SMILE
what a nice, soothing story with conflicts about same sex relations that just slaps you in the face. I can't believe this wonderful work was only sold for 18.50, it's so good, the artystyle is unique and the writing is so smooth too. I thought this was gonna end tragic as many of this kind of plots usually do, but thankfully it didn't, and even when they did it's not romanticized, there's implication that they would still need to work for the challenges that they would face, but at least with their decision, they achieved to be a little bit happier and more free. Nice stuff, absolutely recommend this one.
Sign
Plot really stopped midway, around ch 50-60, then it's mostly slice of life stuffs which is fine by me coz the main leads are so adorable. This is actually one of the rare ones where I couldn't care much for the side characters, I like the hetero couple friends and the dark haired secretary, but the rest are just meh, I dunno, the side couple lacked chemistry for me, and the thing with the silver-haired secretary and the chairwoman was just nuanced, not enough weight or tension for me to care whatsoever. Aside from that, top notch pacing from the author and what an absolutely fantastic and healthy dynamic between the main couple, the seme is literally deaf and needs to read lips/do sign language but by golly the way he communicates with his partner blow tons of toxic semes out of the water, uke too is actively making an effort on his part to make the relationship work, and even though he acts childish at times, he reflects on it. It's just so nice seeing them happy together, I think they are beloved by the author themself coz they really do be getting very minimal drama and conflicts but still not end up as wishy washy (which is one of my pet peeves for couples that become lovey dovey after the establishment of relationship). Great read, really nice.
Hatsukoi no Kaeru Shima