I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #mistaken identities(2)

Aoyama Toomi took on some very trigger-laden subject matter, especially in the first story, but she treated her characters with such respect and kindness that it overcomes the power imbalances. The stories are generally light with realistic emotional responses. The main story is about a doting uncle and his relationship with his introverted teenaged nephew, based on an emotional connection built up slowly over time and games of chess. There are two secondary stories, one about mistaken identities and judging people on appearances, and the third about how cats respond to gentleness.

Lacklustre start, but this story deepens and improves as it moves forward, beyond the old trope of a cocky, young, gay actor who exchanges sexual favours for prize roles. While fishing for producers, Kyousuke meets someone who appears to be a lowly crew member and shouldn't have so much charisma, but turns out to be more than a match. Soon the fragile threads holding Kyousuke's self-confidence unravel as a suppressed trauma from his past resurfaces along with the actor who caused it.