I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #Konohara Narise(2)

Shinichi, a one-hit wonder of a former pop-idol, comes crashing against his disappointed and unfulfilled dreams, just at the point where he reunites with Chikara, an overbearing and caustic junior whose feelings he once played around with, and who he abandoned to have a go as a musician. Ai no, Uta is a sad and bitter story about artists and the free market, and about being both unsupportive and unsupportable as a person. Shinichi's ego is something to behold, but I don't necessarily agree with Chikara that he should abandon his music, either, since it's wrapped up with his soul. It doesn't seem like Shinichi's reunion with Chikara is a stroke of luck, either, although it correlates with the walloping message that the universe is sending to him about what everyone thinks about his musical skill. Chikara is extreme, and while it isn't his job to suckle Shinichi's ego, his determination to crush his dreams borders on abusive. The brother drops hints about mental-emotional illness. In any case, the story ends without resolution beyond Shinichi's epiphany of self-realization and, at the same time, self-loathing, and sometimes, that's all there is to a story. It's a good story, but there isn't an ounce of comfort or kindness in it — kind of like, both, Shinichi and Chikara. One can imagine they might learn something from that ... or not.

Bildungsroman about a young man whose life revolves around the love hotel his late father left behind, the sense of pride he takes in its purpose and the censure he picks up from others. Throw into this mix a gay romance whose premise is based upon an impulsive lie he told to protect a younger brother whom he believed to be in peril from someone he believed to be a predator, and you have an excellent, thoroughly believable story with sympathetic characters who are doing the best with the fate they were dealt. Fantastic story! Definitely a favourite.