But the last three manga I've read by this mangaka have felt slapped together. The writing is haphazard and characters come and go like flitting hummingbirds. The art isn't even all that phenomenal. In the final story of this manga, the Haruhiko character was the most confusing. His development seemed to be there, but what we're told has nothing to do with the story. Then, he hooks up with a second actor. Question: How the hell does he have access to first and second tier actors as a homeless person? It seems silly to ask this of a fictional story, but you don't write characters that just fall out of the sky. Actually, if he'd fallen out of the sky, his appearance would have been acceptable. Haru just appears out of nowhere and is now screwing his former owner's biggest rival. WTF? How? THEN he's suddenly a manager? Again, HOW?! It's one thing to overlook secondary characters and their development, but this is a PROTAGONIST! Sorry, but this is just slipshod writing and half baked storytelling.
The mom and all the funny lines and scenes, but I am confuse...
What the hell was Hajime doing at a "marriage agency" and what person in their right mind wants a "contract" like being a beard for a total stranger? Unless it's a long con and she planned to screw him like a $2 whore in a divorce. The whole "fiancé" scene passed so hastily and was written so poorly that it felt like it didn't fit into the rest of the story. Honestly, it left a really bad taste in my mouth for the remainder of the story. Suddenly, all the confidence I felt in Hajime's love was tossed aside and replaced with distrust and dislike for the character. When he left after high school, that can be passed off as the cowardice of youth, but he planned to leave Keisuke, marry some skank and NEVER return Keisuke's calls because he feared what others think?! Seriously? Do I have that right? I get the fear, but marrying on the sly and marrying to save face? He went from awesome guy who returned to his hometown in search of his former lover, to obnoxiously selfish douche nozzle in less than a chapter. If a mangaka gets me to hate a character, usually I consider that good storytelling, but in this case, the mangaka managed to make me hate the PROTAGONIST I'm supposed to be rooting for! At that moment, the story was a lost cause to me.
Wait you completely misunderstood. The girl was lesbian. She was marrying the main guy just to please society and make life easier. The main guy would also benefit from that. Nothing wrong with that.
Seriously? I totally missed that! Gonna have reread it.
Wait. Sorry. On second thought, and referring to my original comment, if something that significant was either misread, misunderstood or missed completely, my point about the scene being hasty and poorly written still stands. Hajime disappeared and remained "missing", without contact. During that time, he approached a marriage agency. Trust me when I tell you that Japan does not list "beard" as a relationship preference at a marriage agency. Hajime was already in denial. Coming out to some chick he met for the purpose of marrying would have been ludicrously out of character. Also, if "lil' miss lesbian" was only playing beard, why would she wedge herself between her "contract" partner and his man? If her knowledge of her role as a beard was true, she would have been in breech of their agreement. A beard does not have the privileges of a girlfriend or wife. They are a cover only. I've played that role for friends in the past. The relationship is an act and you don't interfere with what the other person does. You're a showpiece, you go to family or business gatherings and "play" spouse. Who you sleep with and who your partner sleeps with is of no concern to either party. Therefore, the "lesbian beard" character was poorly written and not researched or thought through at all. She was portrayed as a desperate hetero trying to sink her claws into a man, not as an understanding fellow homosexual trying to help out. That said, I stand by my original comment and opinion.
I mean, thats how she was portrayed in the beginning but later she says she did that because of concern. Yeah i guess she hitting him was a little extra but that dramatism is part of manga. Im not saying i LOVED that plot of the fiance but it wasnt bad enough to hate. Later while talking to the guy from the countryside she says that if she was him she wouldve been careful because he can go back to his home in the country, but the city boy will have to face the consequences of being outed HAD someone recognized him when they were kissing or whatever
So essentially she was trying to protect the city boy from a possibly selfish boyfriend
But that still doesn't change the fact that he went to a marriage agency....
But he didn't go to the marriage interview willingly? It was stated that he rejected her. He had no intention of marrying. She was simply interested in him for reasons other than romance.
Youre forgetting the fact that he was kissed in public. If she wouldnt have reacted that way and it went public their fake relationship would be revealed and he would have been outed as gay as well. By acting the way she did she kept up appearences by saying he was attacked by a drunk.
It wasn't any of her business who or what his boyfriend was like. Do you make it a habit to involve yourself in the romances of every person you meet? I hope not. That would make you a terribly annoying busybody.
He went to the matchmaker of his own volition. He was being a coward and running away from his sexuality and his lover. But you are right, she was interested in him even after he rejected her.
Do you punch strangers who kiss people you know and claim you are their fianceé? Especially after you were rejected by the person you know? If you do, you have my sympathy. You won't be making friends or influencing lovers with that attitude. Whether he was kissed in public or not, she was over the line in interfering. It was none of her business.
Ack! Please ignore my last reply to you. I didn't realize we'd already discussed this and I thought you were another random commentator. I was rude to you and I apologize. I still stand by my opinion of the writing and even the idea that she had any right to interfere, but being rude to you was unnecessary. I hope you can accept my apology.
I have no idea as to what youre talking aboutlol ive completely forgotten the manga
LOL Don't feel bad. I had to reread the damn thing just to respond to others. It wasn't any better the second time. Hahaha.
Some I just adore and some I can do without. This... this is definitely the latter. Perhaps it was an earlier attempt, their first maybe. The plot is dull, the characters are not likeable, the development was lacking and the conflicts are cliché and contrived. Then sensei writes something like "The Lion Never Refuses" and I can't help but wonder if this is really the same mangaka. The stories are so vastly different in tone and quality. The Lion Never Refuses has a smooth, sweet plot with adorably likable characters and a very positive LGBT tone. This manga is the exact opposite. I'll stick with sensei's later and better works.
I loved "The Lion Never Refuses" for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which is the acceptance for their relationship by the one guy's dad. (I don't remember names.)
For this one... I didn't *mind* the nurse/student, but the dad/secretary annoys the shit out of me. I get "tsundere" (though they get old after a while) but when they never get out of that, it makes me nuts and the dad is just an ASS. Ugh.
I totally get that though. Some of my first, and therefore favorite, yaoi is by Fujisaki Kou sensei. Objectively speaking, her stories are compelling, but her art style makes all her characters interchangeable. Not to mention that her perspective (head vs body sizes) is often kattywampus (way off). Yet none of that would ever change the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I read her works. They hold a special place, just as you said.
This is one of my favorite stories from this mangaka. The characters are both admirable and relatable and the acceptance shown for the couple is encouraging and heartwarming. The conflicts deal more with "relationship troubles" than with the topic of homosexuality, which means the story lacks the "being homosexual is bad/troublesome" vibe. I understand clearly that self acceptance is a big issue when a person is homosexual, but I also feel that too many manga focus solely on that to drive their story. I also think that it's easier to accept yourself if you're not always falsely reminded that you're, in some way, "abnormal" or "wrong". This manga takes a different approach, the story simply never "goes there". Self acceptance by the characters is a given. This, I believe, makes it easier for readers to also simply accept the characters for who they are... or who they're written to be. In conclusion, this is well written manga with more positive LGBT messages than negative, loveable characters and a sweet story line. Definitely a favorite for me.
Definitly I don't mind stories tackling the problems that gay couples faces but it would be good If there are more mangas just about the relationship itself. It's refreshing and heartwarming.
Completely agree! Now if we could also step away from the hetero-normalization of homosexual relationships in yaoi/BL manga, that would be perfect!
Ya this manga is my favorite,, I liked ur comment after reading only the first two lines and I agree with u the mangaka is so amazing and very talented,, I read some of her other mangas and I liked it a lot but didn't know it all belonged to the same author till reading this one .. I hope we see more creative, different and interesting yaoi mangas like this one in the future
But the dialogue was stilted and choppy. There wasn't enough character background or development to make the use of ellipses a viable idea. How can a reader fill in the blanks when they don't know jack or shit about a character? I'm not sure if it was translation or writing, but most of the first and second chapters were hard to figure out. I could grasp the basic idea of what was going on, but the finer details were lost. So, the story, to me, felt like: "There's these two guys and they kiss at school, I don't know why, but they do. Then one gets feelings, but I don't know which one, and then the other gets feelings too. One asks the other out, but I don't know which one, and the other wavers and isn't sure. A girl was being kissed and then another girl asks one out. It's all really confusing, but they end up in love. Yay!" It felt like I was being told the plot to Blade Runner by a five year old. The second story was better, but only marginally.
The art is a little busy, but it kinda works for the pace of the story. It keeps your eyes moving from frame to frame quickly, making the pace more exciting. Without it, this would just be another typical yaoi. I liked that the characters were hesitant, but no so overly hesitant that it made the story dull. Once they decided to be together, they didn't waffle about it. I'm not a fan of typical yaoi comedy and this was in no way really typical. It had a typical story line, but it lacked annoying cockblocking, "position fights" and the overuse of meddling secondary characters. Even Tachibana wasn't too meddlesome. However, the very best part was the mother. Acceptance and a desire to see her son happy was the cherry on the whipped cream, on the icing of this cake of a manga.
"Aww" out loud! So much fluff I might just suffocate. If you're in need of a "healing" kind of manga, this is a good choice.
The first few stories were the best in terms of their depth and development, but the remaining stories were good for their sex scenes and fetish content. Good marketing strategy, draw the reader in with good story lines and then hit them with the kinky stuff once they're in too deep. I'm a perv so I loved it all. The priest story was my least favorite, but not because it wasn't good. I just have an aversion to priests. Bad childhood experiences. The story itself was well done though. I liked that there was no explanation for the "changing faces". It maintained the mystery and enhanced the fantasy throughout the chapters. I also enjoyed seeing the therapist Kain when he was "off work" with his café owner friend. They would have made a good chapter or spin off. The theme for this manga also intrigued me: Having the courage to open your own heart and look inside empowers and frees you to achieve your desires. I happen to believe this is true. So, it was a nice theme to see.
Being able to read this completed and all the way through made me happy, super happy. Saya is just so adorable I wanna hug him to death and Yuusuke is so honest, sexy and sincere. He's Saya's hero, his superhero. If I read this a thousand more times I'll still love it as much as I do this time. I need to make sure this is in my favorites list.
NOOOO O MISSCLICKED!
This is one of my favourites, the story is so realistic, hot yet sweet. 100% agree with you
No problem! I've done it myself on several occasions. I wish the like and dislike buttons were on opposite sides of the page. Small screens make it even worse.
To compose myself enough to continue reading after the "feeding scene" where Nagi jabbed the spoon to the back of Riku's throat and made him puke! I was in tears from laughing. I have no idea why that struck me as so hilarious, but it did. All the chibi version panels were adorably hilarious as well. This manga was funny enough to make me tear up with laughter and touching enough to make me tear up with sadness and joy for this idiot couple. This really was too cute.