Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Adorable(407)

A sweet, feel good style story. Irie-san has sworn off straight guys and meets the very touchy-feely Kousuke-kun at a nearby cafe. The two strike up a friendship and Irie becomes increasingly aware of his new friends awkward attempts at flirting. Did I mention awkward? Because that is the least of the uncomfortable feelings when Irie-san makes a move on Kousuke, only to find out that the guy he was falling for wasn’t flirting with him. He wasn’t even gay. He was simply cursed with being very klutzy. So the rest of this story follows what happens when a vulnerable gay man and a klutzy straight guy negotiate a relationship. Will it be friends? Or are they perfect for each other as lovers?

I love the story and movie of Daddy Long Legs, and can’t resist other authors making their own versions. This is the second yaoi with this theme I have stumbled upon. I liked the story between Aoi and the chancellor. Aoi was a beautiful boy with a case of hero worship for the benefactor who helped him after his parents died. They have a shared past that comes to light in the story, and when Aoi turns 16 he meets his ‘Daddy Long Legs’, the 29 year old chancellor. I enjoy their relationship, it’s a little turbulent with a busy business man and a teenager. Aoi has some insecurities and feelings of inadequacy to work through, but his lover is patient and understanding (as well as very possessive) and the two work through each problem to become a stronger couple. The ending is super sweet, looking at them when Aoi is a working adult still dealing with his wonderfully perverted and demanding seme.

Such a hot yakuza story where the uke, Tatsume, is a strong guy not about to be easily pushed around by anybody. I loved Yoshimune and his relentless pursuit of Tatsume. The yakuza boss was ruthless but cute, determined and dangerous and you knew it would be inevitable for Tatsume to resist him for long. Definitely one of the better yakuza stories I have read (though it didn’t delve too deeply into a crime lord lifestyle) and that probably comes down to how strong and likeable Tatsume was and his respect for women (inspired by his mum) was a nice change too.

A relationship between cousins who have grown up together only to fall for each other along the way. Supermodel Kai is in relentless pursuit of his cousin Nanami, but Nanami is held back from confessing his own feelings by concern over upsetting his aunt and uncle. When these two finally get on the same page there remain adjustments and insecurities to be managed for the stoic Nanami and his beautiful cousin.

One shots with some traditional tropes but something special in the delivery. I enjoy one shots when you need a quick escape into fantasy without getting bogged down in anything too heavy and these worked for me. 1. The new neighbour is oddly seductive and friendly...and also the boss on a new project. The younger uke in this story gets metaphorical whiplash learning to deal with the coldly professional man vs the warmly fun private man that was his new neighbour. All while finding himself oddly attracted. The seme in this was harder to warm up to because his professional self was really quite cold. But he gave warm praise where it was earned and was happy to help the uke be his best professionally. He wasn’t the sort to like mixing private and work life so the way the uke overcame that was a laugh. 2. Yuuichi nii-chan and Azusa’s story was one I liked more. Friends for years, the older Yuuichi has been waiting for his friend to grow up enough to become his lover as well as his friend. Azusa tends to spark up at his friend these days, annoyed at his constant girlfriends and player lifestyle. But Yuuichi has his sights firmly set on his friend and Azusa starts to realize why he gets so flustered by the guy he has always looked up to. I liked both characters and the wicked look that Yuuichi often had was rather sexy. 3. Ryou-kun is an awkwardly shy guy scouted by makeup artist Marikawa-san as a model. In this fast paced story the self deprecating Ryou-kun wants the beautiful Marikawa-san to like him for who he is, even as he gains confidence under the guidance of the older man. I liked this story for the way Ryou always seemed to gaze longingly at Marikawa and how Marikawa held himself back, but would look at his hand that had cupped the uke’s chin after he left. Subtle things like that really work for me. It made the eventual move by Marikawa to no longer hold back carry an extra spark of intensity that is hard to achieve in a oneshot. 4. Childhood friends Ayase and Suga reunite after 3 years apart and a confession that took the younger Ayase by surprise and left him speechless. A confession after graduation that he never got to respond to because his friend left for Tokyo the next day. Now Suga is back in town and seeking Ayusa. And Ayusa has years of heartache and unvoiced hurt that he wants to say, along with his own feelings of love. But even now, he seems unable to grasp a moments opportunity to have that important discussion with the friend he still loves. This is a story that has so much wasted time and opportunity that it frustrates you to read. But I figure it would have frustrated both boys even more and I liked how it finally turned out. 5. This story had an old trope of amnesia where Fujihara had an accident only to lose memory of everyone but his friend, Kouji. He returns from the dead to kiss the stunned Kouji and lay a relentless pursuit on his friend. There was an odd mix of ruthlessness and vulnerability in Fuji. The uke, Kouji, was strong willed and resistant, but he had obvious moments of softness for his friend as he dealt with his confused feelings. Like the other stories, this was fast paced because it was a oneshot, but I enjoyed their crazy ride to facing the truth and being a couple.

Loved both these stories, but the 3 friends was my favourite by far. Eiji has been the object of his 2 childhood friends romantic attention since they were little. Haruki-kun and Ikumi-kun are Eiji’s best friends but when a girl shows an interest in Eiji, his friends let him know that they aren’t joking when they say they love him, and he needs to choose one of them. What I loved about this story was that it was impossible to choose one friend over the other, and that neither Haruki nor Ikumi were sexually interested in each other but were friendly rivals with enough shared history to work together to win Eiji. I loved their competitiveness and how that was put aside for Eiji. I thought the story was sweet, funny and hot at the same time. I loved all the MCs. The second story was fantastic with an adorable, puppy like kouhai and his bossy senpai falling for each other at work. I loved how the irresistible cuteness each saw in the other had some interesting consequences!

Beyond brilliant! The art, the story, the characters. Amazing!

Two fantastic stories with flawed, imperfect characters. The first pair, Hiro and Natsuo, were once classmates in high school. Hiro was painfully introverted and insecure about himself while Natsuo was a flashy delinquent with terrible fashion sense. Hiro felt intimidated by the puppy like delinquent and blamed him for ruining his school life. Years later they meet at the workplace of the totally madeover Hiro and he plans for some long dreamt of revenge. This pair were adorable but it was hard to watch Natsuo get hurt by Hiro’s plot. My heart hurt in empathy. The second couple, almond eyed and intimidating Hayashida and flashy and popular Shuuna were sex friends. Hayashida was closed off to forming a close, emotional bond because of his history of violence in his younger years. But Shuuna wanted to make the man he was falling for feel free to laugh again in his presence. This story was so good because the MC was a flawed character and basically hated himself for his previous actions. It was good to see that the full seriousness of his actions were something he acknowledged and condemned, but I was still happy he found someone to love.

A cute little oneshot, fast paced for the reader but the characters had known each other for a while

Such a surprisingly adorable story! Both characters were irresistible in their own way with the short yet tough and feisty uke and the 190cm tall seme who adores him (and manages that temper incredibly well!).