Nigatsu no Eden
It's clear that the mangaka set out to write a bittersweet, heart-rending story; it's unclear how successful she was. The art style isn't bad but also nothing extraordinary, which means to say that this type of simplistic, melancholic plot, so often carried by a deftness of artistic weaving, required much more development than was available here. Neither of the characters had much of a personality beyond their own personal baggage and grievances; yes, I pitied them, and I certainly did feel (a hollow kind of) "sad", so if that's what the mangaka was going for, then--bravo. I'm of the view that it takes real care and skill to write a "tragedy" in BL when the narrative is, physically speaking, so tightly constrained--the emotional impact must be earned, somehow. Most BL manga don't achieve that, and Nigatsu no Eden is no exception here.
Hateshinai Ao