apopoi's manga / #Slice of life(6)

I loved this when I read it with my sister. It's not as creepy as I thought it would be and doesn't border on pedophilia or power dynamic like other mangas with large age-gap. This feels more real and the characters emotions feels more genuine and reasonable. The ML struggling with his life and his siblings after the death of their parents and finding solace in the work of the MC (she's a writer). The little bro was cute too. I would honestly support him and MC too if that ship had any chance to sail. He caught feelings for her when they were children, after his parent's death he crouched down crying infront of their graves in the rain and the MC quietly sat by his side holding an umbrella sheltering him from the rain. No words had to be spoken and that panel warmed my heart.

I looove looove looove this!!! The MCs are so nice and heartwarming and wholesome and such good people. The way Yuzu is so patient with our ML and dotes on him and cares for him, consoling him..ahh I want her as my wife. Also our ML is nothing to scoff at either although he considers himself a pessimist, he is such a positive person who considers the bright side to everything. He considered suicide as a means to escape because he was essentially disowned by his rich ass family and sent to live in a deserted house where his grandpa spent his later years and died, in a distant and rural village. His wife is truly his saving grace. He is so funny, I love how he accepts Yuzu's goodwill and kindness, compliments her cooking and his blushing..so adorable!! His tsundere sister I grew to love only after a few pages with her..I love the twist that she admires her brother and doesn't see him as a disgrace despite his disability. Also the friend of Yuzu who got pregnant..at first I was a bit skeptical and wary since teenage pregnancy causes a lot more damage in a society to the young girl than the boy so I thought that was irresponsible but now I am starting to get it. Above all our dear sweet MC reminds me so much of my best friend Mari ️

Okayyyy.. there's a lot to unpack here. We have a woman in her late 20s (27) going on a club or a bar unlike her usual prim and proper self to get hooked up with a stranger to take her virginity after hearing her childhood friend brag about how good her boyfriend was in bed ( fyi, the boyfriend is also her childhood friend whom she had an unrequited love over). That one night stand led to her pregnancy, therefore the plot. The stranger who is to be the father is the ML who is in his early 30s (34), and also the chairman of a really big and prestigious company...as you know one tends to be. She saw two lines on her pregnancy test confirming her pregnancy and her friend catches her and offers to take her to the OBGY..but she tattles to her boyfriend who accompanies them. They meet the ML there with one of her students and she misunderstands..but it turns out, she (the student) will have a younger sibling from her step-mom who is only 8 years older than her. The ML connects the dots, meets with her...and proposes marriage. The MC refuses but after some talks later, they agreed to go on dates like 4 times a week or so..to make it work for the baby. They start falling for one another tho the ML liked her way earlier than that..maybe on the first day they met. But what pushed their marriage was when the MC's acquaintance way back in university who is way too eager to ruin her reputation learns of her pregnancy and spreads the info to everyone. This leads to many things...but the ML swoops in and saves the day..after being called over by his niece (she felt responsible for it as she inadvertedly was the reason for the rumour to spread in the first place). He says they are engaged and will get married in the next month..April. The funny thing was he already planned their wedding in advance for like a year but preponed it cuz of the circumstances. Oh..the ML has a stalker. That stalker causes some trouble..but he gave her a chance then another cuz her dad's his former highschool teacher. But he decides enough is enough when she attempted to murder the MC and her unborn child by car. They get married..they have two kids. The eldest is a girl, the younger a boy. The ML is essentially a perfect man and the MC is..alright. she has her faults..with her mommy issues. She cries a lot, sobs or bawls..whatever fits your taste. A distant mom and a dad who has too much love to share..that's her life. I don't like how impersonal her life seems..but it's nice to read once in a while. Also how they are still in their 'honeymoon phase' and still pining for one another. The niece has an oppa who is a neighbour. Yeah..he likes her. She likes him too but she takes time to figure it out cuz he was always there by her side annoying her and teasing her so she didn't realise her feelings. She tries to match him up with a girl..who later turns out to be their matchmaker..how the turn tables. They date..after 2 years, they grow distant. A girl is interested in him and they spend a lot of time together..she gets jealous, drinks a whole bunch..confesses how she feels to him. He says to talk tomorrow..they talk..then had sex~. Turns out he has been keeping a distance from her cuz he wants to take their relationship up a notch..we all know what that means. And he is keeping it in and keeping busy to match her pace. Also he worked like hell so he could get a matching ring for their 2nd year anniversary. He then turns back to normal..touching her, pecking her and being all lovey-dovey~

It's alright. The translation has its moments but it can still be understood so where's the harm? I wrote a very lengthy review for this a minute ago but my phone switched off and all that vanished. So I won't get into the nitty gritty of this story unfortunately. So the ML is an honour student who used to be a promising judo athlete but after sustaining a leg injury, he could no longer go down that path. After dedicating a year to his studies, he managed to secure the top spot in academics. He has liked Eunho for quite some time, it seems. He even jerked off while smelling his school uniform that he left in his closet. He keeps tabs on him by using his friends to tell him everything, who he hangs out with..girls or guys, when they leave etc to telling them not to take him out after school and go alone. Now this is possible because Dohyun caught them smoking using a key that they were not authorised to have, that too with some chicks. He promised not to out them if they did this task for him. Eventually the cat got out of the bag and Eunho is aware of this. Surprisingly he wasn't that concerned over it and just blamed it over his weird behaviour these past days. They have been together since kindergarten to now high school. Dohyun's parents were in a car accident while they were on a vacation to celebrate their wedding anniversary. That traumatic experience made Dohyun a bit scared of driving so in a very cute and wholesome scene, Eunho told him that he would be the one to have a driver's license and all he has to do was sit quietly on the passenger seat. Albeit that was after he confessed about his fear, when Eunho suggested that he drive them together in the future. Eunho is starting to like him and is aware of his every move now, he gets jealous when he sees him with girls etc. This didn't escape Dohyun's eyes and ofcourse the motherfucker is elated. Him buying him a birthday cake even while he was still angry to hiding it in the corner of his fridge, which Dohyun still found. He even called him to come over to his house and asked about the girl he was with, which Dohyun smiled at and asked if he was jealous. Also when he licked the cream off Eunho's wrist after it got on him, Eunho avoiding eye contact to his clenched fist were all things Dohyun was eager to see. All of these things were enough proof of his attraction towards him afterall. Also Dohyun asking him what kind of house he wanted to live in, if it should closer to school etc was so heartwarming since he already put it on stone that they were going to live together after graduation despite Eunho's worries. Also special mention to the gay friend for staying out of their business eventhough it didn't appear that way initially. I love how bold he is, the reason he transferred school in the third year (which is unconventional) was because of his sexual orientation. All of this he said to Eunho in the span of a minute into their first conversation. He also smokes too with Dohyun's friends..I liked that gap too since it appeared like his friends might be bullying him which Dohyun suspected as well. He also offers a cigarette to Eunho when he asked if that tasted good. Now this didn't fare well for Eunho because 1) he coughed since it was his first time smoking 2) Dohyun witnessed this scene. The reaction that Dohyun had was very interesting. He asked to meet in the rooftop, locked it upon arriving which put Eunho on edge and made him wonder if he was going to get beaten up. He also comments that he should have just told him if he wanted to smoke. He offered his cigarette to him(he smokes btw) and told him to suck (uhhmm sir?) The sexual connotation is off the roof in this one. Ofcourse Eunho got even more angry than he already was and stormed out of there after coughing due to inhaling the smoke. This episode was right after they got into an argument after Dohyun outed him to his parents about him smoking and that was the reason they fought.

I like this. It's simple and straight to the point, it does all that it needs to do and hits all the correct beats in the story. The boss asking "Who's gonna be the top" made me chuckle since it was very obvious that Kazuma would be it with how proactive he's been. There is just something magical about an older uke×younger seme that tickles my fancy. With the latter being stoic or spacing out most of the time, not as bothered by societal norms. I want a Mr Inuma in my life, someone to take care of me and cook for me. He's so sweet and giving. Their combo works on paper and in reality too I would assume. Gastronomy, I haven't heard that since Food Wars (Shokugeki no Soma), with that short white-haired character. I like that he broke up with his ex because she didn't like the smell of fish, which was essentially her denying him his passion and so forth. Many might put up with it but damn he knows his worth. Also I like that he called it 'sexual assault' cuz it was and also him easily admitting to his feelings and naturally dating. I love how his co-worker wasn't a douchebag and started tattling to everyone about the fact that they were dating and is genuinely happy for him. It also speaks volume on the Boss's character that him extending his help and looking out for him was seen as something normal and not him giving favours to him cuz he liked him. It shows he would do the same for any other in that situation. He has been in that dorm for ten years as well so they might have seen him doing the same for others. Also, many situations point to them dating yet they don't even consider that and I think it isn't due to them being naive but simply them faulting it to the Boss's kind nature. Currently on Ch14.

Such a long title. Hope the fl is smart. That's it. Update (9/9/23) : This was such a pleasant read. Lucille is so mature and capable, she also doesn't poke in other people's business. I was worried about that at first because MCs in shoujo manga tend to be an airhead, clumsy and a damsel in distress. I agree with Deidei on the fact that she gives off older sister energy. Speaking of Deidei, I love that she decided to pursue higher education and grow out of her 'childish' phase learning from the five days experience she had under Lucille's wing. Straight away we can see that she likes Sensei, wanting to talk to him and blushing. When she admits defeat after she saw Lucille putting her hands together before a meal or was it after? Not sure.. That was funny. She is like a younger sister, so adorable. The amount of work that Lucille does is something no mortal man is capable but I loved that Deidei persevered. Sensei being a respectable magician is not surprising but him being the reason that the town specialty came to being was amazing. He could just flick his hands and the problem would be solved yet he decided that the townsmen should be able to continue it and be responsible for their future is commendable. That earned him being called 'Sensei' by the townsmen and a special bond between him and the town. I love how they react to him as well, they looked as if they would pass out when he visited their store and when he complimented their handiwork, the couple praised themselves that their effort was seen and so on. I like Raven as well. He isn't a douchebag who would spill everything about his co-worker to his master yet does the minimum for ensuring his well-being. Also I like how he admitted that seeing Lucille's and their master interaction was the only interesting thing happening in that otherwise boring household and has manners. I also like that he told her that he conducted an investigation on her by hiring detectives and said sorry if she found that creepy. What else? I hate the Master and Mistress but I find them amusing as well tbh. The Mistress called MC a thief yet wasn't even sure if her husband and her cheated (tho I get where she is coming from since she was a servant employed by them). The Master being deluded that Lucille liked him back when she was just doing her job like calling him 'Master', putting a forced smile while serving him, giving him tea when he coughed. The Mistress being flirty with other noblemen while she is worried that her husband might cheat on her. It was confirmed that he divorced her and replaced the servants so he seems to like her more than I expected. Sensei's and Lucille are honestly so wholesome, I like how comfortable they are around each other and care for eo.