Umibe no Etranger
this was cute! the movie was BEAUTIFUL and super aesthetic i loved that part of it but the plot was a little hard to follow ig? it was just kinda rushed but tbh the manga is like that too, even tho they did change some things in the movie. i think the manga does a better job of establishing the tone between their relationship somehow. they took some scenes from the sequel and put them in the movie and some are really cute and add a lot like mio's childhood memories w his mom, but some are kinda unnecessary. i kinda wish i had read this before watching so i could enjoy the visuals better. either ways, the plot is sweet. didnt meet my unreasonably high expectations but its not bad by any means. definitely thought shun would top tho that was wildly surprising. their age gap is so really surprising given how young they both look lol. theres also like a really peculiar feeling that this manga manages to capture that i think is really nice and warm. kinda like the feeling of getting together with family and friends on summer nights. theres more instances in the sequel but i really like it. as for the sequel itself, the timeskip was really interesting. fumis a lil asshole LOL but i was too at 13 jsdkfjs. there were no real conflicts which is always lovely, bc i fucking adore slice of life. overall i think i enjoyed the sequel more than the first part, maybe just bc its longer idk. oH the whole moving into shuns family home was really really sweet. that was another thing that made me feel warm, just getting accepted into someones family like that is so cute. watching mio and shun's relationship become more domestic and comfortable was also sweet. i really wanna see what the sequel would look like animated bc it would def be so lively. i think i just like the ~vibes~, the ambiance of this manga more than anything else. the first part gets like 7/10 and the sequel 8/10.
A Shoulder to Cry On
this was alright tbh. i liked how it ended but ngl they kinda come across as somewhat incompatible. i mean taehyun is so damaged and insecure that he needs to be w someone who is like willing to go the extra mile that he isnt able to himself. i find myself really relating to his feelings abt his relationship; not wanting to risk anything by pestering the other person so we bottle it all up until we resent them and ourselves for doubting them in the first place. ugh. dayeol is really sweet and im glad he ended up forgiving taehyun for being so wishy washy abt the whole liking thing but maybe he also deserves someone who is more cheerful? this is a case of introvert x introvert imo LOL. it never works as well as opposites do in relationships and im speaking from experience. but whatever. taehyun highkey scared me at first but he grew on me and i think hes adorable now. overall it was pretty good, 8/10.
For Your Love
8/10. i binged this entire thing last night and it was really cute. i burst out laughing SO MANY TIMES omg the reaction faces are everythingggg. after reading whats out of the sequel, i really miss how wholesome and pure this was. their relationship is v sweet and yohan is adorable. i really enjoyed how quick they both were to apologize for any misunderstandings or wrongdoings and i completely related w how they both sometimes spiralled by overthinking small things. we got to see them properly fuck in the sequel too so yay LOL. anyways v good read.
Toriaezu Kiss Shite Kudasai
there are 2 stories in this and they're both super cute! the first one is kinda more based around sex and mutual sexual attraction, but the second one is like shounen ai friends to lovers and sorta one-sided pining for a while. its so sweet even without smut or anything. one panel that was memorable for me is when nao covered his ears bc he physically didn't want to hear harunas confession that he felt the same way bc of how hard he was trying to convince himself that its impossible for them to be together. that's just so ... sad. but I'm glad harunas the stubborn type and forced him to listen. I've done the same as nao and it didn't go so well in my experiences so yeah. "if he wanted to, he would" i guess right? anyways they were both pretty good 9/10.
Kimi ni Koisuru Hazu ga Nai
this was SO FUCKING GOOD omg literally 15/10. this was basically a shoujo manga but as a BL LOL. i loved it. kitaoji is so fucking cute i laughed out loud so many times watching him fangirl over shoujo manga bc thats LITERALLY ME READING THIS LOOOL. its just all so adorable i love them together sm and tho it took fucking forever, the extras made me so happy ahhhhhhh. i think the fact that the translations for this manga were like extremely well done also adds to why i liked it so much - bless rose squad scans and the other independent translator, you guys are godsends :,))) anyways this was so much fun, its been a while since ive read a good bl so im really happy. time to check out the authors other works!
Caramel Honey
aHHHhhhHh. this turned out to be way cuter than i was expecting. and the side couple is fucking cute i love them. i want more of them tbh not even the main. excepting for the bullying part yikes but it was so cute after that. 9/10
Dream Away