Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #Masochist(6)

Three very different stories. The first was a really sweet one with an age gap. A 35 year old salaryman eats out every night since he broke up with his long term lover because he struggles with the loneliness of home. He tries a new French style restaurant that is run by owner/chef, 25 year old Mizuki and finds that he loves more than the food there. This was a feel good story of new love and a caring couple. The second story was about high school classmates who became unlikely friends and eventually, lovers. Taira is always asleep in class at the desk next to Nao. When Nao meets Taira outside school he finds out why he naps through the day. This story was ok. I personally didn’t really warm up to Taira too much, probably because of his job. I also didn’t really feel a romantic interest between the boys as much as a friends with benefits starting up. The final story told of a salaryman who incited the men around him to acts of abuse and violence. He attends a clinic to try to understand what the problem is. He quickly finds that the Dr there knows both the cause of the problem and the perfect cure. This story is all about sadomasochism. There is flogging, nipple clamps, some sensitivity play, mild bondage, control and mild humiliation. It can come as a bit of a surprise after the last two stories and is really a superficial glance at S&M. It’s let down by that because it’s important to see consent and aftercare in a good S&M story.

I was surprised to enjoy Mizushima and Kazama’s story this much. I don’t really enjoy stories with highly promiscuous MCs but it made sense here and this little power bottom uke owned and controlled his interactions fully. The S&M was a little more dom & sub but there were definitely some S&M references that were a nice touch. I liked both MCs and their dynamic together was increasingly endearing as the story progressed. Some confronting scenes with the twisted stalker but it all worked out in the end.

Warning: Sex with violence, blood Do not expect this to be the mangaka’s usual works because in this bunch of short stories, the mangaka explores darker themes. 5 Seconds: The longest story (Chapter 1 & 2 and final chapter) with Hayato and Terada. Hayato has an hereditary ability that triggers when he holds a gaze for 5 seconds. He has tried to hide it from his childhood best friend because he doesn’t want to spoil him with a power that he hates. But when Terada finds out he doesn’t run from his friend..This was my favourite story and the sweetest of the group. The Way To Nurture Love: Identical twins reunite at a gay bar where Yuuichirou (who had run away from home) cross dresses as a girl. Keiichirou is conflicted with the reunion, realising that the brother who looks just like him is still so different in every way other than appearance. Moving in together these two became increasingly close. I didn’t really bond with the twins, it made little sense why one ran off with no contact with the brother he obviously cared for and tbh I didn’t get any real feeling of intensity that would justify their move to being lovers. Even with the “only you can” comment, it was a little underwhelming for me. Too: Stalker Kudou imitates the unsociable loner on campus, right down to the brand of shoes he wears. Each are aware of the stalking, but there are no confrontations or reports to the police. But when he makes a change he gets more attention than he anticipated. This story was interesting but it needed more chapters to do it real justice. We get to see the trigger, but when did the stalking actually start and what happens next. The ending was really not a good place to stop. Itai No Itai No: Easily the darkest story, this was perhaps too sad for me to find erotic. Rei, the “ordinary” one in the trio of friends had terrible childhood experiences that twisted him into someone definitely NOT ordinary. Yet like many a psychopath, he seemed so very normal. The picture he drew in the room with his mom was revealing and again, too sad for me. The friends who were masochists seemed so normal with their kink, but Rei, it came from a darker place. It made the story really interesting but seriously not (in any way) erotic. A story like that needs to be much longer to go from damaged child to darkly sexy guy. Just coz you put someone in an erotic scene doesnt make it erotic. Mushuusei No Ohisama: The AV story, my least favourite by far. I just skimmed it tbh, I don’t like seeing sweet young friends in the beginning ending like that. Not my kink and not fond of AV stories often anyway. Only read one that I liked.

Trigger Warning: Rape Yamagi Touma loves his childhood friend Atsushi Fuyu but won’t ever share his feelings. So he becomes a delinquent and fights where the pain and violence become an outlet. However Atsushi isn’t going to idly sit by and let Yamagi escape. It’s going to take something drastic to get through to Yamagi. I can enjoy a good psychological story, and this pair were twisted and obsessed. But, I never found a good reason for their behaviour. They were warped, but without reason. It made this disappointing as did the cheating. I won’t reread this one.

I enjoyed the story, it covered a lot of ground in 5 chapters with the murder mystery and the budding romance between the job focused (for sure somewhere on the autism spectrum) and blunt spoken Tsutsumi and the PTSD suffering, masochistic Sakuma. The artwork was beautiful too. Both Tsutsumi and Sakuma really looked like detectives in their suits and I liked the haggard look of Sakuma when he was struggling.

Ch.1-3 & ch. 7: Takkun and Stalker Boy Tall and tough looking, Kaneko Takuma is a high schooler whose secret hobby is making cute accessories. Petite and cute behind his long bangs and glasses, Maki Junpei is a rather eccentric classmate who stalks Takuma with frightening devotion. Gifting love letters and creepily uncanny stuffed toys as presents, Takuma felt increasing dread over his relentless stalker. That was until he saw Junpei’s adorably cute face. The rest of the story included a kind delinquent and a crazy stalker falling for each other, with countless obsessive kinks including the desire to consume all of Takuma’s bodily fluids. It’s weird and awkward and just a little cringe, but still surprisingly cute. Ch. 4: Canvas the Color of the Sky 1st year Yoshizawa Minato stumbled upon his 2nd year senpai, Takafuji, on the balcony of his otherwise empty art room. After freaking out and running away, the two became friends over art with Takafuji hiding a mysterious secret. Ch. 5: Gentle Pain Very short oneshot about masochist Jun and his old friend, Tomo. Even though Tomo is not a natural sadist, he bites and inflicts pain on his friend to indulge his sexual fetish. Ch. 6: Beloved Nipples Very, very short story about nipple play. Ch. 6 extra: As You Please Delinquent student Kasa gets some private tutoring from the class president, Sakanaoe. Cute story, with a misunderstanding that needed resolving between the pair.