muse ✨'s manga / #slow burn(12)

A year after his boyfriend's death, high school student Kou meets Saki, a younger student who happens to resemble Kou's deceased boyfriend, but has nothing like his personality. Misumi was two-timing Kou with a girl from another school and he harbors anger in addition to the love he still feels. Kou and Saki gradually fall in love, but when Misumi's diary surfaces, Saki is afraid of being his replacement.

I like this. For me, it doesn't compare to her other works, but it's interesting. It took me a while to get into it and stop associating the characters with her others (and stop calling them "Misaki with Arikawa's eyes" and "The guy from Seven Days but older"). I wasn't invested in these characters until we got their back stories. When we found out about Kurose's past, I came to like him, and I was genuinely moved for the first time when he saw his neighbor again after so many years signing autographs in a bookstore (read: I was crying a lot). I want them to meet again, but I don't think they will.

An unfaithful college student cheats on his boyfriend and ends up working as an office boy for a gangster - whom he'd actually met as kids. With time, they fall into a relationship which eventually becomes dead serious and eventually romantic. Lots of drama, but I think it's worth reading for the love story! Lots of dubcon along the way, though. So. I didn't realize I was into this story until it was 9:30am and I hadn't gotten up to go to work at 10am. It took a while for me to like the characters, but by the end, I really liked them. No tears for me but a lot of emotion. Head's up: there is a sexual relationship between a father figure and a person he raised. It's denied at first, but it's A Thing. You don't really see it on page or get any specific details, but it's talked about.

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.

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.

Oosawa, a single father struggling to care for his young daughter, accepts the kindness of a customer when she falls ill. Yoshioka is a promiscuous man who is open about his interest in Oosawa, which he doesn't return. But the more time Oosawa and his daughter spend with him, the more things begin to feel like family. A slow-burn love story with a delightful child character and happy ending. I loved it.

This was the slow-burn love story of my dreams. After being cruelly dumped on Christmas Eve, Ei finds a man and a kitten asleep outside of his apartment in the snow. He takes them in out of pity, and Junpei becomes a fixture in his life, helping him to emerge from his stoic shell and to learn to love someone good for once. This was one of the most realistic stories I've ever read. A few years ago, I probably would've been frustrated with Ei's behavior, especially taking back his ex. But I did the same thing because I was so desperate to save my relationship, which I clung to because it was familiar, not because it was happy or healthy. People do make mistakes. They do seek out other humans just for comfort, even if they love someone else. They do withhold their love for fear of being hurt. This was touching, exquisitely drawn, and the pacing was just right. I cannot recommend it enough.

A lonely man living at a boarding house is comforted by the proprietor's 7yo grandson and decides he always wants him in his life, and thus begs his parents for their blessing. When I read this, I didn't interpret it as an adult in love with a child. I saw a lonely adult who was really fond of a kid -- and fell for him as he grew into adulthood. But I've never gone back to it or felt any desire to reread it. Even though nothing happened between them until Hei was an adult, something about this story doesn't sit right with me. I don't see the MC as a predator per se (compare with 'Nichan' by Harada), but going to the boy's parents when Hei was only 7 is a little iffy regardless of what type of love the MC felt for him. It's great he waited; it's great he rejected him while Hei was young and encouraged him to have other relationships. I'm just saying that if this were an adult and my nephew, I wouldn't be comfortable. As a piece of fiction, I enjoyed it! It was a pleasant slow burn with a happy ending. But I can't shake the creep factor.

A working man in his late 30s meets an unfriendly artist, just twenty, who runs a boarding house. This story did nothing for me the first time I read it, but I'm so glad I sat down with it again a year later. I must've rushed the first time and not paid attention to the emotional development. This is a beautiful story about letting go of the past's hold on you and moving forward with life. This is a true slow burn. I don't think they are together until the fifth volume, but they really care for each other by the time anything happens, which makes it really sweet when it does.

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.