I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #childhood friends(68)

Masami nurses a secret crush on his childhood friend, Shirou, and goes to extraordinary lengths in order to protect him from perceived rival, Ryuuji. Does Shirou really need to be protected, and how far will Ryuuji go to win?

A substantial age gap between childhood friends, Yuuri and Aki, meant that Aki went to university and graduate school, leaving Yuuri behind. The story begins in media res after Yuuri applies to the same school, is accepted and is now living with Aki, working as his housekeeper. Aki relentlessly questions him about his decisions, seeking to ensure that Yuuri is pursuing his own happiness, not Aki's, and without realizing how much pain these questions cause his faithful friend. An excellent, if slow-moving, story about the transition from friendship to love and the cost of being true to one's self. Nothing terribly dramatic happens, but the story is realistic and mature.

A slow-developed love story transpiring over childhood into the twenties with very painful moments. Some aspects are so realistic and gripping, I was completely absorbed, but others were so out-of-the-blue flaky, they left me wondering why they were there at all. I also felt the resolution glossed over the pain of those betrayals. Anyway, this manga isn't cute, adorable and fluffy, although one of the characters has those tendencies in childhood (why would anyone tag it like that? Just because it had a traditional happy ending doesn't make the story structure less traumatic.) And it CERtainly isn't a comedy, but it does deal with growing up and moving from wide-eyed trust and dependence into self-reliance, strength and awareness. That saves the rest and makes it worth a read, but I think if you're expecting sweetness and light, this is going to be a bitter one. Most heartbreaking moment: "When I was young, we had a dog" (Thinks) "And I violated it."

Asou Kai's pretty boys are always beautiful, and this is a cute school life story, but not a whole lot goes on. It's the usual blend of misunderstanding, insecurity, jealousy, poor communication, yadda-yadda-yadda ... and there isn't much in terms of character or plot to make it really pop. Still, the sex scenes are good and it's okay. I wonder if this was one of her earlier works, because it doesn't seem as rich as others I've read.

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.

Sequel to Takaramono wa Hako no Naka, this doujinshi explores the complications of a painful past on Tokura and Gin's sex life, and how they overcome it. Gin's ongoing consideration for his partner is lovely indeed, but I can't say that I found it hot and I'm not exactly sure what brought the temperature down from boiling to light simmer. I think that there was so much carefulness and tiptoeing around, it interfered a bit with the sheer animalistic, irrational self-surrender of romance. It's crucial for loving relationships in real life, but not so great for escapist fiction as it feels a bit sex-averse.

Very cute and sexy story about an idiotic host who reunites with someone he has forgotten from his past. Although the tag reads that the manga is incomplete, it works as a short 2-chapter story.

Two stories about being on the opposite sides of unrequited love: (1) Two stories about being on the opposite sides of unrequited love: (1) Monji realizes that his two-timing lover, Chiba, will never reciprocate his feelings, but while his heart has been preoccupied, he never noticed the steady and nurturing quality of his long-time friendship with Hagiwara, nor understood what that meant. (2) Takaaki doesn't know what love is until he is loved by someone with so much intensity that, in an O Henry twist, his lover cannot bear the passion and needs to break up. Jaryuu's illustrations and characterizations are simple, clean and precise, and the observations are detailed and interesting. There was one strange passage that made no sense in translation, but the story was otherwise clear.