I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #realistic(74)

Asano is gobsmacked when Kakei, a taciturn coworker, suddenly ups and confesses. Asano can't imagine what Kakei sees in him, and so far, it seems that Kakei is wondering the same thing. Asano and Kakei are both prickly and uncommunicative, which makes this a surprisingly funny story.

A series of three interlocking stories about boys coming to the realization that they are gay. In prequel, Lovers and Souls, Tooru's lover dies just as Tooru realizes he's in love. In Rules, Tooru is messed up and works as a male prostitute, but makes a play for Hikaru, who looks like the man he loved. Hikaru, a bisexual man whose heart was broken in the prequel Hydra, will have nothing to do with prostitutes. He initiates a high school boy, Yuki, on the rebound from an unrequited love for a classmate, Atori. By the time Yuki finally summons the courage to confess to Atori, Hikaru has fascinated Yuki. Atori is, at first, outraged by the confession, then curious about gay love, which causes him to wander into Shinjuku, where he winds up meeting Tooru. Miyamoto Kano's stories are bittersweet, full of heartache as well as relief and compassion. This one is less bitter than its prequels, although these young men seem to live on a knife's edge.

This isn't a one-shot. It's part of a larger work.

An art teacher, Jun, brings about an unconventional awakening within a serious student, Homura, that puts him at odds with the expectations that others have placed on him. Things escalate and it seems to Homura that Jin is pressured to resign under circumstances which are completely misunderstood. After years of guilt and just by chance, he comes across a notice with regard to his former teacher in another city and decides to pursue this lead, unsure of where it will take him.

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.

Hoshino was dazzled by his senpai, Akihino, when they formed the astronomy club together in high school, especially with his dreams of becoming a pilot. What he didn't know is that those dreams had only become an opportunity for Akihino because he was dazzled. After an eleven year separation, Hoshino is astonished to be reunited with Akihino, who has not been able to fulfill his dreams. Indeed, it seems that he is the single parent of Hoshino's biggest problem student and there is a sad mystery behind this, but Akihino does not want Hoshino to come any closer. A bittersweet story about adulthood and sacrifices, which becomes much sweeter when barriers are slowly worked through, although it's sometimes frustrating to watch.

Nonokawa, a salary man in the midst of burn out, hears that drought has dried up a reservoir that had been constructed to flood his old village, and returns to look at the elementary school which is now exposed. That was where he had a brief but traumatic encounter with his childhood friend, Kouya, who clearly shares his feelings, after which he ran to the city, sealing all those feelings away. A cute story about regret and repression.

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.

Two boys, dumped by the same girl, end up drinking together and sharing a bed. The bitter one tests the other for emotional intimacy without realizing that they had made a true connection during that short time. Realistic and keenly observed slice-of-life oneshot by Yamagata Satomi.