the chased man, the man giving chase, and the man chasing the man giving chase. perfection. heartbreaking, real look at obsession, desire, and what 'love' means to different people. the last three chapters about the love triangle between old friends is also amazing and heartbreaking. psyche delico creates really complex, interesting, believable characters and memorable, thought-provoking stories for them to act in. love the art, too. must re-read.
sweet development, and then the long gap and lack of interaction between them was sad and kind of frustrating, i don't know how they held on. the sequel, 'Paradise View' kills it with the feels- bring a tissue. bring a box.
had trouble keeping the characters straight at first, but so glad i stuck with it. like a breath of fresh air after all the gentle stories i normally read. kind of gritty, but had a real feeling to it. feelings are complicated and scary whether it is love or friendship, and this portrays that really well. decent art. very hot scenes, too.
love the MC (finally! a truly strong female lead!) and the love interest. all the yakuza stuff and coming of age is great and feels true. really funny, too. art simple but works with the story. josei.
two teachers, one easy-going, one more serious, start a relationship. like that kento looked like a normal guy and that the struggle for internal and family acceptance is more realistically portrayed than most manga. sequel is 'Kaze no Yukue,' which is the better half of the story. really nice art.
straight x gay- lover moves out while other guy is away, and comes home to a new roommate. pretty good-a lot about trust, expectations, and moving on in relationships. last chapter is a one-shot, which is pretty good as well, hott sex scene.
a sweet but rough guy takes in a cheerful but broken rent boy. dark and parts are tough to read, like momo's past with sato. momo can be annoying, but i also feel a lot of pity for him and wanted to see him succeed. and yata- seriously, who has that kind of stamina? overall, a great story with hott sex, and nice art. it's harada, but it's not too psychologically damaging.
ohmigod this manga defines sexual tension. an opposites attract type story, but the characters are really well written and beautifully drawn.
so freakin adorable. i love that they were able to come together over their mutual love of aiko-san and kept her memory alive in their relationship. the idea of satou, isao, zen, and koutarou as a foursome is so cute, too. everyone ended up with a loving family.
shounen ai with beautiful art and gentle, sweet, offbeat stories. 1st- mycologists, 2nd- fish souls, 3rd- fox changeling.
Messages
What’s top drawer means? Top arts? Or mangas that always draw you to re-read them again and again? XD I love your list btw...
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy the list! I always wondered if people understood the reference in the title, so I am so glad you asked about it! And your take on its meaning would have never occurred to me, even though I really do appreciate great art in manga. So, thank you for sharing that.
Anyway, the drawer in 'top drawer' is like a chest of drawers, one you pull out of the wall or a cabinet and put stuff in. The phrase 'really top drawer' is old slang meaning 'of good quality.' It's in the movie 'Auntie Mame' (the Rosalind Russell version)- this snobby woman refers to some of her equally snobby friends as being 'really top drawer' and I always thought it was a funny phrase, so I used it for the title of my list of (in my opinion) 'top quality' manga. You can look up the phrase on YouTube, it's only a couple seconds long and it's worth hearing in all it's affected glory.
Thanks again for asking, you made my day!
Hey I love this list, I'm so glad you put your opinion in the notes too because it helps me get an idea of what to expect more than just the description. Love this, tysm for putting it together. It certainly is "top drawer"!