muse ✨'s manga / #childhood friends(173)

A young man falls for a classmate's face but struggles with internalized homophobia. The classmate, who acts repulsed at first, is actually dealing with his own issues involving his looks, which have made him an outsider since childhood. Lots of pretty homophobic language, so be cautious. The relationship is nice, though, and their friend group is awesome.

OH!!! This didn't go the way I worried it would, and I am so happy. This is a side story to Yukidoke no Koi. Several years after graduation, Oushirou still harbors feelings for his childhood friend Koba, who is moving to Tokyo for work and will live nearby. One afternoon Oushirou drops his wallet. It's picked up by a regular at the bar he frequents. After talking a while, the man - Inamura - offers his contact information and drops the fact that he's gay. He figures out that Oushirou is pining for Koba and offers to be a distraction. I worried this would be a situation where the childhood friend wises up and dates the main character, but it didn't play out that way. Koba and Oushirou remained dear friends, and Oushirou began a relationship with Inamura - moving in with him five years later. Content warning: There is a reference to one-sided love between brothers, but it is only spoken. We see nothing and nothing comes of it. I WOULD LIKE TO ADD! This is the FIRST! manga I've ever read where the characters have a frank, honest discussion about sex before they have sex. And then after sex, evaluate what happened, and one reassures the other that if bottoming isn't his thing, they'll work something out - that sex isn't everything. I've never seen that and it was totally refreshing and wonderful. Thank you to this author.

The story of two childhood friends who slowly, slowly evolve into romance. It's unclear to me if the earlier chapters are *actually* part of the story with the bulk being a flashback, or if everything prior to chapter 45 could be considered pre-writing by the author, who has since changed her mind about the direction of the characters. Considering how close they've become, I have a hard time believing that if Jian Yi were kidnapped and disappeared for several years, Zhan Zheng Xi would be so averse to him being physically affectionate with him on his return, considering how physical they are with each other since childhood - unless something is going to happen that will explain it. For now, I believe the story really started around chapter 45 and everything prior to that could be seen as the author's rough drafts. TBD. The side couple is the best couple.

Elements of this are fabulous, but this often teeters between dubcon and noncon. These characters need to sit down and discuss their relationship. The sex friends gig has gone on too long, and they've pushed way, way past friend boundaries. For either of them to think the other isn't emotionally involved at this point is absurd. They're in love, but they are hurting each other, and they have jealousy issues they must work out. If they do that, I think they could be happy. They are genuinely, deeply in love. However, if they continue down this road, they are going to create resentment and end up loathing each other. ETA & spoilers for later chapters: I went to Lehzin and read the available chapters. They DO talk, immediately after this, and clear up their misunderstandings. They are both completely honest with each other. I feel okay about them moving forward at this moment.

There are elements of this that are great. Fumi has been in love with Shunpei since they were kids, but Shunpei has been oblivious to his feelings - until Fumi starts dating a guy at school. Shunpei has to own up to his own jealousy and makes the decision that if Fumi has to date a guy, it's going to be him. Over the course of the story, he falls in love himself, and it has a happy ending. Now the bad parts: The early chapters demonstrate the homophobia and fetishistizing that are common in fandom and BL. For example, Shunpei's sister - a huge BL fan - is horrified when she learns her brother is dating Fumi, saying she'll be mocked at her wedding for it. She's further upset to find he plans to bottom. It's stressed that her interest in BL is purely fetish, and the attitude is pervasive in the early chapters. As the story goes along, we pick up supportive friends, but the sister - who seems to be an avatar for the mangaka and the reader - never changes her attitude, even going so far as to keep Fumi and Shunpei from being able to sleep together under threat of telling their parents. Beyond that, this manga also wanders into dubcon territory. Several times, Fumi announces that he has no plans to stop what he's doing, even if Shunpei says no. And there are times he says no, and Fumi doesn't listen. That's common for this genre, not specific to this manga, but it perpetuates the idea that noncon can be sexy if everyone gets off. Not so, and kudos to Shunpei for kicking Fumi off the bed toward the end of the story when he didn't stop when Shunpei asked. Overall, a really sweet story, but I felt like the mangaka herself is the one who has a lot of these beliefs, and that made reading this less than pleasurable at times.

Needed better character development overall but readable. The fourth heir to a yakuza family falls for a con man, and his childhood friend who has a one-sided love for him eventually falls for a teacher at school. Relationships aren't very developed, so I felt little for anyone.

Multiple love stories. Quick paced and not a lot of dialogue, but they moved me. The childhood friends who are inseparable and sleep (literally sleep) together a lot before getting together are my favorite.

A young man believes his first love died years ago and harbors regret for the last thing he said. Now in high school, he meets a determined young man with memories of a first love that match what he recalls of the love he lost. This is fantastic.

This is long, so it's good for a cold day or spaced across a week. Childhood friends grow into something more over a period of years. Great female best friend character as well.

One afternoon, a boy finds a chocolate tin in his bag and begins to correspond through it with a boy he's never met. Childhood friends finally start dating. (The one where the older one is oblivious and thinks they're "practicing" and the love of his life is tall and blond with piercings, and everyone is scared of him. This is the story with the end comic where their parents have been in support of their relationship since they were small and had already looked into moving the families together and planning a wedding.) Ten years after his five-year-old friend proposes, a man has to decide if he wants to honor the promise that they'd one day marry. I skip this one on reread.