muse ✨'s manga / #top 100(51)

A fluffy, g-rated relationship between a boy who always sees the bright side and the person he loves: a serious, brilliant, bespectacled darling.

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!

Childhood friends in a close relationship have to decide if they want to be together for life or part ways when Ryu accepts being the fifth heir in a yakuza family.

This is The Happiest Story. Two single dads meet in the mornings dropping their sons off at school. The sons are dear friends, and the dads grow close, helping one another to cook and manage their lives. When one loses his apartment in a fire, they combine households temporarily out of necessity, and it becomes harder to hide feelings for one another. The dads are great, but the kids MAKE this story. They're adorable. Be aware that Kentarou works in porn at one point, and having sex with someone else is part of that work. He sees it as work and so does Asakura.

A man who adores shoujo manga finally experiences love.

AW. I've read this twice and I've watched the movie. The movie is a little over the top, but the manga is sweet. I love the archery metaphors.

When his lover wakes up from an accident without memory of him, a man takes the opportunity to let him go, believing he will be happier. Dubcon in the last chapter.

Introverted adult mangaka Mutsu spots his former basketball club member Akiharu on his way to a job agency and offers him a job as a live-in assistant. Akiharu manages the household and takes care of Mutsu, who rarely goes outside, running manuscripts to his editor and even going so far as to help him masturbate to spare his wrists. Their relationship becomes intense and close, but when Akiharu talks about the possibility of a girlfriend in the future, Mutsu begins to pull away. BIG KUDOS to the author for sex gone wrong the first time. Everyone has great first-time sex in mangaland, and I liked that these two had a less-than-satisfying first go with penetration. And then they worked things out together! Yay. A happy story.

A month after his older brother’s funeral, Kei discovers intimate photographs of him and his roommate, Akinari, and realizes they had been lovers. To complicate things, Akinari is the person Kei has loved for 10 years. Surprisingly they get into a relationship, and Akinari doesn’t hesitate the way I expected he would. I’ve been thinking about the story for a couple of days after I read it on Futekiya. It really stuck with me. How OFF was the original relationship that Akinari can recover this quickly? Or is he rebounding with Kei? I love a story that makes my mind spin out of control. It's now Thursday (I read this last weekend) and I'm still thinking about it. Because I can't get this out of my head, it's going on my favorites list. I'm giving it five stars here instead of four since I feel bad for its rating. :-(

A one-time quickie in a bathroom stall turns into a weekly meetup between two men who grow from sex friends to lovers. They have the first couple and the final chapter. Five stars for their story. The second fic is about two high school students. One is dealing with internalized homophobia and spends two chapters pissed off, then comes around. I didn't feel much for them. This alone I'd give maybe a three.