I wanted to write a very sophisticated comment but I'm able to write only this: GOD, I LOVE THEM!
I've waited for the update for such a long time and I've been afraid of it. And I was right! The mother, and those tears in the end, I'm afraid of sth like a cliche story about wanting children and not being able to have any with another man - and the doubts, of course, about the future and having a "normal" family... errr, I don't want this...
It's not a cliche. Here in Japan, gender roles are still very strong, and the idea of making a family and deviating from that poses relationship and personal conflict. The only true cliche in BL manga is if a family is actually ~A-OK WITH IT ALL~. The realism of this story is what makes the two of them so interesting, because societal norms will always be around to try and destroy a non-typical relationship. Speaking from experience, I had to resign from a previous job in Tokyo because my coworkers found out about my relationship with my girlfriend, and condemned me for not finding a 'normal' husband. This problem is not a cliche, it's not a trope, it's real. And if you're going to call it a cliche, you're living in an ignorant, fantasy world.
Yes, maybe I used the wrong word, but perhaps it's because of my poor English or perhaps it's because I'm too "new" in the topic. Thank you for your reply; I've always been curious about the social issues in different countries, and in yaoi I don't only look for, let's say, romantic matters, but I try to find something real, e.g. I wonder why cooking is so important or the question of arranged marriages (which in my country is really hard to comprehend) and I would really be grateful if someone explained it to me. Unfortunately I know that I don't live in a fantasy world, though I wish I would, and I remember how painful it was for my son when he fell in love with a guy and he was so ashamed of himself and so afraid...because gender roles are also very strong in my country and people apply great importance to the conventions. But to make the long story short: yaoi is my shelter, maybe because of my son or maybe because I still long for something that happened to me a long time ago, and I really want this particular story to end well because, although I'm quite old, I still naively want true love to be fulfilled...
Thank you for sharing your story, it's great that you're so accepting of your son. Others aren't so lucky to have supportive parents. I wish my mother accepted me like you have. Don't you worry, the author of the manga is Ogeretsu Tanaka, and she loves happy endings as much as she loves putting her characters through torment. One way or another, after some obstacles and some bumps here and there, Taichi and Naoto will be happy in love. :)
I feel really sorry for Tomoya, I think he really loved Keigo and I hoped the story would develop that way :(
Makoto is just a simple guy, cheating but honest, and when he falls in love then he loves truly. When he was "cool" in the beginning of Flowers, Ryou was enchanted, but when Makoto went more serious and "normal", hugging, laughning, snoring, there came Nanno, with his mysterious smile, sad eyes, books and stuff...we are always more attracted to mystery than to scratching our butts in the morning... and I really think that what Ryou did was worse, because Makoto didn't even remember what he did and Ryou will always remember Nanno. Poor Makoto. I like Nanno, but I hate seeing him leaving with this smile, manipulating people and leaving total mess behind...
Ryou came to Nanno, not the other way around. And it was Nanno who in the end saved their relationship by sacrificing himself and pushing Ryou back to Makoto. I felt like his smile was sad and knowing not manipulative or mean.
can't stop crying, something so heartwarming and so heartbreaking