muse ✨'s manga / #single father(23)

A single father recovering from the loss of his wife is caught between his brother-in-law, a member of the Yakuza, and a childhood friend who suddenly reenters his life 12 years after cruelly ending their friendship. Spoilers: To be honest, I really think Izumi is better off with his brother in law.

Shoutout to this mangaka for letting the sparkly, adorable character top the more serious one. This was bubbly and a nice pick-me-up.

ETA September 2020: Past me gave this a 3. Present me thought this was cute as heck. A single father left by his wife falls for the actor from a hero show his son adores. They're really fluffy. Former basketball teammates meet up after a reunion. It's vague, but I think we're supposed to infer they understand each other now and might get together.

When his lover is forced to leave his job and return to his hometown to help his family, a man agrees to a 1.5 hour commute to Tokyo in order to be closer to him. I loved them and their relationship. A young boy mistakes a part-time worker for the baker at the bakery where he and his father, a widower, buy bread.

AW! This is really sweet. The art does have some wacky proportions, but the kid is precious and these two like each other.

After the death of their parents, a young man from Sado quits university to take responsibility for his younger brother and moves to Tokyo. With no skills and education, he works for family, barely making enough to live, until he meets a wealthy architect who offers to pay him for sex.

This was SO sweet! A second grade teacher, Hitsuji, is reunited with the man he'd loved in high school - who is the single father of one of Hitsuji's students.

A lonely young office worker is befriended by a child who steals his rice ball, and his older brother - Minoru - who asks him to teach him how to make them. The single father is their widowed dad; I didn't want to use a different tag for this. It's so heartwarming and sweet.

While trying to return a lost dog to its owner, Aoi - a single man raising a deceased friend's four-year-old son - stumbles upon a mysterious shrine and discovers its resident, a beautiful man who tells him not to return. Unable to get him out of his head, Aoi disobeys, incurring the wrath of the man's twin, Yuuma, who seemingly befriends him only to violate him out of jealousy. A somewhat confusing supernatural tale involving dog gods, on-page rape (which is sadly brushed aside), and a love triangle. Beautiful art but I wish this had been better developed.