prince and a guy with a girly face who refused to be called cute. I think I’ve seen this before.
Makezu Kirai mo Suki no Uchi: As the Kaiser Chiefs song goes, “Love’s not a competition but I’m winning “
Kyou Koso Kimi to!: Seme’s making him work hard for that piece of action.
Otona no Koi no Kudokikata: This I want to see as an OVA so I could hear Kurosu’s golden voice.
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MANGA: Kiss Made Ato 3 Senchi
Kiss Made Ato 3 Senchi – Chidori Peko
Sakurazuka, a manager at an entertainment agency, has been on the receiving end of the advances by the agency’s president, Umekage, for many years. At some point recently, however, the joking confessions by Umekage have, oddly enough, started to become more serious!
Kiss Made Ato 3 Senchi: Meh, not feeling this president. Back off dude!
Romance + Reactions: Now that’s more like it! Cute age-gap love story.
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MANGA: Star Collector Vol. 2
Star Collector Vol. 2 – Sophie Schonhammer & Anna Backhausen
Fynn’s favorite activities are skipping class, smoking, and lying around. So when he’s told it’s time to shape up and try doing something else for a change, he has no idea where to even start.
Then, on a nighttime walk around his neighborhood, he sees a stranger with a telescope up on a hill: his name is Niko, and he loves to watch the stars. Intrigued, Flynn decides to find out more about this nerdy boy and what could be so interesting about the night sky that he loves so much.
This is the second and final volume of the Star Collector series.
This is the angstier, more painful sequel to Star Collector Vol. 1 in which there were a lot of fights and unnecessary drama. Nico shutting Fynn out made me want to shake him. Also, Nico’s homophobic dad, do we really need him there?
I liked the fluffier Vol 1 better but Vol. 2 also had many poignant moments, like Nico and Fynn’s visit to Nico’s grandfather or Fynn’s mom who knows.
I love Nico and Fynn. I think they’re cute together and that they finally saw their shooting star but THAT’S IT?!
More please!
P.S.
review of Star Collector Vol. 1 here
I received a copy of Star Collector Vol. 2 from Tokyo Pop via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked it -
MANGA: Spicy & Sugary
Spicy & Sugary – Akira Norikazu
Nagai, a detective at the Metropolitan Police Department, is currently living with his high-school classmate, Kitahara. The extremely stubborn Nagai and the fickle, elusive Kitahara weren’t close friends back in the day, but when they met by chance, Kitahara shamelessly invited himself to go live with Nagai saying that he got chased out by his roommate. Although he was messy, Kitahara was actually good at cooking and acting all spoiled, so he was kind of both like a bride and a pet. Nagai felt unexpectedly comfortably living with him, but Kitahara suddenly announced that he was getting back together with his ex and put an end to their cohabitation.
However, it seems that Kitahara has many more secrets...
Spicy & Sugary: I don’t trust Kitahara. He lies so effortlessly.
Nagai might be conservative and stubborn but he’s a good guy through and through. I think he deserves better.
A gay-for-you, opposite attracts romance that I’m not sure will last.
Spicy & Sugary …: smutty nonsense I
Defeat: could have been cute but devolved into smutty nonsense II
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MANGA: Misshitsu no Hisoka na Hoshi
Misshitsu no Hisoka na Hoshi – Amagakure Gido
Another detective agency just opened in the same building as Ukai, and the new detective is his old high school classmate, who insists on helping Ukai despite his protest. His classmate has always been standoff-ish back in school, so is there an ulterior motive why he’s showing up now?
Ukai is adorbs but Chikamichi kind of rubbed me the wrong way with his harsh words and secrets but then he wakes up and sleepily tells Ukai “I love you” with tears streaming down his face.
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MANGA: Kyou Kara Omega ni Narimashita
Kyou Kara Omega ni Narimashia – Maiki Sachi
Ordinary university student Kanade is a Beta. He secretly holds feelings for his neighbor and childhood friend Munechika. However, in this world, the typical trend is for an alpha and omega, and two betas to pair up. Because of that, Kanade thinks he’s not a match for Munechika who’s an Alpha, and stays with him as a friend. However, one day, Kanade feels a weird discomfort in his body…
I still don’t see the appeal of omegaverse.
Meh on Kanade and Munechika.
Rooting for sensei and sempai.
