I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #slice of life(123)

Now that their college students days are finishing, Haru thinks that his friendship with Kazushi, a friendship which began in early childhood, will continue to coast along at a platonic level indefinitely, so it's a crushing shock when Kazushi kisses him and confesses. At first, Haru reacts poorly, but when he sees Kazushi leaving him behind, he is overwhelmed by unrealized feelings. Realistic and smart, this is quite a good story about boys grappling with adulthood and self-realization.

Two schoolboys who feel uneasy whenever they are out of each other's sights for prolonged periods of time, and what that entails.

The trials and tribs of Tsuji, airhead, and Aizawa, the stoic, as they chart the course of gay relationship after lifelong friendship. Hilarious line: "I am sad that this makes me so happy." (Just read it and find out why.) Asou Kai is very perceptive at emotional content and behaviour. It makes for lively and interesting stories. Bonus, her artwork is attractive, too.

This compilation has a lot more going on under the surface than it seems. The first story appears to be the record of a series of squabbles between the insecure uke, Kan-chan, and his overly confident lover, Osamu, but turns out to be an elody to the psychological after-effects of death, grief, loss and abandonment, with hints of suicide. I like the underlying profoundness, which makes up for a certain pedestrian quality to Meiji Kanako's art. The second story tackles the same themes, but with a man whose parents abandoned him as a child, and the measures he takes to ensure he is never alone, but never loved. These stories are very bleak and, yet, if you can move past the melancholia, so beautiful and rich.

College classmates, Ozawa and Yasunao, befriend each other over a shared love of classical music, and soon that friendship turns sexual. But Ozawa has a tragedy in his past that consumes him with guilt, regrets and grief, and he won't allow his relationship with Yasunao to move forward. This is the story of how Yasunao slowly breaks through that wall, rendered in Asou Kai's lovely drawings.

Primarily about the relationship which develops between Mitsu, an overly sensitive young man with a tendency to withhold his self-expression to the point that misunderstandings often crop up, and Tsuburaya, a historical novelist who gets so busy that he cannot look after himself, against the background of a boarding house with roommate who care for each other, and school chums who want to create friendships. Mainly an interesting character study and more shounen ai than yaoi.

Begins with a quick Cinderella story about how "Moody Pillar", a young man with a bad haircut and a broken heart wanders into a barbershop and gets the hairstyle that transforms his life. This story is worth reading for the Greek Chorus of old men alone.

Light realistic stories about various themes. (1) A young man is pursued by his boss, upon whom he once had a crush, but who he wants to discourage as he is now married. A gay neighbour intervenes, but won't step into the gap to replace him, even though the young man is just his type and is more than willing. (2) A mysterious loner of a boss and the young man who has a crush on him and discovers his extreme domestic habits. (3) A company secretary and the president's son, forced to share an apartment under extreme circumstances. (4) The secret language of flowers and a young man's love for a man he once saw in his youth.

Snips, snaps and puppy dog tails, indeed. The realism in this one is taken too far in fine details and character elements, but not far enough in plot structures or ligaments and other connecting tissues. Linear-but-nonlinear progression in that it's sequential time, but there is no connection between the story elements. I think the most revealing moment was the part where the old woman (who's she?) character tells her guest, "he's wary of strong people" (same could be said of the story) but, honestly, a story needs some strength and structure, or it just flitters away on the random track. Nothing romantic here, yet. Nice art, though. It remains to be seen if this story goes anywhere.