TerracottaPie's manga / #Classmates(4)

Story 1 (ch1-4/6): A high schooler who's obsessed with techno music goes to a concert and finds out that his classmate is a DJ there. They flirt a bit and start talking at school. Their relationship starts as a sex thing and develops from there. Story 2: A kid (22) is thrown out of foster care and gets sent to live with a relative (40). He never received kindness so he resorts to using his body so that strangers don't mistreat him. He shows clear signs of abuse. Of course since this is yaoi, the older relative starts taking advantage of him in the name of sympathy. The first story had potential but it was rushed. The bottom was very clearly groomed by his ex (30s) when he was a teenager. Of course this is never addressed and is treated like it's normal. Not to mention the sinister context of 1) the guy was alone in a foreign country to study so he is especially vulnerable, 2) the "ex" who groomed him was his mentor, 3) he shaved his pubes possibly to give him an even more of a childish look (which gets played out for laughs later). Other than that, I didn't feel like the relationship was genuine. It develops so fast from classmates to sex friends to lovers, and I don't see how that happened. The bottom doesn't seem invested in the relationship to me and his communication is poor. He's also 20 while the top is still a minor. Such a shame cause the bottom is gorgeous. The second story is bad for obvious reasons. Had potential but still sucks, clunky translation: 2/5. (2017-20).

Haruki has had a crush on Ryusuke for a long time, but when a girl starts getting closer to Ryusuke, Haruki confesses for fear of losing his chance. School life story that focuses on the boring parts of school: classes, lab experiments... Girls are only there to create conflict or to fawn over the MCs. Very typical story: high school confession, date at the movies, hand holding and sneaky kisses in an empty alleyway, sex in the bedroom, conflict, resolution. I dislike Haruki. I don't care if he's gay or has struggled with his feelings. When your boyfriend tells someone that he can't be with them because he loves you, you don't proceed to lecture him on being "normal" or being "like that" then smack him with your bag. "YoU wEreN't GaY tO bEgIn WiTh" dude stfu. Ryusuke is likable enough at least. Good if you're looking for a short, familiar light read but not for me: 2/5. (2019).

Tanaka and Nakata's similarities don't stop at their names. Their height, music tastes, and fashion sense all align, not to mention the idiosyncrasies and eccentricities they share. But are they truly as similar as they seem? This was a good read. The story is well-structured; the chapters follow the cycle of the seasons, coming full circle by the end, with each season’s themes—spring for love, winter for rejection—mirroring the characters' emotional arcs. I appreciate the story's ambivalence. It doesn't force a romance that wouldn't make sense at that point in the narrative. The characters' struggles with understanding love are realistic. Whether they’re genuinely in love, simply enamoured with the idea of puppy love and high school romance, or obsessed with being similar to each other in every way is left unclear. I also like how the girls are fully realised characters with their own interests, aspirations, and insecurities, rather than being the typical school girls in BL whose sole purpose is to validate the protagonists’ appeal or stir up romantic tension (though they do serve the latter role here to some degree). I like how the boys' similarities are more complex and less organic than they first appear, a point reinforced beautifully by the cyclical structure of the story. Needless to say there's a lot to like about this one, but I'm deducting a star because it didn't quite pull me in emotionally, not as much as it could have: 4.5/5. (2020).