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

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.

Bildungsroman about a young man whose life revolves around the love hotel his late father left behind, the sense of pride he takes in its purpose and the censure he picks up from others. Throw into this mix a gay romance whose premise is based upon an impulsive lie he told to protect a younger brother whom he believed to be in peril from someone he believed to be a predator, and you have an excellent, thoroughly believable story with sympathetic characters who are doing the best with the fate they were dealt. Fantastic story! Definitely a favourite.

Volume 6: Mujihi na Otoko "Merciless Man" in Sakuragi Mei's Warui Series. Isolated at college by rumours of his invincible homosexual magnetism, Nanao Shirahane is irresistibly drawn to Kuon Aikawa, another student whose nature is to fiercely attach to a partner and who, thus, despises Nanao, even when he starts to notice that Nanao's behaviour doesn't correspond with the person he is said to be. Mix in a professor who uses Nanao's loneliness, the result of those rumours, to advance his own agenda and you have a lively, and surprisingly emotionally wrenching story by Sakuragai Mei — definitely the best of her Warui series.

Two stories by Konno Keiko. (1) Two childhood friends stay in touch long after leaving school, traveling long distances to stay with each other, brushing off their lovers in order to make time for each other and, yet, never realizing what this says about their true feelings. (2) A man plays at a relationship with a woman until he can make the gay man with whom he's in love commit with his full feelings. Slice-of-life stories, not necessarily sympathetic characters especially in the second story, but realistic.

When Kaoru breaks up with them, his girlfriends complain that he doesn't desire them, and college friend, Masoto, always seems to end up with them. Masoto offers to comfort Kaoru after one such break-up "until the one he really likes" comes along. Kaoru's only issue is that Masoto leaves right after they have sex, but he can't seem to say anything about it. Slow-paced and set up for a classic romance with spare drawings beautifully rendered by Takamiya Azuma, this story is scanlated up to the point of heartbreak. We never learn the final outcome.

Two separate stories: (1) A small and passive high school boy is attracted to a tough and intimidating older student's muscular body, or so he thinks. The older student doesn't mind at first, but then, wants to be liked for himself, not his appearance. (2) A transient good-for-nothing in trouble comes back to the bedroom of a young man's sister, never realizing that the sister has moved on while the young man has moved in. The boy tells him he can stay as long as he does everything the boy tells him to. Realistic slice-of-life stories which are part comedy, part drama, but where nothing particularly sweeping and grand happens, unless you count life changes as sweeping and grand ... which I do, sometimes.

Interior design company president, Sakaki, has his lusty homosexual eyes set on the very heterosexual, but vivacious and personable, Okada — who moderates and liases on behalf of the development corporation which has awarded contracts to Sakaki's firm, but Sakaki has no faith that sexual identity boundaries can be overcome with mere infatuations. Fortunately, Okada is more willing to step into the unknown. Brilliant use of realism by Hidaka Shouko. The adults are mature with real adult problems. The businesses are believable and they actually require specialization and effort and intelligent decisions to succeed. The colleagues are not just cardboard cut-outs but people who have earned respect and trust. The things which happen to these characters are things which happen to concern real people. The issues which concern them concern real people. There's even an excellent related side story in Hatsukoi no Atosaki [http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/hatsukoi_no_atosaki/.]

Pleasant and slow-paced story about Makoto, a Japanese chef, who finds himself admired by his childhood friend and neighbour, Kota, even though he has taken care of him all his life. Makoto is scared to place too much faith in those feelings. Ayaku's watercolours are stunning.

Very cute story about a scruffy, older guy, Yamada, who saves a young student, Chihiro, who is semi-passed out drunk in a park after suffering his first episode of unrequited love for another guy. Realistic, slow and kind (so far), there are many lovely moments and the art is beautiful. I particularly love the scene where Yamada wishes for all his luck in love to pass over to Chihiro.

An exploration of what it means to be kind without expectation of anything in return.