Mimi

"I don't remember allowing another person to get close to you" .............. head in hands.

Besides the possessive lover thing, it was kind of cute. It was alright. I didn't think it would be that short, I thought it would be something like a 30-page oneshot because it feels like I'm missing a previous story or another chapter.

So here me out, getting through chapters one and two felt like when it's mid-summer down at your grandparents' place in the country and people are doing stuff inside, time is moving, you hear people talking... But you're sitting on the sofa, in your room watching tv, or on the porch outside. Time is moving slowly for you but you know things are happening around you. You're aware that things are happening around you but the time it's taken to get from 1 pm to 2 pm has felt like five hours in-between.

I don't usually read other's reviews unless I'm super unsure about what the tags are leading to. But I saw two people saying how average this was and I kind of agree. I love slow-paced stories but there's something about this that felt like nothing's happening despite a good bit of stuff happening between up to chapter three.

Some parts did annoy me but it's the usual bullshit you'll find in a BL. I didn't start feeling fully annoyed by the plot until around chapter four to the point where I already knew how the story was gonna go and contemplated dropping it. I'm more mad rather than annoyed that Takayuki was never held accountable for manipulating Aki for so long and I'm mad that the author basically wrote him getting a slap on the wrist when confronted by the end of it. I wanted rage from Aki. I wanted Takayuki dead.

The only reason I finished this was because I've put too many books on hold for similar annoying reasons and just need to finish something. But, yeah, as a whole, I can already feel that this isn't going to be something I'm going to remember once I'm done reading it.

Also, Takayuki's kind of creepy and not in the way the author meant him to be. He's creepy in an "adult who's been interested in a kid since they were 15 and waited til they're 18 to date them" kind of way. Hmmmm I wonder why...

An age gap? That's five years apart?? At the time of their ages right now??? I honestly don't know how I feel about that since a 20yd Yoshito would've held feelings for a 15yd Tomoe and I'm a little ?!???!!?? about it.

Which kind of sucks for me because I liked how quiet this story is. Between Yoshito's and Tomoe's backstory along with Tomoe's fear of abandonment, this has a "grey rain clouds around 4 pm on a Thursday but it doesn't rain" feeling and I love that.

Just really wish the age gap wasn't so prominent. I also really wish chapter seven didn't start the way it did and instead had this very heavy, still air as they talked. But no. I did appreciate the flashback bits. Still ruined the tension from chapter six immediately for me, though.

Where is the looooooore?!?!? I wanted more Kotofuji loooooooooore!!!! This had me on a frustrating rollercoaster because I wanted this to be a reincarnation story in a way, but instead, we got ghost fucking. Fine. Whatever. But then they showed me an interesting backstory for Kotofuji, got me invested only to see them do nothing with it? I want to see them talk more about Kotofuji’s past, about Tsuguyasu, and more about why he was in pain in the shrine.

It just feels like things aren't being said, we’re seeing it get swept under the rug so they don't have to deal with conversing about it. But when there was a conversation it would happen off-screen most of the time and I wanted to throw my ereader.

Like, not to be ace on main but if these bitches don't start communicating in my romance manga I'm gonna start chainsawing tables.

Update: So I wrote all that around chapter three or four and while a conversation did finally happen, everything I said still stands so I'm not removing all that. I'm actually both confused and angry about how this went. Yes, we got more backstory for Kotofuji. Yes, we got a "let's talk about this" moment. The conversation and explanation were so surface level that I felt tired reading how they didn’t want to be a "burden" to each other while also being a bit confused about Kotofuji and Tsuguyasu's timeline together.

Not even the proposal, one of my favorite things, saved this for me.

I honestly wish this got a physical release because, after that other manga I just read, this was just so much nicer to chill to. It wasn't perfect but I really like how forward Masato was with everything with how he felt and how he recognized the situation. Even though I love slow burns I might’ve been reading too much of them lately or the ones I am reading have felt like four chapters of frustration and one chapter of them actually being a couple. Reading this was kind of freeing, though there were still moments where I didn’t agree with Atsushi’s childish actions. It gave me slight Usagi from Junjou Romantica vibes and, let me tell you, those are horrid vibes.

Still, I was really here for the straightforwardness that I rarely see in BL and I just thought the overall main story was kind of cute. What wasn’t cute was the amount of jealousy they both showed, however. I’ll always and forever hate whenever I find myself saying "People are allowed to have friends! Let people have friends". Again, so tiring to see this level of jealousy.

Btw, the extra story: Sexual harassment? Rape to lovers? Skipped.

I went into this fully knowing this was tagged with “lack of communication” and “misunderstanding”, yet I still wanted to give it a chance because I've read some ok books with those tags. I feel like what pissed me off the most was the level of dodging Kaname was so adamant in doing that he literally felt he wasn’t in the wrong????? My guy, what do you mean "what happened?" this is all literally your fucking fault!

This could've been a completely different story about how Kaname felt their relationship was only built on sex, communicates that to Shima so he wouldn’t feel like his boyfriend is sick of being with him, and then that the rest of the story is just them finding their footing in what they both want in this relationship realizing that what they both want is sex. And that’s ok! Kaname could've said something in chapter three leaving room for the rest of the chapters for them to be on that “sex break” and learn about each other more since that seems to be what Kaname was worried about. Earning the reader that sex scene AFTER the Christmas tree kiss. Instead, we got a scene where Shima was frustrated enough to force himself on Kaname until he cries that it hurt because rape was more important to the author, I guess. I feel like the author really wanted me to see that Christmas tree scene, gasp, and go "awww" and think it's cute. I’m supposed to just forget and forgive the frustration because the Christmas tree kiss was adorable?!

But you know what, I am sad. Sad for Shima that he had to deal with that shit and sad for me that I have to buy this because it's getting officially translated.

Feel kind of bad giving this a 3½ because it wasn't bad, per se, just kind of emotionless. I had four problems with this story that 3 of them can be summed up as: I couldn't feel what the author wanted me to feel from how it was being shown to me.

This might be because of the scan, but there's only so much we can blame on translation here. There were moments that you know you're supposed to feel sad or distressed or excited for them because you're seeing them go through that. I felt like I was supposed to feel something during Suguru’s dream, during the conversation about Yuuma, the kiss, and how Kengo handled it afterwards because the art showed me these moments were impactful but the dialogue didn't help me feel anything.

It felt more like a the lack of communication and low emotional weight created a disconnect for me. Like this one part, I really wanted Kengo to say more after kissing Suguru. A "sorry" is fine and all but I wanted something like how he understood what he did probably wasn't the best move knowing that Suguru still holds very strong feelings for someone else. I just wanted more talking that felt like something. Suguru bringing up the other person was probably the best “emotional weight" this story had but because the dialogue was lacking, it didn't match the strengths of the art leaving me feeling nothing.

Update: Not that old of a review but it got picked up for an English translation so I guess I'll be rereading this one too. Probably won't read the spin off in until Seven Seas state that they're doing that one as well.

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This is the most disappointed I've been about a book that I want to buy, am going to buy, and will read the spin-off of.

It started out really cute, I love both Sanjou and Shouya and how caring Shouya was towards Sanjou. The blog thing was incredibly adorable to me, not sure why. Something about reading Sanjou’s entries was just cute in a way where if I came across someone tumblr or line blog written like that I would absolutely follow.

However, I think around chapter 2 or 3 where we got our first sex scene, it just kind of went downhill? I don't think this story really needed any sex scenes in general but if you just *had* to write one it would've been nice to had held out until chapter 4 or 4.5. Despite how caring Shouya was, neither of them brought up the option of just waiting. Even if it was just for the 1st scene, having Sanjou back out from being scared and Shouya recognizing and respecting that would've been so good! I kinda understand why, though, Sanjou would keep pushing himself to do it because of how his personality is but we really didn't need 4 sex scenes.

I did find out that there's a spin-off that's I'm less interested because I didn't really like Ryuu or Ayumu from the time we had with him. I have a feeling that the author just wrote them together just because. Just because their friends are dating each other so now they have to date each other. I don't think there's a rhyme or reason for them to be dating and while I'm not down for that, I'm gonna read it. Might drop it but I will read it.

Update: Looking back, I still don't know if I actually want to drop this series. I finished this vol but thought about dropping the series because I didn't like it... but apparently it's still on my mind and I'm thinking about reading vol 2 so idk.

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Another book that took me WAY too long to finish. Started reading this in August and didn't finish it til right now (December). It was so boring, there were these weird jump cuts(?) that had me thinking I might have skipped a page or something so it felt confusing at times, and to top that off with some less than stellar translation. I do feel like, if the translation was better, this would be a 3.5 for me. Yeah this was boring, but there were times I would've found this "boring but sweet" here and there. Besides the typos, the way they spoke felt so robotic. Not in a stiff robot way but in a "real people don't talk like this" robotic kind of way and that had a hand in why it took me forever to finish this. I'm not actually sure if I want to continue to the 2nd vol because of that main reason.

And then there's chapter 7 which had a character who was defiantly 18 and the other person defiantly over 20 and I was defiantly not here for that so I skipped it.

Update: Dropping the series as a whole but I did read all of this 2 vol combo. I also don't know the date I read this other than it being 2016 but I wrote as little of what I could remember down for it in 2023. So this is old but I don't really want to update it because I don't want to reread this shit book.

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Maybe it's because I'm 20, maybe it's because I'm not 15 years old anymore, maybe I'm not much more aware of how horrible everything in this book is, but the way how this relationship started bothered me to hell and back. The fact that Nemu just took the harassment (then rape) that Maya was forcing on him just angered me so much. Only the last 7 was actually something good. But throughout the book I was very disgusted by the "rape and blackmail is ok because they love you" narrative this game me.

I need to stop getting excited about things.

Ch 1-2, 5.1: Didn't like this story that much. It had an off-putting start and weird visual jumps that felt like I was skipping pages. I know this book has 2 stories in it but keeping pace with the writing got confusing sometimes. This couple I ended up not giving a shit about by the time ch. 2 ended. Would've loved to have seen more of them getting to know each other so that the end of ch.2 could hit harder. I also didn't like that they did nothing with the main mc's philophobia be a topic of discussion. I thought maybe their extra chapter might go into more but, no, they just decided that the conversation at the end of ch.2 just didn't happen. Like, HADA WHAT DO YOU MEAN??? HE STRAIGHT UP TOLD YOU WHAT HAPPENED WHEN HE WAS A KID AND YOU'RE JUST GONNA FORGET THAT?!

Ch 3-4, 5.2: A a better story but not by much. I liked the characters a little more, they were more interesting to read about. It still had the weird visual jumps and too fast a pacing for me to completely keep track of what's going on, but I actually felt another emotion that wasn't "anger with a side of what?" and that made reading this story a better experience... Slightly. Seeing how this was the story on the cover, I kind of wish this would've been the 1st story we read so I wouldn't've felt like dropping the book 10 times before chapter 2.

I'm actually kinda mad they did that to me at the end. It's such a mid 3/5 stars type of manga, straight up took me from june to august to force myself to finish it. I didn't think this was bad or anything it just didn't get me to care that much about the two main characters but I also didn't want to dnf or put on hold yet another manga so I just sat on it...

There were 2 moments in the last chapter along with the final 2 pages that fucking did me in, I couldn't stop cry laughing.

Update: Uggggh I'm coming back to this... I saw it got an extra story and it's one of my dropped books that have been on my mind so, yeah I might pick this back up.

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I'm both sad and let down. I was gonna update this with more but, really, nothing about this made me want to keep reading and I hate both the main characters.

I hyped myself up too high with this one, lads. I don't regret reading this, I just went into this wanting more... tragedy. More angst, more hurt to balance the comfort. And the comfort wasn't that strong either but was more present than the hurt. I think the main characters are fine, them as a couple are cute, I love re-encounters, and the story was interesting to me. However, doing the timeskip thing where the first 3 chapters are their senior year and the last 3 (+ extra, so 4) is them meeting up again after a couple of years I felt made both halves feel rushed. There's also the weird way they do scene cutting that didn't feel smooth, so it was really weird to follow like an odd video editing cut back and fourth.

I really wanted to see more communication between Koru and Shiraki during those 3 days. I wanted more slow, quiet moments that would've made the sex scene in chapter 3 worth it. Before, you only really saw Shiraki grow a fondness for Kuro, who was in a "he's my friend, I want to protect him" kind of mode. When the first kiss happened, I was hoping for them to talk after that, but instead, it did a cut away. I felt the same way in the second half when Shiraki confessed because now we know that Kuro still had feelings but was scared to pursue that. And when we do get a perfect "pause and talk" moment, they cut away again to a flashback. We eventually got to sit the fuck down and talk through some stuff but even that I felt like it could've been delved deeper, but I was happy we got it.

I did leave this liking this couple. I left this liking this book. I felt myself about to cry during chapters 6 and the extra. But I think I went into this hoping for something like CUT and then being let down because it was close to being as emotional as CUT was.

Can't even go 20 pages without the "we're guys" or "if I were a girl" dialogue tropes. I can't catch a break, huh...

I finished this a good while ago and forgot to update this so I kinda don't remember a lot other than being let down by how wholesome and fluffy I thought this would be. It has its moments, I like the art, but I feel like it only met my expectations about people living together and slowly growing as friends and a couple halfway.

I'm so 50/50 leaning on "let down" with this one. I want to come back and update this with a few more thoughts, though. I do remember that there was this one couple with a pretty big age gap that I did not like.

No, but, like... Why was I bored but at the same time came out of this book wanting an official physical English translation? The story was just ok and the characters were just ok, but it like there were a lot of "just for the plot" moments that didn't feel natural to me. Mainly just the reasoning for them meeting again. It felt forced when he told him he's a photographer and invited him to his exhibition. That could've been done better, something along the lines of them meeting again after he left the hospital and then he invited him. I also didn't feel any cemetery between them and everything revolving around them being together gave off this "because it's a romance story" kind of feel. Like, it felt like I was reading cardboard.

And yet... I want to own this book. I like the way chapters 6 and 7 went. I thought it was really cute so hopefully we'll see an English translation so I can buy it twice.

This was alright but I'm disappointed it was sad enough for me. By the end I kept thinking there should've been more to them as a couple or we've could've gone into their family situations a little bit more. That would've made this a better of a read for me. I also think that last chapter should've been about his mother visiting instead. This whole story has been about rekindling relationships and, by the end, him and his mother have made some progress on talking to each other again.

I don't know, I didn't hate it but there was a lot of repetition in the conflict and they had very little time for rest at the end.

Akiyo and Jessica 😳❤️😳

Ok, ANYWAY! Another book I finished, forgot about, and yet I still very much loved this. Basically, while a lot of how I felt in Hige to Suzu to Shabondama kinda carries over, I ended up liking this a lot more than the previous book. I think it's because, while I didn't like Kiyoshi himself and was able to stomach Rintarou more, Rintarou was much more annoying than Kiyoshi but in a different annoying way. I rank him under Rintarou but I respect him more than Rintarou. But rest assured, I hate them both.

Most importantly though, his and Touya's relationship just hit me different than prev's and that might be because Santa's and Rintarou's story wasn't realized as hard as theirs was. It's hard to put into words but I think what I'm trying to say is: Touya's and Kiyoshi's story as a couple felt more fleshed out but I was left wanting more of them as individuals whereas Santa's and Rintarou's story left me wanting more of them as a couple and individuals.

Update: .... I just realized something. Kiyoshi is just Romano from Hetalia. Like, his whole ass character is 100% Romano and idk how I feel about this.

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Honestly, though, I didn't think I would like this by the end. The start didn't hook me, I didn't care much for Santa and Rintarou, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bored at first. I don't know what happened but, like... I love them. I love them together, I love Rintarou's family, I love the normality of life thay this story gives compared to most bl manga, the dialogue felt like things people actually would say and wasn't filled with all those repeated phrases I keep seeing and grown tired of, and I love Touya. Santa and Touya are definitely my favorites in both stories, I feel for them having to deal with Rintarou and Kiyoshi but I also love how much they love them because... Even though I said I like Rintarou, it's more of a 50/50 thing and Kiyoshi is worst but I still kinda like him. Just less than Rintarou.

I am sad that ymz didn't give us the wedding or a little more revolving around Santa's family. I was very interested in his relationship with his family but we didn't get much on that. Only enough to know the basics but I was really hoping that they would add more to that. At least a wedding photo at the end would've made me cry.

I didn't hate it but I got board with this one and had to force myself to finish reading it. Didn't really like any of the characters, not in a way where they pissed me off but in a way where they're all forgettable.

Ok, maybe Kippei got on my nerve a bit with the way he acted sometimes. Kinda forceful when the guy straight up didn't want to get into a relationship but who cares I guess. He was just pushy but the pushy got a bit disrespectful sometimes.

What in the God damn did I just read? I had a feeling that S&N would be at the bottom of my list but I didn't know that it would piss me off this much. I trusted you, Nagisa.

Nagisa??? Are we ok, Nagisa??? Did you loose the fucking plot and finally remembered what you were writing by the end of chapter 4, Nagisa??????

This was probably my 3nd least favorite Nagisa original so far (I'm reading s&n right now and....), but it's fine. I think it had some cute moments and though the slow burn felt really slow it didn't bother me too much. By the end I was feeling a bit mid on this one but I will be rereading it when it finally come out in English. That being said, I got problems:

1). The story and characters felt a bit Junjo Romantica-y to me and I have mixed feelings about that because I've grown to have mix to negative feeling about Junjo Romantica <3.

2). I know I didn't mind the slower burn in this one, but it was mainly the run-around Sora and Kengo were giving each other that just felt pointless to me.

3). The topic of color blindness felt really half-assed. I feel like we only got 1 hint about it when they were talking about space in chapter 2 (I think) and then Nagisa just completely forgot that it was a topic of discussion until chapter 6 where it felt like it was so forced and rushed because she just remembered that was the point. So that bit actually pissed me off... a lot.

Update: This is just for the 1st vol, not my complete thoughts for the whole series. I plan on rereading it once I give a damn about reading vol 3 because I am Nagisa'd-out.

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Honestly, I really did expect a bit more from this one. I've been on a Nagisa Furuya binge right now and I've noticed they really like slow burn high school romance love confessions (help! we get it! ohmygod!). I also feel like the story in this vol felt empty? Maybe because I kept see this get hyped to hell and back about an emotional slow burn romance that I thought I would get... emotional. Although, because we have 3 vols, having love confession be quick and out of the way so we can get more time with slowly grouping together I'm much more in favor of.

Most of Nagisa's other stuff ended right when they started dating so we don't often get enough time to see them be together. I like that we're getting more time with these two as a couple with this one. I'm interested in continuing this.

I can't believe this isn't the lowest Nagisa original on my list. I kinda found myself bored with this one and it was around this time where I noticed Nagisa likes writing 1 and 1 thing only and that's slow burn high school romance love confessions...

But this one with the weird "is it gay to do gay shit with your bro" thing that they call a "doing a bl" and play it as a joke.......... Huh? This whole story had me cringing so bad. I'm actually afraid to read this again once the official translation comes out but because I know what they're gonna call it and I have to read through that.