I'm impressed from an objective point of view. The writing, though a bit sugar coated, was excellent. The art is, of course, a bit dated, but the manga itself is rather old. The characters are endearing and admirable with just enough roughness around the edges to make them feel real. Over all this is definitely a manga worth reading.
Now, my subjective and personal feelings. Due to being written for the shounen ai genre, I found myself dissappointed. What can I say? I love a little sex in my homosexual romance manga. Even if it is not explicit and only implied - ie: They lie down together kissing and shedding clothes in one frame and wake up in each other's arms in the next frame. This felt like the two, nearing middle age, protagonists were actually tweens playing house or a pair of married octagenarians with false hips and bad backs. The pitiful excuse of "I'm not ready" really made it worse for me. The guy has been in love for years and was completely ready if it meant he'd not be found out sooner or allowed to stay. Yet, to consummate their newly found mutual love it was a no go? Sorry, that was just too lame in my book. There are probably thirty thousand "fan theories" as to why he wasn't ready, but that would not change the fact that they would all be just theories and nothing the writer or mangaka included to justify or explain his reaction. He would have done it the night of the festival, but not now? It was an obvious ploy by the mangaka to not have to include anything sexual beyond kissing. Which, honestly, is why I often avoid reading shounen ai. I don't mind only kissing if the characters are kids because that seems realistic given their innocence, but two middle aged men not having sex? Sorry, not on the planet I have lived on for nearly 50 years! Regardless of this disappointment, I still enjoyed reading this manga very much and I would definitely recommend it.
I'm impressed from an objective point of view. The writing, though a bit sugar coated, was excellent. The art is, of course, a bit dated, but the manga itself is rather old. The characters are endearing and admirable with just enough roughness around the edges to make them feel real. Over all this is definitely a manga worth reading.
Now, my subjective and personal feelings. Due to being written for the shounen ai genre, I found myself dissappointed. What can I say? I love a little sex in my homosexual romance manga. Even if it is not explicit and only implied - ie: They lie down together kissing and shedding clothes in one frame and wake up in each other's arms in the next frame. This felt like the two, nearing middle age, protagonists were actually tweens playing house or a pair of married octagenarians with false hips and bad backs. The pitiful excuse of "I'm not ready" really made it worse for me. The guy has been in love for years and was completely ready if it meant he'd not be found out sooner or allowed to stay. Yet, to consummate their newly found mutual love it was a no go? Sorry, that was just too lame in my book. There are probably thirty thousand "fan theories" as to why he wasn't ready, but that would not change the fact that they would all be just theories and nothing the writer or mangaka included to justify or explain his reaction. He would have done it the night of the festival, but not now? It was an obvious ploy by the mangaka to not have to include anything sexual beyond kissing. Which, honestly, is why I often avoid reading shounen ai. I don't mind only kissing if the characters are kids because that seems realistic given their innocence, but two middle aged men not having sex? Sorry, not on the planet I have lived on for nearly 50 years! Regardless of this disappointment, I still enjoyed reading this manga very much and I would definitely recommend it.