tsukineko's manga / #piercings(22)

There's an extra for this in 'Mitsu no Yoru'.

This looks hot! Sadly, though, it hasn't been updated for years...

'Barairo no Kenkyuu to...' chapters 5 + 6 are extras of this manga. The art, writing and story, are beautiful, poetic and angsty. It ended up a lot less dark than I thought it would, though. Tbh, I like darker better, and thus found this almost too fluffy. I find it near miraculous that the couple ended up in a mutually beneficial relationship, rather than in an abusive, codependent one. I'm glad for them of course, but it makes for less fun, albeit perhaps also less predictable reading. It's strange, though, as I do love the whole 'healed by love' trope - so why was I disappointed by this outcome? Perhaps it happened too easily, thus impairing my ability to suspend disbelief? As soon as they found each other, they were saved. Their relationship was never once in [serious] difficulty, despite their colossal amount of baggage, and despite the various circumstances that should normally have strained things considerably. I was also disappointed that their sadomasochistic sides were not properly explored. Now I'd love to read a manga entirely about those brothers.

Fuck that was beautiful!!

3.5 stars. This wasn't bad at all actually, although I wouldn't call it brilliant either. It was quite well drawn, and the plot retained my interest with a few twists and turns, and wasn't too cliché for the most part. (Well the anemia/low blood sugar thing was extremely cliché, but whatever.) Psycho brother notwithstanding, the characters were pretty realistic, which is probably my favourite aspect of this manga.

This was good, (not to mention hot!), but too short!!

4.25 stars. Beautifully drawn and written. Funnily enough, for a manga with a supposedly expressionless mc, the facial expressions are beautifully well rendered and very expressive. I especially love the eye contact the mcs have going on between them. The story itself is realistic yet fluffy. It deals with some difficult subject matter, (1st time being attracted to the same sex; trauma from bullying; homophobia; self-loathing), but only on a fairly superficial level. I appreciate the subtle manner in which such complexities were handled, gently tugging at the heartstrings without resorting to melodrama. However, I feel that the surface was barely scratched, and that we could have delved a lot deeper into psychological territory if the manga had perhaps been longer. Tbh I feel kind of like I was just given one bite out of some really tasty food, and I'm left simultaneously thinking 'that was great!' and 'is that all?!'