stressedpenguin's manga / #bl i can talk about(8)

This is possibly my absolute favorite manga. Very realistic, solid relationship building and character writing. this is almost a 10/10 for me. 9/10

two friends who've always been in the same class suddenly get split up. Kai and Ren sometimes play act BL scenes but to Kai, it's no longer a joke. Furuya-sensei's works always have this grounded atmosphere to them and this one is no exception. I absolutely love it. has got that "don't wanna confess and ruin what we have" plot :D

The emotions are strong with this. Watching these two guys in their, what, 30s or 40s? Watching them grapple with feeling empty and lonely even as they live life as if nothing's wrong, watching them just want *someone* to grow old with, that "social security", its heartbreaking. And then as they discover what it's like to be together, it's so healing. The story is called "I'm Doomed if It's Not You" but it doesnt feel like they're all isolated like a lot of other romance. They have friends and lives outside of each other, but they're each others lifelines. It's a relationship that feels like... less rose-tinted romance and more... just people getting together? Idk how to explain This is a strong contender for favorite romance manga. 9/10, it's so close but my 10s are strict

This one's a super sweet. The characters are so well written, the story feels grounded and realistic. Their job is an actual part of the plot and the manga shows specifics about their work. THS SEME ACTUALLY STOPS AND ASKS WHAT'SWRONG WHEN THE UKE SAYS NO AND STOP DURING SEX. Very sweet. 9/10

Pickpocket (seme) gets caught by a no nonsense retired cop (uke) and is forced to do some manual labor. To retaliate, he breaks into the uke's house but pa icks and leaves when he finds out the man's a retired cop. Then he finds out the uke's got PTSD after finding his partner dead in his house and that's why he quit. The distressed expressions in this are so good; I know that's a weird thing to say, but they do angst so well in this. There's genuine character development for both characters despite this being so short. The drama of the reveal is 10/10 angst without been dark or twisted or depressing. I just wish there was more to explore the semes relationship with his friends and rhe ukes relationship with HIS friends and his trauma. As a minor note, the seme's hair is on point Story wise, I'd give this a 7 but the art is so frickin clean and fluid it gets bumped up to an 8 so 8/10

Guy happens to see a very skeletal looking salaryman on the shinkansen one day and cant stop observing him. By chance they start talking and bond over horse racing. It's a slow story. Everything is revealed through Tohru's internal thoughts and his conversations with his friends and with Makoto. These two create a safe space together. The story has a strong atmosphere and sense of direction. Makoto crying because he's so overwhelmed that Tohru would cry for his sake is incredibly touching. There's so much about this that I love; I just cant express it well. I was rooting for Makoto to quit his job but I'm actually happier that it seems his power harassing boss has actually improved. Rather than running away, i love the aubtle message that these situations CAN improve and that we should aim to improve them. It gives me a bit of hope. (But also I'm all for starving out companies that dont treat their employees right bc we cant all afford to play the long game.) 9/10. This is a masterfully crafted story.

Story felt like a frayed rope being held together at each end. A lot of things happen, like they jump from case to case with very little explanation. 90% of the story is just close-ups on people's faces so it's really hard to get a bearing on where anyone is. Theres a scene where they're rescuing some kid from a building and they have to jump from one balcony to the other... and it never shows us the balcony or the characters mid air. Really weird. The drama was repetitive. One of them will say "don't get hurt'" and then get hurt. Every. Single. Time. Like, it's cute that they care about each other but man, it's so predictable, it's boring. The emotional drama of Miro liking Ian keeps getting interrupted and we also know Ian likes him bc this is a BL so of course he does. There's no question about it and it's not set up well enough so by the confession I was like who cares just get over with. 4/10. It's not bad, just not good and I got irritated reading it

Bro they're adorable . I love relationships that have complicated emotional backstories. They've both been in love with each other for 10 years but the complicated feelings surrounding how they met and fell out made it hard for them, especially Toranosuke, to express their feelings. I love that by the end Tora figures out how to say wahst on his mind. There are so many little things about these two that are amazing. I love the whole thing with the rings. And also FINALLY a story that doesnt use rape, assault, or kidnapping ro create drama. The characters themselves have enough complicated feelings to make this an interesting story 9/10. Might be a 10/10 and not just cuz I'm a sucker for cool, gentle guys on motorcycles but the girls kinda sucked in this so I gotta think on it