Oita ga Sugiru wa Koneko-chan
Read after Kono Ore Ga Omae Nanka Suki Na Wakenai: spin-off Such a good story from Ogawa Chise. High school student Kyuta's second cousin is Etsuro, a calligraphy teacher and womanizer who for some reason sexually harasses him as well. When Etsuro has an injury, Kyuta stays at his home to help care for him as he recuperates. Their relationship slowly advances with the prickly Kyuta and teasing Etsuro negotiating old emotional hurts and future expectations. It’s a real age gap story, Etsuro is old enough to be Kyuta’s father, but it’s never something awkward because their relationship is already solid, and Etsuro has a vulnerability that is sweet whilst Kyuta is no pushover. I love this mangaka’s art and I loved this story.
Sekai wa Kimi de Mawatteru
These stories were longer than they seemed with multiple chapters within a chapter. That was great because it gave the stories some room to develop the characters. I particularly enjoyed the first few stories; The World Revolves Around You, The World is in Your Arms: My favourite story with Maki-kun, the self conscious plain boy and the beautiful Fukamachi who finds him irresistibly cute. Also, The False Barber Manga was a good story with the barber’s son Yuushi running a barber shop before school and his silky bedheaded main client, Tadachika. My third favourite was Stupid and Beautiful. The beautiful Harumi only had his looks going for him, otherwise he was "stupid with a bad personality.” His classmate Ryouhei was the top student, friendly and popular, one who helped Harumi with studies and notes, getting kisses as a reward.
Ouji No Hakoniwa
Trigger warning: Rape Ouji no Hakoniwa: This was quite a dark story and the mangaka really did well sharing the pain felt by the broken Yuzuru. No longer the young master, Yuzuru was used to doing what it takes to get by. He was so tough yet fragile, I really felt for him and absolutely hated Iwase when he raped him too. All that TLC, ruined. Definitely a psychological aspect to the story with a Stockholm style relationship though the extra chapter lightened it a bit. Dannetsu Senjou no Kodou: Two roommates sharing a dorm with a line down the middle. This was a story where the seme bought girls to his room and made out right in front of the one he liked. He was deliberately cruel, though the uke would just put his headphones on and ignore him. I would have preferred the uke move to a different room and get away from that toxic relationship, but he was one of those “But I want to be near him” guys which just makes me roll my eyes when I see nothing likeable about a character. A weak uke, weak in character. Not my favourite type to read about. If he stood up for himself just a little and wasn’t such a doormat I would like it, but as it stands, it irritated me.
Ienai Itami o Daite Iru