muse ✨'s manga / #reencounter(186)

Read this for the first couple, former coworkers who have been sleeping together for a while and their relationship comes to a head when marriage comes up. They surface again at the end of the final chapter. The rest are one shots, mostly rushed. The former coworkers who reunite after six years were sweet, although they argued a bit too much. I have no idea what the second story was trying to do. I feel like I really liked the fifth one but I can’t remember what it was about now.

A bunny agrees to enter into a political marriage with a fox for the sake of his family’s security. unbeknownst to him the fox has actually been in love with him since they were children. A sex addicted office worker picks up a male prostitute and later they fall in love.

I don't know how I feel about this story. I understand it from the dad's point-of-view to a degree. He had no idea of the actual identity of the person he fell in love with when he was 15, and he has stayed in love with the idea of that person for 22 years. But the son always knew the identity of the person he was with, and he was a few years older at the time because of the time travel so his seduction of the 15 year old felt off. I don't know anyone who would seduce a younger version of their parent; most people would be horrified by the idea. It says a lot about this person's character that he did not. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the writer developed the story enough in order for me to understand why the bond this person wanted so desperately with his father turned into romance within just a couple of weeks. I would've liked more development there. Maybe the son had come to believe he was delusional, that the future he thought he'd come from didn't exist, or that there was no way home. My true wish is that they'd both been using false names, and that neither of them had known. Putting all of that aside and returning to the present where they're in love, this was a story about two people who had once been together for a brief time and found an immense joy and happiness with each other. After they are reunited and their identities are clear, there is a three year gap. They are both unhappy without the other. They make the decision to live together as lovers knowing the relationship can never be revealed beyond the two of them. I wonder if the intention of the story was to explore whether love could be fulfilling if that love can never be revealed to a third person. Is it enough that they live together and have a life together in private? I do not feel this was written in support of this sort of relationship. I think the author chose this taboo subject specifically because it is so taboo. It's the ultimate taboo, isn't it? I think she chose it to force it to stay completely private. There is no one they could confide in. The only option they would have is to move somewhere no one knew either one of them, and hope that because of their different names and the fact that they do not resemble one another closely, they will never be mistaken for father and son. This would have been just as effective as a time travel story without the romance — a chance for a man to get to know his father, and a chance for them to then have a relationship as equals when he returns, minus the sexual content. I would have actually liked to read that.

In his grief over losing his father, Natsuki seduces Yuni, his closest friend, and then disappears from his life. Yuni is left confused, with no way to find Natsuki, and can only hope he'll keep his promise of attending the same university. But when they finally see each other again, Natsuki seems desperate to forget what happened between them, while Yuni has realized his own feelings. The final dream with Natsuki's father is a tearjerker.

A stuck elevator provides a chance to apologize for the past and long for what could have been.

Realizing he's gay, Shun walks out on his own wedding and flees to the island where his grandmother lives to escape his family. There, with the excuse of writing books, he befriends Mio, a boy who has lost his family. Before Mio is sent to an orphanage, he kisses Shun, promising to return. When he does three years later, Shun is conflicted, remembering his own family's reaction to him coming out, but they ultimately make future choices together. It deals with isolation, loneliness, and living honestly. Some other commenters complained that this seemed randomly thrown together. I disagree, although the transitions could have been clearer. There were a few times I had to stop and say, "Oh, we've jumped ahead in time," but the story itself doesn't bother me: Boy moves to island, boy meets other boy, other boy leaves island, other boy comes home and confesses his love three years later, they dance around each other, former fiancee makes boy confront reality, boys affirm their love, boys leave the island together.

A man becomes a successful fashion designer so his crush & rival, a now famous model, has to wear his clothing. TBH I forget the other details but everyone was beautiful.