muse ✨'s manga / #underage(48)

After Rin finds his girlfriend in bed with another man, he gets drunk at his favorite restaurant and wakes up naked next to Haru, the owner's 18yo nephew. Their names weren't actually Haru and Rin, but their faces sure were.

When a widowed chief brings home his beautiful male coworker, Takeyoshi prepares himself to find that his dad has fallen for a man...only to fall himself. But the coworker's personality doesn't match his face.

To repay the teacher who changed his life, Nagi becomes the guardian for the late teacher's son, who falls for him hard. This had promise but didn't strike the right balance between comedy and drama. Lots of slapping and yelling, and after multiple rejections, Nagi sleeps with him at school (in his old stomping grounds). Great potential for exploring Nagi's feelings for his former teacher, but that's just an excuse to create the living-together situation. I'd love to see this premise in Asou Mitsuaki's hands.

Art evolution! This begins old-school and evolves into the artist's current style. Two main stories: A boy mistaken for a call boy sleeps with the man who picks him up, Takamiya, and eventually they end up in a relationship that feels one-sided until the end. The better story: Aoe, Takamiya's friend and the owner of the call boy club, falls for Naoya, a high schooler he takes in. Their love story was really sweet all the way to the end. Also included: Aoe's brother Kiichi's love story with his bodyguard/long-time companion. Also also included: Takamiya's past with his uncle, who fell for Aoe before he died. This was a ride.

One evening in the snow, a 26yo man finds a high school student passed out drunk and takes him home. Over the next year, they become friends and fall in love. The author published extras that make up the 7th chapter. She envisions them together in a decade. I love how much she loves them!

Two in one: Hua Cheng is a spoiled high school student whose dad is the school director. He falls for Xie Lian, the infirmary nurse - the only person who's willing to stand up to him. Those weren't their names, but the silly boy was so overprotective, it had some Hualian vibes. There was even a necklace. The second story is the director nearly losing his secretary due to his homophobia. They end up dating. Had none of the emotional punch of the same story by this author with Reiji and Eiichiro. I would've loved the first story developed over a few volumes, and not coming to any romantic conclusion until the minor was of age. Ah well, this is a fantasy world.

When the love of his life marries, Shouta gets drunk and ends up outside a restaurant that shares his love's last name. He's taken home by the owner's high school aged son, Maru, who takes a liking to him.

A high schooler raising his younger brother is shocked when he's confessed to by a stranger in a park. This would've been just as effective with a MC who was a fellow shopkeeper rather than a HS student.

A failed photographer's motivation returns when he meets his neighbor's eldest son.

A boy feeling suffocated by his overprotective mother becomes entangled with the man who molested him on a train. This was fascinating and oddly sweet. Obviously not a road map for real life but an interesting story.