sadslime's manga / #Chef(4)

(Ch 1-2) Yuuta fell in love with his brother’s friend Souichi years ago during their tutoring sessions, but he’s settled with being sex friends since Souichi’s already in love with Yuuta’s brother. But when Yuuta sees Souichi and his brother together, he can’t take it anymore and finally confronts him. A couple of cute idiots who make for a silly couple. Trigger warning: implied statutory rape. (Ch. 3-4) Yuuta’s long-suffering friend Saitou has been protecting him from shady guys for years, so when Yuuki first gets close to him, he’s sure it’s another weirdo after his friends. But Yuuki won’t be deterred and insists on being his friend, and maybe more. I’m glad to see a really good and protective friend who wasn’t secretly in love, and it’s great that he gets a happy ending. No trigger warnings. (Ch. 5-6) Chef Toyoguchi’s friend Ohshima is so perfect it’s depressing to be around him, but at least Toyoguchi has him beat at cooking! Until it turns out Ohshima can totally cook for himself, but he hid it to get closer to Toyoguchi. This couple didn’t really interest me, besides which Ohshima looks almost identical to the first seme. Still, no big problems with it. No trigger warnings.

Ch.1-3 - Kawasaki is overworked at the office, so on a whim, he books a maid escort service only to find it's a man who arrives. But after giving Nao a shot, he's hooked and starts to want even more. Trigger warning: sex work. Ch.4-6 - Italian chef Atsushi is shocked when his young temp worker, Eita, confesses to him, and though he tries to reject him, Eita is just too persistent! But even though Atsushi starts to return Eita's feelings, how can he accept Eita's love if it risks ruining his future? I like this second couple a lot, and I like that Atsushi's worries are legitimate and not your typical "but he could be normal and have a family!" stuff you often see in mangas. No trigger warnings.

Tomoya Ishida is a young man with little ambition working at a magazine when he's assigned to work with the famous chef and food correspondent, Ayumu Mitsuya. The much older and openly gay man instantly charms Tomoya, but Tomoya knows he needs to keep things professional between them in order to stay close to Mitsuya, at all. But when Mitsuya's ex comes back into the picture, Tomoya can no longer just sit back and watch. Very cute with some really solid character moments. I especially like that the ex felt like a real person and not just a plot device. Trigger warning: mention of cheating.

Ch.1-2 - The Condition of Monopilization - Miyama is gay and has a long-time crush on his straight coworker, Imoto. Imoto always takes good care of him, and he's the only one who knows that Miyama is gay, so one day when he asks Miyama's type and Miyama replies the opposite of himself, Imoto asks, "Isn't that me?" Leading the two of them to head to a hotel. But when Imoto starts to avoid him after, Miyama regrets that night that could cause the end of their friendship. No trigger warnings. Ch.3. - My Manual - Hikaru is a host who's recently been overshadowed by their part-timer turned host, Kenichi, and all Kenichi does is make fun of him. But Hikaru finds out Kenichi's not like that with anyone else. So what gives? Turns out Kenichi's had his eye on Hikaru for a long time. No trigger warnings. Ch.4 - The Love Which I Can't Hide - Chef Onodera has a crush on his happy-go-lucky neighbor, Sendou. After Sendou has a loud breakup on his birthday, Onodera gives him a bouquet that he was given for his own birthday. They get to talking, then they get to even more. No trigger warnings.