Yondaime Ooyamato Tatsuyuki
It's been awhile so I want to reread this and come back here
Hanbun Ageru
I hyped myself up too high with this one, lads. I don't regret reading this, I just went into this wanting more... tragedy. More angst, more hurt to balance the comfort. And the comfort wasn't that strong either but was more present than the hurt. I think the main characters are fine, them as a couple are cute, I love re-encounters, and the story was interesting to me. However, doing the timeskip thing where the first 3 chapters are their senior year and the last 3 (+ extra, so 4) is them meeting up again after a couple of years I felt made both halves feel rushed. There's also the weird way they do scene cutting that didn't feel smooth, so it was really weird to follow like an odd video editing cut back and fourth. I really wanted to see more communication between Koru and Shiraki during those 3 days. I wanted more slow, quiet moments that would've made the sex scene in chapter 3 worth it. Before, you only really saw Shiraki grow a fondness for Kuro, who was in a "he's my friend, I want to protect him" kind of mode. When the first kiss happened, I was hoping for them to talk after that, but instead, it did a cut away. I felt the same way in the second half when Shiraki confessed because now we know that Kuro still had feelings but was scared to pursue that. And when we do get a perfect "pause and talk" moment, they cut away again to a flashback. We eventually got to sit the fuck down and talk through some stuff but even that I felt like it could've been delved deeper, but I was happy we got it. I did leave this liking this couple. I left this liking this book. I felt myself about to cry during chapters 6 and the extra. But I think I went into this hoping for something like CUT and then being let down because it was close to being as emotional as CUT was.
Ashita Asatte Sorekara Itsuka
So here me out, getting through chapters one and two felt like when it's mid-summer down at your grandparents' place in the country and people are doing stuff inside, time is moving, you hear people talking... But you're sitting on the sofa, in your room watching tv, or on the porch outside. Time is moving slowly for you but you know things are happening around you. You're aware that things are happening around you but the time it's taken to get from 1 pm to 2 pm has felt like five hours in-between. I don't usually read other's reviews unless I'm super unsure about what the tags are leading to. But I saw two people saying how average this was and I kind of agree. I love slow-paced stories but there's something about this that felt like nothing's happening despite a good bit of stuff happening between up to chapter three. Some parts did annoy me but it's the usual bullshit you'll find in a BL. I didn't start feeling fully annoyed by the plot until around chapter four to the point where I already knew how the story was gonna go and contemplated dropping it. I'm more mad rather than annoyed that Takayuki was never held accountable for manipulating Aki for so long and I'm mad that the author basically wrote him getting a slap on the wrist when confronted by the end of it. I wanted rage from Aki. I wanted Takayuki dead. The only reason I finished this was because I've put too many books on hold for similar annoying reasons and just need to finish something. But, yeah, as a whole, I can already feel that this isn't going to be something I'm going to remember once I'm done reading it. Also, Takayuki's kind of creepy and not in the way the author meant him to be. He's creepy in an "adult who's been interested in a kid since they were 15 and waited til they're 18 to date them" kind of way. Hmmmm I wonder why...
Bokura wo Hedateru Ao to Shiro
That one person who was like Mishima deserved so much better followed by three throwing up emojis, I felt you. Your energy was so powerful and I felt you. What do you mean we were going to have a "proper conversation", do absolutely nothing, and then have a sex scene...? What do you mean? Don't put emotions in front of my face like keys and then throw the keys out the window for a sex scene! Sure, they finally did talk but it should've been at the end of chapter two not whatever the hell that was. On top of that, Hozumi kind of rubbed me the wrong allowing Mishima to take on some of that blame. To recap: Hozumi broke up with him so he wouldn't be sad when he moved off the island for college but did not properly explain that. He comes back after seven years to an angry Mishima and pesters him until he eventually gives up and spend time together. To which Hozumi takes advantage of the situation and forces himself on Mishima instead of having that conversation that we were promised, that they should've had and didn't happen until chapter three. This left Mishima frustrated and confused to the point where he didn't attend to the lighthouse causing the boat Hozumi was working on to get into a little accident and him falling off. After that, it all became his fault in Mishima's head. Even the high school stuff?? He already feels like he doesn't have his own backbone to say "no" or "let's wait" because of "those eyes" (I'm rolling mine), I'm just not here for that. I'm not ok with the person who has every reason to raise hell taking the blame and it's seen as a good thing. It's not like Hozumi doesn't blame himself for the shit he's done but Mishima shouldn't be blaming himself for anything. Even the lighthouse incident. Not after the night before. Also... What thought processes did Hozumi's brother have to come out for him to their parents when previously he expressed being nervous about?? You don't do that. You don't come out for someone else no matter how understanding anyone is. I don't know, fiction is fiction but Jesus to fucking Christ. Other than all of that, along with the art style not being my favorite to look at, this was just ok which I'm very sad about because the bonus chapter was everything to me. If this was just their high school year together followed by the breakup and a volume two with a better get back together story, peak 4 stars.
Katekyo!