muse ✨'s manga / #Love Triangle(11)

After Ryou glimpses his new male neighbors kissing, he acknowledges his confusion about his own sexuality and his attraction to Makoto, the dark-haired model who lives across from him. This is a story about self discovery, heartbreak, and the complexities of human relationships. It probably won't satisfy anyone looking for a straight-up love story. There is love in this, but as is true with love, it's complicated.

On a rainy afternoon, Mio is caught borrowing an umbrella hanging on a doorknob and befriends Yugi, an alluring but standoffish college student that Mio comes to love. But Yugi is hung up on love for his friend Tachibana, who has been his partner for four years, with the understanding that after college, he'll go home to marry his girlfriend. Mio begs for Yugi's attention but is rejected. Four years later, they're reunited through work. Mio wonders if this is his second chance but discovers that Yugi is still being strung along by Tachibana. Junko understands the human heart: how it can continue to love even in the wake of tremendous pain, how it cannot be told who to love - or when to stop.

From DMP: What would you do if your crush of many years suddenly got married?! After attending his beloved Saitoh's wedding, broken-hearted Nagai gets a little too drunk for his own good and lands himself in a hotel room with the bride's guest, Honda. To top things off, just when he thought he was getting over things he finds out that newlywed Saitoh's bride has run away. What will become of this developing love-triangle?

This might be the most realistic story I've read, which means it's far from being the happiest even though it ends on a happy note. Prepare for your heart to be beaten over and over as you go through this. It's a story about how people hurt each other. Although they're in a relationship, when Kyou meets a young woman at work, he once again questions his decision to be with Imagase. The thing is, they're NOT bad for each other. They're a good fit. They live together easily. They're sexually compatible. The problem is that Kyou can't accept he's fallen in love with a man. He won't acknowledge his love at ALL, even though he's miserable for months after they break up a second time. Part of the issue is that Kyou has zero confidence and is a pushover - that's established in the prequel - so when Imagase would lament that they weren't good for each other, Kyou listened. When Imagase said he was just "playing" lovers, Kyou listened. Can they last? Yes, but they both have some maturing to do. This needs a sequel where we check in with them in a year or two. The real sign that Kyou has honestly embraced Imagase as his partner for life will be if they meet each other's families, since that was brought up several times. I loved this, but it was incredibly upsetting and I cried a lot, especially when Imagase was in the bed Kyou shared with his girlfriend and said, "You were mine. You were mine."

A young actor becomes fascinated with his gay co-star and develops a crush, only to coerce him into sex in order to get past it. He's thoroughly rejected afterwards. He dates someone else to try and move past it, but his feelings don't catch up to his lover's, and he's left wishing he could get over his co-star -- although it's impossible when the co-star begins to express an interest in him. I honestly wish our hero had come to love Katagiri. One scene aside, their relationship was above board, loving, and supportive. I had a suspicion the co-stars would end up together, and I was right. I don't mind the ending - you love who you love - but I think he would've been happier with Katagiri in the long run. This story deals the pain of one-sided love and the graciousness of the one in love to wish happiness on the other person. I hope the boyfriend finds someone to love him back.

Katsura struggles with anxiety he can only overcome by hugging Sou, his older brother's friend he's known since childhood. But after Katsura is kissed by his best friend Kouichi, Sou becomes jealous and refuses to help him anymore, leaving Katsura to juggle his anxiety and the feelings of two people very close to him. This was a sweet story. I especially liked the first part, which dealt with Sou and Katsura realizing their feelings for one another. I thought the second part, which needlessly introduced another love interest, was unnecessary. Katsura's anxiety is described as having been caused by Sou when they were younger, when he'd consoled him after an accident and repeated that Katsura would be okay as long as Sou was with him. That's not how my anxiety worked, so it threw up a bit of a flag for me in terms of plausibility - anxiety, for me, isn't something I can get over, it just is - but I'm glad Katsura was able to overcome his. If I were to re-read this, I'd stick to part one and not bother with the second book.

After his heart is broken by the school nurse, a boy falls in love with his openly gay classmate. Moves quickly but interesting. Surprisingly happy ending.

After running away from his high school boyfriend Kuma and close friend Hanabi because of mixed-up feelings for both of them, Hatchi works in a restaurant to fulfill his dream of being a chef. But when Kuma and Hanabi find him, Hatchi has to face his guilt over falling in love with Hanabi. My only complaint is that I honestly wish this would've ended as a poly relationship. I really think these three would've made it work, and they so obviously loved one another. Features on-page sex between a human and a human in animal form. I actually thought it was nice that the human partner would accept their partner's animal form, but...head's up if that's not your thing.