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Series of short stories. The first deals with a young man, Kou, who develops a crush on his gay neighbour, Hiroya, a salary man, and actively engages in helping him sort things out, just as he suspects Hiroya has fallen for his even more capable brother. The second two stories are interconnected school-life yaois, both involving idiot couples. But they are very endearing because Tenzen Momoko knows how to craft a good tale!
A series of sweet oneshots with perfectly realized characters, each dealing with the discovery and confession of feelings. The settings range from schools to clubs to cafés, and competitiveness is a frequent theme. The art is simple, but clear. This is definitely a series worth reading again.
Ogeretsu Tanaka is becoming one of my favourite mangakas for her beautiful artwork and character-centered stories. Here, the main character is toxic, and his unfortunate target is a simple and inept young man with few social graces. It's a brilliant set up and I can hardly wait to see how it pans out, although it also makes me feel afraid for the target.
A surprising story about a mangaka with stellar talent in his field, but complete ineptitude in everything else, and his faithful friend who diligently cares for him, until the friend realizes his motives may be less pure and altruistic than he originally believed. Yamimaru Enjin's story may not seem that subtle on the surface, but she depicts the principle characters with so much realism and sensitivity, it becomes more complicated and exciting, especially with the tragedy in these men's past.
Two stories about men plagued with insecurity about their sexuality. (1) Iizuka gets drunk, blacks out and, on the morning after, suspects he said some deeply personal things to his boss, who suddenly starts treating him strangely. (2) A lonely stage carpenter longing for companionship has his wishes fulfilled when he looks after a unsupervised little girl at night on a crowded Tokyo street, and she leads him to her father. As usual, Suzuki Tsuta's stories are realistic and engaging.
The first story is a prequel to Kare No Barairo No Jinsei where a gay man has trouble believing that an otherwise straight man might fall for him. In the second story, a man is shaken by the idea of the world's end. One loose end he cleans up is to reconnect with a former schoolmate with whom he was infatuated, but who is now depressed and at a standstill, re-igniting the man's desire to take care of himself. Hideyoshiko's stories move slowly and carefully, but are rewarding and realistic.
A sequel to Ringo ni Hachimitsu, Hideyoshiko's story continues of the courtship and early relationship between Natsuke and Komano two gay college men. Natsuke has always known he was gay, and Komano is a heterosexual who is only gay for Natsuke. It shows their insecurities, particularly Natsuke's, who was badly used by selfish and closeted lovers. Hideyoshiko's stories are quiet and calm, with nothing extreme ever happening, but work like a slow boil to passion.
Two boys with wildly different personalities meet at school over a musical project, connect and go through their last year of high school, with all its incumbent transitions, together. Sweet, slow and clear.
A series of vignettes continuing the relationship started in Doukyuusei dealing with illness in the family, graduation and moving forward in life in spite of the fear that distance and personal differences brings. Very mature and realistic story, which also happens to be quite romantic and pure.
The sweet and fulfilling story of two people who, having been betrayed by previous lovers, find comfort and kindness in each other. Fluffy without being cloying.
Messages
I followed you on my old account that I have since deleted years ago and just realized after many years that I didn’t follow you on this one.I always loved your comments and recommendations. I noticed it has been 6 years (approximately) since you’ve commented or updated. I hope wherever you are you’re happy and doing well! Time moves so fast. (づ￣ ³￣)づ
Almost all of your recommendations are my favorites. Some are really old ones I read before that I'm so excited to read it all over again. They all actually have good plots unlike most mangas these days with the rape/rapist theme. TY !!!!
(づ￣ ³￣)づ
I don't know why I didn't peruse this list of yours sooner; I'd seen it pop up on several pieces I've really liked. I have read quite a few on here, but I am adding several to my list for future reading. Some of the ones on here that I've already read I'm glad to see are here, because some of them are quite underrated.
Always love your commentaries, I look for them usually in mangas to remind myself if I've read the manga already but from a different site :) If you don't mind, I recommend Dog Style and Haru wo Daite Ita(very long)! I don't know if you'll like the art style but the plot is good!
Thank you for your charming and encouraging message. This will date me, but the last time I read Haru wo Daite Ita, it was only half-finished and, as I kept losing track of the characters and plot-points between releases, I decided to wait until the manga was completed before coming back. Your little poke is a good reminder that it's time to revisit the story and finish reading it. I try not to post unfinished manga on my favourites list (sometimes, I forget), but this one has been finished for awhile.
This list is great! Thank you very much! btw, your comments are great too. You always point something out about the mangas you commented on, until I found myself following your recommendations.. hehe..
I just noticed your comment today. Sorry for taking so long to respond. Thanks for the lovely comment. I hope you're having a happy new year.
Dear I Thot You Was a Toad, I absolutely love this list and thank you for making it! Whenever I'm interested in reading a potential manga, I always look in the comments section. As soon as I see your username, I know that the manga will be fantastic. I think you're a good critic and I admire you and respect your passion. I always like to think of all the different kinds of people who frequent this website. In the end, I think we're all just people who care about the world. I think you're a wonderful lady (unless you are actually male, in which case I apologize.) Sorry if this was all a bit blunt and strange; thanks again! (▰˘◡˘▰)
That's a very sweet letter, and lovely to receive. If my name is in the comments, though, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good manga, because I'm just as inclined to say something's awful if I think it stinks. I am quite (*cough*) passionate about some issues, yes ... although less tactful people just say I'm an opinionated hothead, and I reckon that's pretty accurate, too. Thing is, people know what they think and feel if they really look inside, and they need to express that sort of stuff because that's the only way to be true to oneself. It isn't always going to go over well. People can't even agree whether cats or dogs are cute (both, as far as I'm concerned.) Might as well say it. Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you like my list. It's entirely due to the talents of the various mangaka featured on it that I even have one. They are the real people to thank! Cheers.
I always ALWAYS get jealous of your comments & reviews!! How do you squeeze in the summary & your comments with only a few but highly informative lines?? I can't help but love your comments from the bottom of my heart. They inspire me to keep improving my reviews which is nothing compared to yours. Thank you. Hope to see more from you :)
Thanks for your kind comment. I had to laugh because quite a few of my reviews are really long-winded, and I know some readers find that irritating. I try to say everything I need to say in order to remind myself of what I've already read, though, and why I did or didn't like it. The summaries that get posted don't always do that for me, and for quite a long time, the people who uploaded manga onto this reader site didn't even bother posting a summary. Now they've started including very good notes, which leaves me free to explore other themes. Basically, though, that's the main reason I write them.
Also, a good friend of mine, a teacher, told me that the best way to remember something is to re-frame it in your own words. So, I want to encourage you to continue writing your own summaries! You have your own way of saying things and your own outlook which I won't necessarily key into.
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. Of course everyone has their own writing style. Mine are mostly simple details, points i liked about the manga & a bit jumbled. I do get happy when other people like it. So never once , have i thought about changing it, but there's always room for improvement :)
I was here so I thought I'd share...when I hit reccomend it said it was "optical" I assume it meant optional lol
Great list Toad :D
Thank you. I think so, too, thanks to all the mangakas who actually wrote these stories.
Weird, but the tally of people who have hit "recommend" hasn't changed at all.
hmmmm that is weird.
maybe I recommended it already and I have a mind like a sieve...cause I stalked this list when I was new to manga...
In either case, thanks!
Lol your welcome heh
Your descriptions are so well written 0_0
English was my worst subject EVAH so my descriptions are all unintellectual things like
"AAGGGGHHHH OMG ITS SO CUTE
LIKE
OMG
READ IT
JUST READ IT"
or something along those lines
Cheers, BloodLust!
(I kind of wish I was able to squee and flail more, without sounding like a complete wally, that is. Apart from keeping my lists, my comments tend to be a bit dry, "Oh, that was very good. Bravo!" --- Like the comments of someone who requires orthodontic equipment to smile.)
i need that irl but online i think im able to express my emotions pretty clearly through the use of not-very-intellectual words and emojis
Emojis are wonderful shorthand. (〜￣△￣)〜
I finally dropped by x) Some of old manga I used to read found in this list.. THANK YOU! you also make good review.. and, seems like we have similar taste (after I check on your fave list) this is the 2nd list I love after Kathy x) Thank you!
I like Kathy's list, too, and although I think the artwork has gotten better recently, some of the old yaoi stories can't be beaten. Plus, there are dozens and dozens of people collecting all the newest stories, so it's nice to have collections that aren't all the same.
I like your list. I thought if someone was going to write such a well thought out blurb, then they must have great taste about their yaoi. I wasn't wrong.
Thanks, Froggyis. This comment made my day. Welcome to my work-in-progress.