Namimori Miya-chan 250 yen
Huh. Okay. It does sort of seem like a game between them, but there's so much inner dialogue that I'm not sure. Seems like he's afraid of facing some part of himself, and he's realizing that he is indeed a masochist. But maybe something is lost in translation. I'm not sure. This was very short.
Yuki No Shita No Qualia
I have mixed feelings about this one. The art is GORGEOUS, and I love Umi, the uke. I grew to tolerate the seme, and I understood that his behavior was reflective of his own demons and inability to separate his father's behavior from what was happening with Umi. But I don't feel like there was ever a satisfying moment of accountability and remorse for how he behaved. He slapped Umi right after he was assaulted. That really needed to be addressed, and it never was. I did like the catharsis at the end, and the truth about Umi's first love. So sad and heartbreaking, so I'm glad he finds happiness in the end. However, it's so brief, you don't get much time to enjoy it. It's great that the seme realizes now that he's found his other half. And up to that point, I feel like he was primarily asexual, with even his pleased response to seeing gay sex videos coming across as scientific, more than anything. But I think they work together, and though it touched on the depressing realities of being gay in a homophobic world, it was sweet over all. I just want to squeeze Umi forever, though. I love him so much. Four stars instead of five because I find the way a lot of things with the seme were handled to be annoying. At least the end is sweet. (And bonus points for Umi's awesome mom and her perfect response to his confession!)
XXX Allergy
Cute story, cute art. The sex was a bit abrupt, lol. Also, this guy clearly has never owned a rabbit. "They don't bite," since when? XD One of my rabbits used to growl like a demon if you tried to put her back in her cage before she was ready. XD Anyway, it's on the 3.5 scale because it was a little rushed in places. We'll see how I feel after reading the follow up.
Ore no Itoshi no Neet-kun
This review is just for the one shot at the end: Honestly, as sweet as they both are, I kinda want them to stay platonic friends. I like that Haniwa doesn't have an agenda, that he's just protective of his friend, not protective because he wants to bang him. It sucks that it ends there, but I guess I'll just say that Hina finds someone great who's actually gay or bi, and he and Haniwa remain best friends forever. You never see gay characters with a truly awesome, close, straight male friend. I want him to have a happy ending with a guy who loves him back, but someone who actually likes guys. And I hope Itou gets his shit together and stops being a homophobic dick. I didn't really read the manga itself, just this oneshot, since people were raving about it. I'm not as interested in the manga for a number of reasons, but I might read it eventually. I wish there were more stories involving being outed and people dealing with coming out and potential homophobia. So few seem to want to tackle that at all, let alone do it properly. Most of the time it's brushed off as a random insult, or the other characters come around really quickly. This was just a sweet story about a good friendship, and I'd love to see more like it.
Sensei wa Butchozura Shite Yatte Kuru
Reviewing up to chapter four from volume one, for now. At the beginning, I really didn't like this manga. It's weird. It had all of the components of something I'd like in theory, but I really hated that Kaji, for no reason, says he doesn't "bat for that team," then bugs Yura constantly about stuff that isn't his business. If he likes him, why immediately make it seem like he'll never be interested? Like going out of your way to make someone feel awkward. And after that, he was kind of a dick all around, and I just hated that Kaji had the power. I wanted him to get hurt, too. I wanted him to realize his shitty behavior resulted in him not getting what he wants so easily. But I knew from the start I'd never get that satisfaction. I hate that in yaoi, a gay guy swoons the moment a "straight" guy compliments or smiles at him. Like, he hates him, then pow, omgz what if he likes me??? He should be annoyed, like, what, you're a dick to me, and now you think I'd be into you? Blah, it just irks me. I mean, it's better than rape to love, and that "it's okay if it's you" bullshit is still kinda there, but not as bad. I just think it's up there in my top five most hated yaoi tropes, a guy suddenly tolerating this other dude, doing everything he says, fawning over him, when five seconds ago, the guy was just another fuckhead. It's just dumb. It's just so annoying that he hated this guy, but now he's getting all flustered and crap when it's the other guy who should be stressing out. Stop giving him all the power. x_x At any rate, it's a sweet enough turn when they finally come together, and I liked the emotional catharsis with the ex, so I stopped hating it so much. I'm looking forward to see where it all goes when I have the time to read it. And I'm glad it has more than one volume. So much yaoi is purely about the guys getting together, then it ends. Like, an entire volume of misunderstandings and pretending to be straight, sex in the last chapter, then the end. Drives me crazy.
Paraphrase
Golly, mister! You didn't have to have a bunch of guys gang rape me to show you liked me! Next time, just ask me out! Tee hee!
Megumi and Tsugumi
Aw, I really like this so far! Bummer that it's just the one chapter right now. I look forward to updates. I like when omegaverse stuff plays with the roles and stereotypes. It's nice to see an anti-rape seme, especially one who cares so much. I hope the story stays interesting and unusual. EDIT: Had to drop a star because I just can't stomach the whole "rape is okay because I actually ended up liking it" BS. Whatever. I still like the characters, but I wish they hadn't even included that crap. At any rate, it's up to chapter six now, and they finally have feelings for one another. I just hope from here on out, things are good.
Happy Ending Kuso Kurae
Ume, how many straight boys you gonna fuck? Anyway, I liked this at first, but now I don't know how to feel, because I'm not sure how this will go. They're probably going to end up together (and I'd seriously rather Hara had his heart broken while Ume went off with Mori or something), but how are they going to reach that point with everything Hara is doing or has done? They keep playing Ume's legitimate pain for comedy. I don't really get how it's funny to be jerked around like that. Hara calls all the shots, and Ume just goes with it. But the story seems to have this air of self-awareness, so I want to keep going, but I'm really worried it's gonna be one of those weird, yaoiland solutions, where they suddenly at the last minute work it out, and they never really address what a selfish dick Hara is. The thing about that, though, is Hara isn't even really a dick, is he? It seems like he's legitimately mentally challenged. Like, is he mentally delayed, maybe? He literally always has the same expression, no matter what's happening, and he acts entirely on impulse without being considerate of other people's emotions, and he's not coming from a malicious place. It seems like he's either mentally challenged or on the autism spectrum. Either way, they portray him in such an odd way, I feel like it can't be accidental, but who knows. As of chapter three, I'm not sure what to expect. Bring more Mori, though! I'm sick of Ume dancing around this crap.
Yasaotoko to Sadistic
This was very sweet. Not perfect, but I liked the concept of a bully going after the guy he bullied. I'd like to see more stuff like that. The uptight uke kind of took away some of the fun for me, since I'm not really into the rigid, has-to-be-provoked-over-and-over type. I think he was right to not forgive his bully and start dating him immediately, but he was pretty uptight in his life in general. At any rate, I would have liked to have seen more of them when they were younger, but it was an interesting story. The stalking stuff was a bit more intriguing, too. That's okay, though. I'm glad they got their happy ending.
Rakka