muse ✨'s manga / #breakup(9)

Two boys meet walking along a while line. You will cry twice: the first out of heartbreak but understanding, and the second out of grief and hope. The author included a final chapter that calms your heart, so you won't be miserable - you won't be miserable! These characters share a beautiful love, but this is a life-long journey we take with them, and life hurts sometimes. But mostly, their life is perfect.

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."

In which Rin knows he and Haru will have to say goodbye one day, so he thinks, "HEY, what if I just ruin everything right now?" Luckily, Haru has more sense than Rin does. Two chapters.

As their relationship continues to mature, Sajou realizes he can no longer envision his future and asks for some time apart from Kusakabe, who then revokes the privilege of calling him by his first name. If you love these two, you might want to wait for this to be completed or at least get a few more chapters in, because I feel like I've been betrayed. ETA:

A man is cruelly dumped by his lover who moves out while he's on vacation. He learns to trust again when he befriends his new roommate. Childhood friends who have pretended to date since childhood to spare one from bullying because of his sexuality. I almost cried.

I think I would’ve hated this story in my twenties, so maybe it’s my age, but I appreciate its quietness. I was so, so moved by this. Two people who broke up because of a stupid lie come back together gradually seven years later. There’s no groveling or dramatics. After a period of time, they speak once about what happened and choose to move on together. The characters are reflections of their surroundings - Ishizaki the ever-moving ocean, Mishima the lighthouse. They both make a foolish decision that harms the other: Ishizaki with his lie, Mishima when he doesn’t illuminate the lighthouse. And together, they patch up the house they will live in as adults. This really touched my heart. Seven years ago, as they were leaving high school to begin their futures, Ishizaki - who was going away to Tokyo for school - lied to his boyfriend and said he'd never loved him, hoping it would be what Mishima - the grandson of the island's lighthouse keeper - needed to give up on him. But Ishizaki never forgets him, and when he returns to the island years later because of his father's help, he learns that Mishima has become a shut-in.

After childhood friends who have been in love since middle school finally move in together, one starts an affair with someone from his outdoors club.

Frustrated by his inability to meet people like him, Akira - a young gay man - starts a food blog. He grows close to one of the site visitors, Nanjou, who one day arrives in Tokyo with the intent on living with him, claiming he's fallen in love. But the relationship, once it starts, remains emotional only, with very little physically happening between then. And when Nanjou is offered a marriage interview, Akira tries to break things off for his own good - and finally does, by refusing to reply to his messages, which eventually stop coming. This story was based on a real-life couple, the first time I've seen the BL genre attempt this level of realism. That gives this a subtlety that's lacking in a lot of other works. This story will not make you feel like you're floating in a pool of flowers, but it is sweet and heartwarming by the end. They still loved each other after a year apart. That makes me happy. The end contains an interview with the man who served as a model for Akira.