muse ✨'s manga / #super hot character alert(30)

Middle school friends who attend separate high schools still ride the bus together every day.

Two AV actors audition for the same role and are later cast together in the TV adaptation of the film. Katou falls for his older co-star, Iwaki, immediately, and is delightfully persistent in his courtship. Which basically consisted of showing up at his house and eventually moving in. They're open about their relationship with the public and their families; they marry; they deal with the sort of ups and downs that come up in a long-term relationship. I didn't expect to like this story. The art style in the early chapters threw me, but it evolves as the story goes along. Katou is easily the prettiest man in any manga I've read. If he weren't married to Iwaki, I'd say he's one of my husbands, but I respect their relationship too much. A couple icky things happen to them, which are caused by outside people, but their relationship is solid and honest and loving. They love each other SO MUCH. That's what I like most about this. This story DOES have a sequel, which I've tagged with this story's name as well. It is ongoing. ETA 2020: It's probably best to avoid the sequel! Just read this and pretend this is all that exists!

Rin and Maki are inseparable childhood friends whose relationship evolves from close to intimate when they start living together. Maki is completely devoted to him, but Rin - who initiated things - is worried what other people will think. This is the one with the sweet boyfriend with long hair who is so terribly, terribly in love. They slap each other a lot. Some readers took issue with it; I agree it's not something you should do in your own relationship, but it didn't ruin the story for me.

Mutual pining between long-term friends. One brings women back to his friend's apartment frequently, and things come to a head.

Arikawa, a law student with poor eyesight, has a literal run-in with someone and is left with a delicate flower necklace. It belongs to a botany student, Misaki, who doesn't seem to have interests outside of the laboratory. Although he's busy, Arikawa volunteers to help in the lab, and over time, he and Misaki grow close. However, Misaki is dealing with the pain of an unrequited love that won't leave him alone. This is one of my favorite stories. I've read it multiple times and was able to find the licensed English version of the first volume. I don't think the other two have been licensed, but I found the original 3-volume set on CDJapan and have it on my shelf. :-D

A young travel agent trips over an unconscious foreigner and takes him home. Not a lot of relationship development, but there is a bit of touching character development. Unexpectedly happy ending!

Ivan, a spy in the Russian army, is sent to infiltrate the mafia - specifically, to spy on his former best friend whom he's still in love with. This lacks the plotty espionage I was expecting; Ivan's motivations are discovered far too soon for someone who is supposedly an accomplished spy, but I loved their relationship and passion.

An AV actor escapes unwanted attention in public by kissing the person nearest to him - which happens to be the class president from his middle school days.

1) After his parents' business goes bankrupt, a young man turns to crime after they're forced to leave their family home. Years later and estranged from his parents, he returns to the house under the pretense of visiting his former butler with the real motive of robbery. But the butler has no intention of letting him leave. 2) Shuu actively ignores his roommate Chitose, an insatiable playboy famous for his habit of sleeping with any woman on campus named Aki. Only Shuu understands the cruel reason: it was Chitose's nickname for him, a misreading of his name, but Shuu forbid him from saying it after they slept together and quietly suffers jealousy. This is no "how to" guide for how to land a boyfriend, but it's an entertaining read.