I Thot You Was a Toad's manga / #beautiful(18)

A young man works for a mycologist in the forests of Japan, studying fungi and mushrooms. Slowly, as the scientist opens his eyes to this new world and its astonishing beauty, the young man comes to love him. A schoolboy has an astonishing gift of inner sight which reveals a secret side of life when people go to sleep. A young man strikes up a friendship with a fox spirit. Aoi Aki's artwork is superb. The stories move at a gentle and realistic pace. The relationships are natural and unforced. I love this manga! It is one of my absolute favourites.

A stray cat who lives in the garden of a gay man who is being abused by a brutal partner, asks the moon to change it into a man so it may protect the one he loves. Another sweet kitty begs for the ability to convey feelings of love from the man he loves to the man's former lover. Stories that are so sweet and pure, they cuddle up and purr.

A father is stressed beyond his capacity to cope while trying to raise his preschool-aged daughter while working in a Japanese restaurant. He is saved by a hopeless flirt and serially unfaithful gay customer who is attracted to him, but he is straight and very suspicious of such a flighty man. The relationship takes time to develop and is full of realistic emotional responses. The daughter is adorable and the ending is full of cheer!

Salaryman Takamura is given a job under the EnMa Daiou, the ruler of hell, who relentlessly coaxes him for sex. Takamura discovers that his position includes frequent temptations to break the laws of hell in order to interfere in the destinies of people he longs to save. One of these individuals is a professor he once loved. Who will win over his heart? The professor? Or the King of Hell? There is so much dramatic and sexual tension in this beautifully illustrated story by Kuju Siam. I hungrily devoured each chapter!

Secret lovers enjoy a rare tryst at a gorgeous Japanese hotel during a break from their dangerous careers.

Yuuen of the Forest Clan is told to dress himself as a woman and seduce Emba, the mighty hunter of the Lakeside Clan, in order to gather food. Emba is such a man, however, that Yuuen is completely smitten.

Shinoda, broken from divorce and loneliness, stumbles into the antique shop of Askura, who treasures broken things, and Shinoda slowly comes to life under the gentle sweetness of Askura's interest and attention, even though he has never identified as being a gay man. This manga has a beautiful use of realism with hesitant and circling conversations, lots of details about how they live and the slow way in which these two people come to love each other. It's an incredibly satisfying read.

Burnt in the past, Kazaoka has made it a rule never to spend more than a single night with his lovers. Masato shares a key moment in his life with Kazaoka, one which has left him languishing with a secret crush. Years afterward, he sees Kazaoka's picture on the back leaf of a book published under the pen name of a popular, prize-winning and very successful author, so he tracks Kazaoka down. When Kazaoka doesn't recognize him, Masato deceives him in order to release his pent-up emotions. What happens when Kazaoka discovers he has been tricked and the other secrets Masato is hiding from him? Classic Minase Masara, with the most hilarious letter from a mangaka published on the back pages that I've ever read.

Can Sataru trust the bartender Makio, a known con artist, or not? He certainly seems ready to risk everything to capture him. Interesting plot full of twists and great characters.

Edgy, hot and sexy as hell, this story is quintessential Zaria, somewhere in that murky area of consent and desire and teetering on the edge of violence. A sleeping disorder causes Jude's straight business partner, Lois/Royce, to attack him sexually in his sleep. Jude doesn't mind the sex so much, but it bothers him that Lois/Royce is doing this unconsciously when there's a pharmaceutical remedy for the disorder. What happens when Lois/Royce finds out?