Shitasaki ni Yoake no Aji
All I can say is. Ramen. But seriously, I have never seen a food manga take food this seriously before, nor have I heard a book say ramen this many times good lord. Kinda cringe, but it was aight. Also, I lowkey laughed when the owner was like "i'M TRyInG tO ReStaRt yOur TonGUe." Like NO SWEETIE THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS-
Occupation To Beloved
Way too much teacher x student stuff, my god. I only stayed for Hikaru and Rihito, and I liked the story with the woman and the man who got used, but they got closer in the process. I thought that was sweet. If it were just the OG characters, I would have given this at least four stars, but nah :/.
A Guy Like You
This was THE FIRST BL I had ever read, and I remember being so confused reading this because my brain couldn't process two dudes being together. I didn't like it because it was way too long, I didn't understand what was going on, and to me, everyone in this story sucked—no wonder I hate the other author's work, tho. I was not the biggest fan of the art style too. I only read this because I kept seeing it everywhere in ads, and I was just curious, but I regret this being my first BL :/. I'll reread it and see if my reaction differs five years later, but I doubt it. And unpopular opinion, but most Lezhin comics suck anyways. The only ones I would say I love are Sign and BL Motel because they're so wholesome. Other than that, Lezhin comics are either just so bad they need to be burned in a fire, or they're mediocre. There's no in-between.
Shouta, Kimi wo Aishiteru
1. 3 out of 10 Umm I don know how I feel about this. I'm genuinely curious where the American kissing stereotype came from lmao. As an American (and I definitely would rather not be CANADA BRING ME INTO YOUR LOVING ARMS), if anybody came up and forcibly kissed me in the street I would beat them up and bury their body where no one will find them :D. Also they fell in love in like a day and I'm not a big fan of that. Plus blondie actor was SUPER pushy like sexual harassment levels to borderline rapey. His backstory didn't make me feel better about what he did either. That whole story was weird. But when they got together it was kinda nice. But eh. I don't mind foreigner x Japanese mc or mixed x Japanese. GIVE US MORE DIVERSITY PLS. But this was just littered with weird stereotypes and yes I would hold an American author to the same standards. 2. 1 out of 10 I'm simply giving it this rating cuz it makes me angry. I really loved their dynamic. I love food stories. "Chick" was so cute and I was so excited to see this story play out. And then I see the dude, AN ADULT MIND YOU, outside his HIGH SCHOOL. I never wanted to scream so bad. I've never felt so disappointed since I read Hitorijime My Hero. Like why he is underage, if they wanted him to go to school PUT HIM IN COLLEGE. So many BLs do this and it's so messed up. Pedo/Hebephilia ain't cute loves. I don't care that the age of consent is 13 in Korea, or that they both met when they were young, Chick is still a minor and raven hair is still an adult. If they were at the most, three years apart in age it would be fine, but still, very disappointing. 3. 9 out of 10 Literally the only great story in this whole thing. I loved the manga, so I was so excited to read the "got jealous of their dog" story. I'm glad it didn't turn into a whole giant misunderstanding either where he was like "iM goNnA bREaK uP wIth YoU hOw DaRe yOu dO thIs To mE". So it was great to see these two again. All in all: 4 out of 10 Wish I could put it higher :/
Heart no Kakurega