sadslime's manga / #reunited(66)

Ao is a rabbit beastman who picked up a lonely looking tiger child, Asuka, while in middle school and ended up basically adopting Asuka and his mother into his family. But Asuka and his mother were on the run after the murder of his yakuza father, and when things settled down, they returned to their hometown, and Ao left the cute tiger boy with a promise they would one day be family. Years later, a fully grown up Asuka has returned to make good on that promise, though Ao thought it was about brotherhood, Asuka wants it to be about marriage. But Asuka's yakuza lifestyle may not mesh easily with Ao and his happy family restaurant, and he worries that Asuka will resort to violence. The story was fine, and I liked Ao's lop-eared bunny character design. Trigger warning: violence.

Shin is a winged messenger meant to serve the gods of the surrounding mountains, but he's constantly getting into fights due to his small wings. The main god then assigns him to a minor god on the most distant mountain, Mountain #32, and Shin meets the kind fluffball he will serve, who he names Baku. He and Baku get closer as he learns that Baku can transform into a human and that he eats the polluting miasma that would taint or kill others, but Shin can't help but feel he's forgetting something, while Baku worries that he's not worthy to be Shin's god after all. Very cute, although I felt like the explanation for Shin's missing memories was a bit forced. Trigger warning: bullying.

Ch.1-3.5 - In his former life, Ryuuzaki was the famous black dragon who fell in love with the flute player Chinagi and they birthed an island. Now reborn on that same island, Ryuuzaki is desperate to find Chinagi, demanding every woman he sees strip in front of him so he can check for the scale pattern that marked Chinagi as his lover. Meanwhile, he's accompanied everywhere by his loyal follower Yasu who does everything from bringing him food to sucking him off. But when Yasu asks Ryuuzaki to look at him instead of Chinagi, Ryuuzaki becomes confused and frustrated that his love for Chinagi could waver. A heartfelt comedy that I enjoyed. Trigger warnings: death/violence, noncon(comedically stripping women's clothes). Ch.4-7.6 - When Nijino first met the white dragon Byakuya, the very first words out of his mouth were a demand to sleep together, followed by Byakuya forcibly taking him. After that, Byakuya offered to pay for Nijino's sister's treatments if Nijino would continue sleeping with him, and Nijino learned he was supposedly a fugeki who could increase the dragon's power. Nijino has been with Byakuya ever since, but he somewhat despises this relationship in which they both use each other. However, Nijino has yet to fully remember his past lives with Byakuya, and their connection runs deeper than he thinks. Trigger warnings: rape, coercion, sex work, death/violence.

Ch.1-2, 6.5 - 5 Seconds - Hayato has special eyes that have been passed down in his family. For him, this means that when he meets eyes with someone for five seconds he can copy their "sensuality," so he uses his friends to help him jerk off. The one person he won't use is his childhood friend, Tsukasa, who he's tried to avoid since he realized his ability, but Tsukasa is too sharp not to notice, and when Hayato accidentally copies some eyes he shouldn't have and goes into heat, only Tsukasa can help him. A kind of random and unexpected setup, but I liked the characters well enough. Trigger warning: dubcon(heat). Ch.3 - The Way to Nurture Love - Keiichirou is a normal working man who got dragged to a gay bar and told to pick his type, so he randomly pointed to a worker, but when they turned around he saw it was actually his long lost twin brother, Yuuichirou. Yuu seems to be living life as a woman now, and Kei isn't sure he approves, but he can't help but worry, so he invites Yuu to live with him. But the longer they live together, the more the feelings from their past that forced Yuu to leave seem to reemerge. I liked it, but it is an incest story, so don't read if that's not your thing. Note: I don't think Yuu identifies as a woman, so if you're looking for trans characters, he won't really fit the bill. Trigger warnings: incest, transphobia(?). Ch.4 - Too - An unnamed protagonist (Nameless-kun) lives an ordinary college life, except for the fact that he has a stalker following him every day, buying and wearing all the same clothes as him, and putting not-so-secret cameras in his apartment, which is especially weird since he's a nobody and his stalker, Kudou, is quite popular. Nameless-kun doesn't see it as causing any harm though, so he lets it go until one day Kudou seems to stop dressing like him, causing Nameless-kun to wonder if his affections have changed, and that's when he realizes just how much he's been watching Kudou in turn. I'm not really into stalker romances, but this one was fine for what it was. Trigger warning: stalking. Ch.5 - Itai no, Itai no - Rei spends every day at high school breaking up fights between his childhood friends, Takuma, and Shinobu, who are at each other's throats over everything but insist on spending time together because of Rei. But Rei knows that secretly, the two are in a physical relationship fueled by their shared masochism. Rei has trauma to do with pain that has caused him to develop a masochistic streak too, so he wants in on this. Not my thing. Trigger warnings: masochism, abuse, suicide, voyuerism, violence, violent sex. Ch.6 - Mushuusei no Ohisama - Aki and Asahi were friends in high school when Asahi said he'd become the best actor ever and Aki promised to be the one to shoot it on film. Now, years later, Asahi seems to have given up on his dream and only works in the porn industry, but Aki is still determined to capture the best of him. But when they fight, Aki decides to rape Asahi on camera to show him all the faces he hasn't seen yet. Or something. I wasn't really paying attention because I don't like rape stories. Trigger warnings: sex work, rape.

Yuki Nishino had his heart shattered by his best friend, Naoya Date, in high school, so when he sees Date wander into a gay bar, Yuki thinks this is his chance for revenge, though it doesn't quite go how he hoped. Date doesn't recognize Yuki at first, but when he does he's shocked by the huge change in his once innocent friend and he can't remember when Yuki says it was his fault. Kind of a cliche story with some dumb messages (don't let stalkers go free because they genuinely love you), but it's fine to read for the smut. Trigger warnings: stalking, homophobia.

Ch.1-2.5, 5.5 - He Makes the Buddhist Priest Shy - Juntoku Karasawa is a Buddhist priest and his best friend, Michi Hasegawa, likes to come to the temple every day to bug him and ask him to date. Juntoku has had a crush on Michi since their high school dates, but his fear that that Michi isn't serious about him keeps holding him back. No trigger warnings. Ch.3-5 - Let Me Hear More of Your Voice - Taichi is a student working at a movie rental shop who secretly loves his coworker, Hijiri's voice, which happens to sound just like his favorite voice actor. At first, he thinks it's just Hijiri's voice he likes, but when a customer asks Hijiri out, he realizes that he wants more from their relationship. No trigger warnings.

Ayato Izumi(sub) is a gay CEO who deals with his need by meeting with strangers to "play" at night since he knows he can't get attached since he'll need to marry and have an heir one day. His new secretary, Yuma Kosaka(dom), is young and highly competent and totally Ayato's type, so when Yuma finds out about Ayato's plays and tells him it's dangerous and he should stop, Ayato says he will only if Yuma will be his partner, thinking it will scare him off. Except Yuma goes for it, and it's actually great! So great, that Ayato is starting to worry he won't be able to break things off one day like he knows he'll have to. Cute story. Trigger warning: noncon.

Avel comes from a tribe who determines their gender at their first sexual experience. He'd always expected to become the chief, but after being saved by a member of the shark-descended rival tribe, Tukiri, the two are unexpectedly swept away by heat-like symptoms and mate. Now Avel has no choice but to be an offering to the rival tribe, but when he arrives, it's nothing like he thought. I liked this story more than I thought I would, but the mystery they build up around why the tribes do things the way they do has a disappointing conclusion, imo. Trigger warnings: dubcon(heat), voyuerism.

Ren Hanari is a web designer by day, a sex worker by night as he looks for someone with the right compatibility for his super sensitive body. One day, he gets a new coworker, Sakura Hananoi, who knows nothing about computers but really wants to work alongside him anyway. That same night, Ren finds his next client is none other than Sakura, who it turns out has been in love with him for a long time. Ren decides to let Sakura shoot his shot in bed, only to find out he's unexpectedly amazing at sex! Despite Ren's misgivings, is this the relationship he's been looking for? I liked seeing Sakura's character growth. Trigger warning: sex work.

Yuuma is an ordinary sub who's having trouble finding a partner. Ever since his friend Mao bit him in high school and awakened his sub nature, he's been seeking that feeling of pain and pleasure, but his partners just can't seem to give it to him. He's finally matched with Mao himself, and Yuuma is ecstatic at the prospect of feeling the way he did before, but Mao is determined not to hurt him! Mao decides to teach Yuuma what a dom/sub relationship should really look like, and while Yuuma finds it enjoyable, he starts to worry he'll get in too deep. Pretty good up to chapter 4, but the plot gets a little confused after that. Trigger warning: violence.