I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #age gap(47)

A series of oneshots in which violence and control are sub-themes: (1) an abused boy finds love in the arms of a kind widower with a baby daughter; (2) a middle manager who cannot smile falls for a new office worker who can't stop smiling; (3) a pair of salarymen negotiate their way through a master/pet relationship; (4) a pair of schoolboys with deceptive appearances negotiate their way through a master/slave relationship.

Gormless teacher and his bratty demanding seme.

This story is about the maturity gap between kissing cousins who have lived under the same roof after the younger cousin lost his parents at an early age; his emotional and sensual awakening after his cousin coaches him on how to kiss; and his jealousy and insecurity when he starts to realize where his true feelings lie. It's depicted with Maruya Kae's beautiful artwork, but other than the kiss, there is no more actual sex. Sadly, there are no known sequels to further this story either.

Primarily about the relationship which develops between Mitsu, an overly sensitive young man with a tendency to withhold his self-expression to the point that misunderstandings often crop up, and Tsuburaya, a historical novelist who gets so busy that he cannot look after himself, against the background of a boarding house with roommate who care for each other, and school chums who want to create friendships. Mainly an interesting character study and more shounen ai than yaoi.

An absolutely stunning story about a trigger-loaded subject, father x son incest. It's handled with such originality and sensitivity, though, against a context of time travel, loneliness and alienation, that ... how does Ike Reibun transform something so icky into something so heartwarming and healing? By crafting a wonderful supernatural mystery like this. Stick around for the happy ending. This one's worth reading again and again. One of my favourites.

This story begins with a bang as, upon entrance to university, Ryou confesses to his dead father's 37-year-old friend, Kougami, who has always looked after him from afar. The trouble for Ryou is that Kougami seems to be obsessed with Shun, the dead father. Whether it's because he thinks that Ryou is looking for a father figure, or if Kougami, himself, is looking for a human facsimile of Shun, it blights the sense of romance for Ryou.

Yuka Ogura, a 15-year-old student, has a pretty damned hard life, although it doesn't show on the surface, and he does the best he can, which is actually amazingly well, considering. Abandoned by his single mother, he was raised by his grandmother, the property manager at the small apartment complex where they live, except she now lies in a coma at the hospital. As an even younger student, he was singled out by a seriously creepy teacher and, instead of receiving compassion from others at his school, he is blamed for the incident and bullied. And if anyone thinks this means he is, at least, receiving support and guidance from the staff, forget it. Instead, another seriously suspicious teacher is on his case, Nishio-san, a woman whose true agenda appears to hide under an unctuous cloak of concern. All this in the first chapter. Meanwhile, Yuka espies his new and gorgeous next-door neighbour kissing another man, and it turns out to be the student teacher, Hikaru Gotou, who is his teacher for the year. Love at first sight for poor Yuka! Unfortunately for him, Gotou is a bit of a feckless man, who uses sarcasm to blow him off, and is completely unequal to the emotional tsunami that comes barreling in with Yuka. Blackmail works to the extent that Gotou is more set than ever against getting involved with kids, especially this kid, except Nishio steps in with a horrifyingly detailed account of Yuka's tragic backstory, and instead of scaring him off, it backfires: Gotou is every bit as hooked as the reader. One of Ougi Yuzuha's best stories, this starts off as a modern horror tale about a boy's coming of age, with suspense and drama to keep readers clicking each page, and transforms into a gentler romance. It may feel strange to cheer on a teacher x student relationship, but thank goodness Yuka has Gotou. Read this! One of my faves.

A high school student, with a tragic past and loving brothers who inspire him, is hired to be a housekeeper-companion to a wealthy young man who has contracted a mysterious illness. Complications set in as a result of mistaken identities, deception (well-meant, but poorly executed) and confused feelings. I usually don't like Sou Irime's stories because I found her semes have a nasty streak, but she has crafted a rather nice tear-jerker here, and there is no intentional cruelty in the trick that is played on the uke.

A young man has a sexual relationship with his cram school teacher in order to explore the meaning of 'like' and 'love', never realizing that this teacher was in an intimate relationship with his regular high school teacher. His intervention provides a means for both teachers to connect with their feelings honestly. An exploration of emotional detachment and the toll it takes on the heart, rendered in beautiful line drawings by Yamagata Satomi.