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

A young man has a sexual relationship with his cram school teacher in order to explore the meaning of 'like' and 'love', never realizing that this teacher was in an intimate relationship with his regular high school teacher. His intervention provides a means for both teachers to connect with their feelings honestly. An exploration of emotional detachment and the toll it takes on the heart, rendered in beautiful line drawings by Yamagata Satomi.

Two boys, dumped by the same girl, end up drinking together and sharing a bed. The bitter one tests the other for emotional intimacy without realizing that they had made a true connection during that short time. Realistic and keenly observed slice-of-life oneshot by Yamagata Satomi.

Bildungsroman about a young man whose life revolves around the love hotel his late father left behind, the sense of pride he takes in its purpose and the censure he picks up from others. Throw into this mix a gay romance whose premise is based upon an impulsive lie he told to protect a younger brother whom he believed to be in peril from someone he believed to be a predator, and you have an excellent, thoroughly believable story with sympathetic characters who are doing the best with the fate they were dealt. Fantastic story! Definitely a favourite.

Two stories by Konno Keiko. (1) Two childhood friends stay in touch long after leaving school, traveling long distances to stay with each other, brushing off their lovers in order to make time for each other and, yet, never realizing what this says about their true feelings. (2) A man plays at a relationship with a woman until he can make the gay man with whom he's in love commit with his full feelings. Slice-of-life stories, not necessarily sympathetic characters especially in the second story, but realistic.

When Kaoru breaks up with them, his girlfriends complain that he doesn't desire them, and college friend, Masoto, always seems to end up with them. Masoto offers to comfort Kaoru after one such break-up "until the one he really likes" comes along. Kaoru's only issue is that Masoto leaves right after they have sex, but he can't seem to say anything about it. Slow-paced and set up for a classic romance with spare drawings beautifully rendered by Takamiya Azuma, this story is scanlated up to the point of heartbreak. We never learn the final outcome.

Two separate stories: (1) A small and passive high school boy is attracted to a tough and intimidating older student's muscular body, or so he thinks. The older student doesn't mind at first, but then, wants to be liked for himself, not his appearance. (2) A transient good-for-nothing in trouble comes back to the bedroom of a young man's sister, never realizing that the sister has moved on while the young man has moved in. The boy tells him he can stay as long as he does everything the boy tells him to. Realistic slice-of-life stories which are part comedy, part drama, but where nothing particularly sweeping and grand happens, unless you count life changes as sweeping and grand ... which I do, sometimes.

Interior design company president, Sakaki, has his lusty homosexual eyes set on the very heterosexual, but vivacious and personable, Okada — who moderates and liases on behalf of the development corporation which has awarded contracts to Sakaki's firm, but Sakaki has no faith that sexual identity boundaries can be overcome with mere infatuations. Fortunately, Okada is more willing to step into the unknown. Brilliant use of realism by Hidaka Shouko. The adults are mature with real adult problems. The businesses are believable and they actually require specialization and effort and intelligent decisions to succeed. The colleagues are not just cardboard cut-outs but people who have earned respect and trust. The things which happen to these characters are things which happen to concern real people. The issues which concern them concern real people. There's even an excellent related side story in Hatsukoi no Atosaki [http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/hatsukoi_no_atosaki/.]

A drunken confession to a superior colleague and blacked-out post-drunk memories lead to a very itchy case of sexual confusion for poor, sweet Ryuuichi — who was contentedly enjoying his brilliant career as a sales rep at a clothing store and "Practical Stylist" until this messy closet-door-swinging-open thing happened.

Pleasant and slow-paced story about Makoto, a Japanese chef, who finds himself admired by his childhood friend and neighbour, Kota, even though he has taken care of him all his life. Makoto is scared to place too much faith in those feelings. Ayaku's watercolours are stunning.