Mimi's manga / #fluff(9)

I thought that was pretty cute. A little unsure because I see that "misunderstanding" tag and I really hate dumb stuff like that where the conflict is caused by non-communication. But this was fine, if not very predictable. I wasn't really attached to the characters themselves but they didn't completely make me mad. The only thing I kinda was like "ugh" about was Hifumi's possessive lover personality. Thank God it wasn't as bad as I've seen almost every BL do, but the way he acted about Mike's hair bring up and how friendly he was with his FRIEND... Please stop this.

Maybe it was because the last 5 books pissed me off to various degrees with the most recent one being ok at best... But oh my god, what happened to the storytelling chapter 2 onwards?! Chapter 1 was fine. I was fine with it doing the recap thing and it really got me interested in this couple and seeing how a very shy person who's gone years isolating themself to now dealing with being in a relationship and living with said person. And while I got that, chapter 2 gave me the worst idea of that tone this story was gonna have... and I was right. I've read a lot of BL with some of the stupidest plot points to use as a conflict in my lifetime, but I've nearly dropped this when they tried to make coming out to their boyfriend a problem AFTER the BOYFRIEND confessed FIRST?????? Why did they think that worrying about telling the guy who asked you out first that you're gay would be a valid or even funny bit to sit through? It only lasted that one chapter but it stuck with me, it was SO stupid that it set the tone for everything else after and immediately made a 3-star story. Chapters 3 and 4's "problems" were just as bad. I hate miscommunication but no communication is worst. I'm disappointed because I saw that the author wanted to write something cute and I can see that! But all of the "conflicts" felt like poor writing and it wasn't even the translation's fault this time. The only reason I didn't drop it was because I thought it would get better and then I realized I was on chapter 4 so I just said: fuck it let's get this over with.

... I almost did it. I almost made it to the end without crying. Short, sweet, to the point, and really fucking hurt. I didn't really think I would care this much until the road trip happened. I knew how this was gonna go, but the set up to the end was really solid as soon as I noticed the alight sad feeling I got. But what fucking did it, what fucking drew one single tear, was the post-festival ending.... Fuck you, you didn't have to do that to me. I'm in pain.

Update: .... I just realized something. Kiyoshi is just Romano from Hetalia. Like, his whole ass character is 100% Romano and idk how I feel about this. Honestly, though, I didn't think I would like this by the end. The start didn't hook me, I didn't care much for Santa and Rintarou, and I couldn't help but feel a bit bored at first. I don't know what happened but, like... I love them. I love them together, I love Rintarou's family, I love the normality of life thay this story gives compared to most bl manga, the dialogue felt like things people actually would say and wasn't filled with all those repeated phrases I keep seeing and grown tired of, and I love Touya. Santa and Touya are definitely my favorites in both stories, I feel for them having to deal with Rintarou and Kiyoshi but I also love how much they love them because... Even though I said I like Rintarou, it's more of a 50/50 thing and Kiyoshi is worst but I still kinda like him. Just less than Rintarou. I am sad that ymz didn't give us the wedding or a little more revolving around Santa's family. I was very interested in his relationship with his family but we didn't get much on that. Only enough to know the basics but I was really hoping that they would add more to that. At least a wedding photo at the end would've made me cry.

I'll come back and add more to this but... Akiyo and Jessica ️️ Update 5/26: Ok, ANYWAY! Another book I finished, forgot about, and yet I still very much loved this. Basically, while a lot of how I felt in Hige to Suzu to Shabondama kinda carries over, I ended up liking this a lot more than the previous book. I think it's because, while I didn't like Kiyoshi himself and was able to stomach Rintarou more, Rintarou was much more annoying than Kiyoshi but in a different annoying way. I rank him under Rintarou but I respect him more than Rintarou. But rest assured, I hate them both. Most importantly though, his and Touya's relationship just hit me different than prev's and that might be because Santa's and Rintarou's story wasn't realized as hard as theirs was. It's hard to put into words but I think what I'm trying to say is: Touya's and Kiyoshi's story as a couple felt more fleshed out but I was left wanting more of them as individuals whereas Santa's and Rintarou's story left me wanting more of them as a couple and individuals.

The most amount of emotions I've felt was when Subaru cut his hair because I really like his little bun. I know when I was reading chapter 1 and 2 a month back I got this feeling that this story was too sweet for the sake of being sweet and it hurt. Like eating cake with deep red or light blue icing and now that one tooth in the back is stinging. Well, it went from that to “this is kinda stupid" when dealing with the conflicts as well as it feeling like everything moved really fast after chapter 2. I do plan on getting this but many as an ebook instead of physical. I'll also give vol 2 a try, like, I didn't hate it I just thought it was mid.

I need to read more BL like this. I love how adorable and likable the characters are and the story focused more on the characters being in school and friends instead of trying to push things along and try to get to anything about sex. I've seen too many school au's where the people are a good 16-18 and there's sex involved. I get it that people do end up doing it around those ages but being in my 20's I don't really want to read that and it almost seems like that's all there is. Having just a pure love story of this dorky high school kid having a crush on his friend and the story grows around them being friends is refreshing and makes me cry. Thank God for this and thank God it got officially licensed because I was about to buy it in Japanese... I think I'll still buy it in Japanese, to be honest. I'm very excited for Motto Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!, I read the first chapter and it seems it's being slowly released through a magazine and I'm not sure how far they are over there... So just waiting on that is keeping me really hyped.