I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #angst(8)

Serial adulterer, Kyouichi, is blackmailed into being kissed by Imagase, a college friend, who now works as a private detective investigating unfaithful spouses. Kyouichi doesn't have the courage to turn down any woman who makes a pass at him, but he denies that he is gay. This is a mature and, sometimes, heartbreaking story about the deeply flawed straight man beloved by a gay man. It isn't easy going, even at the end.

Kyouichi and Imagase are together, but Imagase cannot let go of his suspicions toward Kyouichi, and a situation with a beautiful colleague at Kyouichi's workplace throws everything into chaos. Can Kyouichi find strength inside himself, or is he destined to flow with whichever currents move the strongest? If anything, this story surpasses it's first installment Kyuuso Ha Cheese no Yume Omiru. It full of romantic intrigue and suspense, and all the characters are flawed, sometimes deeply, but lovable. Moreover, the women in this story are sympathetic.

College student, Shousuke, comforts his childhood friend, Tomoki, every time he gets dumped by a new girlfriend. Tomoki never realizes that Shousuke is suppressing his true feelings for the sake of their friendship. This is the story of what happens when these feelings build up too much. Ichikawa Kei's art has a rough beauty which makes these characters and this story quite charming. The first chapter "The Day They Became Lovers" is hilarious, or would be if it weren't also touching and real in a slightly overblown way.

Hiroki and Ryou are seniors at the same high school, neighbours in the same apartment building, and both raised by single parents who love each other. Another thing these young men share is an attraction that only Ryou expresses because Hiroki feels he has important reasons to repress it, flipping the blame for this choice onto others. With a grim start and no happy ending, Hidaka Shouko's keen insight and perception provides us with a clear look at a young man whose pride, obstinacy and orthodox purview obstructs his own happiness and of everyone around him.

Waterworks uke. This could've all been avoided with a little honest communication.

Abandoned by his mother, Reo has recurring nightmares/repressed memories of being raped by the only person upon whom he can depend, his foster father, Shuuji, and so confides in his friend and neighbour, Kenta. But neither Kenta, nor Shuuji are who they seem to be. Takarai Saki's stories always seem to feature an off-kilter, possibly outright lunatic, character, and her sex scenes are often depraved enough to make this reader squirm with discomfort, but the long and soothing resolution to this story pulls it away from the edge of crack and back into plausibility. It can be maudlin, but there is sweetness at its core which also redeems it.

Odd little oneshot. There's a whole lot of story packed into this dialogue between a vampire and his lover, a military man determined to commit seppaku, but that's just decoration for the explicit smut, uniform fetish and fundoshi and Saiku Keita's beautiful drawings.

Senior high school teacher Kasei Shinichi has his hands full with Katou Reiji, a star basketball athlete sidelined by a knee injury who has developed a serious infatuation for this teacher. But where most yaoi stories take this as an opportunity to push toward sex, Yuki Ringo recognizes and respects the moral and legal boundaries that these situations present. There is no question, in her story, that a teacher would dismiss a confession as impossible on the basis of professional misconduct, and discourage a minor from harbouring any sentiments. Kasei is left with only fond memories and a smoking habit until Katou returns as an adult and fully credentialed teacher in Kasei's school. From there, the story really embarks on a near-Odyssean world of pain as Katou gently struggles to overcome each obstacle between him and his beloved, moving it forward from fond affection and collegial companionship. And the obstacles are doozies. For one thing, Kasei isn't gay. For another, Katou tried to numb his pain and confusion with some pretty reckless behaviour before he thought he might have an atom's chance of success. This is a rich and rewarding soap opera, well worth the effort of reading.