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

Chapter 3: Conflict FINALLY arrives. There's no story without conflict. I was skeptical at first about a real life hook-up story between Akira, the mangaka's gay son, and Nanjou, a straight guy, since biography adds a weight that is usually missing from the romance genre (and by weight, I don't mean darkness.) Up to Chapter 3, the fluffy elements made the story too lightweight: Akira's personality borders on Gary Stu-ishness, for example, with no visible signs of emotional depth. Then there is the whole unexpected roommate business, the confession from a man who identifies as straight, the rejection of the playboy, all scenes which would normally be emotionally fraught and filled with pitfalls. But they played off as inconsequential and easy-peasey. It was pleasant enough, and Hamada Kamome did a good job of retro-fitting real life into the limitations of a manga, but I kept waiting for the sound of all those shoes to drop. Now they're starting to, and it's getting interesting.

An impulsive hire turns into love for a chef-in-training and a computer design student away from home for the first time. The story focuses on the sweet aspects of their relationship, and yet, some very serious story conflicts are skirted as though they mean nothing, like intellectual property theft. I was left wondering if that would ever be resolved, but instead, the story jumped to a love triangle conflict, which is far less interesting to me.

The sound effects of sex through a thin-walled apartment lead to an encounter between two male neighbours that changes from hostility to love, as one of them comes to grip with an unrequited crush on his friend at college.

Two gay men cohabitate. Not much else except the problem of repetitive menu syndrome.

A gay man falls for his sexy, but cold and hard-assed, neighbour, who also happens to attend the same business college as he does. There is some tragic backstory in the neighbour's life, which develops further with a pleasant visit with the Mom, but so far, all we see of the bloke in love is that he is very helpful, kind, warm ... and gay. Looking forward to more.

A little L'aissez Faire goes a bit too far in this story when the communication fail is so big that lovers can't even tell each other they love each other, so off they go to jobs in distant cities and having sloppy drunken affairs.

Latest installment in the Warui Series deals with Student Council VP Yukimura's ongoing romance with his childhood friend, who delivers some shocking news, after Mikado warns Yukimura about overindulging in a tsundere temperament.

Mind fuck along with this gratitude hand job?

A variety of character-driven short stories with characters graphed according to common sense and ability to study and how they intermingle. Some interesting results. The drama is tempered with realism, even when the story has a supernatural theme..

Series of very realistic short stories on the theme of unrequited love, usually from a gay young man toward a heterosexual young man who is his friend.