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Gorgeous and meticulously detailed drawings reminiscent of scientific illustrations! Aoi Aki marries the supernatural to science fiction and the uncanny to realism with such ease and originality, one leaves the manga half-expecting magical events to materialize in ordinary life. The story is simplicity itself: Kasama and Takagi share a special clairvoyance, the ability to see the etheric bodies of ancient fossils, and this connection is taken to a new limit by Takagi, but is it a step too far?
Midori, a crow youkai, needs sexual energy to live, and it seems that Hinata is his prey. But Midori isn't about to force the issue.
Surfy boyz. A lighter-than-air slice of life involving two boys from the same school who can't resist the waves or each other.
Two separate stories. (2) Fave on page 106: The story where the one roommate jumps out a window and sprains his ankle in order to avoid seeing the roommate he thinks rejected him. Two young men share a college dorm, but since one has been harbouring a secret crush on the other throughout their stay, he is anxious to find his own place. The other roommate is reluctant to let him.
Hotaro, a self-absorbed graphic designer, is roped into cleaning up his scruffy nerd of a boss, Honjou, so he will be more presentable for matchmaking. He certainly doesn't expect to fall for him, but once he does, Honjou's personal integrity about love and commitment doesn't suit Hotaro, who prefers to keep things casual. Fate and a fresh rival push the issue. Will Hotaro change, or lose Honjou forever? Three other lighter-than-air short stories deal with men reluctant to commit.
During the high school greeting ceremony, the quiet and timid Sasano falls head-over-heels after gorgeous and popular Koga flashes a dazzling smile at someone, but doesn't believe he is compatible as a suitor and so decides to nurse his crush in secret. This story is about what happens when Koga notices Sasano and becomes curious. It's slow-paced shounen ai, and even though I'm not crazy about high-school stories, it wins for realism, bildungsroman, sweetness and cool female character.
A beautiful, realistic, slow-paced story about Kido Yuusuke, a young gay man fresh off recent heartbreak, who tries to play it cool with the casual dating scene, but has the misfortune of "Grindr-ing" Kamiyama Kouki, whose own tragic past has made him a kind and considerate lover. Yuusuke falls for him in a big way, but does the older Kouki even want such feelings from this young, untested partner? Asou Mitsuaki's beautiful drawings look like 19th-century European engravings.
A gorgeous collection of stories by Minezuki Akira:
(1) The first story isn't as engaging as the other two. In it, a fast-food manager falls in love at first sight with a proficiency expert sent by the parent company to monitor his shop.
(2) A ghost or demon who feeds off of human warmth falls in love with a medicine seller who travels on his mountain during a snowstorm.
(3) A sculpture student falls in love with his mentor, an artistic genius who sculpts by touch.
The art is so beautiful.
A young man's heart reacts viscerally to the unexpected news that his longtime friend and drinking buddy is married. It continues to go through different paroxyms as new revelations crop up. A beautifully rendered oneshot that makes me feel so happy for this couple!
Rejected firmly by Kimono proprietor, Jinnai, procurement manager Kijima is swept away by the beauty of unknown newcomer Ichikawa's designs, even while he is dead set against the innocent man's growing infatuation. Ichikawa's resistance to having his designs showcased is rooted in a past marred by treachery and professional sabotage. Will Kijima uncover Ichikawa's secrets and protect him? Or, having outed him in spite of Ichikawa's reservations, will he let him face his enemies along?
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.